*italics*
\\ // Duo's thoughts
## ## Heero's thoughts
Duo lay back on his top bunk. His mind was still dizzied by the night's occurrences. Dawn's light peaked through the shades of their window as Duo brought a hand to his own bare chest. His finger twirled around a nipple as he recalled the arousing sound of Heero's grunts of frustration.
\\Oh, yes, I was *very* bad last night. But, Heero deserved every bit of it.//
A smile of massive proportions grew on Duo's face.
\\ I definitely made my mark. He knows where I stand.// Duo could hear Heero rustling beneath him on the lower bunk. They would both need to get up soon in order to shower and dress for school. Duo removed his hand from his chest and used it cover his mouth. If he didn't restrain himself, he'd surely disturb Heero with the peel of manic laughter that threatened to spill from his lips.
\\Oh, Heero, wait till you see yourself in the mirror.//
In his thoughts, Heero Yuy cursed the name Duo Maxwell. As the pilot of Wing Gundam gazed at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, his eyes were met with an unsettling image. The morning began as its customary manner. Heero woke up, stripped, tied a towel around his waist, grabbed the necessities for the usual morning routine, and trekked to the bathroom. Under the usual circumstances, he would urinate, wash his hands, brush his teeth, and then finally shower. Each act had its own level of precision and its own allotment of time. Urination proceeded for twelve seconds followed by 2.5 shakes of a certain now relaxed member. The washing of hands was a mere 5 seconds. The next step was the brushing of teeth, which simultaneously coincided with a blank stare into the mirror. All had gone according to routine, at least, up until the blank stare. As Heero's hand worked his toothbrush in the necessary motion for teeth cleansing, the pilot's attention became drawn to his chest. At this point, Heero's toothbrush clattered as it landed in the sink. Heero was aware that when one engaged in activities of the libido, there would be some indication of the passions indulged. For instance, scratch or bite marks were acceptable, as well as love marks made by the suckling mouth of a lover. But, this was another matter entirely. Heero Yuy, pilot 01, shook his head incredulously as his cobalt eyes grew large with disbelief. He didn't know how Duo had done it, especially in the dark, but there was a very distinct pattern left on Heero's chest from the night before. Duo's mouth had not only been attentive but it had also been creative. As Heero gazed at his reflection, he was greeted by the image of a scythe, created by the many love marks left by a very, soon-to-be-ill-fated Duo Maxwell.
Duo wrapped a towel around his waist. Any minute Heero would return. Duo sat on the desk and crossed his arms over his bare chest. His facial expression was that of rumination. To Duo's great pleasure, Heero entered the room with a scowl on his face. The Wing pilot's knuckles were white with strain as he clutched the shower caddy. As he turned to the closed door, suppressed anger seemed to radiate from his very core.
\\That's it Heero. Get ticked off. Confront me. Damn it.//
Unconsciously, Duo began to rock back and forth on his perch on the desk. The motion was slow and gentle as the Shinigami pilot's thoughts raged within.
Heero finally turned to face Duo. Cobalt eyes appeared squinted and the Japanese pilot's mouth seemed to be pulled into a grimace, but below the petulant face was the form of a scythe, red and prominent against Heero's taupe skin. Duo did his very best to provoke an outburst from Heero. The Shinigami pilot smiled broadly at his currently pissed cohort/roommate/lover/friend.
\\Come on, you know you want to yell at me. Hit me if you like. Anything. Just refer to last night while it's still day. Tell me I've overstepped the bounds. It wasn't all some dream.//
Heero stalked past Duo and stood looking out the window. His gaze was locked on the base two miles away from their current position. Unbeknownst to Duo, as he was faced in the opposite direction, one of Heero's hands stole up to caress the path of the scythe as he stared coldly out the window. One rugged finger traced the curve that represented the blade and the back of his hand stroked the length of the marks that represented the staff. Without even looking he knew the very location of Duo's symbol of possession. The wing pilot had been branded. Could he now deny such stark evidence of their passion?
There was a knock at the door that made both pilots start but neither made a move to do anything about it. The pounding continued and at last Duo was able to put his limbs into motion. He reached out awkwardly and grasped the knob to door. He had to will himself to open it. When he did, a groggy and sleep-disheveled boy greeted him.
“The com unit,” said the youth
“What?”
The boy paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. It seemed way too early in the morning. “The stupid com unit has been ringing for the last 5 minutes.” The boy stretched an arm out and pointed down the hall. “My room is right next it. I don't have a class for another *three* hours.” The boy gave Duo a sour look. “I was planning on sleeping in…There's a call for you. Next time tell your friends it isn't polite to call so early.” The boy stared blankly at Duo for a second before mumbling some series of expletives. He then left Duo standing in the doorway.
Duo blinked three times before turning to Heero's figure to say, “I've got a call. I'll be back soon.”
\\ That's strange. Who could be calling me... and why isn't there a visual?//
“Hello?”
“Max,” came a harsh whisper from the unit.
“Yeah??”
“It's me…”
Duo moved closer to the unit. “Mitch? Is that you? Why can't I get a visual on you?
“I'm not supposed to be calling you like this. They'll freak, but whatever.”
“What?”
“Max, there's a complication. You're going to need to leave Wiltshire sooner than you think.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You've become incredibly unhappy and you have decided to run away.”
“I have?”
“Yes, you have.”
“But--”
“There's no time. Meet me at the chapel at 9 p.m. tonight. You'll leave with us then.”
The connection was cut. Duo gave a bewildered stare at the now dead unit.
By the time that Duo had returned to their room, Heero was now fully dressed. Duo felt incredibly awkward wearing just his towel. He left the room without even considering covering up. His hands flew to his waistband to secure the towel more tightly. With unsure eyes, Duo looked up at Heero's solid form. Although, Heero had dressed during the time that Duo was absent the Wing pilot still maintained his earlier position by the window. Heero's back was to Duo.
“Heero, I just got a call from Mitch. Seems things are moving faster than we anticipated. He said there's a complication and they want me to come with them to the base tonight.”
Heero turned to face Duo with an unreadable expression. The wing pilot's hand was clenched against his chest. “Then that means we're moving out tonight.”
Duo nodded silently.
A flicker of emotion fleeted across Heero's countenance. “I know what you're planning and it's impractical. The mission objective is to secure all the data then to level the base, leaving no trace of us or what conspired there.”
“But, Heero…” Duo turned away from the Wing pilot. “Those boys…they're innocent. They have no place in this war.”
“There are casualties in every war. They can't be spared. Save them now and they'll return to seek revenge. They are a part of OZ now. That cannot be forgotten.”
“Heero, those five lives can be spared… as we could have been spared.”
“Do you think by saving them you can somehow save yourself?”
Duo could feel that Heero was suddenly close behind him. “No…I…”
“Duo, you are who you are for the same reason as I am who I am. That cannot be forgotten or regretted. We serve a purpose in this war and that is our only motivation. We *need* to do what we do. It's what keep gives the colonies a fighting chance.”
Duo turned to face Heero with enraged eyes. “Don't give me that bullshit, Heero! We can do this! It can be done! We save them…and we recover just a little bit of our humanity…instead of hiding in shadows the true aspects of ourselves, instead of denying the last part of ourselves that isn't devoted to being a soldier…”
The words hung in the air as dense cloud of unwanted truth. Heero's stomach muscles tensed with unease.
Duo's black boots crunched on the debris strewn about the back of the chapel. The construction workers had gone home to their families hours ago and all that was left of their presence were their tools and the nearly completed back portion of the chapel. Cautiously, he entered the chapel, peering left and right for any sign of Mitch and Jeremy. He adjusted the straps of his backpack as he stepped farther into the chapel.
“Max.”
Duo turned around to see Mitch walking out of the shadows.
“Mitch, where's Jeremy? What is this all about?”
Mitch rubbed the back of his neck nervously before looking at Duo. “Jeremy's still getting chewed out because of this fiasco…He'll catch up as soon a they're through reprimanding him…”
“Fiasco? Reprimanding him?? What does this have to do with me leaving tonight?”
“The scientists said we were unprofessional. They said that although they had left the choice of the 6th pilot up to us, it was our responsibility have you checked out with them first.”
“Checked out?”
“Yeah, the usual background checks to see if you'd be a liability. For all they knew, you could have been a spy.” Mitch gave Duo a careful look. There was no change in Duo's expression. “They checked on you and luckily they found nothing that arose any suspicions…even so they demanded we forgo the usual elaborate ruse and bring you to the base immediately…”
“…”
“But, the scientists were wrong…something didn't check out…something that only I noticed…Why are you *really* here, Max?”
“What do you mean, Mitch?” \\ Does he know?//
“Why would you come here, to Wiltshire, when you seemed perfectly settled at your last school? It just doesn't add up. Why would you willingly come to a school whose population is primarily made up of orphans and delinquents? Those who are here weren't given a choice--”
At that moment footsteps could be heard. Duo and Mitch turned to face the direction of the noise. Mitch drew a gun and held it ready at his side. He aimed the gun at the figure as it stepped from the shadows.
“Hey! Hey! It's me, Mitch. What's wrong with you?” Jeremy put his hands up as a sign of defenselessness.
Mitch lowered the barrel of the gun and tucked it into the waistband of his pants.
“What took you so long,” asked Mitch without the slightest hint of contrition.
“I'm beginning to think Novac has it out for me. He's putting me on grout duty for two weeks,” said Jeremy as he stepped beside Mitch.
Mitch turned to face Duo. “We'll talk later. Did you make the preparations for your departure?”
“Yeah, I left the note. It looks like I decided to run away,” said Duo, grateful for the change of conversation.
“Good, then there is no reason for us to stay here any longer. Jeremy, you take Max to the base… I still have some business to take care of.”
Mitch began to walk away from the two.
“Wait,” said Duo. He shrugged off his backpack and pulled what looked like a bottle of wine. “I've been saving this wine for a special occasion and I thought we should celebrate since we're all starting new lives as mobile suit pilots.”
“We shouldn't drink.”
“Mitch is right. We can't actually return to the base smashed,” said Jeremy.
“One little drink won't hurt. Hold this while I pull out some cups.” Duo stretched the hand that held the wine bottle out to Jeremy. But as he did this, his body wobbled a little. Before he could pass it to Jeremy, the bottle slipped from Duo's grasp and broke. Shortly afterward, Duo's body collapsed to the ground.
“Max,” cried Jeremy and Mitch in unison.
They ran to Duo's crumpled form. Jeremy tried to shake Duo awake. When he didn't respond, Mitch pushed Jeremy aside to take Duo's pulse.
“He's alive and his pulse is slow but steady.”
“But, Mitch,” said Jeremy with wide eyes, “he's not breathing.”
\\I've only got to hold my breath a little longer,// thought Duo as he felt Jeremy and Mitch hovering over him. Unbeknownst to the two boys, vapors were emanating from the shattered bottle of “wine.” And, as they tried to discern what caused Duo to collapse, they were breathing in a potent batch of Duo's new and improved odorless knockout gas.
\\Come on. Pass out already. It's already been over a minute. At this rate, I'll be blue in the face before--//
Duo's thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of Jeremy's and Mitch's bodies landing on top of him. Carefully, he pushed them aside and dove into his backpack to retrieve his gas mask. He quickly put it on and once again resumed breathing.
He stood up and looked down at the two boys he'd befriended in the past week.
\\I'm sorry, guys. This is just the way it has to be. I couldn't save the others but at least I was able to save you two. Forgive me for not knowing a better way...//
A far off explosion jarred Duo's thoughts.
\\Damn it, Heero, I told you not to start the battle without me. You never listen to anyone. Baka//
\\oh, I missed you,// thought Duo as he climbed into the cockpit of Deathscythe.
It had been weeks since he felt the raw power of her verniea thrusters roaring
to life under his command. It had taken him nearly seven minutes to dig through
the layers of snow that had accumulated over his gundam's hiding place and
his hands were red and raw from the effort, but he didn't care. All that
mattered was getting to the battle before Heero had all the fun.
By the time Duo had arrived, it was obvious Heero had succeeded in cutting down at least 60% of the base's mobile suits. Metal arms, legs, and torsos littered the snow and burning refuge littered the landscape. Despite the apparent carnage, the battle was still in progress. A series of machine gun shots sprayed past Deathscythe's side. With a disdainful twist of his mech's arm, Duo used the butt of his scythe to demolish the head of a Leo suit. Above him two Aries tried to blast him off his feet with a barrage of rockets. Grinning maniacally, Duo charged through the onslaught and used his scythe to slash through the torso of one of the Aries before slicing off the legs of the other. That was when he saw Heero in the midst of an aerial battle with three Taurus suits. The Wing pilot made quick work of them and busied himself with destroying some of the ground forces from his aerial position
“Oi, Heero, remember what the blue prints said. The best way to destroy the base is by taking down that huge tower over there,” said Duo over his vid screen.
“I know. It's the main generator for the base and everything that receives power is connected to it. I'm on it.”
At full speed, Heero charged for the generator.
“Heero!! What the hell are you doing?!! You can't take that shot from such a close range!!! Come back, damn you!!!”
Duo's vid screen went blank. Heero had cut their connection.
\\Damn you, Heero.// Duo had to decide whether to retreat in order to maintain a safe distance from the blast or to chase after Heero. Within seconds, Deathscythe was in hot pursuit of Wing. Suddenly, at about 20 feet from the tower, Wing used its thrusters to propel itself up into the sky above the tower. Instantly, Deathscythe stopped its pursuit. When Duo realized Heero was about to take out his beam canon, the braided pilot had no choice but to retreat. He threw Deathscythe into full reverse.
\\He's going to get us both killed. There's no time--//
A blinding beam of light shot out of the canon and surged into the tower, causing the entire structure to glow with luminescence before exploding into a fiery ball of twisted metal and roaring flames. The explosion spread from the center to swallow the entire base. Duo's head was slammed back against his seat as Shinigami was hurled away from the tower as if it were a mere bauble. Duo could see nothing around him but endless rows of smoke and fire. Then there was nothing but blackness to greet him as he slipped out of consciousness. By the time Duo awoke some minutes later, visibility had increased but only slightly and what had just occurred suddenly became clear to him.
\\Heero left me. He took the shot from above the tower so that he could use the blast to propel himself away from here. And, he knew that since all this fire would surround me, I wouldn't be able to track him using the heat sensors. Heero, you bastard, how could you…how could you?//
5 ½ months later
“Mr. Cameron Diehl, I'd like to introduce you to your roommate, Max
Welles. Since this is the middle of the school year and all the other boys
have been paired up, you two newcomers will room together,” announced
the headmaster as he led Duo into his office.
The portly Headmaster stepped out of view to reveal a cross looking young man with a disheveled mop of hair. Duo's small suitcase clattered to the ground.
“Cameron, is anything wrong,” asked the concerned headmaster as he gave Duo an accessing gaze. Duo couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the “stranger” who would be his roommate. Even more surprising, the stranger returned Duo's gaze just as intensely.
“Have you two met before,” asked the uneasy Headmaster.
Duo weakly shook his head in the negative. “No, he just resembles someone I once knew, at least, someone I *thought* I knew.”
\\Who would have thought that the gods could be so twisted? What are you doing here, Heero?//
A muscle in Heero's jaw clenched and then unclenched as he stared at Duo Maxwell for the first time in nearly 6 months.