What He Wants (1/1)
By Tralla

After looking at Wufei for a few quiet seconds, Duo commented, "I think...this is the point where you walk away and I forget this conversation ever happened."

Wufei watched him sit down on the couch. They were in a living room, Duo's. Just until a moment ago, they were about to leave Duo's apartment and head to a spaceport to take a shuttle to Earth. Now, that trip was momentarily derailed. The investigation, their meeting with an eccentric farmer, had receded into the background. But it soon returned to the forefront. Wufei's admission had made this farmer's claim more credible.

A few days earlier, Duo had received a call from a farmer who'd mentioned finding what he thinks is a piece of one of the Gundams. There was a specific reason why the farmer contacted Duo with this information. Duo's participation in a few high profile site reconstructions, sponsored by the Winner Corporation, had put him in the limelight. Because of his work with philanthropists and his open interest in collecting and recycling war-related paraphernalia, a reporter had grandiosely dubbed Duo "The Overlord of All Things Mechanical and Discarded". It was a title known by people in the colonies and as well as on Earth. The title had traveled far enough to reach those who were not immersed in the daily spread of public media. It was that title that led to that farmer's decision to contact Duo. But there was more. What stirred Duo's interest in particular was the fact that the farmer lived in a region where at least one Gundam had been sighted 8 years ago.

From his place on his couch, Duo said disgustedly, "You'd think that if he could call me he would at least have some way of showing me some footage of it. But this guy has to live out in the middle of nowhere. I can't believe that there's nothing other than a television and a phone out there with him. Not even a vid screen..."

"You're sidestepping the issue," stated Wufei in a low voice.

Duo snorted. "Yeah? And? I'd rather think about this guy's inability to keep up with technology than your--"

"Confession."

Duo waved him away. "That...I don't want to hear anymore about it." Despite the uttered rebuff, Duo found himself saying, "How could you be so reckless as to purposely keep a part of Altron? And you just had to hide it where you first landed in 195. What if that farmer has really found it? There's not supposed to be any gundamium in the colonies or Earth. Remember the treaty?" Duo closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them. "Sentimentality, I can understand. I was attached to Deathscythe, but I didn't do something stupid when we all agreed...I was practical." After a sigh, Duo continued, "I want you out of this. I'll get Quatre, Heero, or Trowa to go with me. I'm too pissed off."

"I want to keep this between the two of us," stated Wufei slowly, determinedly. He had stressed each word.

"There are three of us already involved," responded Duo. "Remember the farmer? Hell, it could get worse. I don't want him dropping his hermit ways and getting social and going to look for people to share his find with." There was a long quiet period before Duo shook his head and murmured, "I can't believe it's been seven years...since we detonated our Gundams."

Wufei added, "Our comrades we lived with, acted out our ideals with were reduced to--"

"Dust. Yeah, I get it."

Wufei sat down in a chair directly opposite Duo before inquiring coolly, "Are you angry because you didn't consider keeping a piece of Deathscythe?"

Duo briefly looked past him, to the wall behind him, before answering, "Didn't I say that I was practical?"

"Yes, but that is not an answer to my question."

Duo leaned forward as he said slowly, "Heero, Quatre, Trowa, and I were willing part with our gundams. Why? Because that was the only way we could think of ending whatever issues we had as pilots. Yeah, outwardly we all either said or agreed to some spiel about the world not needing mobile suits in an era of peace but--"

"It was a matter of closure for you four. I understood that." There was a considerable pause before Wufei continued, "I can admit stubbornness."

There came a sigh from Duo before he commented with a hint of humor, "Nice expression there, Wufei. Personally, I think it was stupid and selfish of you to do what you did, but that doesn't mean there's something fundamentally wrong with you."

"Your earlier reaction says differently."

Duo shrugged. "Well, maybe I overreacted a bit. No one is perfect."

"Former Pilot 01 is."

There came a short laugh from Duo before he responded, "No...Heero's good at getting people to forget how much he screws up. Blowing himself up countless times...failing to shoot people he said he would...constantly falling out of things and landing on his head...I mean, seriously. When I think of him, the word 'suicidal' comes to mind." After taking in Wufei's unchanging expression, Duo reached over and clapped a hand on his shoulder before saying, "Now, you are another story. You're not king in terms of practicality, but I don't think anyone of us held on tight to anything we valued. We got used to giving things up."

"That doesn't justify my actions."

"I didn't say it did. But you're allowed to keep some shred of pride. You tried to protect Altron to the end."

"Protected...inadequately, imperfectly," uttered Wufei tiredly, disgustedly.

"Imperfectly," repeated Duo. After a soft snort, he took his hand from Wufei's shoulder before saying, "At times, I sit back and imagine what I think perfection would be. The perfect day, the perfect vacation, the perfect--"

"Reunion."

"Yeah," agreed Duo as he sat back against the couch. "Sometimes I imagine a world where it wouldn't be bad for me to have Deathscythe...well, a world where all of us could have our Gundams without them being seen as only symbols of destruction. It's something I could stay up all night thinking about."

"I've already done so," stated Wufei.

"Ever told anyone about your perfect scenario?"

"No."

Duo smiled. "Well, unlike earlier, I'm here to listen to anything you'd want to say."