DISCLAIMER: With the exception of Kumi and Sette, none of these characters
are mine. This story has a lot of sap, just to warn you. But, I can’t get
enough of Heero and Duo! Enjoy! SkyLark



Trial By Fire
Part 5
by SkyLark


Heero and Duo had bother agreed that it would be best to lay low until the
time came for the Japanese pilot to take the stand. Neither of them liked
the idea of laying low, but there were just too many risks involved if they
didn’t do just that. It was now Sunday and before the weekend, four of the
five witnesses to testify against Reinhart and Starks were gave their
accounts. The fourth was to be cross-examined at the next day of trial. The
whole weekend, the pair remained at their hotel and tried to keep from going
stir crazy. Since the trial was to resume the next day, Heero would more
than likely get the chance to take the stand.

On this late Sunday afternoon, Duo decided to take a chance and went out to
‘run some important errands,’ as he told his lover. Heero didn’t protest,
knowing that the American was not one to enjoy staying in one place for very
long. Still, he made his partner promise to be quick. He was gone for almost
an hour now. Heero was on the computer when he managed to get through to his
friends back on Earth. Quatre appeared on the screen.

“Heero!” the Arabian cheered as he saw his friend for the first time in a
while.

“Hey, Quatre,” Heero smiled. “How are all of you?”

“We’ve been worried about you and Duo. Other than that, everything is just
fine here on Earth,” the blonde answered.

The Wing pilot nodded, “Duo and I are doing fine. Sorry we haven’t been able
to get through until now.”

His friend smiled and shrugged, “I knew that you were all right. Don’t worry
about not getting through...It’s tough to make connections from Colonies
that are so from this planet. Colony S9 is more than a ways off...Is Duo
with you now?”

Heero shook his head, “No. He said he had some errands to run but he’ll be
back soon. He sends all of you his best and wanted to say he misses you
guys.”

Quatre sighed, “He’s a good person.” Heero gave a warm smile and whispered,
“Yes he is.”

“Is there anything that you need, Heero?” the young pilot asked. “We’re
okay, thank you. We just wanted all of you to know that we’re okay and
should be returning before the end of this week...Most likely, we’ll be
finished our mission here by Wednesday. Duo and I would like to sit and talk
with all of you again,” the brown-haired young man informed.

Quatre gave a look of relief and said, “Good. We’ll have a nice dinner
planned for the night you return.” “Thank you, Quatre. Please tell the
others that Duo and myself say hello,” he requested.

A nod came from the other young an, “Sure. Take care of yourselves. We’ll
see you soon.”

“You take care as well,” Heero smiled as they clicked off their screens.

* * * *

Quatre went running back to where the other Gundam pilots were resting in
one of the many large living rooms. Trowa sat up from lying on the couch
when his the blonde friend entered to join them. Wufei was sitting by the
coffee table and turned to face him as well.

“Did you get to talk to Heero or Duo?” Trowa asked.

“Yes. They’re both fine and will probably be back by Wednesday, they hope.”

Wufei nodded, “I’m surprised that they were able to contact us at all.
Colony S9 is by Jupiter.” Quatre replied, “We couldn’t talk long sine the
transmission was weak enough, but everything seems to be going smoothly with
whatever it is that they‘re up to. They both send their best and say hello.”

Trowa lied back down, asking, “Was there anything mentioned about just what
they are up to?”

The Arabian shook his head, “No. It’s probably just as well that we don’t
know...Although there was something that Heero said that struck me as odd.”

Wufei looked to him and pondered, “What’s that?” Quatre shrugged, “He said
that when he and Duo get back, they’d like to sit down and talk to all of
us.”

Trowa jumped up from the couch, announcing, “I knew it! They’re a couple!
That’s what they’re going to tell us when they get back!”

Wufei laughed hysterically, “You must be joking! My friend, do you know how
many times Heero has threatened that baka’s life!?! He could never feel for
anyone, I’ve come to believe that now. There was a chance that they might
have been more than friends, but months ago, Heero told us that there was
nothing between him and Duo. They‘re not a couple!”

Trowa smirked, “They weren’t together when he asked Heero back then, but
things change.” Wufei rolled his eyes, “You really believe that? You’re a
bigger fool than I thought.”

HeavyArms’s pilot looked to the Arabian. “What do you think, Quatre?” he
asked finally.

The shy pilot gasped and answered, “Well, Heero’s training would never allow
him to fell anything, especially love.”

Wufei nodded to Trowa, “You see.”

“Then again,” Quatre continued, “He did seem a bit odd when Duo was away.”

Trowa returned the same nod to Wufei, “That’s right.”

Quatre went on, “Heero was always cold to any kind of connection, even in
being friends with us.”

Wufei smiled, “Uh huh.”

Then the blonde stated, “Then again, he did ask Duo to live with him when
the war was over.”

Trowa smiled, “Exactly.”

Wufei’s face became serious, “You still think that they might be together?”
Trowa nodded, “I know that they are.” “You willing to put money on that?”
the Chinese pilot grinned.

Quatre shouted, “Wufei!?!” Trown shrugged, “How’s twenty dollars sound?”

“Trowa!?!” the Arabian yelled.

“Easiest money I ever made,” Nataku’s pilot chuckled as he and his comrade
shook hands. “I can’t believe that the two of you are doing this,” Quatre
sighed.

“We’ll see what happens when we sit and talk with our friends once they
return,” Trowa sneered to Wufei. “We will indeed,” the dark-haired young man
nodded.

Again, the Arabian sighed and walked out of the room, shaking his head.
“You’re both hopeless,” he said to himself.

* * * * *

Heero was lying back on the bed when he heard a key opening the door. “Duo?”
he called. His lover popped his head in for a second to smile, “Hey! Would
you mind going in the bathroom for a second?”

Cocking an eyebrow, the Wing pilot asked, “What are you doing?” Duo begged,
“Pleeeeease, Heero. You won’t be in there long, I promise. I won’t come in
until you do.”

Heero sat up and walked to the bathroom as he sighed, “All right, baka...I’m
going.” He entered the small room and shut the door.

He sat in there for almost fifteen minutes and called through the wall,
“Okay, Duo! What are you doing?” “Just one more minute. I’m almost finished,
hon,” he heard the braided pilot shout.

A minute later, Duo opened the door with a huge smile on his face. “One
sec,” he giggled as he walked behind Heero and blindfolded him with a
bandana.

“What are you up to?” his partner laughed as he ties the material behind his
head. “You’ll see in a second,” he heard him laugh as he led him out of the
bathroom. He felt himself being led into the center of the hotel room when
his lover’s hands left him standing there.

“Okay,” he heard Duo whisper as he removed the blindfold. Heero opened his
eyes and gasped as he looked around the room.

There were streamers and balloons hanging all over from the ceiling to the
floor. A banner that read “Happy Birthday” in ,any colors ran from one wall
to the other just over the bed. There was all kinds of confetti all over the
floor and bed.

“Duo?” he gasp, lost for words. The braided pilot was smiling from ear to
ear as he threw his arms around his comrade.

“Happy birthday, Heero,” he whispered. Heero wrapped his arms around Duo’s
waist as he was still too moved to say anything.

Duo kissed his cheek and laughed, “Sorry you were waiting so long. It took
me a longer time to blow those balloons up than I thought it would.”

Heero could barely get his voice to work as he whispered, “Duo, this
is...How did you...” Duo lowered his head, still smiling and answered, “I
hacked through some reports from Doctor G. Since he knew Doctor J, I figured
that he would have some information on you as well. Sure enough, your birth
date was recorded there.”

Heero finally looked into Duo’s eyes and stroked his cheek with his hand.
“Thank you so much, Duo...I never had a birthday party before,” he continued
to whisper.

Duo shrugged, “Well, it’s not much of a party, I’m the only one here.”

“That’s all I need,” Heero replied as he threw his arms around him again,
showering his cheek with kisses. Duo returned the favor and said, “You still
deserve more, Heero. We’ll have a real party for you when we get back to the
others on Earth.”

Knowing that Duo wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer, Heero simple nodded with
a huge smile on his face. “Okay,” he sighed.

“Come on!” Duo cheered as he pilled Heero over to the bed where there was a
round cake waiting with with icing and seventeen unlit candles. There was
blue icing with the American’s handwriting as it read: “Happy Birthday,
Heero.” Duo pulled a book of matched from his pocket and lit all of the
candles. Heero watched him with love in his eyes and a gentle smile, still
amazed that his lover went through all of this trouble to give him a nice
birthday. When all of the candles were lit, the braided pilot sang “Happy
Birthday,” smiling the whole time at the man he loved.

When the song ended, Duo nodded, “Now you get to blow the candles and make a
wish.” Heero nodded back, closed his eyes and blew all of the candles out.
His partner clapped with enthusiasm and cheered, “All right!”

Duo then used a knife that he managed to find and handed it to the
birthday-boy. Heero sliced two big slices and placed them on the paper
plates that were waiting beside the cake. It was vanilla, Heero’s favorite.
The couple went on to eat their slices as they sighed at the wonderful
taste.

Heero grinned and chuckled, “My fist real birthday.” Duo smiled and winked,
“The first of countless more to come, love.” Heero put his plate down as he
leaned to give his lover a soft kiss on the lips.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I love you, too,” Duo whispered back.

When they finished their cake, the braided pilot clapped his hands together
once and rubbed them together as he announced, “Okay! Now...” he bent over
the side of the bed and reached for something hidden beneath it.

“What are you doing now?” Heero laughed at the sight of Duo only being seen
from the waist down as he fished for something below.

His lover’s muffled voice answered, “I know it’s down here...AHHA!” Duo
pushed himself back up as he held out a present in blue wrapping paper.
Heero looked at the gift in shock and gasped, “Duo, you didn’t have to-”

“I know I didn’t have to, baka,” Duo smiled. “I wanted to. I got it a few
nights ago, since I wanted to wait until I found the perfect gift, since
it’s the first one you ever had. Just take it and open it.”

Heero smiled and nodded as he slowly took the gift from the partner’s hands.
He looked at the box in awe. His first birthday present. Duo did a beautiful
job wrapping the box. The light blue paper was taped and folded perfectly
around the content as a dark blue ribbon had been tied around into a bow at
the top. Duo understood that Heero never was given a gift before, so he
understood why he spent a minute to take it all in before unwrapping it.
Finally, Heero blinked and snapped out of his daze.

He slowly undid the bow and worked at ripping the paper off. Inside, there
was a black, velvet box. Looking back up to Duo, he smiled and giggled with
excitement. Duo giggled with him as he nodded for him to open it. Heero
returned his gaze back to the box and opened it. Inside, there was a think,
gold band. The ring itself was simple, but that’s just how the Wing pilot
always liked jewelry.

Taking the ring out, Heero gasped, “It’s beautiful.” Duo smiled, “Take a
closer look at it.” Doing this, Heero saw that there were small words
engraved around it. The words read: “To the man who save me, my Heero. All
my love, Duo.” The Wing pilot bit his lip to keep the tears from building in
his eyes. It was the first time he ever came close to crying.

Placing the ring on his right hand’s ring finger, he smiled. “I love it,
Duo,” he whispered as he held his lover’s face in his hands. Heero planted
another soft kiss on his lips. They looked at the ring together as Heero
held his hand out to admire it again.

“How long have you been planning all of this?” he asked. Duo laughed,
“Oh...a few months now.” Heero laughed . Shaking his head, he sighed, “What
did I ever do to deserve you?” Duo wrapped his arms around him and answered,
“Everything.” They kissed passionately.

When the kiss finally broke so that they could catch their breath, the
lovers smiled to each other as they rested their foreheads together.

“I should save this for later,” Duo said as he took the cake from the bed
and placed it in the small refrigerator that the room provided. “We can
snack on it during the rest of our stay.” Heero looked around at the
decorations again, a wide smile still on his face.


Duo leaped and landed beside him on the bed. He ran a hand through Heero’s
hair as they looked to each other. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want
you cooped up indoors for your whole birthday,” he sighed.

Heero smiled and nodded, “What did you have in mind?”

“A real dinner, just the two of us.” Duo replied. “I’d like that,” the
Japanese pilot agreed as he got to his feet.

Duo jumped up and cheered, “Great! I spotted a nice restaurant not far from
here.” Once they changed into dressier attire, they went off, taking
precautions by slipping through the back of the hotel and driving down
secluded streets so they would not be noticed.

* * * * *


Late that night, the room was cleaned of all of the decorations that Duo had
put up. The pair lied in each other’s arms as they recovered from their love
making. Duo’s hair was spread all around the two pilots. The covers of the
sheets came up to their waists as they lied with their eyes closed and their
breathing soft. Keeping his eyes closed, Duo kissed Heero’s forehead and
sighed. They wrapped their arms tightly around their partner. Finally, the
American opened his eyes and pushed some of the long strands of his hair to
his side. Heero opened his eyes slowly and smiled as he kissed his lover’s
lips.

“Heero,” Duo whispered. “Yes, love,” he whispered back. The long-haired
pilot sat up and wiped some of the sweat on his love’s forehead off gently.

“Are you going to be okay tomorrow?” he asked softly. Heero sighed and
rested his head back on Duo’s chest. “I think so,” he answered. The tone of
his voice showed that he wasn’t too certain. Duo took his crucifix necklace
off the dresser by his head.

“Here,” he smiled as he lifted his partner to sit up for a second. Before
Heero could say anything, Duo placed the cross around his neck.

Looking to the pendant, the Wing pilot gasped, “Duo, you never let anyone
wear your-” His love placed two fingers over his mouth before he could
continue.

“I want you to wear it. I can’t sit next to you and hold you hand when you
have to take the stand. This way, he have something of mine that you hold
onto if you need it.”

Heero squeezed him in a tight embrace. “Ai shiteru, Duo” he whispered in his
ear. “I love you, Heero,” he whispered back. Exhausted, they retired for the
night.


* * * * *


That same night, two young men were in their hotel room, one without his
shirt to reveal the wrappings around his right shoulder. The other was lying
on the bed wearing only a pair of boxers as his right leg was bound tightly
by similar medical tape. Both men bore looks on their faces that screamed
rage. Neither spoke a word as they watched the late night news.

The anchorwoman stated, “Tomorrow will most likely be the last day of the
Reinhart, Starks trial before the jury will debate the verdict. The fifth
and final witness to stand against the defendants will be called upon.
Again, for their protection, we cannot reveal the name of that person until
after they have given their testimony. This trial-” Matthews threw the
remote at the screen to turn the television off as he lied in bed.

Nursing his leg shoulder, he cursed, “Goddamn it! That son of a bitch will
get his time at the stand after all.” Johnson continued to sit in the chair
by the window.

With no emotion in his voice, he stated, “So we’ll have to kill him before
he gets to do so, moron.” “What the hell is with you, Johnson?”

Matthews shouted. “Davis was killed by that bastard’s lover and you haven’t
so much as shown any concern that Reinhart and Starks might face life in
prison thanks to our failure.”

Johnson finally sat up in his chair. “Davis was expendable. He should have
kept a closer eye on that pilot. As for Yuy, he will not take the stand,” he
stated clearly in a cold voice.

“We’ll shoot both of those bastards before hey reach the courtroom, simple
as that.” “Simple as that, huh?”

Matthews laughed. “You forget this is the FUCKING PERFECT SOLDIER we’re
messing with! And his lover seems to have learned some tricks from him!” he
yelled.

Johnson pulled a gun from the dresser beside him as he stood and pointed it
at Matthews’s head. “Don’t. Fuck. With. Me. Matthews,” he threatened. “I
know that Heero is human, regardless of what Doctor J might have tried to
make him and everyone believe. He bleeds like we do, and he can be killed.
Now stop pissing and moaning and just relax. My need sleep for tomorrow. If
we hope to get Yuy, we’ll need to get to the courthouse early. Now go to
sleep,” he ordered.

Matthews had been frozen during the entire speech. Johnson lied the gun on
the dresser again and lied on the bed, closing his eyes. “Fine,” he growled
as he lied flat on his back again and turned the light out. There was no
sense arguing. They had to get Heero before he entered the courtroom there
was no question about that.

* * * * *


Far in space, Sette was still flying in Mason, trying to get through to her
friend. The transmission was not working as the screen to the left became
fuzzy with static.

“Damn it,” she snapped. “I know that Kumi’s on S9, but there isn’t anyway
that I could get a hold of her. Those modifications that she as putting on
Excalibur seem to have knocked off its communicator.” She pounded a fist
into the controls and gave up trying to contact Kumi by that medium.

Sette had Mason in autopilot now to take her to the colony as she stretched.
“I won’t be on S9 until the morning. Might as well get a few good winks in
before then.” Before actually sleeping, she looked as the disk that one of
her soldiers had given to her.

She sighed, “I just hope that I can find her before she takes off again so I
can give this to her. I have a bad feeling that this isn’t false
information, as I hoped it was.” Looking to the screen of stars before her,
Sette frowned, “And knowing that, Heero and Kumi have a hell of a lot more
to worry about that just this trial.” She replaced the disk and lied back,
her hands behind her head, and closed her eyes.

“All right, Mason, you‘re taking over. The sooner we arrive on the colony,
the better.” Her Gundan went on to soar on its own through the empty skies
at great speed.




TBC