Email: Asukalangley2nd@yahoo.com
Website: www.oocities.org/asukalangley2nd/
Warnings: Yaoi, Slight violence, New
character, Death, Angst
Pairing: 1x2, 3x4
Disclaimer: I don’t own anyone out of
this fic other than Tesya, and I made no money off this.
Daylight flooded through the windows of the small apartment, its kiss sweet and refreshing. Wufei had not returned that night, nor the next day, giving no sign of his whereabouts or time of expected arrival, if there would even be one. Quatre was already stationed in the kitchen, with a babbling Duo at the table, waiting anxiously for his breakfast. Heero had taken refuge in his room seated before his quiet laptop, attempting to ignore the ramblings from the braided boy in the next room.
“And then, in my dream, this giant alien ship landed in front of me while I was in Deathscythe,” Duo rattled on, speaking faster and faster as his hands worked in the air almost as quickly as his mouth. “They got out, and they looked like giant cockroaches!” He made a disgusted face, shaking his head. “So, next thing I know, I’m stomping all over them like crazy, squishing them, and suddenly, your there squishing them too, in Sandrock. So, what do you think it all means?”
“It means you shouldn’t have eaten that leftover pizza before you went to bed,” a taunting voice answered from the hallway.
Duo’s eyes drifted towards the voice, a grin slowly growing on his lips. He could still see the hints of the bruise that had birthed itself across her cheek, but it had been dulled by the makeup that she had placed there. Her bottom lip was slightly swollen, but it was digressing fast. Her clothes were black once more, tight, form fitting, enticing.
She tossed her head, the long chestnut ponytail swinging back and forth as if to hypnotize someone. She walked behind Quatre, gave him a quick hug from behind, then snaked her hands through his arms to grab a piece of toast. Her objective reached, she plopped down in a chair and began to devour the fruits of her labor.
Duo pushed the odd conversation from the previous night from his mind as he dove into his eggs. “And if I didn’t eat that pizza, it would’ve been rotten,” he defended between mouthfuls. “And you can’t let perfectly good food go to waste!”
“Excuses, excuses,” Tesya teased after she finished her toast.
Quatre placed a plate of flawlessly cooked eggs in front of her, smiling. “Every time Duo eats, it’s as if it were his last meal.”
Tesya chuckled, then cast a questioning look to the blonde boy. “Where is Trowa, Quatre? I figured he would have been up by now. He seems like the morning type.”
“Actually, he’s still in bed,” Quatre answered, returning to the stove, mischievous grin lighting itself upon his lips.
“Ooohhh! I understand,” she taunted, and then winked.
Duo could see the raging blush that had crept into the young boy’s cheeks as he swept several eggs onto a plate. Without another word, he carried the breakfast out of the room and down the hall to the object of his affection.
“You seem like you’re in a particularly good mood this morning,” Duo observed, mopping up the yellow yolk on his plate with a piece of toast.
She shrugged, head cocking to the side. “I guess so. I slept really good last night, surprising though, after how bad I hurt from Wufei’s beating.”
Was I
dreaming that whole thing last night? he asked himself. Did we even talk
last night? Maybe that pizza really did mess me up.
As if to answer his unspoken question, she leveled her amethyst eyes at his, a shameful look about her face. “Listen, Duo, I’m sorry about last night. I just had a weird dream and it kind of scared me. I know I sounded all messed up, but it was only because of that strange nightmare where I had died.”
He shrugged, waving a nonchalant hand at her. “Don’t worry about it! I forgot about it already.”
She smiled, taking another bite of her toast. From the end of the hallway drifted distant murmurs that sounded slightly more passionate than the usual conversing. “Good. Now that all that unpleasantness is out of the way, I’m going shopping!” She placed her empty plate in the sink, gave Duo a swift hug from behind, and bounced out the door.
“Where is she?” Duo paced the floor in the small safehouse like a lioness, prowling more so than walking. His eyes turned to the clock that decorated the kitchen wall, then back to the floor as he stalked on. “She has been gone for eleven hours and twenty-two minutes!”
Heero finally emerged from his room, face donning his usual impassive mask. He walked to the braided pilot and tapped him on the shoulder. “I have something I want to show you,” he said, leading the other boy into the bedroom. He took a seat in front of the laptop and began typing, his fingers blurring across the keyboard.
“What is so important?” Duo growled. “I need to go out and find my sister.”
“Look.” He hit a final button and the monitor roared to sudden life, scrolling.
A picture lit up across the screen, a smiling young woman with chestnut hair and violet eyes. Name: Tesya Kement. Gender: Female. Date of Birth: June tenth, A.C. 177. Division within OZ army: computer communications. Pronounced AWOL and her immediate return demanded. Underneath the declaration was written: “Apprehended September 12, A.C. 195. Currently held at Renaissance Base, cell # 241. ”.
Duo’s eyes grew large for a moment, his mouth achingly dry. “That’s today.”
Heero nodded, shutting down the computer. He turned his cobalt orbs toward the other boy. “We have to get her back.”
The Deathscythe pilot looked at Heero, surprised. “You actually care what happens to her?” he asked, shakily.
Heero stood, grabbing the gun that sat beside his laptop. “We can’t have her talking about us.”
“What?” Duo screamed. “What do you mean by that? You plan on killing her?”
“If it comes down to that,” Heero replied evenly.
“I can’t believe this!” he yelled. “This is my sister, Heero! Don’t you have one freaking shred of compassion anywhere in that empty soul of yours?”
“We have to think of our safety,” he answered. “And the safety of our missions.”
“I am thinking of my safety!” Duo cried, standing within inches of Heero’s indifferent face. “The safety of my sanity! If anything happens to her, I’ll lose it! I can’t lose my family when I just found it! Damnit!”
Heero allowed his fellow pilot to calm down, then began walking out the door. “Either way, our objectives are the same; retrieve your sister at all costs. We are wasting time. Come on.”
“What about the others?” Duo inquired, following him.
“We don’t have time. Let’s go.”
The base where Tesya was held was conveniently only twelve miles away, ducked under the cover of several groups of large trees. Within the black cloak of night, it was excruciatingly easy to slip into the base, taking out three guards on their way in.
Duo strangely resembled his companion, which surprised even Heero. The seriousness blanketed the entire demeanor of the braided pilot, as if every joy and happiness he had ever felt never existed. His face was a cover of pure intensity, his violet eyes focused and studying all their surroundings.
Heero was both impressed and frightened by the sudden change, but then briefly wondered what would happen if the worst-case scenario arose. His fingers clutched the cold metal of his gun even tighter, his own mouth refusing to drop its customary grim line.
They made their way to the stairs, climbing them silently. After two flights, they exited out an emergency exit, down the hall from the holding cell 241. Duo’s hand gripped the cool black metal of the forty-five in his palm, closing his eyes for a quick moment. He took a shuddering deep breath, then cast a guarded glance at his companion, knowing, if pushed, the Wing pilot would do the unspeakable.
They ran through the long, silent hallway, their shoes making soft acknowledgments of their presence. Cell two-thirty-nine, cell two-forty, cell two-forty-one.
The pilots skidded to a halt outside the closed room, Duo immediately lunging for the keyboard that sat outside the shut metal door. After a few seconds of button-punching, the door opened with a quiet swish. They both ran in, guns brandished.
Tesya sat on a small bench that lined one concrete wall, her head snapping up as the door slid open. Her hair still hung in a lengthy ponytail, her eyes filled with panic and red from crying. The bruise that covered her cheek stood out with glaring accusation, deep purple against pale flesh. She jumped to her feet as she stared at them, astonished look gracing her features.
“I can’t believe you came for me!” she exclaimed.
“Of course!” Duo countered, smiling happily for the first time since she left the house. “You’re my sister after all.”
Her look of joy faltered suddenly, but just for a moment. Heero caught it, but not in time.
“Drop your weapons.”
The command came from everywhere it seemed, however it was only the echo effect in the small room. Both pilots looked at the doorway of the cell, meeting the gaze of at least ten uniformed OZ soldiers with random guns aimed at them. With a great amount of reluctance, the pilots placed their firearms upon the cold concrete floor.
“Come here, Sergeant Kement,” ordered one soldier, apparently the one in command.
“Don’t listen to them!” Duo screamed, but was ignored as she walked slowly past him and towards the other soldiers.
She took a place beside the soldiers, pulling a small gleaming black gun from the bulky boots she was wearing. She held it in front of her, her eyes clouded and impassive. With a slightly shaking hand, she leveled it at the Deathscythe pilot’s chest.
“What the hell are you doing, Tesya?” Duo screamed.
Heero stared on, unemotional. “You know what she’s doing, Duo.”
“NO!” he shouted. “I won’t believe it!”
“I am an OZ soldier, Duo,” she replied, her voice reminding him of Heero’s impassiveness. “We are in a current state of war, where people die without mercy everyday. I will do what I must for peace, including this.”
“No,” Duo whispered, his face pleading. “Come on. You don’t need these guys. Remember? I’m family, sis.”
The soldier to the left of her began laughing, something annoying and agonizing to Duo’s ears. “Your sister? Man, are you an idiot! She’s no more your sister than I am!”
“Shut up!” Tesya screamed.
“W-what?” Duo whispered, voice shaking and cracking. “You’re not-”
Tesya’s violet eyes stared coldly at him, her bottom lip barely shaking. “I am not your sister, Duo Maxwell. I have been working for OZ the entire time. They saw the uncanny resemblance between us and used it to their advantage. I have a sister and brother that live in the Sanq kingdom, along with both of my parents. Everything I told you was a lie.”
“You did a wonderful job, too, Sergeant Kement,” complimented the leader, placing one hand on her shoulder. “You gave us two of the Gundam pilots, and they in turn will show us where the others are.”
“We will do no such thing,” Heero coldly responded.
“T-Tesya,” Duo whispered. “This isn’t true. It can’t be true. You’re my sister, damnit!”
“Stop it, Maxwell!” the girl shouted, the hand that held the gun trembling. “I told you I am not your sister! I am a soldier of OZ! I did what I had to do!”
“You are my sister!” Duo screamed, taking a step forward. “I don’t care what they told you! I know the truth! I can feel it! You are my sister! Come with me, damnit!”
“Duo,” Heero warned. “She’s not your sister. Wufei was right the entire time.”
“NO!” the Deathscythe pilot hollered, his voice cracking. “She’s my family! She’s all I have!”
Tesya nodded at Heero. “Wufei was right, Duo. Everything he said about me was true. He was a smart man and had every reason to be cautious. I must admit though, I respect his integrity.”
Duo fell to his knees, unruly bangs casting haunting shadows across his face. His shoulders shook for a moment as his breath hitched in his throat.
“I trusted you and you betrayed me,” he growled, rage dripping off his every word. “I loved you. You were my family. And now I find it is all a lie, some stupid act where I played the unknowing fool. I suppose there is only one thing left to do…”
Tesya swallowed hard as he looked up, all the fires of Hell burning throughout his amethyst eyes. A wicked smile had crept across his lips, chilling her and the soldiers who stood behind her.
“You will all die.” The words were cold and said without emotion, his eyes leveled at the men that stood in the doorway. “The God of Death will kill you all.”
“We cannot risk this!” yelled the commander. “Kill them!”
“NO!” Tesya screamed, her head swinging around to glare at the leader. “You said you wouldn’t hurt them! You promised me!”
“You are as stupid as that boy over there!” one soldier called out. “This is a war and they are the enemy! Of course they’re going to be hurt! We were going to kill them anyway, just now we’re doing it a bit sooner!”
Duo reached across the floor and grabbed the gun that lay before him, Heero following suit. The OZ soldiers instantly began firing, the air riddled with bullets within seconds. Both pilots launched themselves into the air, Heero pulling out a small box from his right shoe. Duo returned fire, taking down four of the soldiers while Heero pressed a red button in the center of the box that was gripped tightly in his hand.
Instantly, the north wall of the cell exploded, raining dust and concrete everywhere. The sound reverberated throughout the small room, dropping several soldiers to their knees.
Heero jumped through the brand new exit, with Duo standing at the edge, dust flying through the air. He was about to launch himself out, when he heard something that made him cease all movement.
“You swore to me on your honor!”
“I told you only what you wanted to hear, you with your pathetic desires of peace. However, now that I have you, you can tell me everything we need to know.”
“You must think I have not one shred of honor in me! I won’t tell you anything!”
“Must I remind you that you’re still an OZ soldier, Sergeant Kement? However, we can change that, if you want to have charges of treason pressed against you.”
“I don’t care! I will never tell you! I’m sick of this war! I’m sick of this death! Your ideas are foolish and narrow-minded and I want nothing more to do with OZ! I will not let you use me any longer. Duo was right; the pilots and the colonies were right. They know the true path to peace and we are the fools.”
Duo smiled amidst the dust, dimly hearing Heero screaming his name with fury from below. “Tesya!” Duo called out.
“Duo?” her voice floated back to him. “Is that you?”
The dust began to settle and she could make out a black silhouette, one hand invitingly held out to her. He brought up his gun with his other hand, it roaring to life as he shot three of the soldiers that stood behind her, one of them the commander. They flew backwards, limp like puppets. Blood, crimson as any fire rained down like a plague. “Come on, Tesya!”
She rushed to him, long hair streaming out behind her, smile dancing across her lips. She reached him, and together they turned toward the hole in the wall. From where he stood, Duo could spot Heero, waving and glaring.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Tesya turned toward the soldier’s voice, her limbs working before she could even think. The gun in the other man’s hand fired, bullet exploding from it like a demented offering. The shot cut through the air, heading straight to the braided Deathscythe pilot.
With a rough push, Tesya shoved the boy out of the way. Duo screamed out her name as the shot pierced her stomach, traveled through her thin body, and exited out her lower back. Droplets of her blood flew from her wound and flung themselves onto the pilot’s cheeks, trailing down his face like corrupt tears. The bullet sailed out into the night through the hole in the wall, beads of blood flying from it.
Tesya’s lavender eyes grew large for a moment, lips working silently as her hands clutched her bleeding abdomen. Her body was suddenly racked with coughing, blood bubbling from the corner of her working mouth. In slow motion, she dropped to her knees, then down to her side, her eyes slipping shut.
Duo stood still for a second, his eyes wide and blank. Suddenly, he turned towards the soldier with the smoking barrel, making the fires that raged in his eyes before look like pathetic candle flames. With the blood like war-paint standing cruelly upon his face, he looked as if he truly earned the name “God of Death”.
His lips formed a snarl that seemed inhuman as he brought his gun up. It came to life in an instant, cutting through all the soldiers in the room. The man who shot the woman at Duo’s feet flew backwards in a shower of blood, the bullet passing through his forehead and out the other side. One man shot back, sending a bullet that pierced Duo’s shoulder, but he did not even notice as he continued to fire. Duo caught the man in the chest, his torso exploding in crimson as he dropped to his knees, then his face. He shot the last soldier, sending him reeling back amid limbs, blood, and flesh.
Groans of pain ceased and the only sounds were Heero screaming below and the wail of a siren. Blood blanketed the walls, horrifying acknowledgments of what truly happened. Ignoring the terrible scene that surrounded him, Duo knelt down and reached a shaking hand down to touch Tesya’s cheek, dimly noting the river of crimson blood that flowed down his arm.
Her violet eyes suddenly opened halfway, her lips working his name soundlessly.
A smile, concerned yet joyous, lit across his lips as he scooped her into his arms. He could feel the blood as it seeped out of the exit wound in her back and over his hand. With a quick jump, he flew out of the cell, landing roughly in the dirt below.
“Why the hell did you bring her?” Heero growled as they both ran through the yard. Heero’s gun lit up with a blinding light as he cut down two rushing OZ soldiers, their blood flying through the air as they fell back.
“She saved my life,” Duo returned. “We have to get her to Sally.”
“If it wasn’t for her, your life wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place,” Heero replied.
“Hey!” Duo growled. “I’m a Gundam pilot; name one time when my life isn’t in danger!”
Heero said nothing, noting silently the crimson trail they were leaving as both her and Duo’s blood mingled and fell to the dusty dirt. Within seconds, they reached a gate and quickly made their way through it and deep into the night.
“How is she?” Dou’s voice was shaky and barely controllable. As soon as Sally Po had bandaged his shoulder, they had phoned Quatre back at the safehouse, informing him of everything that had occurred. Sounding visibly shaken, the Sandrock pilot claimed they would be right there. However, the term “right there” was tentative, being that Sally was twenty-five minutes away. Duo wished they would hurry; he needed friends around right now and Heero’s wicked cold glares just weren’t cutting it.
Sally looked down at the boy, her blue eyes glimmering. “There is nothing more that I can do.”
“No!” Duo screamed, hands curling into fists and striking the wall beside her, slamming through the thin white plaster. “There has to be something!”
She gravely shook her head, a look of sorrow printed across her face. “You might want to sit with her now, Duo, and say goodbye.”
Duo stared at her in disbelief, his eyes large and slightly afraid. This wasn’t fair! This couldn’t be happening! It just couldn’t!
Finally, he nodded silently, then walked into the room she had just emerged from. The room was blindingly white, so bright it made his head hurt. It smelled of forced cleanliness, as if never had been tainted by any foul thing such as dirt or blood or even life. He could hear the rhythmic beeping of the machines that stood beside the bed, Tesya’s breath low and rattling in the otherwise silent room.
Dou took unsteady steps to her bedside, sitting in the chair that was beside it. With trembling hands, he clasped one palm between his own. She turned her head slowly and gave him a soft smile.
She looked small and fragile, like a porcelain doll. Her hair lay spread across the pillow in a chestnut lake, clumps of dried blood spotted throughout her tresses. Her amethyst eyes were only half open, weary, exhausted, pained. The soft flesh seemed like paper, so white, so thin, making the bruise that stood on her cheek glare brilliantly.
“I’m sorry, Duo,” she hissed, her voice barely audible.
“You saved my life,” he replied, attempting to flash her a reassuring smile but failing. I wish I could have saved yours, though, he bitterly thought. “You’ll be fine, okay?”
“Don’t lie to me,” she returned, slightly harsh. She grimaced painfully as she shifted on the uncomfortable hospital bed. “I know I’m dying.”
The pilot’s mouth worked for a moment, wanting nothing more to say that it wasn’t true, but the false words refused to emerge.
“Duo, I’m sorry for lying,” she whispered, her chest rattling with a deep labored breath. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“I forgive you,” he said, meaning it in every sense of the word. “You’re my sister after all.”
“But Duo-”
“Hush!” he interrupted. “There is more than blood that binds people. There’s love, and I love you. You are my family. And if you have to get technical, when I was carrying you out of that base back there, our blood mixed, so we’re blood now.” He flashed her a winning smile.
“Duo…” she whispered.
“Why did you change your mind, Tesya?” he asked after a moment. “Why did you go against them?”
“I fell in love with your ideas, with you,” she hissed. “I couldn’t let them kill my brother, now could I?”
Duo’s grip tightened around her hand as a small coughing fit racked her frail body. He reached over and tucked the blankets around her shivering form tightly.
“I gave something to Quatre to give you that night I came to you. It’s in his room, on the dresser, in an envelope addressed to you,” she murmured.
“What should I tell your family in the Sanq kingdom?” he whispered, his soul suddenly heavy. He choked back the tears that threatened to pour forth and the scream that savagely fought in his throat.
“I have no family there,” she replied. “All of my family is within this room.”
Another coughing fit began as blood began to seep from the corner of her mouth. Her chest moved up and down as she struggled for a breath that refused to come. Duo’s grip tightened even more as the sounds of the machines in the room became erratic.
She turned to look at him, violet eyes shaking with tears that soon spilled down her pale cheeks. “Duo…” she whispered. “Stop crying…Remember, I’ll be waiting in outer space for… you…my broth….”
The machines ceased their beeping and started one long, lonely cry as her chest fell flat. Her amethyst eyes slipped shut forever, the salty crystal tears clinging desperately onto the long thick eyelashes.
Duo didn’t notice his own tears as they marched down his face. “Save me a place there, sis. I can’t wait to join you.”
“Duo! Duo! Did we make it?”
Duo stood at in the doorway of her room, eyes on the delicate-looking Sandrock pilot, wishing to block out the inhuman silence that emerged from there. “No. Missed her by about ten minutes.”
Quatre’s green eyes cracked as tears coursed down his pale cheeks. He buried his head into his lover’s chest, sobbing, as Trowa slid his arms around his slim frame.
“Are you all right, Duo?” the Heavyarms pilot inquired.
Duo swallowed, but forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll see her again someday. My sister wouldn’t want me to be crying anyway.”
“How can you still call her that after everything that happened?” Wufei barked.
“I love her,” Duo called back as he walked out of the room. His back blocked the other boys’ view of the diamond-like tears that streaked his cheeks. “That’s all a family needs.”