16-Aug-2000
Title: Demons
Authors: bonnejeanne (bonnejeanne@yahoo.com) and vonceia (vonceia@yahoo.com)
Archive: GW Addiction and if she chooses, Darkflame
Category: yaoi, angst
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: 1x2, 6x5, various
Warnings: LEMON in some sections. Angst. AU - we do not guarantee that our interpretations of characters or events will agree with yours, so a general OOC warning.
Spoilers: Series, EW
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners. Our stuff is ours. No money being made here. As with all our fics so far, while our goal is to stay as in character as possible, any discrepancies are our mistakes.
Feedback: Any and all comments, feedback, critiques welcome, be they short or long.
Notes: This is part of the Frozen Colony Arc, and takes place following The Hunt. If you are not familiar with the timeline and are curious, you can find the stories on GW Addiction and on DF's site. On GWA on the Bonne&Von page, there are numbers denoting which stories are FC Arc and should be read in what order.
Duo's demons appeared first in Down Time in Hell, and reappeared in Dancin With My Mirror. This is a fic to explore their existence and origins. Liberties are taken with Duo's history and original characters from ESO appear.
The second message came in a rather odd, though not unconventional form. A delivery boy brought it to Duo's door - a registered package, containing a recorded message vid. Rather archaic, curious. Duo gave the kid a tip and came back into the apartment, looking the package over, frowning. He held it up.
"Must be a mistake or something," he said doubtfully. However it clearly was addressed to Duo Maxwell and just as clearly had the small, purple and gold seal of the Official Non-Orthodox Catholic Church[1] and an originating address of Rome, Earth.
"Hn," Heero remarked looking over Duo's shoulder. "Admirer?" he said.
Duo snorted. "From the Church? Get real." But he was clearly both curious and a little unsettled by the package. He shrugged and opened it, unsealing the plastic pouch, and finding the vid disc inside. "Weird," he said, remembering the last time he'd seed one of these. He'd been... eight? Father Maxwell had gotten something like this at the church once.
He dropped the vid disc in the slot in his laptop and waited for the playback.
Heero came to sit beside Duo, curious about the package, but more interested in Duo's reaction. His eyes moved over the package scanning it before Duo discarded it. Moving closer, he slid an arm around Duo's waist.
A rather darkly handsome older man appeared on the screen, dressed in the ostentatious robes of a higher level Church prelate. Small letters on the screen gave the name and title, "Monsignor Anthony Elvay".
"Duo Maxwell," the man said. "It has been brought to the Church's attention that you, one of the Gundam Pilots well known from the Eve Wars, are in fact the same Duo Maxwell listed on official records from what was once the colony outpost known locally as Maxwell Church and Orphanage. Although most of the records from that small mission were destroyed, many of them were sent periodically in duplicate here to the Seat of the Church in Rome. We have done enough research to assure ourselves of your identity. Therefore the Council has decided to take an unprecedented step. We wish to invite you to come to Rome, and meet with the High Church Council, and receive an Article of Absolution for all acts performed by you during the war and at any time previous to this day."
Duo blinked.
The man continued. "We realize this may be meaningless to you, young Maxwell," the man smiled a slight, benevolent smile as he pronounced the name. "However if you still have any sense of a remaining connection with Mother Church, we urge you to come and allow us to do this for you, in recognition of your service for peace and to humanity. We understand you to be an individual who does not seek the spotlight, so be assured, this is not a public action, not something the Church wishes to do for publicity or anything other than an attempt to provide you with an opportunity to have what spiritual cleansing it can provide on Earth."
"If you agree, please come to Earth, to Rome, and contact me at this coded number. This will not take more than a few days of your time. For the sake of your spirit in the life hereafter, please seriously consider your course of action."
The recording ended.
Duo sat, with his mouth slightly open, staring at the now blank screen.
"Hn," Heero remarked, looking over at Duo. There were several things he personally found dubious, the major point being that someone could clean away all of the blood shed during the war and wipe the slate clean for any of the pilots. Mentally, Heero shrugged balancing his viewpoint with the thought that he probably didn't understand enough about religion to make a good opinion. He looked back at Duo. "What do you think?" he asked.
Duo shook himself and got up. "They... they have to be kidding, right? This is some kind of joke..." he said, his voice not quite steady. He reached up, absently smoothing his hair back, patting his braid as if in an unconscious reassurance that it was still there.
He moved around the room restlessly. Then he looked at Heero. "It's... it's weird," he said finally, shrugging. "I don't know what to think about it."
"You going?" Heero asked, his eyes still on Duo.
"Why... should I?" Duo said. I'm not religious... thoughts were whirling in his head to fast for him to grasp them for examination. Father... would Father want me to go? Would Sister Helen? I don't believe in God....
Heero shrugged. "It's up to you," he said, standing. "I don't believe in God. I have no Church. In fact, my faith in people is a little shaky as well."
Duo snorted softly. "Me too," he said. His normally open expression was still troubled and confused though. "They shouldn't... they shouldn't do this. I don't deserve any special... absolution. They should... they should do something to recognize what Father Maxwell and Sister Helen tried to do... helping people in the neighborhood... trying to find homes for kids with no parents... They...." Duo felt the memories rise up, vivid and painful. He swallowed. "This is so meaningless," he said, refusing to acknowledge that even the tiniest bit of him yearned towards the idea with wishful fascination.
The troubled expression became a scowl and Duo paced, his braid swing with each turn.
It was at that moment that Heero wished he could reach through the vid disc and choke the life out of the man who had brought this pain to Duo. He frowned, watching Duo pace for a while, then moving to stand in front of him. "Hey," he said, holding Duo's shoulders. "Don't let it get to you."
Duo stopped, looking up. Somewhere behind the scowl was a lost expression that seemed to flicker in and out of existence. He took a breath, nodded. Then his head snapped up.
"Know what? I *am* gonna go," he said suddenly. "Not for that absolution thing. I'm gonna go so I can stand in front of the Church officials and tell em how stupid this is, and then make em listen. Tell em what Father did, and Sister Helen. That's who they should be honoring. If they really want to do good, they should send some of that Church money out here to L2... there are still lots of people who could use the help. If Father were here... he'd help em. He's not here... they never even sent a priest here to see if any of the parishioners need help... comfort... I wanna say that to em. Then they'll probably throw me out. But at least I'll have spoken up for Father and Sister."
He looked at Heero, defiant, and perhaps a bit afraid. "Is that... is that stupid, Heero..." he said, his tone changing from forceful to uncertain.
Heero watched, noting the changes, but listening to the words. "No, Duo," he said, putting his arms around the braided pilot. "It's not stupid. We just prepare for a quick exit. Shouldn't be a problem with all of our experience."
Duo leaned against Heero's solid body. He laughed at the 'quick exit'. "You got that right," he answered. "This is... probably stupid. But if I don't do something... it's going to gnaw at me... I'm sorry, Heero..."
"What for?" Heero asked, kissing the top of Duo's head.
Duo looked up, searching those cobalt blue eyes deeply. "For dragging you along... cause I sure as hell don't want to go by myself."
"Don't be," Heero said, "We make a good team, Duo. Besides, I wouldn't mind seeing some of these people face to face myself," he said, an implied threat in the tone.
Duo smiled. "Good old Heero," he said fondly. He took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay then. The Unholy Pair go to the Holy City. Hey, we can check up on Wu-man while we're on Earth... heh heh..."
"Yeah, I can see if I need to kill Zechs, or not," Heero offered.
Though calmed by Heero's solid presence, and by the decision to take action, Duo's thoughts were still in such banked chaos that he did not notice the absence of comment from a part of his mind that he'd come to take for granted.
In the dark recesses where the demons dwelt, there was complete and utter silence.
It fell when *he* appeared on the recording's image. It wasn't a peaceful silence. It wasn't an empty silence. It was electrified... vibrant... seething...
The horde looked as one to Astaroth. His aristocratic ebony features were frozen in an icy set that burned with cold fire. With nothing more than this expression, he held the horde in their stillness, recognizing the ultimate rule - Duo must decide. He must choose. Only if he so chose could they...
"Know what? I *am* gonna go," Duo said. Astaroth's cold eyes glittered. The reasons were of course irrelevant. All that matter now was that the fabula dementis would transpire.
Thus the quietude became a *scheming* silence... preparations underway for the mad fable about to commence.
It didn't take a great deal of preparation, but Duo wanted to go by the Sweeper's spacedock and make sure his obligations were taken care of. He also wanted to do a little checking on the condition of the commercial shuttle they had seats on and the Sweepers always had the scuttlebutt on what commercial ships were safe and which ones were pushing it. Duo might be reckless as a Gundam pilot, but when someone else was flying, he tended to get a little paranoid.
He told Heero he'd be gone a couple of hours, if that.
Heero responded with a nod, then said, "Beef Sukiyaki when you get back."
Duo grinned. "Keep em barefoot and in the kitchen," he quipped, imagining Heero in a frilly pink apron. Hmmmmm.....
Then he took off.
About twenty minutes after his departure, there was a tap on the door.
Heero removed his gun from the back of his pants and walked over. Touching the vid screen, he looked out and saw empty space. A movement caught his eye and he scanned down to see who it was.
"Hn," Heero remarked, disappearing the gun.
A scruffy looking street urchin stood there. He looked at the Japanese pilot. "You Heero Yuy?"
"Hn," Heero remarked.
"Yer supposed to tell me a number," the kid said.
"Hn," Heero remarked and then said, "01."
The kid nodded. Then he thrust a small plastic envelope at Heero, and took off.
Heero watched as the kid darted off, then moved back inside. He opened the envelope and took a look inside.
Inside was a palm-sized comm device, like a square compact. It was devoid of any manufacturer's insignia and looked, to Heero's trained eyes, like it was stealth shielded.
Heero made a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a groan. He flipped the device open, making note of its design.
The device blinked, silently indicating an incoming communications call.
Nodding, Heero pressed the pad to receive the call and waited to see who wanted to speak to him. He had a few ideas and if so, the timing was too perfect not to have been worked out in advance.
The four-inch screen lit up and Professor G's face looked up at him.
"01," the Prof said. "Hope you like your present."
Heero nodded once, looking at the old man. "It's nice. So, tell me about Duo." he said, not one for much small talk.
"That's a longer story than we have time for," G said. "I have some small concerns. However the boy has a right to live his life as he chooses. How is he really doing?"
"He's ok sometimes, sometimes he's nervous. He was afraid to tell me stuff. What's your concerns?" Heero said.
Professor G looked at Heero shrewdly. "That he will get himself in a position where people who do not understand his idiosyncrasies will be alarmed enough to try and do something to him. What are yours?"
"That he'll get like I was once and try and jump out a window without knowing what he's doing when I'm not around to stop him." Heero replied.
G snorted and shook his head. "Unlikely," he said. "And you knew what you were doing. Is that all?"
Heero shook his head. "What was that implant all about?" he asked.
"So he did tell you," the Prof nodded. "Good. It's not as bad as I was afraid it might be. The implant was a clo-zyprax derivative. He *can* function without it. I gave it to him before Operation Meteor to provide support under the extraordinary pressure I knew he would be facing." The professor's eyes were all but hidden by the mop of grey hair, but they seemed the pierce the veil. "Duo has never been under anything other than stressful conditions for longer than a month or two. I have no idea how he will react to extended peace."
Heero nodded again, thinking. "Or any of us for that matter," he said. Then, "I'm here. I'll be with him. Who diagnosed him?"
"Diagnosed? I supposed you mean me," G said dryly.
Heero looked at the old man for a long moment, remembering what Zero had shown him in a vision once. "Ok. I'll call if something happens," he said.
Professor G watched the impassive pilot's face with uncanny perception. "01," he said. "The war is over. We've done our penance. And in case it makes any difference to you, I am fond of that boy. My time of using him is past. But I am only one of the skeletons in his closet. The others may be less... benevolent. "
Heero leaned forward, looking into the old scientist's eyes, or approximately where they would be under the hair. "Got it," Heero replied.
The scientist scowled slightly, but it seemed to carry a hint of approval. Then the connection ended.
Heero closed the device and then stowed it away among his things. He felt both relieved and disturbed at the conversation. As he headed for the kitchen, he began sorting out which destiny would befall any of these skeletons in Duo's closet should they happen to cross his path. His mind returned to the man on the screen in the Church vid, wondering what side he would fall on.
Snagging his laptop, he began a trace on Monsignor Elvay, The Official Non-Orthodox Catholic Church, the Maxwell Church, and one young man known as Duo Maxwell.
Note:
[1] In this version of history, the Roman Catholic Church underwent some changes in the early after-colony years. There is no longer a Pope. That position has been vacated and left open indefinitely. The Church is now governed by a High Council. There are probably many other changes and discrepancies. The Church is still a very wealthy entity but has no where near the political or social power that it does today. It is a church in decline.
End of Part 2 - TBC
What do you think?
bonnejeanne & vonceia
Please send comments to: bonnejeanne@yahoo.com or vonceia@yahoo.com