Standard disclaimer. Not mine. Theirs. Too bad, cos the G-Boys are damned cool. Not making any money so dun sue me. All I have is a few dogs and a few thusand dollars worth of college loans anyway. Blood. Turnip. You do the math.
Quatre glared at Trowa for a moment, his arms crossed over his chest sullenly.
"That was cruel, Trowa. He needs our support now. He’s hurting so badly. He-"
"Do you think I don’t know that?
"He would have hurt YOU, Quatre. He would have hurt you and then withdrawn even further."
Quatre stared at the taller pilot, amazed at this flood of words, especially about emotional withdrawal. Something was bothering the normally stoic Trowa terribly.
"Trowa? Nani?"
Trowa’s jaw clenched, and his eye narrowed, the rich emerald green fading, washing out desolately.
Quatre stepped forward, greatly daring, and laid his hand on the taller boy’s arm.
"Trowa, tell me."
:What is wrong with me? Why can’t I just... What is this I’m-:
:Feeling? I’m feeling something? I’m feeling something.: Trowa thought brokenly.
Quatre watched the flurry of... something flash through Trowa’s eyes.
:Wow. He’s feeling something. Something intense. I’ve never seen so much emotion from him before, and all in a single day.:
:I suddenly feel lucky. He’s never been this way around any of the other pilots. Just-
:Me...:
Quatre’s eyes widened, his breath rushing from him in a shocked "eep!".
"Trowa?" he breathed, the name becoming a promise in the still air.
:He sees! He knows. How can I face him? Oh god, how-: Trowa’s thoughts rattled around in his mind, tossing and restless like the lions from the circus he had used to perform in. They ached to be free, but what would they do in this unfamiliar world? All they could do was hurt, cause pain, and eventually die, starving and hated in a cold, unfeeling environment.
He turned away from the shorter pilot, hugging his arms to his chest in a defensive gesture.
:He’s afraid! Afraid? Of me? Nani...: Quatre thought with disbelief.
"Trowa, please. Please look at me. Kudasai."
Quatre reached out one hand and stroked the other boy’s arm, trying to draw his attention, trying to turn him to face him.
"Iya da. Dame, yamete... hanase..." Trowa murmured, stiffening.
"Why?"
"I don’t want-" he broke off, meeting Quatre’s eyes in confusion.
:Nanda? What don’t I want? I don’t want to hurt him? I don’t want him to hurt me?:
:What am I more afraid of?:
Wufei eyed the two pilots struggling in the hallway before him with amusement. A tiny, almost malicious snicker tickled at the back of his throat. He knew he shouldn’t be amused by the distress his two friends were suffering, especially with his other two friends so close to death nearby, but he couldn’t help it. It was almost comical.
How four people could so totally screw up their lives in the name of love, simply amazed him.
At least Yuy and Maxwell had gotten things sorted out early on. Or at least earlier on.
THAT was a surprise, however.
:Ironic that it was the more extreme couple of the cold, unfeeling Heero Yuy, and the insanely manic Duo Maxwell, that admitted their feelings first. I’d always guessed it would have been the more sensitive Quatre and Trowa pairing that would have manifested itself sooner.:
:Then again, Yuy would have discovered those strange things, feelings, swimming around in his brain and considered it a "mission" to sort them out. He’s stronger than I give him credit for, admitting it all so quickly.:
:Jaa. Now all we have to do is get everyone to live through this day.:
Then maybe they could all get back to the war, to winning this whole sordid mess, and bringing peace back. Or getting it in the first place.
He spared a glance back into the hallway, noticing that Trowa and Quatre were still staring mutely into each other’s faces, not moving, barely even breathing.
:Ch’ What they all need is a good, therapeutic fuck.:
He snickered into the back of his hand at that thought.
:Oh, what would you all do if you could see the thoughts in my head?: he asked his fellow pilots silently.
For some reason, the others seemed to think he was some sort of naïve boy... Childlike and blind to everything but his "justice." The way they practically tiptoed around the subjects of sex and relationships with him was humorous.
After all, he’d been the one who’d been MARRIED!
:A young marriage, but marriage nonetheless. And with marriage comes certain... obligations.:
:Merian and I may not have had much in common then, but we at least had THAT!: he snorted to himself, and then frowned.
A soft sigh escaped his lips.
:Oi. When did I become so bitter, then?:
Quatre’s trembling hand finally reached out, fingers stretching to bridge the gap between them. He gently touched Trowa’s cheek, his fingertip scooping up the glistening drop resting there, and drawing it back to examine it wonderingly.
:He’s crying?:
He glanced back up at the taller boy, amazement rippling across his features.
"Trowa... I-"
:Could this possibly be... for me? This... this storm in his heart?: Quatre wondered.
He steeled his resolve. His own heart was twisting with the pain and uncertainty he could see in Trowa’s eyes. He had to find a way to heal that pain, to salve that ache so plainly visible to him.
"Tell me to stop. Tell me to go away, and I’ll never bother you again. I could never hurt you, Trowa. I WOULD never hurt you."
"Iie..." Trowa whispered.
Without warning, Trowa reached out and folded the Arabian pilot into his strong arms, seizing him like the last gasp of air of a drowning man.
"Please don’t hate me, Quatre. please. I- Dai Suki, Quatre. Dai Suki," he murmured, his voice so quiet and without hope, that Quatre almost missed it.
"Hate you? Masaka. Masaka, masaka, masaka!" he replied vehemently.
:never, never, never!: his mind echoed zealously.
He felt tears welling up in his eyes, spilling out and staining the other boy’s shirt. A sob caught in his throat as he wrapped his arms around Trowa and clung to him fiercely.
"I’ve been... waiting so- so long to... to hear that- that you... cared for me," he managed to get out.
Trowa’s arms tightened around him.
"Aaa?"
"Hai. Dai Suki, Trowa."
He felt Trowa bend his head down a little further and drop a soft kiss on the top of his head.
"Stay with me, Trowa. Please?"
He felt the other boy’s arms tighten around him again as Trowa murmured his reply.
"Hai. Kore kara zutto... itsumademo, if you’ll have me."
Quatre answered him with a brilliant smile as he pulled Trowa’s face down towards his. Their lips brushed tenderly, something like a shock coursing through them both at that electrifying touch.
:Forever and always. Of course I’ll have you, Trowa. Forever and always.:
They would have stood there forever and always, too, held fast by each other’s eyes, had not the slow, mocking clapping interrupted them.
Wufei hated to interrupt them. Especially now that the two had finally had something of a breakthrough, but it really had been too long since anyone had checked on Heero and Duo. And the state Duo was in right now, he could do something stupid.
It looked like Quatre and Trowa would stand there forever.
:Not a very exciting relationship if you’re stuck staring into your lover’s eyes for eternity,: Wufei chuckled to himself.
Well, since the only way to Heero’s room was through the hallway the love struck pair was currently occupying, there would be no help for it.
He started clapping.
Trowa and Quatre spun around, but didn’t break apart; Wufei found that reassuring.
Trowa’s eyes narrowed, closing out the world again, as he regarded the Chinese pilot warily. Quatre simply blushed, but held fast to Trowa’s hand.
"What do you want?" Trowa asked.
"I really am sorry to break this up, honestly I am. But when was the last time anyone checked on Yuy or Maxwell?"
Quatre gasped, his hand flying to his mouth, before he broke free of Trowa’s grasp and dashed down the hall.
Trowa’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Duo’s name, and he eyed Wufei with almost hostile intensity.
"Don’t be so angry, Trowa. You really do owe this to Duo. After all, would you have told Quatre if Duo hadn’t frightened you into it?"
Trowa’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"Be honest," Wufei warned.
With a sigh of defeat, he turned and strode off after Quatre.
Wufei echoed the sigh; the small smirk playing at his mouth went unnoticed by anyone but himself as he followed.
"Trowa!"
He quickened his pace at Quatre’s frightened shout, visions of Duo strangling his love racing through his mind. As he slid to a halt at the doorway, he spared a moment to chide his overactive imagination.
Quatre crouched on the floor, his hands busy trying to awaken Duo, who lay in an awkward sprawl beside Heero’s bed.
"I can’t wake him up!" Quatre said, voice quavering.
Wufei slid to a halt behind Trowa, and, seeing the tableau, immediately hit a button on the wall and called for the doctors.
Trowa knelt next to Quatre and took the braided pilot’s arms in his hands.
"Let’s move him to the bed," he said, nodding to the second bed on the far wall.
Quatre nodded and moved to take Duo’s legs. They rose smoothly and carried their friend to the other bed, laying him gently on the sheets.
"What’s going on?" a doctor demanded breathlessly as she trotted into the room.
"We came to check on Heero, and found Duo collapsed on the floor. I can’t wake him up," Quatre answered, eyes wide and distressed.
The doctor and her compatriots, who were filing into the room behind her, stepped forward and started checking Duo. The other boys moved out of the way to watch the medical staff work. Behind them, Heero’s monitors gave a startled series of tones as the Japanese pilot’s life signs became erratic.
In the fray across the room, no one noticed.
Duo shook his head.
:Where am I? What is this place?:
He peered around him, startled by the thick blanket of grey nothingness that threatened to choke him. He fought against the suffocating pull, but found that it wasn’t substantial. It wasn’t material. It wasn’t REAL.
Or was it?
He climbed to his feet, only, there was nothing to climb to his feet on. He wasn’t standing on anything; he wasn’t hanging from anything. He simply WAS.
:Which is more than I can say about this place. Ch’. I must be dreaming. That’s the only thing it can be. Either that, or I’m already dead.:
His mouth puckered thoughtfully.
:Dead. That wouldn’t be so bad, I guess. As long as I could find Heero someday.:
:Heero...:
A blinding flash brought the object of his hope into being.
:He looks like Heero, with all those wires and tubes and things stuck to him,: Quatre thought, watching Duo anxiously.
Trowa’s arm tightened around his shoulders, drawing him close and offering him solace.
"Oh, Trowa. We can’t lose them. Not both of them," he murmured, burying his face into the other boy’s chest.
"Don’t underestimate that crazy baka," was Wufei’s muttered reply.
Monitors started their incessant beeping and whirring as they came online, one by one. Nothing shrieked at them. He might be okay if they could figure out what was wrong.
:He’s got to be all right; there aren’t any alarms shrilling,: Quatre thought stubbornly.
Yet.
There was solid ground below him. And a twisted tree to his right, stunted and warped by the wind, which was even now starting to pick up. He could feel the wind’s cold fingers caressing his braid, snapping the tie that confined it and unraveling the neat, tidy order of his hair.
:Unraveling. Just like me. I’m coming apart at the seams.:
The sick stench of stagnant water assailed his nose, making him gag and grimace.
Before him lay a river, it’s dark waters rushing swiftly into the gloom. Despite the strength of the water’s current, the scent of death and decay burst from the black fluid. Duo wrinkled up his nose and frowned.
:What the hell?:
Things bobbed to the surface of the water, racing past him with dizzying speed. Trees and logs, branches and bones, and unidentifiable things floated past, caught in the strong pull of those hypnotic waters.
It took his confused mind several minutes to put a name to those shapeless, screaming forms, jerking painfully into the darkness.
:bodies. Ohgod, those are bodies out there!:
He almost took a step into that water; some of those bodies were still screaming. Someone had to help them!
Some inner sense of calm halted him at the water’s edge, however, and made him look up, across the river.
Heero.
The Japanese pilot stood at the far edge of the river, peering around him in confusion. He was naked, and shivering in the cold.
As soon as Duo noticed that, a warm glow lit up the horizon behind his lover. It grew brighter and brighter; Duo could almost imagine the warmth of that glow, almost feel it touching his own soul.
Soul.
:Soul? Ohgod. Those aren’t bodies. They’re souls!:
Duo peered into the dark river with shock, hearing the water’s sinister chuckle answering his thoughts.
A storm whipped up behind him, pelting him with freezing rain, whirling his hair around him like a choking curtain. He fought the gale, struggling to keep Heero in sight across the river.
:Across the river? Across- That glow... Oh no...:
:Heero’s already crossed the River. He’s already dead.:
Sorrow choked his voice, almost halting the cry that tore from him.
"Heero!"
Across the River, the other boy jerked, his eyes snapping up to seek the source of that cry. He peered around himself with confusion, not able to place his surroundings, and not focusing on Duo. He stared at the river, comprehension dawning in his eyes as he concentrated on those wailing souls rushing past. A confused sort of fascination played across the shorthaired pilot’s amazingly open features as he considered the River.
Heero frowned.
"Heero!" Duo cried, unable to keep from calling out to his soulmate.
Heero looked up sharply again. He seemed to see the other side of the river for the first time. He stared at the raging storm and the twisted landscape with something like shock, but curiously detached. He frowned, suddenly, revulsion tinting his features.
Duo spared a glance around, and saw nothing. Just the blazing lightning, the broken trees, and the abandoned stones, littering the vast tundra.
A flash in the distance caught his eye. He could finally make out the bulk of Wing Zero across the plain. The Gundam seemed to be fighting something, but at the distance, Duo couldn’t tell what. He turned to face Heero again, guessing by the look in his lover’s eyes, that Heero could tell. Heero could see the Gundam’s target.
But still, he did not see Duo.
:It’s hopeless! He’s gone!:
The light pulsed, bathing Heero in its radiance; with a small smile, Heero turned away from the river, and took a step towards the light.
End part 3
RavynFyre
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