And He Doth Descended Into the Depths of Heaven
-Part Six-
Kuriyamimizu

copyrights are the same as always.

Kuri holds up a new sign: More Gundam Boy torture ahead, MUCH more shonen ai and tons of WEIRD SHIT!!!!

    Heero barely held to the wire that was lowering him down from zero. The auxiliary forces had been a lot larger than he had at first thought. When he looked back on the mission, through the haze of anger and confusion he could almost swear that he had taken on the entire base. It was possible. However, due to that fact he looked like hell. Blood trailed freely down his face, arms, and legs. He had suffered some internal bleeding as well. He couldn’t see Fusei anymore. His thoughts were scattered and he couldn’t figure out where he was supposed to go. Near as he could tell he ought to take a shower, sleep and then wait for his next mission.
 

     I stumbled through the house in a daze. I’d hit my head on the consoles a couple of time and everything looked kind of blurry. I ignored Quatre who rose with the most concerned face I had ever seen on anyone and kept on walking, down the hall, to the room I shared with Duo.

     Duo, through the fog of pain that clouded my mind that thought made me smile. I might get to see Duo again, and I could say ‘hi’.

     I found my way to our room and mercifully the bathroom was unoccupied. There was a sign on the door but I couldn’t read it. The words were too blurry. I just knew that I was dirty, in every sense of the word. I felt dirty, and bloodstained. I needed to wash it away and make myself clean again. Cleanliness helps healing to start.

     I stripped out of my garments and stepped beneath the spay. It stung a little bit. After about ten minutes of sitting there I realize I’m shaking. I guess I’d have to attribute it to the fact that I’m hurt so badly. I need to rest, but I’m still not clean. I don’t suppose I will be until I loose the feeling of cold that’s all over me. I can’t feel anything, I’m completely numb.

     Quatre tore down the halls with speed that would rival something his Gundam might pull. Heero had looked like hell when he had walked in. At first the little pilot had thought nothing of it, for Heero had come in looking a lot worse than that in past times. He figured that he Wing pilot would bandage himself up and sleep. What he hadn’t done was checked Heero’s mental state at the time. When he had done a casual check half an hour later, he found Heero’s mind completely frozen. It wasn’t just that there were no thoughts running through his head, it was the fact that his body was so cold that he could think of nothing else but the temperature.

     Now he had to locate the wing pilot. Never before had the house seemed quite as large as it did in that minute.

     I walk out of Quatre’s room where I was using his shower to find said room owner running down the halls as if the devil is after him. When he spots me I freeze, there’s something in his face, he’s desperate.

“What?”

“Have you seen Heero?!”

     Man, I never noticed how big Quatre’s eyes get when he’s stressed. I shake my head, almost misplacing the towel that’s keeping my wet hair from dripping all over the rug.

     Quatre’s thinking, I can tell that a million possibilities must be running through his mind right now. He’s the strategist. He figured something else.

“Why are you in my room?”

     I shrug, wondering what this has to do about Heero, whom I had assumed was still on mission.

“I used yours ‘cause my hot water’s broken. I got in there and on warm it was giving me the coldest water it could muster. I thought I was going to freeze!”

     In the background the sound of a shower can be heard. There are only two showers in the house. The one in Quatre’s room and the one in mine. I meet his eyes and then we move as one. Never before and never again have I moved in perfect synchronization with anyone. However, there were no words that needed to be exchanged between Quatre and I, we just went.

     Upon entering my room I found the bathroom door closed.

“Quatre, when did he get home?”

     The little blonde looked almost ill. “Over a half an hour ago.”

     At that point I decided to screw knocking. Y’know, pleasantries are nice and everything, but not when mixed with hypothermia. I threw myself against that door, shoulder digging into the wood. Score one point for sturdily made doors. I know if the roles had been reversed that Heero could have busted the sucker down no problem, but I’m not Heero. I hate being a shrimp!

     One more good hit to the door and the bugger broke, slamming against the wallpapered side of the bathroom. When I looked into the shower I almost died. Heero was slumped down in one of the corners, his skin blue. He was convulsively shuddering, his eyes glazed. Quatre slammed his fist against the tap and the water cut off. It took the efforts of both of us collectively to get him out of there. He was so cold, touching his skin was like touching ice.

     I’m glad it’s winter and that we’d pulled the extra blankets out. Heero’s content to sleep with the sheets and a comforter. For me that’s never enough. I need many, many layers of blankets, so that I can sleep in maximum comfort. However, it’s the fact that I love warmth so much that might save Heero from hypothermic shock.

     Quatre already got him into my bed and under the covers. I stood there clad in a towel and tried to make my brain work even as I watched Quatre beginning to strip.

“What the hell are you doing?”

     Quatre gave me a look that clearly told me I had asked one of the stupidest questions ever presented in the history of mankind.

“He’s not going to get warm on his own. Body heat Duo, get the towel off and get under here!”

     It all made sense now. I smiled in my utter idiocy and let the towel fall. Quatre glared at me from his position under the covers. I slipped under the sheets as well. Quatre holding him in front, I could see Heero’s head resting on his shoulder. Not knowing what else to do with myself I caught him around my waist and held him.

     Never before had I ever felt someone as cold as Heero was, and also, never had I ever let anyone as close to me as Heero was. The chill of his skin soaked into my own, and every little motion I could feel. In all honesty I was worried about him.
 

     Quatre felt Heero mumble something into his shoulder. He said nothing in reply, he simply tightened his grip marginally and stroked a hand through the distressed boy’s hair.

/hum this tune./

     Quatre blinked in the darkness of the room. There was no one there save Duo and Alex. Trowa had left a little while ago to get more tea and a heated blanket. Still, a new voice made itself apparent. He didn’t want to answer verbally, it might disturb Heero, although, in the state that the other was in he most likely couldn’t hear anything.

/Who are you?/

/His guardian! I’ll make formal introductions later. Just hum the tune!/

     Quatre received the necessary data. It wasn’t a hard tune, it was actually fairly simple. He knew he could handle it. He started to hum, his sweet, melodious voice enhanced by something unseen.

     I was in complete shock at what happened when Quatre started to hum. I could feel all of the tension drain out of Heero. The shaking started to calm too. Wow, that’s quite a powerful tool that Quatre implemented.

     The first thing I became aware of when I could think clearly was that I was cold. Not the biting, chilling, horrible feeling that I had been trapped in a little while ago, but just mildly chilled. The second thing I became aware of was that I was sandwiched between two people. When I looked I found that I had my head rested against Quatre’s shoulder. At my back was someone. When I heard the sound of mewling snores I knew that it would be Duo. The question that my mind first posed was how I came to be in this, weird, yet not exactly uncomfortable position.

     I couldn’t find the strength to bring my head up at that moment so I decided to speak from my current position.

“What’s going on?”

     I find myself rather annoyed that my speech is slightly impeded by the sounds of my teeth chattering.

     Quatre smiles and holds me closer, bringing the delicious warmth of his body all the closer. Out of pure reaction I snuggle to the source of comfort. My mind is completely shot to hell, I’m aware of that fact now.

“You almost killed yourself Heero no baka. Now you’re contained within---“

     For a moment he paused and then laughed. “You’re contained within a manwich.”

     I rolled my eyes at the lame joke, however Duo found it funny. I heard him snort in the background as he kept himself from laughing at his usual full volume. I let myself relax for an undefined period to time. It was just fine by me to simply be held between two of the closest people to me. Duo is the only one that I would classify as a friend, but due to recent events, Quatre has joined the ranks of the few and the proud. It’s so hard to think.

“Why did you do this?”

     My teeth are still chattering. I’m getting really annoyed at that. One attempt to clamp my jaw down so that they won’t do that proves to be a futile action. It only makes my jaw ache and the rest of me continues to tremble anyway. Duo snuggles himself closer as well, and speaks in my ear.

“We were worried about you. What gave you the sudden, undeniable urge to give yourself hypothermia? “

     I would shrug if I could move my shoulders.

“Exactly what you just stated, something indefinable.”

     I could hear the displeasure in his voice as he reprimanded me gently.

“Heero! There has to be something---“

“Nothing!”

     Even I’m shocked at how hard my voice seems to sound even though I’m still only partially thawed. Quatre moves and I feel his muscles readjust.

“Just let him be Duo. Nothing can be gained right now.”

     That’s damn straight. I’m glad that Quatre is intelligent enough to pick up on the fact. I sigh and let their warmth once again move through me like a friendly tide. Duo’s hair is tickling my neck. All that I can hear in the room is the sound of breathing. Not once does it occur to me that my current situation is in any way wrong or indecent. This was what people do when they’re stranded in the mountains in a blizzard. At that thought my hazy eyes trail to the window and I find that it’s snowing outside. I can see the little flakes falling through the air with slow grace to come to Earth. It’s a little early for snow, but one can never predict the winter. In the background I see someone sitting on my bed reading a book. After another moment of study I deduce that it would be Trowa, sitting there, engrossed in whatever he had decided that he would like to read. He looked up, caught my eyes and nodded once before returning to his prior activity.

     This is such a perfect feeling. I never thought that I would ever be able to curl up with Heero like this. It’s wonderful. I think that if I could capture a moment in time, this would be one that I would hold for an eternity. He’s warmer now, and his breathing has steadied out. I’m so glad that he’s going to be all right. Both he and Quatre have drifted to sleep. Quatre thought it would be best if we all stayed together for the evening. I’m all for it, because it’s really not a bad deal in my mind.

     Trowa’s watching us all. Whenever I think of the tall, slightly lanky pilot I always figure him to be the sentinel. He’s playing the part right now as far as I’m concerned. He’s pulled one of the downy comforters around his shoulders as well. From what I can tell he doesn’t like the cold any more than I do, and I’m a shrimp.

“Cold Trowa?”

     He looks up, attentive for any threat that might be coming and then relaxes when he figures out that it’s only me. He nods once and then goes back to his book. I can’t read the title from where I’m laying and I’m too lazy to ask. Could there be nothing more perfect in this evening. I haven’t even had a headache in over ten hours!

     I lean forward and bury my head against Heero’s shoulder, just behind it so that I don’t crush him. I watch with small personal satisfaction as a small smile creeps onto his lips. Maybe he isn’t as cold as I think he is.

     In the background Trowa is watching. I hear him draw a breath as if to speak and then stop again. After a moment’s pause he decided that what he was about to say really is worth saying.

“He does care more than it would at first appear, I think.”

     Of all of the things that I was expecting him to say, that was not one of them. That comment had me completely lost.

“huh?”

     Trowa smiled at me, understanding written into the small gesture.

“It’s written all over your face, you’re in deep with him aren’t you?”

     I had never been one to blush, at any time, and especially not when embarrassed. However, Trowa had performed a slam dunk in my opinion. He had read me like an open book. Trying to banish the blush I nodded, looking away.

     When I turned back I saw him gazing at the sleeping Quatre with the same admiration that I tried to keep off of my face whenever I looked at Heero.

“It’s all right.”

     I wiggled my eyebrows, grinning. “So are you and Quatre together?”

     He looked at me with a face born of pure innocence. “Yeah.”

     I couldn’t resist. I’m a very curious person by nature and I can’t help but want to butt into other people’s sex lives.

“So how many bases?”

     Trowa’s one visible eyebrow arched up and he gave me a look that clearly stated that I was meandering into territory I was not welcome to. Then he laughed, a light thing and answered my question.

“I haven’t gotten far. Not even first base yet. Things take time Duo. It’s not just all one mad hormonal rush..”

“Damn.”

“What?”

“I think that was possibly one of the most profound things that I’ve ever heard you say, and it was also one of the sweetest.”

     I smiled, closing my eyes. Then I remembered something.

“Hey, Trowa, could’ja pass me my pants please?”

     The taller boy didn’t ask questions, he just grabbed the pants and tossed them over. They landed on my head and the little bottle in the pocket knocked me on the forehead. I pulled the pants away from my face and shot Trowa a glare which he ignored as he went back to reading his book.

     I grabbed the little orange bottle out of the pocket and read the label. It stated in neat little print, Zoloft. I had no idea what it would do. I grabbed one of the little things and popped it into my mouth. Nothing happened at first, and I really shouldn’t have expected it to. So, having nothing better to do with my time I decided that I would sleep.

     Sally stared at the test results that she had re-confirmed three times consecutively with the same results. She didn’t understand how something like that could happen to someone as sweet as Duo. However, it could happen to anyone at all.

     One finger twirled lazily around the tip of one of her braids. The room temperature was chilly. She swiveled slowly back and forth in the chair in front of her computer. She wasn’t sure how she would tell Duo about it. She certainly wished that she could avoid it. It had been a good idea after all, giving him the Zoloft. He had no idea that it was an anti-depressant, although, in light of recent events it might become one of his new best friends.

     She didn’t want to think that this could happen to one of the pilots that she cared so much about. She really ought to get in touch with Hildy. Duo might not want to talk to his fellow pilots about it, and she seemed to be the next closest person to him. The worst thing about the whole situation was that she could do absolutely nothing for him. There were no known treatments for his condition, because such a condition had never arisen before to her knowledge.

     Resolution sunk into her slowly; she would have to get in touch with Hildy so that the other girl would have a head start on the situation. Her fingers trailed mindlessly over the keys that set up the link to one of the outer colonies where Hildy was currently staying.

     The morning found Quatre mutually entangled  within Heero and Duo’s arms. He yawned once and smiled when he noted that Heero had regained his normal skin tone. However, to his dismay Duo looked gray. He knew that it wasn’t due to any ghostly visitations or odd dreams. He had blocked the longhaired pilot’s subconscious from doing him any serious harm last evening. Now he couldn’t figure out what might cause the other pilot so much distress.

     Heero was waking too. He could feel the Wing pilot’s lethargic mind regaining some semblance of order. That made him happy as well. Duo woke with a start, his violet eyes staring straight into the ceiling without seeing anything at all. What Quatre first felt was the fact that Duo’s emotions were neither high nor low, for that fact they almost weren’t there. Usually the Deathscythe pilot’s mind didn’t act that way unless he was seriously upset. The only other option was that he was drugged. No one could have slipped him anything---

“Duo, are you all right?”

     The other boy let his head loll over until it was resting against his rather prominent collar bone. Quatre had never really noticed how lithe Duo really was. He watched with mild concern as Duo blinked his rather dull eyes and pondered his question.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

     Quatre didn’t believe him.

“Are you sure?”

     Duo nodded the affirmative and so he was forced to go with what the other pilot said. He had to say something else.

“You look a little zombified.”

     Duo shrugged, managing not to jar the still sleeping Heero. When Quatre threw his glance over to the chair where Trowa had been sitting he found it empty. He figured that the other boy must have gone back to their room. However there was the sound of light snoring coming from the background. Quatre peeked over Heero’s shoulder and found Trowa sleeping on the other bed. A small smile crossed his lips and he let his head sink back down into the pillows.

     The sound of the phone ringing shattered the moment of serenity. No one rose to answer it. From the other side of Heero, Quatre heard Duo mutter something about letting the answering machine get it. The phone rang a couple more times and then was silenced before the machine picked up. There were the sounds of footsteps coming down the hall and then Wufei appeared in the doorway, wearing the cordless headset. He looked at the situation and his eyebrows rose about an inch and a half.

“Just a moment.”

     He clamped his hand over the little microphone and looked at Duo.

“Maxwell, it’s for you.”

     Duo thrust a hand up into the air to receive the handless phone. Wufei placed it in his palm and then backed off with a bemused expression on his face. He threw a glance to Quatre as Duo put on the headset.

“You’ll have to give me the details.”

     Quatre blushed furiously at the implications made by the statement simply spoken by Wufei; who looked for all intensive purposes, a little windswept. The little blonde had to save a little face. He peered up at Wufei through his bangs and raised an eyebrow.

“So where have you been? It looks like your ponytail is prominently fixed at a right angle.”

     Wufei brought a hand back to touch his ponytail self-consciously. He glared at Quatre and then rolled his eyes.

“I hiked up a Tibetan mountain.”

     Quatre smiled and nodded, grinning in an annoying fashion.

“You’ll have to tell me later, I think we’re disturbing Duo.”

     As the Chinese and Arabian pilots watched, Duo’s face twisted in all sorts of interesting combinations of emotion, however, no words made it out of his mouth. Finally, after about five minutes of silence on their end of the line Duo managed to say something. His voice sounded off.

“Uh huh, yeah, I’ll be in tomorrow. Thank you----goodbye.”

     Quatre and Wufei were unaware that they raised their eyebrows in synchronization. First Quatre spoke, and then Wufei.

“Mission?”

“Problem?”

     Duo’s eyes seemed to be even more glazed than previously. He looked blankly at the two standing there, but to the objects of his attention it seemed as if he were staring straight through them. When he spoke, after some length, his voice was soft, and barely audible over the sound of the heater that had come on in the background.

“Not a mission, nor a problem. Everything’s fine.”

     Quatre looked at Duo with disbelief clearly written onto his face.

“You don’t sound okay.”

     In the same quiet, whispering, almost burnt out kind of voice Duo replied.

“Don’t think about it. Let’s just go back to sleep, it’s barely five. No one has missions and Heero’s starting to shiver again. Let’s just sleep and forget about it.”

     Wufei could tell that something had just majority hit Duo. The boy was never down-hearted. He was part of the collective soul of them all. He represented the bounce and cheer and vibrancy. Yet whatever had just been told to him on the phone severely upset him, for he was quiet. Now that Wufei thought about it, it had been Sally Poe on the phone. What had she said to Duo?

     They were questions for another time. He was exhausted, they seemed tired, and it was time for all concerned simply to sleep. He walked out quietly, trying not to disturb Duo, who had replaced his head at the base of Heero’s neck and curled up to the Wing pilot, or Trowa who was asleep on the other bed. He didn’t even bother to try to quell the flash of jealousy that welled up within him when he thought about Heero sandwiched between Duo and Quatre. However, he had other things to worry about.

     Sakura whispered in his ear, inquiring. He rolled his eyes at her request and then nodded. He stopped just outside of Duo and Heero’s room and sunk down against the wall, into a comfortable sitting position.

     Fusei breathed a deep sigh of relief. Alex stared at Duo without really seeing him.

/I’m glad that Heero’s all right. You look like crap./

     Fusei looked over to the little girl and smiled sardonically.

/Why thank you Alex. Nah, seriously I’m really glad that he’s with them. It was like he was going to shatter while he was in Cambodia./

/I think that it’s just getting closer to time./

/Time for what?/

     Both the angel and the devil looked back at the sound of the new voice. When Fusei recognized the new arrival she was suddenly all smiles.

/Sakura! It’s so great to see you! I take it Wufei is close?/

     The new angel nodded, resettling her wings so that they wouldn’t fade through the walls. There was nothing wrong with having such an occurrence happen, however, it looked odd to the casual observer. She rolled her eyes and brushed a stray bang out of her face. She looked a little windswept as well, and more than a little bit disheveled.

/I wish that Wufei could find some less challenging ways to find himself, like SIMPLE meditation, and not something on top of a bloody mountain./

     Fusei smiled sympathetically. /Oh, Sakura, this is Alex, she’s Duo’s guardian./

     The little demon smiled uncertainly at Sakura. At best she had received rocky greetings from all of the other heavenly beings that she had met up to that point; so she had cause to be wary. Sakura smiled unashamedly and knelt down even while extending her hand. The grateful demon took it and shook enthusiastically. After she had met with Sakura though, her eyes found the same cold, quiet aspect that they had held earlier. Alex’s mood was a reflection of Duo’s mood. From her behavior both of the senior angels could deduce that there was something going on beneath the surface.

/Why don’t you watch him chibi. I’ve got to ask Fusei something about people you don’t know about. If it dealt with anything that you knew of then we would include you./

     The little demon never looked back to the other two. In a voice that was very steady and extraordinarily tired for one so young she replied. /I realize I’m not being excluded. Go on with your business./

     Fusei watched as Alex got onto the bed with the three other boys and sat down next to Duo, stroking a small hand through his errant bangs. The arch angel felt a pang in her heart as she watched distress wash over the smaller being as a single tear slid down Duo’s cheek. Directly thereafter his eyes closed and he surrendered himself to the black oblivion of sleep.

     Pity would only get her so far; there were other matters that needed her attention. She turned to Sakura and her face melted into something much more serious.

/What’s going on mi amiga?/

     Sakura sighed deeply.

/No Spanish right now, I just hiked up a mountain./

     Fusei sighed, shaking her head and then rolling her eyes. /Well yes, that aside of course. Have you heard anything from Stephanie or Brynn?/

     Sakura shook her head. /Thank God, no, not yet. They’re not needed to be –right- here yet. When they are, there’s no turning back. I heard the almighty talking the other day. One of those two is going down./

     Fusei’s face fell. /No, not again?/

     The solemn air of the room only seemed to be intensifying as the conversation progressed. The red-eyed angel sighed and nodded.

/In that way it’s just the same as it’s always been. Someone gets to be the sacrificial lamb. I know who, but I can’t tell you./

     Fusei growled low in her throat. She had never been one to give up, either easily or on just anyone.

/You’re sure that we can’t do anything at all?/

     Sakura nodded again. /I’m positive. If I could have I would have./

     Fusei sighed again, a stray feather flowing past her face to cascade to the rug. /The world is failed on could have, would have, should have. What happened to doing?/

     Wufei’s angel had no answer to the question. She sat silently and contemplated an answer, even while her gaze roamed far from Fusei and into someplace else entirely.

/I suppose that people stopped doing when others stopped trying. I really couldn’t answer your question there. Gomen. Anyway, I think the ryu needs to sleep and I think that you need to watch over Heero. If I can tell you what’s going on then I will, until then I bid you good---/

     She stopped for a moment, staring into the first, fresh rays of sunlight that were beginning to cascade in gentle waves over the mountains far in the East and then sighed, causing the curtains to fall closed.

/I bid you good morning and good luck./

     Sakura faded from sight altogether and there was the sound of one lone man walking down the halls soon after. Fusei fluttered silently over to sit at Heero’s bedside and contented herself with stroking her pale and lithe fingers through his hair.

     Alex was on the verge of tears. She knew what was happening. After a long while of hovering uncertainly in the middle ground of the dark she had finally been given the last piece of the puzzle that was her protectorate. He was dying, and in so doing would assume the mantle of something from long ago, something that he had been.

     She moved her fingers over his face, trying to get him to wake up without jarring him. His mental state was a mess, and she wanted to see if she could try and fix it. Or something; she wanted to do anything that was in her power to try and help the one that was lying there on the bed and shivering. He was cold, the icy fingers of fate had finally found their grasp on him and were taking their toll on his lithe and small frame. She sighed heavily and snuggled closer, knowing deep in her heart that she could honestly do nothing for him as she was; a fact that made her heart very heavy. Duo’s eyes cracked open and he winked at her half-heartedly. She smiled through her sadness and reinforced the façade.

     I could not believe what I had just been told. My life went from being perfectly fine to horribly worse in comparison to what had been. Sally had just told me things that I had never wanted to hear. In the back of my mind some dark part of my heart told me that I was getting my just rewards and that the past was finally coming to bite me in the ass. That’s what I couldn’t understand. If something was going to happen to me, why did it have to be now? The times seemed to be screaming change and the winds hinted at something even greater to come, and yet everything had suddenly flown straight to hell. And all because of some little insignificant bump in my neck.

     Cancer; I just can’t believe that it’s cancer.

-End Part Six

On to Part 7

Back to Part 5

Back to the Fanfics!