15-May-2000
revised: 12-Jul-2001
Well, I've finally caught up with all the rewrites for Minuet and am finally up to the... (drum roll please) NEW part! Anyway, enough gossip, here's the fic. Oh yes. The usual, R, Au, OOC, Continuation, 4x1/2x1, Sci-Fi etc.
One more thing, I still think that this one is one of my fav parts in the Minuet series.
Revised and edited. C & C please. By the way, there are special guest stars from other series who I've 'borrowed' for support roles in this part. I mention this because one of them, in particular, should be pretty well known. ^_~
The black, convertible, BMW sped madly out on to the freeway, scattering frightened and indignant motorists in its path. The driver was a handsome man, an outrageous thick brown braid flying behind him, his fingers tapping impatiently on the wheel, as he continued to press harder down on his accelerator.
'I need you.'
Three little words. He felt his heart stop when he heard those words whispered softly over the phone. How long had he been waiting for this day...?
Duo swerved crazily, only narrowly missing a little blue Volkswagen who beeped its outrage at him as he sped away. He laughed out loud, thinking about how in just twenty minutes, he would be together with him again. Heero.
Duo turned up the volume on his car stereo, drowning himself in the wild beat of the loud music. His heart pounding, just as loudly, in sympathy with the beat. Duo gave in to the wide grin tugging at his lips as he drove towards San Francisco, to Heero.
He glanced over at the green sign looming over his right ride and noticed that he only had five more minutes before the city limits and reluctantly forced the car to slow down. The last thing he wanted was a needless delay with a traffic cop.
Damn. That was close.
Heero bit his lip as he clutched his bleeding shoulder, wishing that he had a first aid kit with him. He continued to run, breathing heavily as the exhaustion of the past two days started to catch up to him. He looked around the crowded streets desperately, noticing how the other pedestrians backed away from him in horror, then in terror, as the three black garbed men closed in on him.
Heero ran out on to the speeding traffic, nimbly avoiding the swerving cars as he sought to place obstacles between himself and his pursuers. He gritted his teeth as he heard one of the cars blowing up behind him and hissed in pain as a sudden hot gush of air hit him. He realised that the other cars had also gotten caught in the explosion. Even as he continued running, Heero couldn't help wondering bitterly whether he would ever be able to justify the way he had placed these civilians at risk.
Then, as yet another blast rocked his footsteps, Heero concentrated all his efforts on trying to get away from his determined pursuers. He debated briefly on whether he should try the subway again and then changed his mind when he remembered the destruction that had resulted in a cave in of the tunnel, last time he had rabbited down that path. He tightened his grip on the damaged shoulder grimly, knowing that his strength was ebbing out with the crimson stain spreading over his shirt.
Heero wondered whether he would manage to hold out until he reached Duo. He had lost all sense of time since he began this relentless run... and wondered if Duo had arrived at the meeting place as yet. Please... be there... Heero prayed silently, as he forced himself to move faster.
Almost there... Duo hummed idly under his breath, even as his eyes sparked with fluttering hope and desire. He didn't know why Heero had called him and he didn't care. He found himself unconsciously darting glances at his mirror, grinning at his reflected image like a damned fool.
He narrowed his eyes sharply as he noticed the slow moving Ford heading towards the gap in the parked line of cars in front of the cafe and stepped down, hard, on his accelerator. Duo smirked smugly, as he forced his way into the one remaining carpark and gave a careless shrug at the angry woman, who glared at him, before giving up and driving away her beaten up old Ford.
He leaned lazily against the leather seat and debated whether he should get out and wait at the café or stay in the car, just in case... Duo didn't want to admit, even to himself, that he was still afraid that Heero would change his mind at the last minute. No. He decided firmly - reducing the volume slightly, in deference to the cranky glances coming from the patrons of the café sitting outside - he'd just stay in the car and wait.
When Heero turned up, he wanted him to see how cool he looked in sleek convertible, with his black shades. Duo grinned happily and mused on what Heero would say when he saw him... He looked idly around the crowded Waterfront and decided that things hadn't really changed that much since the old days when he used to come by with Heero.
'Hey, are you okay man?'
Heero pushed past the concerned boy roughly, ignoring the loud screaming from the woman who had just noticed that his shirt was soaked with blood all down the left side.
He felt a dizzy pounding in his head and knew that he was losing too much blood, but he couldn't stop. Not with those bloodhounds after him. He grimaced as he heard yet another loud explosion coming from behind him. He gasped with relief as he suddenly realized that he was almost at the café, where Duo was, where he had to be. He was so tired...
Heero knew that he had made a mistake in not trying to fight back when they had first appeared. But he didn't want to kill anyone any more. And because of his squeamishness, a lot of innocent people had died. Heero cursed himself for not seizing the opportunity to attack them the second time they had come for him.
It would have had been so easy, he had them in his sights and he just... couldn't. His hands had trembled as he held the gun pointed at the three men who were scanning the crowd, searching for him. They hadn't even sighted him and he knew that he could end it all, right then. All he had to do was to pull the trigger... and that was when he found that he couldn't. Heero sighed heavily as he desperately ran at the corner, towards Duo, who would be waiting for him, at the café.
He flicked a sweat soaked lock of hair out of his eyes and wiped his face with a grimy hand, the other still holding on to the useless shoulder. Heero turned the corner and felt his eyes widen with surprise. He choked back a startled laugh at the sight of the elegant figure lounging casually in the sleek black BMW, a pair of black shades almost sliding off his nose, as the handsome man leaned his head comfortably against folded arms and chatted animatedly with the nearby blushing waitress.
Just a couple more steps. That's all... Heero felt his vision blurring as he staggered forward.
Boom.
What the hell! Duo jumped to his knee, staring around him in confusion as yet another loud explosion sounded, even closer. Then, he felt his heart freeze as a familiar figure stumbled around the corner of the old Hotel across the street. Heero.
Duo swore loudly, his eyes hardening as he observed the way Heero was clutching on to his left shoulder and the darkened blood staining his grey shirt. He settled back into the seat and immediately threw his car into reverse, oblivious to the loud screeching and beeping from the motorists startled by his movement.
Duo drove to Heero's side and as soon as he helped him into the side seat, stepped hard on the accelerator and pushed the car into ongoing traffic. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw three men, all in black and carrying heavy armament, appear in the right side mirror, before they were left behind, as he continued to press his car faster.
'What, no hello for your old lover? Or a word of thanks for the brilliant rescue that I just executed?'
Duo bantered lightly, his heart hammering wildly with suppressed panic, not liking the pale waxy sheen of Heero's skin, and the way his lover's eyes had darkened with pain as his shoulder was jolted by the sudden movement of the car.
'What about a word on who those clowns were and why they were firing on you.'
Duo cursed loudly as yet another explosion sounded, this time sending a red Honda flying past their heads and the black convertible squealed loudly as it swerved, narrowly avoiding being hit by the debris.
'Make that... why they are firing on us? Who in the world did you piss off this time Heero? Aside from that blond snake who must be choking on his own venom by now, if he knew that we were together.'
Heero grunted softly and murmured, 'You still talk too much.'
Duo started slightly, then grinned impishly at the dark haired man who was carefully adjusting his posture, trying to make sure that his shoulder was being jarred as little as possible. Then with a smug smile, he said simply, '...behind you. First aid box.'
Duo preened proudly as Heero wordlessly got out the box from behind his seat, and started to bandage his shoulder.
'Better than a bouquet of roses when it comes to a date with you. I thought it might come in handy. Though,' he tsked disapprovingly as he saw Heero apply a dose of morphine to himself, 'I wasn't expecting you to be quite so banged up. How in the world did you get careless enough to be hit by those idiots? Really Heero... I'm ashamed of you. What happened to the cool hotshot who used to take out an entire Oz base on his own.'
He laughed out loud, amused by the familiar sight of the smouldering glower in Heero's eyes.
Heero looked away, trying to hide the sudden twitching of his lips at the wicked dancing gleam in the violet eyes of his old lover and partner. He leaned against the soft leather headrest, a sense of happiness pervading and warming his tired battered body. It was.. nice... just to be with Duo. He'd almost forgotten...
He sighed softly in contentment as the throbbing pain finally dulled under the effects of the morphine. He rubbed his cheek against the smooth black leather and curled up snugly on the ample seat, and felt the tension drain out of him.
Heero opened a sleepy eye to look at the handsome profile next to him, not wanting to lose sight of him for the moment, even to sleep.
'Thank you.'
He murmured softly, the words a mere feathery tickle in his mouth.
Duo didn't turn his head but his smile widened until it threatened to split his mouth and Heero knew that he had heard.
'You lost him!'
Ryoga Hibiki grimaced sourly as he held the phone away from his ear, the high pitched scream still ringing in his sensitive ears. You'd think that considering that she was one who had specifically requested that he be modified for increased sensory perception, she'd remember just how sensitive his ears were now...
'You moron! How can you have lost him! You reported that you'd have Yuy within the hour. That was well over 7 hours ago! Just how much longer are you going to let him make fools of you! I'm telling you that I have to have him by tomorrow morning at the latest. Do you hear me!'
Ryoga rubbed his sore ears ruefully, glaring at his unrepentant companions who had placed themselves well out of his reach, knowing the volatile nature of his temper.
'Man... what a bitch.' He snarled, baring the pointed ends of his fangs, the only visible sign of the genetic tempering that had taken place at Omega. 'And she didn't even give me the chance to explain.'
One of his companions, a gawky teenager with orange hair slicked back, sniggered loudly before remarking, 'does she ever? I told you it was useless to report to her without Yuy in our hands but you didn't listen to me. You are such a stickler for protocol, Hibiki. Now what're we going to do? That bastard in the black convertible's nabbed our prey.'
'Drop dead Kuwabara. I don't give a shit about any asshole in a fancy car. We just keep after them, that's all. As soon as we catch up to them, we'll eliminate the pansy with the braid and take Yuy as we originally planned. Right?' Ryoga growled harshly, adding, 'and when we do...'
His eyes burned as he stared at his companions, who shifted uneasily until his glare was turned away from them. 'I intend to take some interest out of Yuy's hide for all the shit he gave us.' Kuwabara exchanged uneasy glances with the remaining team member, a tall young man with spiky brown hair held away from his face in a red headband. They were definitely feeling tired after the long chase and wanted to give up on the elusive man who managed to outwit them time and again.
Kuwabara had a strong premonition that they shouldn't underestimate the stranger who had appeared so suddenly and snatched Yuy out of their grasp. But he didn't dare force the issue with Ryoga, whose bloodlust increased, as they were frustrated at every turn. He looked meaningly at Sanosuke who simply shook his head silently, indicating his reluctance to stand up to their violent leader, and sighed in resignation. The hunt, it seemed, was to continue.
Duo stopped the car when he was finally certain that he had shaken the pursuing men, who had obviously been unprepared for his appearance. He looked at Heero and smiled gently when he saw his chest rise and fall slightly, his mouth temptingly apart as he slept heavily, then frowned as he noticed the faint flush on Heero's cheek and the tiny sweat beads on his forehead.
Duo placed his hand lightly on Heero's cheek and felt the warm heat of his fever. He took off his jacket and tenderly wrapped it around the prone body. He knew that Heero was more than capable of taking care of himself, he still remembered vividly the first time he had seen Heero set his own broken leg. And knew that Heero would have done an excellent job of taking care of the wound but he still didn't like the sight of the dried blood caked down Heero's side and wished that he could take him to a hospital.
Funny that. He hadn't known that Heero hated hospitals until after they started living together on Earth. When he walked into their apartment and had seen Heero calmly stitching together a large tear in his leg, he had lost his temper and had tried to force him to go to a nearby clinic. That had caused one of their worst fights. He finally had to accept that Heero loathed being in a hospital. He still didn't know why though and it drove him crazy. He hated knowing that there was something that he didn't know about Heero...
Duo sighed, and lightly caressed the matted hair over Heero's eyes. He ran his eyes over the hunched figure hungrily, wishing that he could just gather him into his arms and never let him go again. He leaned against the side door and looked at Heero sleeping in his front side seat, content to just keep watching.
After a while, he closed his eyes against the distracting sight and thought back to the three men he had glimpsed so briefly in his mirror. Duo thought that he had recognised one of them. When he visited Omega three months ago, Dorothy had introduced him to a promising young candidate for her investigation into artificial physical enhancement. A youth with unruly brown hair that spiked out wildly.
He doubted that there'd be two people with such distinctive, and silly, he couldn't help amending with a grin, hairdo in this world. And if they really were from Omega then, Duo promised himself that he would have a long and very, very serious talk with the blond bitch who ran that project. But first, he intended to teach the inconvenient trio, a lesson on real power. He lifted his phone and waited for the soft dial tone, shifting his position slightly so that the other hand could keep stroking Heero's roughened hair.
'Have you found them yet?'
Sanosuke fidgeted impatiently as he stared at the orange haired boy, who was frowning hard as he turned, first in one direction then in the other. After a short while, Kuwabara gave a decided nod and pointed towards northwest.
'There. That's where Yuy is.'
'Good.'
Ryoga grinned ferally as he mounted his bike and motioned for his companions to do the same. He knew that there was no way that Yuy could keep running as long as Kuwabara could track him.
His own abilities weren't quite as useful when locating prey over long distance, 'though' he thought smugly, 'with all that blood, the minute we got in close range, I'll be able to track him easily by scent.'
Ryoga shifted the bazooka casually on his lap and decided that he was going to turn that pretty little car into scrap metal for starters, then, he revved his engine violently, as he kicked the bike into motion, it was payback time.
Heero moaned involuntarily, jarring his shoulder slightly as he awoke. Then he sat up and blinked the sleep from his eyes as he saw the three motorbikes bearing down on him, their riders readying their weapons. He turned to see Duo, whose face had split into a broad grin as he deliberately turned the car in their direction.
As Heero turned back to the bikers, all of a sudden a large shadow hid the sun and he turned his attention to the sky, widening his eyes as he recognised the familiar outline. It was a Gundam. Black and white.
Heero started as he realized that the Gundam wasn't alone, it was accompanied by much smaller triangular shapes that darted wildly around it as though they were alive. The bikers had stopped and were staring at the metal giant in the sky, then they turned as one and started to speed away.
The Gundam remained stationery above the car, but its smaller companions began racing towards the bikers who split in three directions. Heero narrowed his eyes with interest as the triangular shapes also split and chased after the bikers separately.
Heero looked at the smug, satisfied grin and Duo's face and knew that he had no intention of sparing his nameless attackers. He hesitated briefly before blurting out...
'Don't kill them.'
Duo stiffened and glared at Heero through his darkened lenses. As his mouth tightened harshly, he heard Heero whisper.
'Please.'
And stopped. He looked at Heero who was staring back at him steadily. Duo bit his lower lip in annoyance. He didn't really think that it was a good idea to indulge in soft sentimentalism. Especially considering the ruthless way in which the attackers had disposed of any civilians who had been 'in their way' but... he also didn't want to disappoint Heero. Damn. He considered trying to stall in the hopes that Amuro would have wiped out the three nuisances while he waited... and scowled unhappily as he stared into the large blue eyes fixed unmovingly on his face. Duo reluctantly picked up his phone.
'Amuro. Disable targets only. Do not terminate.'
He turned to Heero and lifted his sunnies off his face. 'You do know that this is stupid, don't you? They have no respect for anyone's life. Look at all the people that they killed just trying to get to you. Not to mention the other innocent people they'll probably kill, if we spare them. And it'll all be our fault.'
Heero nodded, his eyes hold firm resolve. 'You're probably right.' He admitted calmly. 'But that still doesn't give us the right to kill them. Just because we can. That makes us no different from them.'
Duo clenched his jaw, forcing the words back inside his throat. He had no intention of being distracted into another futile argument with Heero, ever again. He forced a smile on his face and saw Heero relax.
'Maybe so. In any case, Amuro will make sure that they can't come after you for a while at least. Now do you want to tell me what's going on?'
Heero turned his head to look at the three bikers who were desperately trying to dodge the blasts coming from the darting shapes following them and asked instead, 'What are they?'
Duo smiled proudly. 'They are bits.' He sniggered when Heero shot him a dirty look. 'Hey, I didn't name them. Blame Amuro.'
'Amuro.' Heero repeated slowly, before looking up at the hulking shadow over them. 'The pilot of the Gundam.'
'NuGundam.' Duo corrected politely, amused by the intent look on his lover's face as he studied the metal giant carefully. 'It's a different model than the ones we used to work with. Amuro isn't just a pilot, he's worked on the designs of the NuGundam himself.'
Heero shook his head as he finally understood what Duo had been up to with Project Epsilon. 'Enhanced humans you said.' He muttered quietly, almost to himself, 'so that you don't just get a pilot, but someone who also know design schematics and can incorporate modifications based on his own knowledge and experience.'
'Not to mention,' Duo added with a drawl, 'being able to merge directly with the machine, cutting down on the reflex and response time,' he shrugged as Heero looked at him with a startled face, 'yeah, that's right. That's why I needed the Zero system. Except, it's different from the way it was for us. The machine doesn't take over the pilot. The pilot merges with the machine, becoming one with the machine. Amuro is the NuGundam. He thinks, it moves. And,' he continued, shielding his eyes as he stared up, his sunglasses resting forgotten on his lap, 'it seems that there may be some additional side-effects. Like precognition. In a limited sense though. When Amuro is placed under highly stressful conditions, like a battle, his sensory perception is kicked into high gear and his unconscious starts predicting his opponent's movement.'
Heero stared silently at Duo who was still looking at the NuGundam with proprietary pride shining out of his eyes.
'And this,' he spoke tonelessly, 'is what you meant by your dream to produce Beethovens and Newtons for a new and better society?'
Duo turned his eyes on Heero who had moved away from him and was now leaning against the side door. He held out his hand and said, 'let's not talk about this any further. Heero. I asked you why those men were chasing you. You're the one who called me for help, remember?' He emphasised the last word slightly.
'Yes.' Heero answered softly, his eyes on the hand still held out in front of him. He looked up and met the violet eyes with a sudden smile that flashed shyly then disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
Duo flushed as he felt his heart thump loudly. It was just a little smile for Christ's sake, he admonished himself, unable to stop himself from reaching forward with trembling fingers, and carefully, very carefully, stroking the bruised and scratched cheek of the man staring at him with wide blue eyes.
'You called. I came.' He murmured softly as his fingers moved gently down the side of the cheek and reached the soft lips, that parted slightly as he traced their outline. His head moving closer and closer to Heero's, until their heads were parted only by a hand's width.
Duo felt his breath quicken as he breathed in Heero's familiar scent, noticing the deepening flush on the other man's cheeks, and the moist warmth of his breath against his face, as he moved in even closer. His eyes never leaving Heero's eyes, staring intensely into those deep dark blue depths, and as just as his lips started to brush across Heero's mouth... the phone buzzed.
The two men started and Heero backed away, even as Duo broke into loud swearing and picked up the phone.
'Amuro, your timing sucks.' He snarled as he saw Heero starting to smirk at his obvious discomfiture.
'Excuse me?'
Duo rolled his eyes as he heard Amuro's confused voice over the phone and made a face at Heero who started to laugh, very quietly.
'What... is... it.' Duo hissed out.
'Umm... I've neutralized the bogeys, Director Maxwell.' Came a very eager and excited voice. 'And well, I didn't know what to do with them...'
Duo groaned out loud and tugged at his long fringe in exasperation.
'Just get rid of them. And go away. Now.' He snapped forcefully, as he slammed the phone down. He looked at Heero who was beginning to clutch his sides as he continued to laugh and made a wry face before starting the car again.
'I'm taking you home Heero.'
He held up a hand commandingly as Heero stopped laughing.
'You aren't in any shape to argue with me and I know you don't want me to take you to a hospital. That leaves our place. Right?' He continued jauntily as Heero showed no sign of arguing with him.
'We can talk later. First, I think you need to get cleaned up,' he directed a mock leer at Heero who ignored him, 'and I'll be glad to give you a hand. Then,' he grabbed his sunnies and put them on with a cheerful flourish. 'I'll take you out to dinner, after you've had another nap of course,' he added sourly as Heero simply closed his eyes and showed no response to his chatter.
'And after that,' Duo laughed happily as he turned on the music loudly, sneaking glances at Heero whose face relaxed into a gentle smile as he slept, 'who knows?' He hummed lightly as he continued to talk to himself. 'I might get lucky.'
Heero felt the corners of his lips twitch as he continued to feign being asleep, soothed by the familiar voice droning happily to himself. Heero closed his eyes tightly, allowing the loud metallic beat of the music to drown out his troubled thoughts and snuggled tightly under the soft fabric of Duo's jacket, breathing in the scent of his favourite cologne. He felt safe...
End Part 4
Katana
Please send comments to: apriori21@yahoo.com