21-Sep-2000
Title: Fallen Angel
Author: Asuka
Warnings: Angst, Songfic, Shounen ai, Death
Feedback: Oh pretty please?
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. "Fallen Angel" is by Blue Oyster
Cult.
Notes: Well this is...weird. Lyrics in [blah], italics/emphasis in *blah*,
thoughts in /blah/. A lyric has been very *very* slightly modified.
A very
special thanks goes out to Whimsy, Neko-chan, Asahi, and MidNite Kitsune for
giving this a look-over and beta! *glomps* ^^
[ From the dust I rose on high ]
I'm watching them. Observing every move they make, hearing all the words they speak, listening to every thought they think. And they'll never know unless they slip - make an unforgiveable and fatal error.
Then...
I'd have to dispose of them.
[ Thunder cloud in a two-lane sky ]
Of course I'd never want to do such a thing. But a job is a job, after all, and they're all for the mission.
And so am I.
[ From the world I did rebel ]
It's not like I *want* to do what I do, but I have no say in the matter. It's not something up for discussion. An order is an order. Regardless of however many times I try to deny it or abandon it, I'll always return to complete the task against my will.
It's my fate.
[ A fallen angel ]
Cursed to carry out heaven's dirtywork.
I was never supposed to fall. But they gave me a second chance, one I wish I'd never taken. It was for selfish reasons, I'll admit, but time has gone by, and I can't ever change it.
[ Highway lust was in my blood ]
As the Gundams approached the mission point, Duo's breath quickened, his pulse racing. He hated going to battle, for every time he knew what was at stake, and what would have to be done if things didn't go as planned...
[ No girl could ever take my love ]
He turned to the monitor beside him, hi-lighting one of the windows and bringing it to full view.
"Heero?" he spoke, his voice cracking.
"What, Duo?"
"What if...what if this all goes to hell?" He looked to the boy that had stolen his heart, quietly hoping for reassurance. It didn't matter if Heero didn't know of his feelings... Maybe it would be better to keep them silent. Maybe just for the moment. Maybe forever.
[ Cold and cruel and then I fell ]
"It won't." There was such finality in those words, as if the Japanese pilot knew everything in advance. But Duo knew that wasn't true. No one could ever tell the future. Those two simple words only indicated the importance of the mission. Nothing could go wrong - none of them could afford mistakes.
"So why do I have a strange feeling something awful's going to happen?" he mumbled to himself.
[ A fallen angel ]
The fading sunrise outlined the dark metal machine. Two green eyes blazed in waiting, hiding amongst the thick foliage. The Gundam Deathscythe stood unnoticed, a silent predator waiting for the kill.
Inside it, anticipation and anxiety grew thicker by the minute. But no one would've guessed by the robot's stoic face, its cool steel permanently melded into an indifferent expression. If it was an expression at all.
[ A boy so strange I lost my head ]
Gentian eyes watched as the object of his affection quietly stalked around the premise. The snow colored metallic bird lurked, swiftly accumulating data and deciphering their current whereabouts.
And Duo watched it all from the safety of his cockpit, Heero's icon still lighted up in full view upon his monitor. He watched as Heero calculated the information, dutifully turning knobs and pressing buttons on his Gundam. He saw Heero wipe the sweat beaded at his brow, wishing he could do anything else other than spy on the Asian youth from a distance.
If he was half as determined as Heero was, then maybe all those predicaments he'd been in before would never have happened. Maybe he wouldn't be so afraid to tell Heero how he felt, and maybe he wouldn't be in the despicable situation he was now in.
[ Lost it all got left for dead ]
He knew death followed him everywhere, and over the years, he slowly began to accept it. It was no mere coincidence. He'd bargained with the Reaper, and got the small end of the deal.
[ I curse the day now I'm just a shell ]
A mission had been sent out, and Duo had been the only one left at the safehouse to take it. But it was more than one man could accomplish. He had died at war, his Gundam barely showing through the dense forest that covered its remains. It wasn't his time to die - he was sure of it. And so he made a deal with Shinigami himself, accepting the task of being his employee. His job? To watch over the Gundam pilots... Duo had been wrong to think that his time wasn't up. The truth was that it had gone out a long time ago. Death could never claim the five youths, however. They had some streak of odd fortune, always able to wrench their hands from his grasp at the last minute.
They were living on borrowed time.
[ A fallen angel ]
So he made a pact: keep an eye on the pilots, and if they ever made a fatal error - one that somehow defied the laws of the Fates themselves - he was to take them.
He was, after all, the Grim Reaper's hand-chosen successor. Seemed appropriate enough for someone fallen from grace.
Why believe in a God that could take everything away, when the God of Death's around the corner, willing to give it all back? With a few stipulations, of course.
He felt dirty to keep such a secret from his friends, but he had an agenda of his own. Duo would've been happy to die, had it not been for one person... And so he took the offered position - for self-fullfilling reasons, he'd admit - hoping that in some way, he may be able to cheat Shinigami once again.
At what cost?
Prussian eyes gazed towards his comrades.
[ Gonna rise up from hell ]
/At least if we go out, it'll be by a familiar hand, and not some unknown puppet fighting in a senseless war./
Hours had passed, and still nothing emerged. 'Intercept the enemy,' so the mission statement had said. But what if their was no enemy to intercept? What if things had changed, and no one showed up?
02's pilot surveyed the soon-to-be battle ground. There was green all around, frighteningly similar to the place Duo had first died in. Birds chirped in the morning's glory.
Nothing.
And suddenly, Duo felt like the weight of the entire Earth was upon his shoulders.
[ I'm the fallen angel ]
He remembered the words he had exchanged with Heero only hours earlier, though no they seemed like a lifetime past.
/"What if...what if this all goes to hell?"/
/"It won't."/
Duo's mood shifted from somber to omnious in an instant. /For all of your sakes, you'd better hope nothing happens.../
[ When the brink of ruin lies ]
The mission was a failure. They had underestimated OZ this time...
It had all happened within a few moments. Mobile suits swarmed through the air, their laser beams streaking the atmosphere. No one had been prepared - no shields had been put up, no weapons drawn. Not even Gundamium could withstand the massive amount of energy pelted against them.
[ Upon the world angels shall rise ]
Duo felt the blood rush through his veins, the painful mutation taking place within him. It was time. His back exploded with pain, though no physical harm was done. A pair of phantom wings sprouted at his shoulder blades, a tentative flap reawakening the power lurking in the boy. /Failure. Eliminate... It's come.../
[ To lead the fallen now remember world ]
He fell from Deathscythe's cockpit before it self-destructed above him, brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and pink radiating across the sky.
The American pilot was hurt from the fall, but came out mainly unscathed. As the fireworks died down, all that was left was scattered metal, buildings reduced to crumbles, four metal warriors put out of commission, and five tattered human bodies.
[ A fallen angel ]
Duo regained consciousness, bringing himself to his feet and brushing the dust from his clothes. He limped to the spandex-clad figure close by him. The Japanese pilot had minor scratches, a broken and bleeding shoulder probably his worst injury.
"I could've loved you." The braided pilot was wistful, his thoughts far away.
"Nani? What are you...?"
Before Heero could react, he stepped forward, pressing their lips together in a soft yet bold kiss. But when Heero opened his eyes, Duo was gone...
[ Gonna rise up from hell ]
He found Wufei slouched in the cockpit of his Gundam, clutching his injured arm in a futile attempt to keep the blood from leaking. It was everywhere - splashed on the controls, seeping onto the ground, staining the shreded clothes of Shenlong's pilot.
Onyx eyes cracked open painfully, and the boy gasped.
"Nataku..."
Electricity rippled through the clouds. Amethyst orbs blinked, void of any emotion.
And then he was gone, and Wufei lay there, his eyes shut, a peaceful expression on his face.
He'd never wake up.
[ Gonna rise up from hell ]
Trowa sat on the ground, leaning at the foot of his Gundam for support. He was bruised and bloodied, but all his concern was turned to the figure cradled in his lap. Quatre was badly injured, a wide gash cutting across his stomach.
A silent figure approached them, and one emerald eye peered up. His partner did as well, and the hand on the banged boy's chest clenched tighter at the fabric of his shirt.
Terrified aqua orbs gazed into the eyes of the person who approached them. They calmed, and he said quietly, "It's okay, Duo. We understand..."
Quatre snuggled against the Heavyarms' pilot, and the arms that encircled him closed tighter.
The braid swung lightly from side to side as he walked away, leaving the two statuesque shapes behind him. Serenity washed over them, their eyes shut forever.
[ Gonna rise up from hell ]
The Wing pilot turned at the sound of footsteps behind him, and his damaged legs gave in to the sudden movement.
"Duo...?" Heero crouched among the ruins, confused cobalt gems searching the figure before him.
Empty violet eyes stared back at him, illuminated by the flicker of lightning. A solitary tear streamed down from the purple void, marring the hauntingly beautiful face. Heero could've sworn he saw a pair of wings in the American's shadow.
The world went white.
[ I'm the fallen angel ]
The End
(:./asuka/fallen)
