Nov 25, 2000
Pairing: 1+2 (references to 1x2xR)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Sap, consequences of citrus
Disclaimer: The boys and the girl belong to Sunrise et al, and not to me.
Notes: This is the ficlet I swore I'd never write--I mean, I like sap, but this situation takes unfair bungee-jumps on the old heartstrings, so I never wanted to make use of it. But I can't seem to resist at least taking it up, so here you have this fic-thing. ^__^
The title refers to the monastic service of praise that greets the dawn, usually at about 5-6 a.m. (the term is sometimes interchangeable with "matins," which is why I'm using it to connect to the previous fic in the arc).
If they didn't come for him soon, Heero decided, he was going out through the window.
Fists closing and unclosing in impotent rage, he fought the urge to slam his fist into the wall; his knuckles still stung from the last impact, and displays of anger weren't getting him anywhere.
The small room was exactly eight paces by twelve, and he had already traversed that distance more times than he could count. He had resolved to be calm, to deal with the imprisonment rationally, but whatever nerves he had started with were worn paper-thin.
And worst of all, he could dimly hear her cries from down the corridor, even through more than one closed door.
It had been going on for hours, with no end in sight, and there was nothing he could do. Nothing in his training had prepared him for this--and now he was confined to this stupid tiny closet of a room, with even less chance for action.
Insanity was starting to sound like a viable plan.
The door opened, finally, and Duo stumbled in. He looked terrible; his eyes were bloodshot and exhausted, his hastily-braided hair escaping in wild tendrils. "You calmed down yet?"
The only answer was a furious blue stare from across the room.
"Heero. I know this sucks, but you can't come back in unless you promise not to break any more chairs. You scared that midwife so bad they'll be lucky to woo her back with hazard pay."
"They're hurting her."
An exasperated sigh. "Labor is hurting her, Heero. And it's up to Relena to make the call on the painkillers--you don't get to be in charge of this one." Duo paused. "That's what's messing you up, isn't it? You're going crazy because you can't fix it?"
"I am not going crazy."
"Hah. Tell that to the security staff." Duo had to grin at the memory of the terrified orderlies scrambling for cover under the counter of the nurses' station. "Anyway. I've got to get back, but I told her I'd try to talk some sense into you; she could do this on her own, I guess, but she's got this fool idea that having you around might help. And me--" He shook his head, looking more than a little shellshocked. "I need you in there, man. Will you behave?"
Heero considered his options, and decided he could avoid homicide if he concentrated on the light at the end of this tunnel: when this was over, he'd get to figure out how to be someone's father. One of them, anyway. He steeled himself for a return to the front. "Aa. Let's go."
Once in the hallway, he paused again to take stock of his companion; gesturing at a trickle of drying blood on Duo's forearm, he had to ask. "What happened to you?"
"Oh, that. I sort of got between her and her focus point--you know, that teddy bear? And she, uh, bit me."
That made sense. "I'd have bitten you, too."
"Like you need an excuse." They had reached the door to the dreaded maternity suite at last, and Duo looked at him warily. "Okay. You sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Love you."
"You too. Let's get this over with, ne?"
The door swung shut behind them, and a cadre of skittish hospital staff resumed their duties with cautious relief. This was one birthday the ward wouldn't forget in a long, long time, even after walls and furniture had been repaired--if they could all survive the actual labor, this story would be the shining centerpiece of their shared collection of hair-raising tales.
-end-
[ML falls over, drowning in sap]
I know, I know. Sorry! ^__^
(:./lilias/lauds)
