09-Jan-2001
Title: Time and Time Again
A Gundam Wing Fanfiction
Author: BarBieBoy
Dedicated to Kav
Feedback: YES PLEASE! :o) (Don't be shy!) Comments, criticisms, ideas etc please mail me at barbieboy000@hotmail.com. Flames and abuse please mail me at techsupport@microsoft.com.
Disclaimer: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is the property of whomever. I don't own it and I am using these characters without permission (but not for profit). The original portion of this work is mine however so please don't steal it :o)
Category/Warnings/Rating: 1+2/2+1, 3+4, angst, language, R(?)
Final note: I am in Australia. I speak and write English. I know how to spell colour and grey and behaviour. :o)
Morning brought a new flood of pain to Heero's mind. For the first time in his life he found it difficult to get up out of bed. He stared at the stark ceiling above and tried to blot out the morning light around him. He was beginning to understand Duo's distaste for getting up in the morning.
Duo.
He looked across the room to see his partner soundly sleeping. He was relieved in a way since it allowed him to put off telling him the bad news. Besides, Duo was probably hung over and needed to rest. Heero rose stiffly and walked over to his laptop. As the machine booted up he noticed his partner stirring, and hoped that he wasn't about to wake.
Heero opened his e-mail expecting to see orders for the day concerning the tragedy of the previous evening, but was disturbed to find that there was only one message from Wufei. Moving his mouse over to the name on the glowing screen, he was further confused at the message's content.
'Request 10,000 for L5 Mission, Wufei'
Heero was sure that he had transferred the funds yesterday, but prepared to hack into the bank again anyway. Heero begun to wonder if Wufei knew. Since there was no information for him, it was likely that there was none for Wufei either.
As his fingers padded swiftly across the keyboard he noticed out of the corner of his eyes that Duo had awakened and was heading towards the bathroom to shower. Heero decided to tell him after he had a shower; after all, the boy needed to be properly awake.
Half an hour later he was still typing and trying to think of other reasons not to tell Duo, who was lying in bed staring at the ceiling looking agitated. Duo was probably worried that he was mad at him after the whole party incident last night. Heero had almost completely forgotten about the strange encounter, although as he thought of it now he began to blush. The memory of the braided boy in his arms, and the warmth of his breath tickling his face, started to make him feel uncomfortable. He had to address the more serious issue of the loss of their comrades first, though. Finally building up the courage, Heero opened his mouth to speak but was beaten to it by a comment from Duo.
"Ano . . . Heero" the boy began with trepidation.
Heero was surprised and he didn't reply or even turn around, prompting Duo to continue.
"Wufei needs ten thousand for the L5 mission, don't forget."
Of all the things he was expecting Duo to say this morning, that was not one of them. He stared at the credits on the screen and the transfer button.
He pressed the button and a little box appeared informing him the money had been transferred.
"Done," he reported to Duo.
"Heero. This is stupid! Let's just get this over and done with," the braided boy shouted.
Heero was once again startled as his very thoughts were spoken by Duo as if his mind were being read. Duo knew? How? Had he followed him last night and seen their comrades?
"Come on Heero, don't you want to go back to being friends?" Duo pleaded.
Heero was relieved to know that Duo hadn't followed him, and that he was worried that what had happened between them last night had ruined their friendship. Friendship. He was quite comfortable with the word now. He began to think of something to say that would tell Duo how he felt. He wanted to say that it was okay. No, more than that. That he actually liked what had happened. He was just about to say something when Duo began again.
"Heero . . ?"
"Hn."
"I don't really think you're a coward, you know."
That was enough for the brain of Heero Yuy. He was confused enough over his emotions and feelings towards the boy in front of him and the friends he had lost. He was admittedly a little out of touch this morning, but he was definitely NOT understanding the situation very well at all. Heero simply stared stupidly as his partner continued.
"I was a little angry that you had tried to self- destruct again. I thought you were over that."
Heero was about to say something about how he would do anything for the mission, but it seemed silly and very much out of place in their current conversation. Heero did not want to die. Certainly not after the night he had experienced. Before he was even aware of his mouth moving Heero spoke.
"I don't want to die"
He watched as Duo's eyes seemed to light up. The braided boy began to chatter about all sorts of irrelevant and pointless information about people Heero had no idea about. Heero found himself staring blankly at his partner until eventually turning back to the screen to finish his work. He suddenly realized, however, that he had again forgotten to report the loss of their comrades. He was waiting for Duo to stop talking but it was clear that he would be waiting forever.
"Shut up, Duo," he interrupted firmly, without shouting.
Duo made a 'V' sign with his hands. "You got it Heero-man. I think I'll go for a walk, this place is giving me claustrophobia."
This was definitely not what Heero had in mind. He tried to think of a way to get Duo into a more sober mood to prepare him for the news.
"Ano . . . Duo?" he began.
However, when Heero looked up the braided baka was gone. Heero cursed. The longer he left this the harder it would be. After untangling himself from the laptop's cords he made his way out of the room and down the stairs to catch up to his partner. What he saw when he reached the courtyard brought his confusion to melting point.
Duo was skipping happily towards two boys who were chatting, one of whom was unmistakably Quatre. Heero dived behind a nearby pillar to watch.
After the brief exchange Duo was heading to leave campus and Trowa was walking up to Quatre.
Heero felt suddenly confused, elated and embarrassed all at once. Obviously he had made a mistake. The confusing evening had left him in a strange mental state and he had made a mistake in identifying the bodies.
Heero stumbled his way back to the room. Trowa and Quatre were alive! He was almost crying with relief and pleasure. He started to wonder who he had seen at the explosion. He made an involuntary shiver at the memories of the last evening, which seemed hazy and almost dreamlike.
After sitting back down to his computer he was surprised to notice that as he scanned the web, there was not a single report of an explosion near their district. Not even in the local news, which would publish a story of a dog giving birth to puppies. But the most disturbing thing was the date on the bottom corner of his laptop, which he had somehow managed to miss. The 15th.
That was yesterday. Or so he thought.
Suddenly things began to fall into place. He had dreamed the entire evening. Of course, after all as if he would get all emotional over a stupid party. As if he would even go to a party. As if Quatre and Trowa could ever die! And as if Duo would actually want to . . .
Heero's mood was dulled somewhat by this last thought. Still, he was glad that everything had just been a nightmare. A vivid, detailed and very long nightmare. However, Heero had never had a nightmare before, so how could he compare?
With an explanation that his brain would accept finally put it in its place, Heero Yuy began to hack funds again. He had to come up with the ten thousand he had transferred to replace the amount he sent to Wufei.
After that a shower was definitely in order!
Much later that day, Heero emerged from the shower feeling quite good. His work was done, his sanity was intact and his friends weren't dead. All things were going well for Heero Yuy.
He was about to step into the room naked and start looking for his cloths when he felt an uncharacteristic jab of modesty. He picked up Duo's towel that the boy had left on the floor, and wrapped it around his waist, with uncanny timing. Duo sang out his name only moments later, and stepped into the room.
"Geez, Heero, you could at least get dressed with the door locked!" the boy quipped.
Heero was for a moment overcome with another unfamiliar feeling. Déjà vu. He was distracted from his musings by the way Duo seemed to be staring at him intently. He suddenly began to feel exposed, not that it had ever bothered him before. Duo had spun around to face the wall, so he quickly found his underwear, jeans and tank top and got dressed. He decided to service his handgun, hoping it would take his mind off the strange reactions he was having to the braided baka. The next comment shook him from his task.
"Heero, the guys and I are going to a party at a student's house. Wanna come?"
Heero would have laughed maniacally if he were the laughing type. Instead he stood to face Duo, gave his most potent death stare and nearly screamed.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
Duo seemed taken aback by the outburst. He didn't even try to follow up with some convincing reasons why Heero should come. Instead he grabbed his towel and silently went into the bathroom.
As Heero heard the shower start, he begun to worry that his previous outburst had upset his friend. He hadn't meant to get so angry and he was not sure where the feeling had come from. Then he remembered his dream, which was uncannily accurate so far. He immediately felt regret at having scolded the boy. So, as he serviced his weapon he began to plan what he would say to make amends.
A few minutes later Duo appeared from the bathroom with only a towel wrapped round his waist.
"Ano . . . Duo?" Heero began but stopped suddenly when his eyes met the boy a few meters away.
Duo's thin, muscled arms held the towel in place, his hands resting on his tight abs and smooth chest. He stood with a relaxed posture and as Heero's eyes travelled up his body he was finally met with a bemused smile flashed from a soft and handsome face.
"What's up Heero?" the boy asked, grinning ear to ear.
Heero made strange shapes with his mouth for a moment, before eventually coming out with his apology.
"I am busy tonight. I can't come to the party."
The braided boy regarded his friend for a moment. Duo was very talented at conversation and understanding others, but even he had to struggle to realize that this was an apology. Heero had been acting very strange today, and quite frankly he was mystified. Firstly Heero had acted as though they hadn't been ignoring each other all week. Then there was his little outburst just before, not to mention his obvious drooling a few moments ago.
Now Heero was apologizing for something he wouldn't usually consider offensive. Altogether they had spoken more today than in the last month combined. Not that Duo was particularly upset over this new side of Heero; in fact, he quite preferred it.
"That's ok man," Duo flashed a smile and was pleased to see Heero blush slightly and look away.
Duo began to get dressed in his usual black garb, all the while closely scrutinizing his partner across the room. He was aware that he was into guys, but he had never thought about Heero sexually before. He was just too . . . Heero. But as his eyes surveyed the Japanese boy he began to wonder. After all, Heero in just a towel a few minutes ago was quite a sexy sight.
Considering the boy's strange behaviour today, this was definitely something that he would have to follow up later. Him and Heero. The idea was almost laughable, but still . . . .
After he finished dressing Duo made a quick survey of himself in the mirror and walked over to the door.
"If you change your mind give us a buzz and we'll meet up," Duo said trying to sound cool.
Heero nodded before going back to his handgun. Duo bounced out the door and down the stairs. Although he put it down to the background noise in the dorm, for a moment Duo could have sworn he heard Heero telling him to be careful. The thought brought forth a small chuckle.
Heero had thoroughly cleaned and serviced his handgun. He had also serviced and cleaned the various knives, ammunition, explosives and scanning equipment hidden about the room. He had checked over a dozen times for new missions and had gone over everything from the recent military reports. None of these actions had had their desired effect of clearing his confused and cluttered mind, however.
It had only been an hour or so, but Heero was almost frantic with concern. The logical part of his brain was telling him not to be stupid. His dream yesterday, however vivid, was just a dream. But a part of Heero was concerned that there really was impending doom for his friends at the party.
The boy shuddered as the images of Quatre and Trowa's bodies flashed before his eyes once more. It had seemed so real. He could smell the smoke and hear the commotion. He could see clearly the Arabian boy's mutilated body being dragged from the rubble.
The rebellious part of his brain would not be silenced. What if there was a bomb? What if the dream was a premonition, a warning? What if all he had to do was find it and his friends would be saved? What if he hadn't been there to take Duo home? Would Duo have died also?
Duo.
The thought of the boy brought a whole different range of emotions Heero was still unfamiliar with. He had enjoyed his time with the boy in the dream. At least most of it. Well some small part of it anyway. The part where he was holding Duo and . . .
Heero jumped from the bed and started to pace, desperate to take his mind off the current situation. A dream was a dream. Nothing more.
Heero looked over to the clock near his bed one more time. Five lousy minutes had passed since he last looked. At this rate he would go insane before the night was over.
At least the party would pass the time. It wouldn't hurt to simply check the place out, after all. It would be like a training exercise in anti-terrorist activity. Hell, at least he could see Duo again and maybe follow up on their strange conversation from before.
With his mind set, Heero grabbed his gun and bug- sweeping gear and set off to Aieka's. Stopping to wonder if indeed the party was there at all, he walked back to the telephone to ring Duo. The phone rang out, however; Duo must be busy. Heero decided to go where he thought the party was anyway. Perhaps he had heard about it the previous day in class or something.
The party in Heero's dream was startlingly similar to the scene before him now. Loud music, too much smoke and too many students doing things they shouldn't be doing. Heero navigated his way through the rabble until he reached the main room with the dance floor.
He frowned deeply at the sight that met his eyes. Duo, half-naked, his skin slick with sweat, was totally lost in his own world dancing with a group of his female fan club. Heero felt the now familiar twinge of what he had come to suspect was jealousy. He was still confused about what Duo meant to him, but he was definitely annoyed to see the girls caressing the American's body.
Heero stood rooted to the spot for the moment, giving his partner the trademark death glare.
Duo had opened his eyes, and by chance had looked directly at the Japanese boy. He smiled warmly and stopped dancing to come over. His movements had disturbed his dancing entourage, who promptly began glaring in Heero's direction.
"Heero! Man I am surprised you came! Why didn't you ring? How did you find the place? I'm having so much fun . . ." Duo began to babble on about the party and other things.
The two sat down on a couch towards the back of the room, and Heero was pleased to feel the braided boy's hand placed on his leg in a most casual manner. Heero was beginning to feel warm again and noticed that he was actually smiling at Duo's babble and antics in general. Although the boy was probably just a bit out of it due to the drugs.
Drugs.
"Duo, you seem a little strange . . . have you taken something?" Heero asked trying to hide his concern.
Heero listened with increasing concern as Duo told him about the little pale blue pills that had been passed around. Heero was about to scold the boy for being stupid when he was suddenly struck by a strong sense of déjà vu. This had definitely happened in his dream also. There were simply too many coincidences for Heero to ignore. Everything that was happening now, that had happened today, was clear in his mind as being done before. Well at least most of it. This meant that there could very well be a bomb in the house. Something that had killed his friends.
Duo watched as Heero went from comfortable and smiling to annoyed and frowning. He figured that Heero wasn't too pleased about the drug business.
At the back of Duo's mind he knew that it was probably a stupid thing to have done, but he felt great and was simply in the mood to party.
"You should leave and go home now, Duo," Heero ordered, hoping to get his friend as far away from danger as possible.
Duo, of course, completely misinterpreted the demand as Heero's reaction to the story of the drugs.
"You're such a bore, Heero. You're not my mother and I'll do whatever I damn well want!" the braided boy replied, eyes burning with defiance.
Heero had only a moment to interpret the reaction before Duo jumped up and started dancing towards the crowd and his fan club. He watched with satisfaction as Heero frowned at the girls surrounding him.
Heero had quickly forgotten about Duo for the moment, as he renewed his concerns for the possibility of a bomb. He had slipped out of the room and headed off to look for a quieter part of the house. Eventually finding a bedroom, he had locked the door and had taken out the scanner hidden in a pocket beneath his jeans. He then spent the next several minutes scanning the surrounding 50 meters for any trace of the usual explosive devices.
For the first time today Heero was surprised at what he discovered. Nothing. There were no explosives in the vicinity. At least none of the usual ones.
But of course Duo, Quatre and Trowa would have scanned for such devices already as part of their normal procedure. The five pilots were required to do routine checks for possible assassination devices. Although he would not be surprised if Duo had forgotten with the commotion of the party, he sincerely doubted that Quatre AND Trowa would have also forgotten. If there had been a bomb, one of the pilots would know by now.
Heero frowned as he tried to recall what the scan in his dream revealed, and was troubled to recall that he had not performed one. Goes to show the good of dreams.
His brow furrowed as he began to scan for anything out of the ordinary. After another fifteen minutes he was rewarded with a strange signal reading coming from within the house. It wasn't an explosive, as far as he could tell, but it was not a normal everyday signal either.
He had only a general direction. Northwest and at least several meters above him, probably on the seconded floor. Heero did his best to conceal the scanner as he left the room and made his way upstairs.
He was unfortunately detained for a moment by a small girl he knew from class as Aieka. Trapped, he felt obliged to make small talk with the hostess about the party and people from their class. Although it still felt strange, he was surprised at how easy it seemed to be to talk to her. The party was not nearly as intimidating as in his dream: yet another discrepancy.
Eventually he managed to escape her, and manoeuvred his way upstairs. He guessed the signal was coming from the bathroom. Without pausing to think, he opened the door, startling three girls--one of whom, he noticed, was taking a small pale blue pill.
He mumbled apologies at interrupting, but was stopped short when the girl closest to him suddenly seemed familiar. She was dressed in a black mini-skirt with knee-high boots, matching her dark black hair.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
The girls all started to laugh instantly, making him feel uncomfortable.
"Great line, mister!" the girl mocked.
Heero was made further uncomfortable by the smell of cigarettes and alcohol on the girl's breath. Moments later the girls had left laughing and Heero was alone in the bathroom. He locked the door and did a quick scout of the room. It didn't take him long to find a bizarre object sitting in the bathtub, hidden behind a shower curtain.
Heero was able to identify almost any piece of equipment on sight, but was at a complete loss to explain what the device in front of him was. It hummed slightly but seemed to have no controls, counter or panel of any interest.
Deciding that caution was in order, Heero opened the window, picked up the device and climbed out onto the roof. He quickly negotiated a way down and left the house. It didn't seem sensible to hold onto the object, but what else could he to do with it? He eventually placed it in a rubbish can in a park across the street from the house. If it were a bomb then it wouldn't hurt anyone there; if it wasn't, he could collect it in the morning and send it off to the lab.
With his job done, Heero began to feel at ease again for the first time all evening. He was still unsure about what to make of the startling accuracy of some parts of his dream, but at least if there had been impending doom it was now under control.
As he headed back towards the school he detected the approach of two figures walking along the street. His instincts kicked in and he darted for cover behind a tree. Cautiously peering over a branch, he recognized the two as Quatre and Trowa.
Heero was about to wave and go over to his friends when he noticed that they were holding hands. He suddenly felt like he would be interrupting something, though he didn't know what--and so he simply remained hidden.
What he saw next caused him no small amount of shock. The shorter Arabian boy stood up on his tiptoes and kissed the other boy softly on the lips. Trowa had his arms around the boy's waist and was leaning into the kiss. As abruptly as it had started the two broke apart and headed into the house.
Heero was left totally bewildered. Trowa and Quatre were. . . KISSING?! This was not possible. This was just straight out weird. Were they lovers?
Heero had only a passing understanding of relationships and even less of an understanding of same-sex ones. The two had appeared so happy that for a moment Heero wished he understood.
He set off down the street, intending to go home and have a long sleep.
As he walked he reminisced over the part of the dream where he and Duo were walking back to campus. He couldn't help but smile to himself as he recalled the feelings of the boy's arms around his neck. Heero was so deep in contemplation that he didn't notice the time pass. He was almost back. He stopped for a while in the courtyard, remembering that near-perfect moment when he had held the boy in his arms and had drawn him close. His body had been warm despite the damp from the pool.
Damp.
Pool.
Run.
Heero turned and sprinted for all he was worth back to the party.
Quatre giggled to himself as he watched Trowa trying to navigate his way past a bunch of girls dancing in the doorway to the kitchen. They seemed as out of it as everyone else at the party. Quatre was sure that something strange was going round. Many of their fellow classmates were acting very oddly. But he was in far too much of a good mood to think about it.
As he waited for his lover to return he was surprised to hear a commotion as Heero, of all people, appeared and fought his way through the crowd.
Quatre stood in wonder as Heero shouted threats at the students around him, even resorting to physical violence to clear the way.
Quatre knew better than to interrupt Heero during one of his violent episodes but followed him out into the yard nonetheless. He was shocked to see the Japanese boy dive head first into the pool out the back and even more shocked to see him retrieve a boy and push him over the side of the pool.
Quatre's heart went cold as he recognized Duo. Everything around him was suddenly tuned out as he ran into the back yard and sank to his knees besides the braided boy. While Heero pulled himself out of the pool, Quatre checked for a pulse or a sign of breathing.
Duo was cold. His open eyes stared vacantly into the night sky. There was no sign of a pulse and no sign of breathing. Heero was next to him in a flash, demanding to know what was going on. Quatre, though surprised, quickly realized that Heero was in no state to be helpful and so he ordered him to call an ambulance.
Quatre then went over the standard procedure for resuscitating a drowning victim. He began CPR and mouth-to-mouth. All standard first aid was a requirement of their training, and Quatre was confident in his abilities.
Heero appeared a moment later and kneeled next to him. Quatre ordered him to continue CPR as Quatre concentrated on breathing air into Duo's lungs.
The two began to work up a sweat in their effort to save their friend's life. The music had been switched off and many of the more sober students were gathering round in a curious semicircle, eyes wide with shock.
Quatre began to feel more and more concerned as it became increasingly obvious that the braided boy had already been underwater too long. The pilots were suddenly pushed aside as two medics arrived to take over.
Heero, Quatre and Trowa stood to the side watching hopelessly as the medics tried to resuscitate the boy in front of them.
Quatre regarded Heero with equal concern, since he had never seen the Japanese boy show any emotion, let alone the painful sobs he was witnessing now. He grabbed hold of the boy's arm hoping to give some small reassurance.
The medics quickly decided that the only chance to save Duo was to get him back to hospital quickly. They gently lifted him onto a stretcher and made their way through the house.
The three pilots followed close behind, fully intending to come along. As they all stepped out of the front door three things happened. The first was an incredible sound that shattered the silence of the night. The second was a flash of bright light, which fanned out from the centre of the park catching the ambulance parked near by and throwing it clear into the air. The third was Duo being dropped as the two medics carrying him were cut to pieces by flying shrapnel.
Heero, now in perfect soldier mode, sank to his knees to assess the state of his comrade. The medics had taken the full brunt of the explosion, leaving all of the pilots untouched. Heero did not stop to help them, though; he simply grabbed the boy in front of him and carried him to the nearest vehicle.
It took only moments to break in and hotwire the engine. Heero swung the car round, and with tires squealing, drove off as fast as he could to the nearest hospital. He was only vaguely aware that someone was shouting his name.
Heero walked through the streets, lost in a daze of disbelief and misery.
Duo was dead.
They had tried everything to resuscitate the boy. The length of time spent underwater, combined with the complications in getting him to a medical facility, made the task difficult. Adding to that the combination of alcohol and drugs made it impossible. Duo Maxwell was officially declared deceased on the 16th of January, 195 AC.
Heero did not think to tell Trowa or Quatre, or even to report the incident to his superiors. Heero was in a state of shock. He remembered once being told that you never appreciate what you have until it's gone. To Heero no truer words had been spoken. He had barely begun to realize what the braided boy meant to him when all of a sudden he was gone.
Heero had witnessed death on a scale which only a handful of people could claim to understand. But never the death of someone he cared for. Never someone he knew and wanted more than anything to be with.
As the emotional side of Heero Yuy began to shut down with the force of reality, the machine-like logical side took over.
Return to campus.
Report incident.
Rest.
End Part 2
(:./barbieboy/time2)
