Title: Alternate Dualities
Author: WingNut
Archive: http://www.fanworkrecs.com
Disclaimers: I don't own the characters from Gundam Wing, I just play with them for non-profit fun until they run screaming back to their creators.
Warnings: AU - AAAAAAAAAAAU. Some yaoi, lemon, violence, language. You should be a legal adult to read this. Open-mindedness helps, too.
Pairings: all over the map; Duo-centric. yaoi and het.
Author's Notes: A huge helping of "suspension of disbelief" would be appropriate before you read this. I'm sure J or G could explain the science behind it, but they're kinda dead right now...
Part 6 ~ Mess (cont'd)
He existed.
He was floating, throat raw from the screams that had seemed to well up from the center of his being. The fire of his need had burned down to a fierce ember - banked, but not doused.
Trowa was holding him from behind, and he could see the asteroid field and the unending stars ahead of him.
And a ship. A big ship.
Then he was aware of motion, of jerks and buffets and clangs that he could feel rather than hear, and of familiar faces peering down at him.
No! He didn't want to see them see him. Obligingly, his heavy eyelids sank down, covering the images of his former friends.
Then his helmet was removed, and sound came crashing in.
"Get him to the med station, he needs treatment for shock and advanced withdrawal from Bliss." That was Trowa's voice. He could remember Trowa's voice, keeping him company in the cold dark.
"Duo?!?" That was Heero, sounding stunned.
"Bliss!?! I'll take him." Wufei's voice sounded clipped and furious, for some reason.
"No, I'll..." Heero began.
He heard a short scuffle, and then Wufei's voice again, an implacable tone colouring his words. "You've done enough, Yuy. Worry about Barton. I'll take care of Duo."
A sigh, the sound of fabric against fabric, and Trowa's quiet, "I need stitches for a cut in my thigh, but otherwise I'm fine, love."
Strong arms swung him up, cradled him, and held him safe. Slowly his eyes opened again, focussing vaguely on the corridor walls swaying past him. "Hush, Duo, all will be well." Wufei's face looked down at him reassuringly.
But it wasn't well at all. His body was tingling, as if his skin were being pierced by dozens of needles. But none of the needles held any sweet blue Bliss, so how could everything be well? Wufei didn't understand at all.
The bright lights of the med station pierced his eyes, but the tears that slipped out didn't make him feel any better. His enviro-suit was stripped from him and he shivered, the fiery bite of the phantom needles doing nothing to warm him.
"NO!" Trowa, yelling. "Stop him! Don't let him get the-"
Was that his own hand, clawing at his pocket? He watched with detached bemusement as Trowa grabbed the flailing wrist and pushed it away, the long fingers of the acrobat's other hand deftly tweaking out a packet of blue powder. Another arm appeared, grabbing desperately for the disappearing baggie, but it was gone, gone...
Duo wept, not understanding the deep sense of loss he felt. The needles were sinking deeper now, down to the marrow of his bones, digging at his soul. He floated up, easing away from his heavy body, away from the grief and the weakness and the pain, and the grinding sense of never being quite good enough.
"NO!!!"
He looked down to see Wufei bending over his body, grabbing him by the shoulders and yelling. "No, I won't lose you again!! Damnit, Duo, you are stronger than this! Fight it!"
Wufei was pushed aside by the medics, but he stayed by the wall, glaring fiercely and clenching his fists, as if he could make Duo respond by force of will alone.
"No pulse, I have no pulse..." chanted one medic.
Duo slowed, fighting the urge that was pulling him upwards, drawn by the clear need on Wufei's face.
"Airway clear. No breathing reflex."
He felt another tug upwards, and pushed himself down again, slipping past the doctor performing CPR on the inert form on the table. He hovered in front of Wufei, trying to understand.
"Ventilating."
Wufei was sad, he realized, sad and lonely and frustrated, and wanting, aching for something so badly that it was all but etched on his normally serene face.
He didn't want to go, to leave his friend uncomforted, but the tugging was becoming an irresistible pull, and he could not stop himself from floating ever-so-slowly upward.
"I have a pulse!!" The medic almost shouted, her relief obvious. Wufei took a step forward, hope leaping in his eyes.
"He's breathing..."
"Blood pressure rising... stabilizing"
Wufei sagged against the wall as if his legs had given out, and Duo felt contented. It would be well, after all.
He stopped fighting the pull and soared up through the ceiling, up through the white light and into the black void, where he flew like a gundam past an unending array of diamond-bright motes.
End Part 6
(:./wingnut/alter27)
