The mission, as usual, was a success. Heero and Duo had been assigned to destroy a research facility. There were reports that it had been manufacturing upgrades for the Leo-type mobile suits that could have made them... more of a fight.
It was planned that Heero would make a run for the information in the labs, while Duo created as much of a ruckus as possible.
"Duo, mission accomplished! Get me out of here!" Heero was shouting into the radio over the din. Fuel tanks and ammunition depots were chain-detonating all around him.
Suddenly, out of the smoke and fire came Shinigami. The first thing he saw was the glowing scythe, and he heard the crackling that accompanied it as it sliced through the air, its magnetic field interacting with the static electricity all around. Next came the glowing eyes, softly illuminating the suit's visage with a somber amber light. The rest of the suit materialized out of the smoke, as if it had used the smoke as a cloak to hide its fearsome appearance. The noises it made were surprisingly little; Duo was always meticulous about that, that the Shinigami be as quiet as possible. Death is always silent, waiting for the right time, Heero remembered Duo saying.
As much as Heero hated to admit, Duo's alter ego actually scared him.
Heero shivered for a moment, and let loose a sigh. He clambered on up to the waiting mobile suit's hand. In spite of all the heat, it was cold, and he could hear all the coolants and liquids rushing through its cables. Like blood, he thought. Cold blood, for the harbinger of death. Heero jumped into the waiting cockpit, once he was near enough.
All the external noise died abruptly when the hatch closed. Inside the suit, all that Heero could hear was the faint hum of the generator and, surprisingly, Duo's breathing.
"Are you unhurt?" Heero asked Duo, looking at him for the first time.
He had never seen Duo like this. Duo's long, braided hair was slick with perspiration, and his skin was pale. His eyes, however, were cold; almost glazed over, from Heero's point of view. He had been tugging at his collar; his shirtfront was rumpled and wet.
"Arigato, Heero. I'll be fine." Duo's voice was quiet, cold. There was none of his customary cheerfulness, or his smile. Heero just stared at him.
"Duo?"
"What?" Duo growled.
Heero opened his mouth to say something, but his annoyance at being lashed at, and his own worry that he might say the wrong thing, made him keep quiet.
It was silent all the way to the first stop, where they picked up Heero's hidden mobile suit.
He tried to talk to him again, this time about the mission, but Duo stayed away - he wasn't anymore sullen, but there was a strange air about him. It reminded Heero of Wu Fei.
For the next day or so, Heero put it all out of his mind; they had to get to their main hideout safely. Only when the camouflage netting came down over the cave entrance did he start to worry again.
Safehouse Forest-1
Heero went into the cabin just outside the cave; odd, there was no smell of food being cooked. Duo was always hungry after a mission. He heard the noise of the spraying water. He smiled, remembering Duo and he in the shower, before they went off:
The first thing he did was unbraid the hair; their eyes locked onto one another's when they were in the bathroom together; Heero was just going to get some clothes he had left, when Duo gave him THAT LOOK. Duo was grinning. He was naked, obviously about to take a bath. Duo pulled him into the shower. He was about to throw Duo over his shoulder when their lips connected.
The water streamed down their wet bodies. Heero had his hands on the sides of Duo's head; Duo's hair was loose, disheveled, pasted to his skin by the force of the shower. "Your clothes are wet," Duo murmured while smiling, before kissing him again.
Heero broke out of his reverie; what was wrong with Duo? He knocked on the bathroom door. It was open.
He stepped inside, expecting to hear a Duo humming while taking a shower, half expecting Duo to pull another stunt like the last time. I wish he would, he thought.
He stopped where he was, just in front of the stall.
Duo was on his knees. His face was blank, and he was staring at the wall. All his clothes were on. His long hair covered most of his face, wet and in disarray, the braid looking like it had been forcibly undone.
Duo didn't even acknowledge that he was there. He just kept on staring.
Heero started to do a body check. He might have a serious injury, he thought, something he didn't want to tell me about. Heero knew that Duo didn't much care for the protective harnesses all their mobile suits had. What if he had been knocked about more than he's letting on?
A few minutes later, he was sure nothing was wrong physically, no broken bones, no skin breaks. Duo was naked again after the hurried inspection, and Heero was again drenched with his clothes on.
"Your clothes are wet."
Heero remembered it in his mind as he looked at Duo's blank eyes.
End Part 1
(:./lee/dogs1)
