Title: Traitor in our Midst
Author: AstroKender
Pairings:1+2, 3+4, 5+?
Rating: shounen-ai
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: None.
Notes: This was my first attempt at writing a GW fic. Forgive the OOCness. As of yet, unfinished.
Disclaimers: I own nothing...not even my computer. So obviously GW isn't mine. Don't sue.
For some reason Heero couldn't sleep. He had been trying for hours now, but to no avail. The Gundam pilot considered taking something, but he had always distained the way sleeping pills made him feel when he awoke. Still it was better than getting no sleep, which would make him careless and could very well compromise their mission tomorrow.
He was just about to get up when he heard the door open. Heero tensed and tried to make his breathing seem as even as possible. Who would come into his room at this hour? Anyone stepping into Heero's room in the middle of the night might not live to regret it!
The figure slipped past the door and shut it softly behind him. He paused, perhaps to let his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Heero peered through half slitted lids. The figure remained indistinct in the inky blackness. But as the intruder drifted past his bed, Heero thought he caught a glimpse of a long braid trailing in its wake. Duo?
He watched as Duo crept across the room to where Heero kept his laptop. His comrade/intruder then turned it on and, after a moment began to type silently.
What was Duo searching for? And how often had he snuck into Heero's room undetected? That idea made him angry. Heero didn't like to think he was in any way vulnerable.
Heero was just about to sit up and ask the American pilot what in the hell he thought he was doing when he caught a glimpse of Duo's face illuminated by the computer screen. Heero repressed a shudder. Never before had he seen that look on his friend's face. It was a look so cold and withdrawn, a look Heero only saw when he looked into the mirror. What could possibly be going on to put such a look on Duo's normally carefree face?
Heero's musings were interrupted by a soft chuckle. It was a laugh full of triumph and malice and... pain? Heero quickly closed his eyes as Duo turned off the computer and rose to leave. He could feel the American standing over him and Heero tensed, sure he had been caught, but Duo just turned and silently left the room.
Heero lay in the silence for long minutes, thinking. He then stood up and went over to his laptop.
Duo covered his tracks well. Nevertheless, Heero was an expert at recovering lost or hidden information and, within minutes, he found what he was searching for. It was a message, sent to one of Duo's many aliases.
Dear applicant, After an extensive overview of your resume, we are pleased to inform you that you have been unconditionally accepted into our ranks. Please meet me at the provided location and date: Command Center, sector G, colony L2, on the fifth of May, 9:00pm. We eagerly await your arrival. Welcome to OZ. Signed, Colonel Greyson
Duo? Working for OZ? The fifth was just a week away. Heero shut off his computer and returned to bed, although he knew now that sleep would never come. As he lay there staring up at the ceiling he was startled by something wet trailing down his cheek. Heero angrily wiped this away and murmured into the darkness.
"Duo, Omae o kuroso."
He didn't like the way his voice broke there at the end.
"Good morning everyone!" Duo chirped happily as he entered the kitchen.
The other four Gundam pilots were sitting at the table, eating their respective breakfasts, as they watched the happy-go-lucky American give a jaw-cracking yawn and proceed to refrigerator.
"Good morning, Duo," replied the ever polite Quatre. "Did you sleep well?"
"Like a rock." He peered over the refrigerator door and grinned.
At this, Heero looked up sharply. Not solely for the fact that he himself got no rest at all, but he was sure his partner didn't as well.
"It must be nice," muttered WuFei. "I haven't slept the night through in days. I keep hearing something walk around at night, but when I open my door there is no one around." He shakes his head, clearly irritated. Heero continued to stare a hole through Duo's back.
"Whoa, Wu-man! I didn't know you heard ghosts!" Duo laughed. "It must be all that tofu you eat!" He came around to sit in his accustomed place next to Heero; unaware of the glares he was now getting from both of his comrades.
"It wasn't a ghost, you braided baka! It was a man! Or a woman...or something!" WuFei shook his fist at the American.
Duo shrugged, "Well then, maybe Heero was sleep walking. What do you say Heero, were you on a mission in your sleep?" he snickered. "Always the perfect soldier."
"Heero, sleepwalking." WuFei snorted. "Ridiculous. Why, the day-"
"Maybe it was you." Heero interrupted, looking at Duo accusingly. "Maybe you were the one sleepwalking."
Duo glanced up at Heero quickly, eyes wide. He then broke into a grin.
"Oh, Heero! Always the worrier aren't you? I mean, I didn't even know you cared. My Heero!" He leaned over to give Heero a quick peck on the cheek.
The Japanese pilot steeled himself against the feelings that such advances from Duo evoked. How dare he play innocent after-
"Arghh!" Heero gave a mighty push that sent Duo flying across the room and stood up. "Don't touch me!" He glared at the longhaired pilot that lay in a heap on the floor. "Don't EVER touch me!" He stormed out.
The other pilots stared after him in amazement. Duo's affections, while mostly unwanted, had never met with such a violent response! They looked down at Duo with questioning gazes. Duo quickly masked his hurt and laughed, muttering something about Heero waking up on the wrong side of the bed. His laugh faltered though, and he quickly picked himself up and left the room, breakfast forgotten.
Inside his room, Heero raged, sweeping books up and throwing them across the room. Traitor! How could he! The pilot turned to glare at himself in the mirror, but only saw a pathetic wretch, looking at him with pain filled eyes. Growling, Heero lashed out, driving his fist through the mirror. He stood there amidst the broken glass, and watched the blood drip from his fist onto the carpet. After a few minutes, he heard the door open. He whirled around to face a startled Duo.
"Heero what's the matter? What was with that episode in the kitchen?" Duo saw the blood streaming down Heero's fist. "Heero what happened? Hold still, I-" He reached for Heero's hand.
Heero jerked away. "Don't touch me!" He hissed.
"Oh, come off it, Heero!" Duo growled. He pushed Heero down on the bed and kneeled in front of him. "Don't do this." Duo whispered.
He then coughed, embarrassed. "Well, um, let's bandage you up, huh?" He proceeded to rip off his sleeve and wrap it carefully around Heero's hand.
"How do you get in these messes?" He glanced up at Heero. "I don't know what you guys would do without me." He grinned. "Probably have a party, huh?"
Heero didn't answer. But that didn't bother Duo, he was used to Heero being unresponsive to his antics. What disturbed Duo was that look of hurt and betrayal in eyes normally so passive.
"Hey, now that I know your not gonna bleed to death, I'm going into the bathroom an see if I can't find you some real bandages, okay?" Duo rose to his feet "You just sit there and relax. I'll be back in a jiffy." He walked it to Heero's bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Duo sighed heavily and sat himself on the side of the tub, placing his head on his hands. He didn't know what was wrong with Heero but he somehow suspected it was his fault. Does he know about last night? What's going on in that troubled mind of his? He probably thinks I'm a traitor. He groaned, running his fingers through his long braid, partially undoing it. What am I gonna do now? I can't tell him the truth; he might try to stop me.
Duo stood up "I'm just gonna have to play it as planned and hope he trusts me." He reached for the bandages. "Who am I kidding? I'll be lucky if he doesn't try to kill me." He opened the door.
"Hey Heero! I found the bandages but I couldn't find the antiseptic. Where do you-" Duo stopped. He was talking to an empty room. Heero was gone.
"Hey Duo, what happened to your sleeve?" Asked Quatre during lunch. A lunch in which Heero was not present.
"Hmm? What? Oh! My sleeve. Uh, I kinda had a little accident earlier. It's no biggie." He waved his hand depreciatingly. "Hey, these are good hamburgers, huh?"
"What kind of an accid-" Quatre's inquiry was interrupted by one from Trowa.
"Where's Heero?"
"Who knows? Probably went somewhere to save the world or something." Duo looked down at his plate.
"But we have a mission tonight!" Exclaimed Quatre. "What if-"
"What if what?" growled WuFei. "Heero has more honor than to leave during a mission. Wherever he went, he'll be back." With that, he got up and left the room.
"Well I still think someone should go look for him anyway." spoke Trowa after a moment. "Why don't you go see, Duo?"
Duo's glanced up sharply. "Who me?" His eyes widened. "I can't." He stood up suddenly. "I got to...prepare for the mission, you know. Wouldn't want to screw anything up tonight." He laughed nervously. "Well, see you around." He departed hurriedly.
The two remaining wing pilots glanced at each other in concern. Why was everyone acting so weird lately? First Heero and now Duo. Even WuFei was acting stranger than usual.
Quatre sighed. "Maybe they're nervous about the mission. We've never tried to attack a complex so big before."
"I don't know." Sighed Trowa. "But I'm going to try to find Heero and talk to him. I'd like to find out what happened this morning." He rose.
"I'll go talk to Duo." Quatre offered.
Trowa ran his hand through the blond boy's hair and bent over to kiss him on the cheek. "You do that."
He left a blushing Quatre to sit in the kitchen as he set out to find the elusive Heero. After a moment Quatre also got up. He hoped they could get this all cleared up before tonight.
"I've got a bad feeling about this."
Duo wasn't in his room. Which was odd since he said he needed to get ready for the mission. Quatre was just about to step outside to see if Duo was with his Gundam when he thought he heard a noise coming from Heero's room. Thinking that the Japanese pilot had returned and somehow slipped by unnoticed, Quatre softly tapped on the door. Receiving no answer, he opened the door.
"Heero?" The room was dark except for the soft light emitting from Heero's computer screen. Illuminated by that light was not Heero but...
"Duo? What are you doing in here?"
Duo sat up guiltily. He turned around to face Quatre, trying to block the computer screen.
"Umm, nothing. Just uh, looking at some old newspaper articles."
"Is it something to do with the mission?" Quatre went over to where Duo sat.
Duo placed his head in his hands. "Not exactly."
Quatre looked at the screen. It was a news article as Duo had said. The headline read: Maxwell Church Tragedy-Survivors, One.
"Duo?"
Duo took a deep shuddering breath and raised his head. He began to talk tonelessly, staring at a fixed point in space.
"Many years ago on the colony of L2, there was a church, an orphanage really. And that church had a priest by the name of Father Maxwell. He was the kindest man in the whole colony. Kind enough to take a little thief off the street and give him a warm bed and a hot meal. And the nun, Sister Helen, was an angel. But this kid was a troublemaker; he refused to cut his hair, hated to wear his uniform and constantly got into mischief. The others called him a devil, little Duo of Maxwell Church, but Father Maxwell called him an angel. And how did this boy repay that man for his kindness? He stole a mobile suit from OZ, thinking that he could use it to protect all his friends at the church. But OZ got angry. They sent in a dozen mobile suits to destroy Maxwell church, hoping to kill the boy who was considered by them, a threat. But the boy wasn't there; he was off on some nameless mischief in town. He got back to the church just in time to have Sister Helen die in his arms. She told him that Father Maxwell's last thoughts were of him. Did the priest condemn him for bringing destruction upon his church and all he loved? No. He just called me his angel, his little Duo Maxwell. "You are meant to do great good in this life, my son, I can sense it. Never loose your beliefs and always fight for those such as yourself." Those were the last words from the priest of Maxwell Church, as told by Helen with her dying breath. Two hundred and forty-five dead and one survivor who was dead inside. That is my legacy...and my burden, one that will stay with me for the rest of my days."
"Oh, Duo! I- we never knew..." Quatre kneeled beside Duo, tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Duo. B-but, it wasn't your fault, you were trying to protect-"
"Yeah right." Duo stood up swiftly. "Say what you will, I've heard it all a hundred times. But tell that to the faces you see at night. For them, no excuse is good enough." He started to walk away.
"Duo! Where are you going?" Quatre called after him.
"Outside. I need to check a few things on DeathScythe before tonight."
He walked away, leaving Quatre sitting alone, in the darkness.
"Find Heero?" Wu-Fie asked Trowa hour later.
Trowa sighed. "No. He and his Gundam are gone."
The two were interrupted by the appearance of Quatre, his tear-streaked face looked at them silently. Trowa rose up quickly.
"Quatre! What happened? Did Duo say something to you? Where is he? I'll-"
"Calm down, Trowa. It's not what you think." He proceeded to tell them Duo's story.
They sat silently afterwards, digesting what was said. Each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts.
"I always wondered why Maxwell was so careless." Wu-Fei broke the silence. "I never knew he had it so rough. You'd never know it by talking to him."
"We all wear our own masks," said Trowa, "Duo's was just more convincing."
"Well, whatever our problems, we all have a mission to perform." WuFei stood up "And it is out duty to complete this mission. Our honor demands it."
Quatre looked up sadly, remembering what Duo had said. He spoke softly to himself, as to not offend WuFei, but Trowa was close enough to hear his words.
"Yes, but what is honor to the dead?"
They were overwhelmed from the start. The mission was to go to the OZ command outpost in sector G and destroy it. But the forces guarding the base numbered in the hundreds. They didn't have a chance. To make matters worse, Heero was nowhere to be found.
"There's too many of them!" Quatre cried into his com-link. He was having a worse time of it than the other pilots, because his Sandrock wasn't meant for battles in space. "I can't even get close!" He swiped at a nearby Taurus, embedding his weapon deep within the enemy's chest.
Indeed all the Gundam pilots were facing the same dilemma. For every Taurus they destroyed, five more seemed to take its place, creating an almost impenetrable wall between themselves and the base.
"They're warming up the beam cannon!" shouted Trowa, as HeavyArms dodged a blast from a Taurus laser. "If they use that, we're done for!"
"Should we retreat?" asked Quatre. The vid-link showed his blue eyes shadowed with worry.
"I will not run from battle!" roared WuFei as he smashed a Taurus. "I will not be branded a coward!" He grabbed another enemy and crushed it with Shenlong's powerful grip.
"You'll be branded dead if we don't get out of here!" Trowa retorted.
"Wu-man's right, Trowa." Duo called, rushing in from the left to block a shot meant for Quatre's unprotected side. "We have gotta try to complete the mission, we may not get another chance!"
"But what about the beam cannon?" Quatre called.
"I'll handle it...Just cover me."
"Wait! Duo!"
"Let him go Quatre, he's right." spoke Trowa. "We have to do everything possible to complete the mission."
"But what is he gonna do?"
"Who knows?" growled WuFei, turning to face his next opponent. "He's Maxwell."
Duo ignored his comrades as he sped through the first ranks of OZ mobile suits. He had to disarm that beam cannon before one of his friends got hurt. DeathScythe sliced his way through Taurus after Taurus, trying to break through to the base.
Shinigami really had his hands full this time. He just prayed that he'd make it before that cannon went off.
"Beam cannon charged, Colonial."
"Good." said Colonial Greyson. "Aim it at those three Gundams."
"Aye, Si-Sir! One of the Gundams has broken through our defenses and is heading straight for the cannon!"
"Fire!" "But Sir! We'll be hitting out own men!"
"I don't care! Stop that Gundam before he reaches the cannon!"
"Aye, Sir!"
"It's time to meet the God of Death!" cried Duo as he smashed through the last ranks of Taurus.
Come on Maxwell, almost there. You've got to time this just right or we'll all be blown to smithereens. Duo could see the cannon right up ahead. It's red glow signaling it's ready-to-fire status. The trick was to head straight for it and then dodge to the side before it disintegrated him. He only had a couple of seconds left.
"Come on, just a little more. Jeez, I sure hope this works!"
Just then the cannon fired, shooting a beam of pure white energy into space. Duo accelerated DeathScythe and feinted left...too late.
The beam hit DeathScythe's right side, disintegrating its arm and narrowly missing the cockpit. Duo fought to keep conscious as he kicked his suit into overdrive.
"Oh no you don't!" he cried.
He aimed his scythe, held tightly in Death's left hand, and hurdled himself directly into the side of the cannon. The scythe ripped into the cannon, completely destroying it. The resulting explosion was enough to shake the entire base. DeathScythe crashed into the ground, where it came to rest, lifeless, up against the destroyed weapon.
"Duo!" Quatre cried. He tried to break through enemy lines to aid his friend but there were just to many Taurus in the way. "Duo! Can you hear me?" Nothing but silence over the com-link.
It was then that Heero entered the battle.
Screaming in rage, Heero guided Wing through the battlefield, destroying anything that stepped in his path. Using his saber and his beam rifle, he demolished Taurus after Taurus until finally he broke though to the complex. Wing landed roughly, mere yards away from the fallen DeathScythe.
"Duo!" He yelled into his com-link, but there was no response. He tried to bring up a visual of the American's cockpit but all he got was static. In a rage, he ripped off his harness and jumped out of his Gundam and into the fray.
"Duo, answer me, damn you!" Heero called from outside of DeathScythe's broken and torn body. Luckily, the Gundam had landed on its side and the exit hatch wasn't blocked. It to all of Heero's strength to force open the hatch, but finally it gave way with a shudder.
Inside, held up by his harness and looking like nothing more than a broken doll, laid Duo, unmoving among the wreckage. Shots fired nearby, narrowly missing the Gundam and forcing Heero to his knees. Those stray shots threatened to blow them both to hell. Heero quickly unfastened the safety harness. He then picked up Duo as gently as possible and slung him over his shoulder. He turned and made a dash for the safety of his Gundam. To his amazement, he and his burden reached it unscathed. Heero gently wedged the American pilot safely behind his seat and was rewarded by a groan of pain. He was alive! Heero almost sobbed in relief. He threw himself into the pilot's seat and launched his mobile suit back into space.
"Heero!" cried Quatre "Is Duo-?"
"He's alive. For now." He was careful to make his voice sound neutral.
"Heero, what do we do?" asked Trowa.
"We run."
"What about Maxwell's Gundam?" yelled WuFei.
Damn! It never even occurred to him. Heero cursed himself for not destroying it. He sighed. There was nothing to do about it now.
"Leave it."
They made it back to their base at just past midnight. They had barely escaped with their lives, and they were lucky. At least, most of them were...
"Set him down there, on the couch, Heero." Trowa commanded.
But Heero was already headed for his own room, Duo grasped tightly in his arms. Indeed, the pilots hadn't been able to loosen Heero's grip on the American since they landed. He would entrust Duo's care to no one but himself, leaving the other pilots to trail behind.
Heero gently laid his companion down on the bed. WuFei approached on the other side and tried to remove Duo's spacesuit. He was rewarded by a growl from Heero.
"What do you think your doing?" Heero glared menacingly at the other pilot.
"We've got to take his suit off, so we can assess his injuries." WuFei again reached for Duo.
"Don't touch him!" Heero roared, shoving WuFei to the ground.
"Fool!" WuFei jumped back up. "He wouldn't be in this shape if you had been there! It's because of your lack of honor that he lays there!"
"GET OUT!"
" But Heero!" Quatre came between the two pilots. "We've got to help Duo! You can't do it by yourself!"
"I said, get out! All of you! Anyone who touches him will die!"
"Heero, you don't know what-" Trowa was interrupted by Heero's fist.
"Trowa!" Quatre ran and kneeled down by his friend.
"It's okay, Quatre. Let's just get out of here." He wiped at the blood that was trickling from his split lip."
"But Duo-"
"We're not helping him by fighting here, Quatre. Let's go." With a glare at the impassive Heero, Trowa walked out, supported by his blond comrade.
"If he dies," hissed WuFei. "Your life is forfeit. Remember that." With that, he also departed.
Heero turned and proceeded to remove Duo's helm. A gash in Duo's forehead had a washed the pilot's face in blood. Heero carefully cleaned and bandaged his head with a care and gentleness uncommon from the Japanese pilot. Task completed, Heero began to carefully remove the cumbersome spacesuit when he heard a groan from the bed.
"Duo?"
A pair of large violet eyes slowly opened. "Heero?" Duo rasped. "You finally got here. I was just about to destroy that beam cannon."
"You did destroy it, Duo. The battle's over."
"Did we win?" He attempted to sit up and was confronted by a wave of pain that threatened to send him back to unconsciousness. "Guess not." He lay back, panting.
"What hurts?" Heero examined the pilot with care.
Duo chuckled. "Everything." He winced. "But mostly my ribs."
"They're probably broken." Heero straightened up from his examination. "You were lucky. Your Gundam-"
"DeathScythe!" Duo again attempted to get up, but was halted by Heero's strong grip. "Where is he?"
"We had to leave him."
"L-leave him? You didn't destroy him? You left him in the hands of the enemy?"
Heero looked away, ashamed. "It couldn't be helped. I-we had to get you out of there."
"We gotta go back!" cried Duo as he struggled against Heero. "I've got to-"
Apparently such gyrations were too much for the pilot and, with a groan, he blacked out.
Sighing, Heero resumed tending to the injured Duo. Although his wounds were relatively superficial, save for the broken ribs and a mild concussion, they covered the wounded pilot and added up to quite a lot of damage.
Heero gazed down at the unconscious boy, realizing how close they came to losing him. Why should this one boy matter? Why does this one person, out of all the people in the galaxy, mean so much to him? How can Duo stir his blood, just by walking in the room?
He is probably a traitor, Heero told himself. Why should you care about him, you're the perfect soldier. Why should you lo-
"HEERO!" Quatre's shout reverberated throughout the safe house.
After one last look to make sure that Duo was, relatively, okay, Heero stepped out of the room and into the hall.
"Heero!" The blond boy ran up to him, the other two pilots close behind. "We've got to get out of here quick! Is Duo okay? We have to move out immediately! The jeep's right out back, we could carry him if we have to-"
Heero looked at Quatre irritably. "What are you talking about?"
"They've found us." Trowa said quietly.
"Who found us?"
"OZ."
"They've found us." Heero repeated dully.
Trowa reached up and grabbed Heero by the shoulders, looking him strait in the eye. Heero flinched but did not pull away.
"Yes. And if we don't leave immediately, we'll be captured." Trowa's gaze strayed to Heero's room "All of us."
"Right." Heero seemed to return to his normal self. He shrugged off Trowa's hand.
"We better get going." He started towards his room. WuFei stopped him.
"What about our Gundams?"
"Kuso! Two of us will have to load the Gundams onto the trucks and then hide them."
"WuFei and I will do that." Trowa volunteered. "We can hid them at the circus and then meet up later."
"What about Maxwell?" WuFei protested.
"Quatre will take Duo and the jeep and get as far from here as possible." Trowa's tone dared anyone to argue with his choice."
Heero stared at him a moment, silent.
"Fine, get going then." He looked at Quatre. "Is there anywhere close by that would be safe?" For Duo.
Quatre brightened. "My father's company has a office not far from here. We could hide there."
"Then go." Heero turned around and started to walk away.
"Heero! Wait! What are you going to do?"
The Japanese pilot paused "Create a distraction." He turned around the corner and was gone from sight.
Quatre stood, alone, in the darkness.
"I'll take care of him, Heero. Take care of yourself."
End Prologue
(:./astrokender/traitor0)
