Title: Red Moon Rising
Author: Ebonydove
Author's Notes: After receiving a lot of feedback both good and... constructive... I have decided
to continue this for a bit longer. This is the sequel to Death & the
Phoenix. It takes place before Endless Waltz, but doesn't even remotely follow
the series. Pairings: 1x2/3+4. I would really love getting any and all feedback
on this and wanted to thank everyone for their comments, suggestions, and yes,
even the criticism. I appreciated them all!
Warnings: Angst, lime and possibly lemon later on, violence, language, Duo
torture, Heero torture, and slight OOC, except for maybe Wufei. No episode
spoilers as of yet, but I will post any at the beginning of the chapter if one
or two pop up.
Disclaimers: I may toy with them, but I still don't own them.
Heero threw his arm over his face as he tried once again to feign sleep. But it was hopeless. Kicking the covers off with a growl, he swung his legs over the side of the bunk and sat staring into the gloomy dark of the small space. He ran his fingers threw his hair and let out an aggrevated sigh. He wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. Just like the night before, and the one before that. Breifly wondering if he was ever going to sleep again, he rubbed his aching shoulder and arm muscles. He stood slowly mentally cursing how tight his muscles were, and how his knees trembled as his eyes adjusted to the dark. Even the slightest amount of physical movement seemed difficult for him causing a few harsh curses to slip out as he stretched.
He padded silently to the icebox and removed the half-empty carton of milk and with a grumble sat himself in the only chair in the tiny safehouse. He didn't bother with the lights or with a glass as he took a big gulp and let his weary eyes slide closed. Duo had always said that warm milk helped settle his stomach and allowed him to relax enough to sleep, but it didn't seem to be working for him. His stomach felt so tight that the coldness of the milk as it hit his empty belly caused a knife-like feeling of pain to stab through him. Cursing again he frowned at his body's weaknesses.
He glanced up to the doorway and wasn't surprised to see Trowa standing there silently assessing him. The safehouse was a two-room shack with the barest of essentials and a toilet behind a screen in the far corner next to the back door. There were no windows. One door to the front, and one that led out back, it being their only way of coming and going. Not that they had anywhere to be just then. A single lightbulb hung from a wire in the middle of ceiling in the main room and was the only light they had. The floor was cement and did nothing to help keep the drafts down, and the icebox was small, rusty, and smelled like someone old socks. It didn't matter to him though. Very few things did anymore. He wouldn't have cared if they had to stay in a tent for a month in the freezing cold with nothing to eat but space rations. It was all the same to him.
The world took on a different light now. And it was gray. Things he used to enjoy seemed pointless or frivious. Simple comforts like a warm blanket, or ice cream, or long hot baths made him angry. Angry for being taught that they were pleasures to be enjoyed instead of food, shelter and hygene. And angry that the person who taught him about these pleasures was no longer around to enjoy them with. So he cursed them too. It was going on two months since Duo tore his heart out in the name of love. And that place were he used to keep all his love for the brash Deathscythe pilot became a deep, festering wound that got bigger and bigger with each passing day. At night sleeping became a torturous thing he dreaded. It was a time when he thought of the magical indigo eyes and sparkling laughter. They would come to him unbidden and torment him until he woke shivering, cold and bitter.
Trowa cleared his throat and waited for Heero's hollow eyes to met his. When they didn't he decided he was going to talk to him anyway, despite the crackling ripples tension of in the air. It couldn't go on like this for too much longer. And it would shame Duo if he knew how hard Heero had taken his death. Crossing to the light and tugging gently on the chain, the room was lit with the soft, dull glow of a fifteen-watt bulb. "Does the light bother your eyes?" Heero shrugged and took another chug of milk from the carton. "You're not sleeping again. Do you want something to help you?"
Heero heard the genuine concern in Trowa's voice but growled at the question anyway. He may be a shadow of the person he was two months ago, but he could still take care of his own needs. He finished the milk, tossed the container on the small wooden table next to the icebox and shut off the light intent on returning to bed.
"Heero. You can't go on like this. I know you loved him but... "
Icy blue eyes turned to him and Trowa flinched at the cruelty they held. "You don't know anything about it."
"I was there too, Heero. We all suffered beside you both."
A twisted smirk blossomed on Heero's face. "I loved him and he left me. He gave up. He broke his promise." Heero's hands curled into fists and his arms began to shake with the repressed anger he felt. "Worst of all, he lied. To all of us."
"Heero, you don't really believe that do you?" Trowa snapped back, sadness warring with precaution. Heero had been explosive, bordering on suicidal and trowa didn't want to push him into another of his fits. He lowered his voice and tried to project a feeling of calm with his voice. "He didn't think there was any other way to keep you from suffering, he wanted you to remember him the way... "
Heero had crossed the space between them in the time it took Trowa to blink and grabbed him by the shoulders hard enough to bruise. In a voice that was very soft and very cold he spoke. "He condemned me to a living hell Trowa. He's gone and I'm here to finish what I started, only I feel like a part of myself has been ripped away. Don't tell me that he didn't want me to suffer." Heero's voice cracked the tiniest bit and his grip loosened on Trowa. "If he didn't want me to be in pain, he would have stayed. He would have fought." He took a shuddering breath and met the startled green eyes with dull blue ones. "He would have stayed."
Heero's hands dropped to his side and he slumped forward resting his forehead against Trowa's chest. Trowa brought his hands up slowly and rubbed soothing circles over his back and shoulder blades. Heero was warring with himself every day. He refused to mourn Duo's death. He, like Quatre and Wufei, was beginning to become concerned that the growing resentment he held towards Duo was going to eventually destroy him. How can you hate the one you loved so deeply? "You need some rest Heero."
Heero nodded against him and allowed Trowa to lead him back to the bunks in the tiny bedroom. When he was settled, Trowa sat at the end of the bed and waited for him to drift off. He tossed and turned for a few moments before finally settling down. He mumbled a few before rolling over on his side. "He promised. He promised he'd love me forever." Trowa sighed deeply and covered him with the blanket. "That... that he'd never leave me." He murmured as he finally let go and succumbed to the dark embrace of sleep.
Trowa brushed the sweat dampened hair out of Heero's face and shook his head sadly. "I know, Heero. I know."
He had floated in the blackness of space for an hour trying to keep the shaking in his hands from getting worse and was losing the battle. He was over working himself and he knew it, but he was desperate to get back to business. Punching in the coordinates, he slipped Deathscythe into stealth mode and screamed to his destination.
He carefully stashed the giant machine in a secure hangar after maneuvering his mecha into the colonies' spaceport and keeping all his cloaking measures on full power. Then he quickly and quietly slipped out of the machine and made his way through the abandoned streets to a small, but familiar alley. Checking the chamber of his sidearm to make sure it was loaded, he ducked into the dark space and made sure the coast was clear. He quickly punched in a code on a small keypad behind a rusty dumpster and a hidden metal door slid open and quickly clicked shut once he passed through it.
Ignoring the twitching of his fingers on his left hand, he made his way silently down the flight of metal stairs that were immediately in front of him to the secret entranceway to the underground lab. He fingered off the safety to his gun as he reached the bottom of the stairs and slid around the corner passing like a shadow into the dimly lit room below. His keen sight didn't detect anything out of place as he made his way cautiously to the bank of computers sitting on the long, metal table at the far side of the room. He glanced around quickly, checking that he was still clear and set about accessing the data memory on the first machine. Punching in his identification code and hearing the hard drive whir in response, he settled into extracting the files he had come for.
"It seems my little mouse has returned for more cheese."
Duo spun around instantly locking on his target. Cold indigo eyes locked onto the shadow at it sat on a stool behind him in a dark corner of the room. "You fucking bastard." He growled with barely contained rage as he sighted his gun on Professor G's head where it was sure to be a clean kill.
Professor G smirked, tilting his head to one side as he slid down from a stool on the opposite side of the room where he had been tinkering with bits of wire and other assorted debris. He watched with an attached amusement as a trickle of dark blood began from Duo's nose. "Ah, Duo. You were always so high strung. But that's no matter. You don't seem well my boy, I thought we had taken care of that, hmm? You've been pushing yourself to hard."
Duo growled out from clenched teeth as he wiped the blood from his nose and lip. "You lied to me. It's been two fuckin' months! I didn't think it would take this long."
G stopped and stood in front of the barrel of Duo's gun unflinchingly. "I suppose if you want to be rash, I won't stop you." Duo blinked and waited, all his nerves on high alert. G had disarmed him before and was still to be dealt with like a serious threat, despite his age and demeanor. "I told you it would take some time."
A sudden shiver crept through him. "I remember that part." Duo snapped. "I'm tired of games, G. I tired of being used like some kind of puppet." Duo lowered the gun and ran a shaky hand through his bangs. His head was spinning, and he felt as if anvils were pulling his arms down. "How long before I can resume operations?"
"The accident was severe." G smiled broadly seeing the brief flash of confusion in the indigo eyes as Duo lowered the gun and flicked the safety back on. "You still need more time to recover completely from your ordeal. After all, it was a serious injury. "
"So you've told me." Duo sighed gustily and folded his arms over his chest. "Will I ever remember what happened?"
G looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and then shook his head. "Doubtful."
"Will they remember me?"
G smiled. "Yes of course. The other pilots know you are an ally. I believe you and the Sandrock pilot were good acquaintances. As for the others, I believe you should proceed with caution."
Duo gave him a suspicious glare. "And why is that again?"
"You had all started to work together when you were injured. I'm sure you had all grown comfortable with one another. Comrades, if you will. I'm not sure what their reaction will be when they see you again. For all intents and purposes you were dead to them."
"Right... so you let them believe that while I recovered. I don't understand why they couldn't be kept informed of my condition."
"If you didn't survive the treatments they would've had to mourn for the loss of one of the few friends and allies they had made while on earth. I think that would be a bit cruel to inflict on them even for the God of Death, don't you think?" G then laughed a nasty little chuckle. "That and they were far too busy to worry about what had happened to you. You are all expendable. They know that just as you do."
Duo frowned fiercely. He didn't trust G, but he couldn't remember anything before his last mission, and that was months ago. It was like he woke up one day to find half a year had gone by. He remembered people and places. But the time leading up to his recovery on the L2 colony was a blur of images and flashes of noise and color. Unfortunately it was the only part of his memory that was damaged with the treatments he had been under. His past on L2 was still as heartbreakingly fresh to him as before his "accident", as well as the time that led up to the mission he had taken on earth. The first that the pilots had taken as a group. The last thing he remembered was going to the University Medical Center to pick up his anti-anxiety meds and then flying to Howard's. And even that was hazy. He growled in frustration. Trying to force the thoughts of what happened before gave him a headache. "So what happens now?"
"You stay close by. I will eventually reintroduce you into the main mission parameters and to the other pilots. I think it would be best that you kept your distance from the other pilots until you are better acquainted, yes?"
"Looks like I have little choice." Duo glanced at the computers and remembered he was trying to hack into the mission files. They would be sure to shed some light on the dark places in his mind that he had been trying to uncover in the two months he had spent in G's lab. "When can I have access to the old mission files? From before my crash in Deathscythe."
G spun from his tinkering of a small mobile suit part to glare at the Deathscythe pilot. "You don't need to see them. I have told you everything you need to know about your crash and recovery. You will follow my instructions and keep away from Heero Yuy and the others until I tell you. Clear?" He paused and waited for Duo to reluctantly nod his understanding, ignoring the arrogant smirk. "Go back to Howard. I told him you would be coming. You have much work ahead of you, 02. Remember that I told you the others will be surprised with your return, so be ready for it."
Hearing Heero's name gave Duo pause. 'Sometimes the most valuable things in the world are the things you risk destroying. But if you don't take the risk, then you live for very little.' He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs that were clouding the thoughts, but the dull pounding he had before began a new. Rubbing his eyes he left G to his secrets. He'd find out soon enough what the other pilots thought of him.
End Part 1
(:./ebony/red1)
