Silent Storm: Part 2
By: Kellryn
Leos blocked the path to the ammunition shed that was to be taken out. Quatre and Duo were in the process of clearing a path through them, trying to pave the way for Trowa. Quatre used his twin blades to destroy a pair of mobile suits. Duo was wielding his scythe with abandon. The thermal blade was passing through Leos left and right. Three more mobile suits went up in smoke as Duo passed by. Quatre and Duo were hard pressed, but they forged onward, allowing Trowa to slip past the army of Leos. When Heavyarms was in range of the ammunition shed , Trowa opened fire with his vast store of shells and missiles. The missiles crashed into the stored ammunition, causing a chain reaction. The resulting explosion took a dozen or so enemy mobile suits with it. The three gundams withdrew, destroying any Leos that were foolish enough to get in their way.
The three young gundam pilots returned to one of Quatre’s holdings that they were using as a base at the moment. They maneuvered their gundams into a vast hangar. Duo jumped from the hatch of Deathscythe to land lightly on his feet and ambled over to where Trowa was patiently waiting for Quatre to finish relating orders to his many servants and employees.
“That was no challenge at all,” Duo exclaimed. “It was hardly a decent workout for me an’ Shinigami.”
“Hey, Sandrock and I were there too, you know!” claimed Quatre.
“Oh right, uh... mmm, I’m starving! Let's go have some lunch,” Duo effectively changed the subject.
Later that evening, Quatre and Trowa were in the study playing a duet on the violin and flute. It truly was a wonderful performance, they matched each other perfectly. Duo was standing at a bay window not really paying his comrades much attention. His thoughts were elsewhere. Quatre frowned slightly when there was no response from Duo as the duet ended. Trowa glanced at his lover, interpreting the look that Quatre sent his way. He put his instrument away and left the two boys to talk.
“Duo, what’s wrong?” Quatre asked, as he set his violin aside and moved directly behind Duo. “I know that something has been bothering you for awhile now.”
“Nothing's wrong,” Duo replied. “I was just wondering how Wufei and Heero are doing, that’s all.”
“I’m sure they're fine,” answered Quatre.
Duo shook off his melancholy and plastered a huge silly grin on his face as he turned to face Quatre. “Well, I’m off to bed. I suggest you do the same thing and catch up with Trowa, you don’t want to keep him waiting, do you?” leered Duo.
“Umm... ya,” Quatre said, and blushed.
Duo’s snickering could be heard as he left the study and headed towards his own room.
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Quatre, Trowa, and Duo were in the underground hanger running diagnostics on their respective mecha. Suddenly, an overhead Klaxon shrilled, warning everyone that an unidentified mobile suit was approaching. Everywhere people gathered weapons and prepared to defend the holding.
“Wait! It appears to be gundam 05, coming in,” yelled a Manganac Fighter.
“If it’s Wufei, then why didn’t he radio ahead?” asked Quatre.
“His gundam appears heavily damaged. Maybe his communication equipment isn’t working,” stated Trowa, as Shenlong came into view.
Shenlong powered down as it landed on the hangar’s floor. Quatre and Trowa were instantly at the gundam’s feet, waiting for any movement from inside the giant mecha.
Duo ran over to his fellow pilots yelling, “Is there any sign of Wing?” just as Shenlong’s hatch opened and Wufei all but fell out.
“The mission was a trap... I barely made it out and Heero was... ” gasped Wufei, as he slipped into unconsciousness and slumped onto the floor.
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Quatre was in with the doctor, who was treating Wufei’s injuries. Trowa had stayed in the hangar to try and access Shenlong’s mission log, to see if he could find out exactly what went wrong. Duo was nervously shifting on a chair outside the room that Wufei had been carried into after his collapse. Duo was going crazy waiting for some news. A few minutes later, Trowa came into view and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. Just then, the door opened and Quatre walked out looking very tired.
Duo vaulted to his feet, “Is he awake?”
“No,” sighed Quatre. “The doctor says that he will remain unconscious for awhile yet... that he’s lucky to even be alive.”
Trowa walked over to his lover and put a gentle hand on Quatre’s shoulder. “The most current mission logs were nothing but static, we’ll have to wait for Wufei to wake up to learn anything."
“But... but... he might not wake up for days! What if Heero needs our help?” wailed Duo.
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“Quatre-sama, your friend has woken up!” said a Manganac Fighter, as he hurried into the room the other three pilots were in.
All three pilots dropped what they were doing and rushed up the stairs to Wufei’s room. Duo pushed open the door, ready to bombard the Chinese pilot with questions. But Quatre pushed past him and approached the doctor.
“How is he?” queried Quatre.
The doctor glanced at his clipboard as he answered, “Better than expected, but he’ll still require several weeks of bed rest. His injuries were severe, but because he’s in excellent health, he will recover from them. He’s very lucky to have sustained no permanent damage.”
Wufei was covered in bandages and had an IV in his arm. What wasn’t covered by bandages was bruised all shades of blue and purple. The three youths stared at their friend’s condition as the doctor left them. Wufei puffed out a breath of air and then opened his eyes.
“Did you retrieve the mission log?” Wufei asked in a shaky voice.
“Not possible, there was too much damage to the operating systems,” stated Trowa.
“Damn, Heero had managed to transmit some crucial data to me.” Wufei growled.
Wufei was summarizing the mission in excruciating detail: He and Heero had ascertained that it was a trap at once, but had deemed it a negotiable risk and decided to precede with the mission. Wufei fought in Shenlong, distracting the enemy, while Heero infiltrated the base and hacked into the main computer. Everything had gone accordingly until reinforcements had arrived. At that point, everything began to go wrong. Wufei was forced to retreat.
Duo was nervously twisting the end of his long braid around his fingers and shifting his weight from foot to foot. He was diligently waiting for some word of Wing’s pilot. “What about Heero?” asked Duo.
“He was captured,” remarked Wufei.
The four boys left Wufei to rest and went to the kitchen. A heated argument could be heard.
“We’ve been planning this mission for days, we can’t afford to put it off, even for a few days,” argued Quatre.
“We can’t just forget about Heero, he needs to be rescued at once!” Duo disputed.
“Excuse me... ” intervened Trowa, “The mission can be accomplished just as easily with two as with three.”
“Right! You two continue with the plans and I’ll go rescue Heero,” stated Duo.
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Duo silently inched his way along the corridor, keeping to the shadows. It had taken him two days to find out where Heero was being kept and now he was only a few feet from his quarry. Duo quickly took care of the guard, using the guard's passkey to enter the cell. The cell was dark, damp, and like ice. Once Duo’s eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he shivered and it wasn’t from the cold. Huddled in a fetal position on a filthy cot was Heero. He had begun to rock back and forth with his arms wrapped tightly around his thin frame as soon as the door slid opened. Duo had never seen Heero like this before and it frightened him.
“Heero, it’s just me, Duo. It’s gonna be OK... everything’s gonna be all right,” whispered Duo, as he slowly approached Heero.
Heero quickly opened his eyes at Duo’s voice and pushed himself into a sitting position. Duo eased his arms under Heero’s shoulders and pulled him to his feet. Getting Heero and himself away from the base was a slow process because Duo had to stop every few yards to reposition Heero because he kept stumbling. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Duo managed to get to the jeep he had hidden near by. It took Duo several hours to reach the safe house that he had arranged ahead of time. Duo helped Heero into the small apartment, almost carrying him to the small bed. Heero fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Duo took that time to remove Heero’s clothes and patch him up using a small first aid kit. Heero was covered in cuts and bruises, but he didn’t have any broken bones. If there were any internal injuries, they were minor.
For being a prisoner for over two weeks, Heero wasn’t too bad off; thought Duo.
When Heero woke after sleeping for thirty six hours, Duo helped him to the bathroom. Heero steadied himself in the shower and hissed as the warm water ran over his injuries.
“Are you going to be all right by yourself or do you want me to help you?” asked Duo.
“Leave, I can take care of myself,” growled Heero.
After his shower, Heero managed to stumble his way to the kitchen, where Duo was making some soup.
“Would you like anything besides the soup?” Duo asked as he turned towards Heero.
“No.”
“OK... uhmm, none of your injuries appear to bad,” explained Duo as he served Heero and himself some soup.
Heero was silent for a moment then asked in a low voice, “What’s been happening since I was... captured? Did Wufei get the information that I downloaded?”
Duo took a large breath and began to relate all of the details of the last two weeks. Heero sat in silence with a frown.
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Over the next few days, Heero ignored Duo, tending his injuries himself. For his part, Duo tried to ease the awkwardness with jokes and constant babbling. Both boys were still not comfortable in each others presence, they hadn’t been since ‘the kiss` almost a month ago.
Duo was awakened by whimpering and low moans originating from Heero’s bed. Duo crawled out of his own bed and moved over to Heero’s side. He reached out to gently shake Heero awake when Heero’s eyes flew open. Heero only saw a shadow over him and reacted instantly. He swung his arm out, letting his fist solidly connect with the individual above him. Then he rolled out of bed, springing forward and clasped his hands around the person’s neck.
Struggling for breath, Duo fought back, managing to overpower Heero in his weakened condition. Duo pinned Heero to the floor.
“NO!” wailed Heero in an anguished voice.
Duo froze when that pained voice reached his ears. “Heero, it's Duo! What’s wrong? Please talk to me... ”
“Duo?”
“Yes.”
Duo eased off, allowing Heero to sit up and lean against his bed. Heero pulled his knees against his chest and stared straight ahead. Duo reached over to the nightstand and flipped on the small reading lamp. When he looked to his friend, his eyes widened at the obvious pain in Heero’s expression.
“What was that all about? You’ve never had a nightmare since I met you... why now? Heero, please talk to me, maybe I can help.”
Heero just remained as he was, not moving or saying anything.
Duo took a big breath and asked, “Is it about being a prisoner during that last mission? Come on, Heero, I’m your friend, you can trust me.”
“Are you really my friend, even after what occurred in the park a month ago?”
“Of course! Things might’ve gotten a little strained between us, but I never stopped being your friend! Now will you please tell me what’s wrong?”
Heero remained quiet for a long moment, then a tiny shiver coursed its way down his spine as he began to speak in a detached voice.
“I couldn’t stop him. He was too strong and I too weak. It was worse than all the beatings and torture the other guards inflicted on me before he came,” murmured Heero.
“What happened?” asked Duo in a hushed voice, although he already had a good idea.
“I... I was... forced... ”
Heero started to rock back and forth. Duo hesitated for a moment, then moved over to Heero and wrapped him in his arms. Heero stiffened at first, then slowly relaxed, letting Duo hold him. Duo just held Heero for about half an hour before he started to speak in a subdued tone.
“Heero, it wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t fight back after being beaten repeatedly. There was nothing you could’ve done.”
Duo kept repeating those words to Heero, until his breathing evened out. After making sure that Heero was asleep, Duo delicately lay Heero down on his bed and covered him with a blanket. How am I going to help him through this; thought Duo, as he settled on his own bed.
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Heero refused to talk to Duo the next day about the night before. He closed himself off, burying himself in work. Duo knew that Heero needed to talk about what he went through, but he was afraid that forcing the issue might do more damage than good.
That night Heero had another nightmare. This time Duo made sure not to stand above Heero.
“Heero... wake up,” Duo murmured quietly, as he cautiously touched Heero’s arm.
“Duo... ” Heero trailed off, “I can’t stop seeing him, feeling him, why can’t I forget? I just want to forget... him... it... ” he sobbed.
“Shh... I’m here, I won’t let anyone hurt you. You're safe,” soothed Duo, as he crawled into bed with Heero.
Duo began to calm Heero by stroking his arm. Heero’s rigid posture softened as Duo’s caressing relaxed him. They lay like that for several hours until, exhausted, they fell asleep in each other's embrace.
Duo slowly stretched, but came fully awake as he realized that he wasn’t alone. He turned his head to the side and came face to face with a pair of intense cobalt blue eyes. “Uh... mmm, everything OK?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh, want some breakfast? I can go make some.”
Heero didn’t answer him, but he followed Duo to the kitchen and sat at the table.
Breakfast was eaten in silence, neither boy knowing what to say or do. Heero was the first to speak.
“Duo, I’m sorry that I’ve woken you up the past two nights.”
“That’s OK, it’s not like you can help it. At least you didn’t nail me last night,” Duo laughed while touching the bruise on his cheek.
“Sorry about that, too. I’m surprised that you risked waking me last night, especially since I tried to kill you the previous night.”
“Well, you didn’t know it was me, so that doesn’t count. Besides, you’re my friend and I want to help anyway I can.”
The rest of the day went much better than the previous day. It was basically like it used to be. Duo would do all of the talking and Heero would either give short cryptic answers or ignore him. As the two boys got ready for bed, Heero kept glancing over at Duo.
“What is it, Heero?” questioned Duo.
“Your my... my friend... right? And you said that you would help me anyway you could, right?
“Yes.”
“Then sleep in my bed, I don’t want to have anymore nightmares and for some reason, I don’t when you’re around.”
Duo stared at Heero for a few minutes before answering, “Well, I guess it beats waking up in the middle of the night.”
Heero let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding as Duo pulled down the blanket and climbed into Heero’s bed. Heero turned out the light and got into bed as well. It was very awkward at first, with both boys trying not to touch each other on the narrow bed. They at last found a comfortable medium and drifted off to sleep. There was no nightmare that night.
~Fin~
