It was hard to say what started it. The weather had been particularly hot and sticky that day, shortening the fuse on many a temper. Homes without some type of cooling device were intollerably hot. It was the type of day that would create the perfect excuse for a fight. It worked.
"Listen Mr. Self-Destructing-is-fun-" Duo started hotly when Heero turned around, narrowing his prussian blue eyes to mere slits.
"What gave you the impression that I thought self-destructing was fun?" Heero asked icily, turning away from his computer to face Duo.
"Well you did it, didn't you? Without even being asked!" Duo shot back, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Duo, I was asked to self-destruct. I didn't have a choice," Heero pointed out.
"Praytell, how do you figure?" Duo said, waving lazily at Heero, which only served to piss Heero off further.
"Une was threatening the colonies. I had to defend them. This was why I simply had no choice. I was told not to hand over my Gundam. It was as simple as that." Heero shrugged. Duo's distinctive eyes blazed.
"Simple?! What could possibly be simple about commiting suicide!" Duo yelled.
"It was not suicide! It was a worthy sacrifice for the lives of the colony citizens!" Heero yelled back.
"Une never would have hit that goddamn button and you know it. You hit that button as an easy way out of the situation," Duo said, voice low with distinct menace.
"She had every intention of hitting that button. And it was the only way. The only way," Heero gritted out. "And we all have tried to self-destruct, even you. Wufei is perhaps an exception, but he was willing to let Treize kill him, which is practically the same."
"That was different. I couldn't self-destruct because that button was disabled since I left L2, Trowa got slapped by his fricking sister and Quatre... Quatre's fucking lucky, that's all I have to say."
"Excuse me?" Heero said, raising an eyebrow.
"I watched Quatre as we were taking off. Quatre's Gundam... it moved on it's own," Duo said, shaking his head. Heero rolled his eyes.
"You were imagining things," Heero scoffed.
Duo threw up his hands and stalked out of the room. "Fine! I'm the brainless baka, remember. Of course I was imagining things," Duo shouted. Heero got up and stalked after him.
"When did I ever say you were an idiot?!" Heero yelled after Duo, who turned on him with narrowed eyes.
"I'm useless, a hindrance to your mission, remember?! An obstacle to be eliminated!" Duo shot back, voice heavy with hurt.
"I never..." Heero started and shook his head. "Was it my fault if you acted like one, talking all the time when there was work to be done?"
"I never, ever shirked my duty, to you or to the colonies! Mr. Hides-in-Sank-for-Weeks!" Duo hissed. Heero looked shocked.
"I wasn't hiding anywhere! I had a duty to protect the Sank kingdom! And it wasn't as if I wanted to be there at all! Quatre practically had to drag me kicking and screaming into the damn capital city and I spent as little time there as humanly possible!" Heero said, incredulous at the idea that Duo would think that he would volontarily go there.
Duo sneered. "Oh of course Quatre would have to drag you to the home of your girlfriend. There is no possible way that you would actually want to see your sweetheart!"
"She is not my girlfriend! I don't feel that way about her at all!" Heero said quickly. This only seemed to fuel Duo's fury.
"Oh no, she couldn't be. Not after the way she chases after you and you save her stupid ass all the time!" Duo cried.
"I save your stupid ass all the time, does that mean I'm in love with you too?!" Heero shot back. Duo seemed to crumple upon himself. He turned away from Heero walking away very quickly, towards the bathroom area of the house. A faint reflexion in the mirrored reflextion coming from the microwave caught a look of intense pain and hurt on his face.
"If I'm so stupid, then why did you ever bother to save me?" Duo replied, almost inaudible. Heero stared after him a moment then continued on.
"Because you saved me," Heero said quietly. Duo turned, eyes bright with unshed tears.
"Is that all. Quid pro quo, tit for tat?" Duo asked, voice harsh. "Maybe you should have just killed me when you had the chance."
Heero blocked Duo's path and cupped Duo's chin in his hand. "I could have. I had every right to pull that trigger. My own sense of honour dictates that any warrior captured must kill himself to avoid dishonour. You asked me to. But I didn't. Shouldn't that tell you something?"
Duo shrugged his face away. "You don't kill half of the people you promise to kill. Not Relena, not Quatre, not Wufei, not me," Duo said coldly. "It doesn't mean a thing."
Heero's temper reached a high boiling point. "Then why the hell am I here Duo? Why do I stay here instead of going to Sank or L1 or anywhere else?"
"How the hell should I know?! You never bothered to have a half-decent conversation with me before. You were always too wrapped up in your missions!" Duo yelled, turning away. Heero snagged his arm and forced Duo to look at him.
"You are my friend Duo. I trust you with my life. And you remind me of someone I once knew," Heero said, tone low and intense. "Like Relena does," he added.
Duo narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "This should be rich," he commented. Heero glared and gathered his thoughts.
"Relena reminds me of a young girl I met before the war. She was only a kid, and she was kind to me even though she didn't know who I was. She died the night I met her, because my own calculations for explosions had been off, and the building she lived in was hit. I never found her body, only that of her puppy. I began to doubt. They retrained me because of that, and I had no doubts. When I met Relena, her kindness for seemingly no reason made me afraid. The doubts came back. Then I knew that I had to protect her from war, because I could not protect that little girl." Heero sighed deeply. Duo felt his resolve crack, but he refused to break.
"What about me?" he asked.
"You remind me of my old mentor and trainer. His name was Odin Lowe. He was an assassin for OZ, before he left and joined the other side because it was what he believed in. He believed in following his emotions wholly and not denying them. Before he died, he told me to follow my emotions and perhaps planted the seeds of doubting myself and my training. I was sure before I met you that I could always and only work alone. After meeting you I discovered that I couldn't."
"So the perfect soldier needs me. What a surprise. I wouldn't have ever thought I'd hear that from you," Duo said.
"I am far from being a perfect soldier. Dr. J. assured me that none of us are," Heero replied. Duo nodded and walked past Heero into the kitchen. Heero followed and they sat in awkward silence, until the heat and light faded from the room, leaving it dark and cold.
End
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