Death
Snow... Duo's mouth twitched into a smile.
His finger slid over the picture of the magazine he was reading.
Absently he looked up from it and stared at the wall, soft smile still
in place. One day he'd go to Earth, when there was peace... His smile
slipped slightly... IF there was peace...
Carelessly he flipped the magazine
onto the sofa next to him and stood up, streatching out his cramped muscles.
The others didn't seem to notice and with a slight shrug he left the room
and moved to where Deathscythe was being stored. He stood on the
meatl cat-walk, leaning against the bannister and stared at his 'friend'.
"So partner? You miss me?" He nodded, grinning crazily.
"I knew you would. Who needs friends when I got you?"
He stepped onto the elevator and let
it take him down to ground level. Making sure no one was around he
got into Shinigami's cockpit. Flipping controls he watched the hanger's
hatch open up into space.
"Duo? What are you doing?"
His head snapped up to see Heero's face on the screen.
"Out. I'm going out."
"You can't..."
Duo's eyes blazed and his grin let
go to a serious, thoughtful frown. "Shut up Heero. I don't
need your permission. So back off."
"You'll give away our position..."
"If I don't want to be seen or found,
I won't be." He smirked, cocking his head to the side. "Your
precious mission won't be disturbed." With a flick of his wrist he
broke the connection and piloted out of the hanger.
--------------------------
Heero stared at the screen noting
in the back of his mind that Duo had indeed proven his claim and disappeared
quickly from view.
"What's he going to do?" Quatre
asked watching the screen, eyes full of worry.
Heero shrugged impassively.
"Probably get himself killed." Oddly he felt his heart ache slightly
at the statement. Duo was up to something, he'd seen in his friend's
eyes that Duo didn't expect to come back alive. "We'll worry about
him later, right now we have a mission to plan."
"Heero?"
He looked at Trowa's still form from
the corner of his eye. The taller bboy stood proctectively near the
blond Arabian. "Hn?"
"He doesn't seem to be himself.
With Duo that's always a bad sign."
Heero looked back at the screen, he
couldn't agree more, "Hn."
-------------------------
Duo pulled the collar of his black,
jean jacket up, as he moved amoungst the crowd, keeping an eye on the OZ
soldiers. The guard was changing, hitting a button on his watch he
time it. Exactly two and a half minutes just like the last six times.
He smirked, like clockwork. Turning he whistled as he started walking
toward the park. Carelessly he flopped onto the nearest bench, leaned
his head back and closed his eyes.
A muffled giggle came from in front
of him and he slowly opened his eyes to peer into a pair of wide, brown
eyes framed by think lashes. A large, genuine smile broke over the
child's cherubic face, "Hi! I'm Hallie, who're you?"
Starring into her innocent eyes Duo's
heart tore at his chest. She couldn't be more then six years old.
"Duo."
She nodded sweatly, her eyes taking
in his braid while her fingers went to her own long black hair. "Would
you braid my hair like yours?"
Duo blinked in surprise but grinned
at her. "Sure. Just sit on the bench. Duo you have a
ribbon to tie it with?"
She nodded, beaming. "Yup."
Digging in her jean's pocket she pulled out a ribbon the same green as
her shirt. "Here."
With practiced skill he used his small
black comb to plait her hear, tying the ribbon into a bow. "All done."
In one quick movement she turned kissed
him on the cheek and ran to the other kids. "Thanks Duo."
He stared after her in wonder, "Anytime
Hallie, anytime."
Slowly he got to his feet and went
back to his survellence.
------------------------------
Duo dived behind the trash bin as
bullets flew. He had the info he'd meant to get but as was the way
something had gone wrong and one of the guard's had screwed up during the
switch. Sometimes life just sucked. Silently he back pedalled
into the shadows.
"Duo?"
Spinning he clutche his gun but relaxed
when he saw Hallie standing behind him. Then he tensed again when
he realized the danger she was in. "Hallie get out of here..."
It seemed to happen in slow motion.
Duo heard the shot, Hallie's widdening eyes, the blood on her green shirt,
her silent question on her face... Emotion left him, he turned back
and he was Shinigami, he was Death.
Dimly he was aware of a slight pain
in his shoulder and his leg but his arm was the arm of Death, deadly aim,
no survivors. Mind operating on it's lowest level he went to Hallie,
picked her up and went to Deathscythe.
---------------------------
"It's Deathscythe." Trowa said
softly, green eyes on the screen.
Heero's frown deepened, "Then why
hasn't the Baka radioed us?"
"His radio could be damaged."
Wufei suggested, crossing his arms over his chest.
Heero looked up as someone brushed
by him and saw Quatre, face pale, eyes suspiciously watery. His voice
was low and torn when he spoke. "Sally? Ready the medical equipement..."
Trowa's head snapped up, "You think
he's hurt?"
Quatre's hand moved to just over his
heart. "Whatever happened was bad, I just know it... Duo would've
done something to let us know it was him if his radio was busted.
Fancy flying, idiotic stunts..."
Sallye eyed all of them, then the
screen, "I'll get my first aid kit."
---------------------------
The hatch opened and Duo came out,
carrying a small bundle. Without a word Heero watched his best friend
stiffly move towars Sally. Blood covered his cloths. But it
was the eyes that nearly caused his heart to stop, because Duo's eyes had
no emotion, like the eyes he saw in the mirror only wrose.
Duo's voice didn't have it's normally
cheerful tone as he spoke, instead he sounded dead. He held the bundle
out to Sally. "I think she'd dead but you should check."
Sally's fingers gently tugged the
fold from the face to reveal the still, cold face of a once warm child.
Slowly she felt for a pulse but when she looked up her conclusion was clear.
"Duo, this little girl..."
Duo's voice still held no emotion.
"Her name's Hallie and yes she's dead. Death claimed her. I
killed her." Slowly he bent and laid her on the ground beefore removing
a green tie from her hair. He stood, clutching it in a hand too steady.
"She'd asked me to braid her hair." Mechanically he reached into
his jacket, pulled out a disk and shoved it in Heero's direction.
"Mission complete."
The in rigid precision he left the
hanger and left his friends to stare after him in shock.
------------------------
Quatre was the first to find his voice.
"This is definitely not good."
Heero didn't bother answering as he
looked down at the lifeless little girl. Unable to look away.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder he turned, tearing his gaze from the body.
Wufei's ebony eyes fixed on his, "You okay?"
He looked back at the girl who seemed
so much like the little girl and the puppy who he'd killed... "Duo's going
to withdraw... it's shock... if he doesn't talk..." Coming to a hard
decision Heero looked to where Duo had gone. "I'll go..."
If the situation had been different
he might have found the shocked looks on Quatre's, Sally's and Trowa's
faces funny. Next to him Wufei nodded, "You would be the logical
choice."
Without a word he nodded and started
after Duo. Each footstep feeling heavier than the last.
------------------------
Heero sat quietly next to Duo in the
lounge, the long braided pilot seemed not to notice as he stared unpassionately
out at the blackness of space.
The silence spread out for nearly
an hour before Heero realized he would have to be the one to speak first.
"How'd it happen?"
Duo continued to stare out at the
nothingness, the void of space.
"Duo. You have to talk about
it..."
The braided pilot moved so fast he
wasn't able to react. In one fluid motion he had Heero pinned against
the wall, a forearm across his neck though the pressure wasn't enough to
crush his windpipe. Heero was vaguely surprised, Duo was a lot stronger
than he looked. The thought died when he looked into Duo's empty
eyse... the spark of life gone. "I have no need to talk about this.
I understand Death, Heero. It's all I've ever known. I am Death,
I am Shinigami. Those who know me face the fate of those foolish
enough to see the truth and ignore it. Hallie, Sister Helen, Solo,
Father Maxwell... they were foolish to ignore the truth so they are now
dead." Duo let go of him, his face blank as he moved to the door
and pulled it open to reveal four easedroppers. Unconciously they
all backed up at the sight of his stony face.
But Quatre tried, "Duo...?"
Duo's violet-grey eyes stopped his
words. "You are life, life has no business with Death. Come
near me and you will loose that life." Without heat he pushed his
way through them and went to his room.
Wufei and the others turned to Heero
who was absently rubbing his throat. Meeting Wufei's chocolate gaze
he said, "We're loosing him."
----------------------
Heero woke up to Duo's screaming and
sobbing. It only took a couple of seconds before he was shaking the
sleeping boy back into the wakeful world.
As Duo's eyes opened Heero could see
the internal struggle he was going through and managed to ground out, "Don't
give up."
Duo hugged his knees to his chest
and buried his head in his arms. Heero waited ten minutes before
gently laying his hand on his back, not sure what else to do.
Slowly Duo looked up his mouth forming
a lope-sides grin, "You aren't goint to try and kill me for waking you
up, are you?"
Heero shook his head at the change.
It had been too quick and he found himself going on instinct, "Talk.
I'll listen."
Duo's eyebrows rose, "Talk about what?"
"Hallie's death."
A dark cloud fell over the emotion
in Duo's eyes. "I wanted peace so I weent to get the info on operations
concerning OZ, I met her when she came up to me in the park, she asked
me to braid her hair so I did then she gave me a kiss on the cheek and
went to play. Later that day, the change of guards got messed up
and I was spotted. Bullets flew and I ended up pinned down.
Hallie showed up after that, one of their stray bullets got her.
Now... now they're dead."
Heero could only stare at Duo for
a moment. "You didn't kill her."
Duo's voice was hard, "Yes I did.
I kill everyone who gets close to me be they enemies, innocents, or friends."
"It wasn't your fault. It was
an accident."
"I should have listened to you.
You told me to to go. If I had she'd still be alive..." He
gave a mocking laugh. "I'm a plague. Death is what I bring
and pain is what I leave behind."
"You don't mean that."
Duo rubbed the green ribbon in his
hand, "All I wanted was peace. To gain peace I became the God of
Death."
"Listen Baka. Trowa, Quatre,
Wufei and I are still alive and we're your friends."
Duo cocked his head to the side and
smiled manically, "I'm Death. Death has no friends therefore I have
no friends."
Heero met Duo's hard gaze with his
own. "That's where you're wrong, because I am your friend wether
you like it or not."
---------------------------
Duo easily recognized the determined
expressioon in Heero's gaze, he meant what he said. Shaking his head
slowly he looked at a spot on the impersonal wall. "Well don't expect
me to cry. I may not go around setting my own broken bones but I
don't cry either. It's like lying... I can't stand it."
"For some it's okay to cry, for others
it's more of a hinderance than a relief." Heero's words held a note
of pain.
Duo smiled, slowly and genuinely,
at him, "You're just full of surprises aren't you?"
Heero's eyes widdened slightly, "Better
than what SOME people are full of."
Duo chuckled, "Lord, I think I've
created a monster with a horrible sense of humour."
"Takes one to know one."
Duo laughed for a short while as Heeor
crawled back into his own bed and turned out the lights. After a
quiet minute he cleared his throat, "Heero?"
"Hn."
"Try not to die too soon, kay? I don't have many
friends..."
"If I died who would keep the others
from killing you?"
"Good point." Pause. "Thanks."
"Hn."
