Thanks to: The War Room, reviewers like Moffit, Merith, Triv, Mikke, Jeane, Nicole, Nikki, Cy, and anyone else I forgot to mention that has given me valuable feedback (nothing personal if I left you off, I'm just a ditz ^_^;; )
Notes: Anyone recognizes the quotes from Duo's nightmares, they're from "Stigmata".
"What the hell is this?"
-"It's a peace symbol, sir."
"What does your helmet say?"
-"Born to kill, sir."
"What the hell is going on?"
-"Guess I was just trying to point out the duality of mankind."
--- Full Metal Jacket
"From his army confessions of his military days
You still carry the shrapnel you're shell-shocked and dazed
Dear Johnny have you lost your way
Or like denim and leather are you faded and frayed."
--- Alice Cooper, Jackknife Johnny
Fall From Innocence Part 3
Love Thy Enemy
"It ain't the Ritz, but it's home."
"It's great," Duo replied softly, and he meant it.
Harper walked into the loft. There were four small lofts over the repair dock, each with two cots in them. One of the cots in Harper's loft was made up with a single blanket and a sheet, but the other was completely bare.
The wall facing out to the street was rough concrete, the bare side of the building that hadn't even been plastered on the inside. The other three walls were plain brick firewall. A rusty folding chair was set up between them, with an old lap set on top of it, plugged into the wall. On the floor was an ancient-looking radio, the antenna bent at an angle. A wooden crate of books sat at the foot of Harper's bed. Otherwise, the room was bare. The neon from the sign outside gleamed into the window, casting a blood-red glow to the room.
The blond tech tilted his head in the direction of the bare bed as he stripped out of the jumper, down into boxers and a dirty tee-shirt. He shucked the tee-shirt too, tossing both over by the side of the bed, revealing a torso pale from working fully clothed in a climate-controlled repair dock. "You can have that one. And, ah, you can use the radio too, you know. Whenever."
Duo saw the white band that encircled Harper's muscular upper arm, raising an eyebrow slightly, but decided not to comment. "Thanks."
"Well, I'm hitting the showers, and then the sack." Harper looked at him carefully. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Kid. Just Kid."
The tech kept staring at him, his gray eyes as piercing as a hawk's, and then he shrugged nonchalantly, nodding a little as he opened the tiny closet in the corner and . "Well...okay. Don't ask, don't tell, right? You can get your stuff settled in. Must be tired. Showers are at the end of the hall. This place used to be a wet shelter for street brats, before Yofer bought it off and turned it into tech quarters."
He walked out without saying another word, leaving Duo in the silence of the room.
Duo only relaxed after Harper had walked out. The tech seemed like a good guy; he hadn't asked a lot of questions, and when he sensed Duo didn't want to talk, he didn't try to make conversation.
He set his bags on the floor and pushed them under the bare cot, lying across it. As soon as he laid down, he could hear the rats.
Duo laid there with his hands folded behind his head, staring up at the ceiling fan, which was turning slowly. He followed the revolutions with his eyes, breathing deeply. Someone was screaming out in the street, but the sound was soon cut off.
He closed his eyes, but he couldn't sleep. Eventually he got back off the bed and laid down on the floor, pulling his bag back out and lying his head on it, resting his palms against the cool cement. Only then could he doze off.
Once or twice he rose to half-consciousness, hearing the heavy sound of workboots out in the hallway, and the rushing sound of the showers. He almost woke up entirely when he heard Harper come in, as quiet as a shadow, but the tech only fell into his own bed, so exhausted he didn't even turn the covers down.
Duo drifted back to sleep.
~*~
~~"Get up, Kid... Wake up, c'mon..."~~
Duo opened his eyes, a dark figure kneeling over him in the darkness. Someone's hand was on his chin, shaking it gently, but firmly. He could feel his bangs sticking to his forehead in damp clumps, his skin clammy and feverish. The red neon from the window drew harsh highlights on the person's face. Blond hair...
"...S...Solo?"
"Who're you talkin' to?" said the figure, nothing but a sleepy voice in the darkness. "You were yellin' in your sleep. You okay?"
"Solo...hunh....must be dreaming..."
"Shhh," the person in the dark mumbled. Duo felt a callused hand against his forehead. "Feel warm. Shouldn't have slept on the floor."
"Solo..."
"No, Harper. Get quiet. You'll wake somebody up. Go back to sleep. Okay?"
"...Yeah."
Harper went back over to his own bed, pulling off the covers. He threw them over Duo. "There. Go to sleep. We got work in three hours." The tech stumbled back over to his own bed, curling up. Duo heard him sigh as he felt back asleep, as still as the dead.
That brought back a little of the nightmare, like a bloody vision.
~~~"Please help me They shot my Mama my Daddy please help me "
"You think he's dead?"
"Fuck, it's another one of Solo's crusades."
"Either you let me bum a cigarette or I'll slit your throat and take them."
"It'd be better to just kill you now, Kid."~~~
Duo felt the weight of the blanket settle down on him, and he sank back into restless dreams.
Maybe he should have.
~*~
A hard pounding on the door caused Duo to jerk awake on the floor.
"Alzarsi, alzarsi! Five thirty! Get up you lazy good for nothings! Suit up and check your assignments!"
He could hear Harper muttering on his cot. The tech took his pillow and pulled it over his face. "Porcoddio minchione. Shit..."
Harper sat up, eyes blank and bleary as he got out of bed and pulled a clean jumpsuit out of the closet.When he turned to step into it, he saw Duo's head poking up over the side of the bed, and he scowled. "Who the...oh, right." He yawned. "Mornin', Kid."
Duo rubbed his face vigorously before pulling himself to his feet, stretching the stiffness out of his muscles. The nightmares seemed distant; he thought he could almost remember them, but they were just beyond his reach. "Five thirty in the morning, damn, even Hee-" He stopped himself, shaking his head.
Heero...
The water pipes from the communal bath rattled the lofts as a few of the techs jumped in for a quick shower. Duo could hear their conversations through the wall, rising above the splashing water and the sound of hissing steam.
Duo sighed, feeling tired and strangely satisfied. He couldn't understand their words, muffled through the brick like they were, but he heard the rise and fall of their voices, and sporadic laughter. It all felt and sounded so normal.
He rummaged in his bag and pulled out a rumpled soft pack of cigarettes, only to realize he didn't have a light.
The former Deathscythe pilot sighed. Great.
Suddenly, something hard bounced against the back of his head. He glanced over, and Harper smirked at him before exiting the quarters, closing the door behind him.
He leaned against the side of the cot, lighting a mangled cigarette and blowing smoke up at the ceiling.
"Kid Get a move on! We've gotta get assignments!"
Duo took a last deep drag, then put the cigarette out on the base of one of his wrenches, wiping it clean again on his jeans. He took the cigarette butt and tucked it carefully in the front pocket of his knapsack.
He grinned, cupping his hands over his mouth, shouting down the ladder.
"Comin'!"
~*~
"Fuck, Kid, I know it's your first day, but do you gotta show us all up that bad? You're gonna put us out of a job." Harper's voice was awed.
Duo flipped over without missing a beat, hanging upside down in the repair harness strapping him to a standing Aries, his feet braced against the firm, cool metal, his braid hanging down. He grinned.
He pulled himself back upright, pushing a steel visor over his face as he lit a welding torch. "Sorry."
One of the other techs, a half-deaf man named Darsi, snorted. "Don't know why you keep your hair so damned long...looks like a damned monkey tail."
Duo's smile faded a little, and he looked contemplative, placing one gloved hand against the hatch of the mobile suit.
"Maybe I'll cut it off."
"Don't."
He turned around, glancing at Harper curiously, and the tech just shrugged. "Just...don't."
"Why?"
"...Reminds me of this guy I used to know." Harper shrugged, turning back down to his work, digging his arms into the circuitry of a hydro-car, avoiding Duo's gaze. "Dunno, Kid...just...forget about it."
Duo looked at Harper silently for a few minutes, watching the tech curiously, but Harper didn't look back up at him.
He shrugged and went back to work.
~*~
"Maaaaaaaan, I could sleep for a week." Duo yawned, his jaw stretching wide.
"Don't tell me we wore you out on the first day," Harper said with a smirk as he came in, hair wet from the shower. He shook his head violently, sending water spraying, and Duo raised a hand, laughing.
He flopped on his cot, which was made out with a blanket and a set of sheets now. He eyed the box of books at the foot of Harper's bed curiously. "Where'd you get all the books?"
Harper shrugged, sitting on the end of the bed. He pulled a book from the box, handling it carefully, as if he was afraid it would fall apart in his hands. "Spent a couple of semesters at the community college on Dunbarton. You know it?"
Duo nodded. He knew it. It was a shithole. But it was also the most a lot of people could afford.
"College, huh?" Duo closed his eyes, yawning again before stretching, resting his head in the crook of one arm. "How'd a guy like you afford to get into college, Harper?"
"Oh, I didn't pay for it," the tech replied amiably. He laid down and turned off the light, bathing the room in darkness and red neon. He turned on his side.
"Who did, then?"
"The freedom fighters. I got an allotment check."
"What? I don't-"
"I was a captain in White Fang."
Duo's eyes shot open in the darkness.
There was a few moments of silence, and then Harper spoke again. His voice was soft, and if Duo wasn't mistaken, there was a note of wistful sadness in it.
"Good night, Kid."
After a few moments, Duo shifted on the bed carefully, trying not to make the boxsprings creak; he looked over at the still form of the tech lying next to him, listening to his steady breathing. He was already asleep.
White Fang...
TBC...
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