Dreams Won't Let Go Part 3
Reveal
It was nearly eight o'clock when the Viper transporting two exhausted agents pulled into the driveway beside a single story rental house tucked away on a quiet street.
One arm around Duo who tottered with a halting gait beside him, Heero unlocked the front door, shoved it open with his knee, switched on the overhead light in the foyer and guided Duo to a tan sofa.
Duo winced as he sat down. Muscles had stiffened and joints become uncooperative during the ten mile ride from the Med-Center. He was sore, his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and he swore his messy braid weighted a ton.
When his Preventer partner was settled, Heero closed and locked the door then called over his shoulder as he headed for the compact kitchen accessed through an archway. "I'll get some water so you can take your medicine."
Duo rested against the cushions and surveyed his surroundings. The front room had a wood floor covered in the center with a square, tan and green striped area rug. The sofa was flanked by rectangle end tables and brass lamps with tan shades.
A brown leather recliner was angled towards an entertainment hutch that housed the television, cable box and DVD/CD player. Six DVDs, a wicker basket holding CDs and perhaps a dozen paperback books were stored on the bottom shelf.
The furniture was methodically arranged, not a speck of dust and the kitchen counters were spotless but there were no personal touches, no photographs or favorite pieces of artwork adorning the stark white walls.
Duo got the distinct impression Heero was still a man in search of his niche in the universe, that he was merely occupying the space without any intensions of putting down roots.
Duo had also experienced the same disconcerted sense of displacement. He, too, was a nomad never being connected to anyplace. Yes, he and Heero were outsiders who, either by choice or circumstances, would always be solitary creatures.
Heero sat next to Duo, handed him a large glass of water and two peach colored caplets.
"Are you hungry?"
Duo washed down the pills and handed over the empty glass.
"I don't have much appetite."
"You should eat something." Heero insisted, sure that Duo's last meal was breakfast. "Tomato soup would be good." he suggested.
The thought of food made Duo queasy. "Maybe later."
Glass set aside, Heero brushed back stringy hair curtaining his friend's face to inspect the damage.
As fingertips traced over bruises dotting his cheekbones, Duo stared into cobalt eyes that mirrored unusual tenderness and the look evoked a sensation of warmth that fluttered through his groin.
Although surprised by his unexpected reaction, Duo had to admit he found it quite enjoyable.
"A hot bath will soothe your muscles." Heero was saying, "The moist air should help your breathing. It might sting your cuts but it's your best bet to be able to sleep tonight. Do you feel up to it?"
Duo blinked as if he'd awaken from a dream. "Yeah."
"Relax while I fill the tub."
*********
Heero was willing to let Duo undress without assistance but it soon became apparent he needed help, especially undoing his braid.
Being former soldiers Heero and Duo had used barrack showers and seen their share of naked men but this time a modicum of modesty was required.
But as Heero coaxed Duo's blood-stiffened shirt over his head, he had to admire his trim, athletic physique.toned muscles of a man had replaced a teenager's lanky figure.
Likewise as Duo slithered out of his underwear, Heero was offered further proof of his burgeoning adulthood and was also treated to a splendid view of trim buttocks just before Duo slipped into the steamy water.
Not wanting to let his primitive nature get the best of him, Heero used the excuse of finding Duo something to sleep in to put space between himself and the object of his inappropriate fascination.
When he returned with blue and red plaid boxers and a navy blue tee shirt, Duo appeared half-asleep with his head resting in the tub's corner.
Quietly Heero squatted, dipped a washcloth in the balmy water and set about to give his friend a proper bath.
Duo flinched when the warm cloth touched his face. "It's all right," Heero reassured, "Let me wash your cheeks."
Duo remained quiet while Heero washed down his arms and chest. The dissolving blood, running in rivulets over his skin, tinted the water pink.
Next Heero set about shampooing Duo's matted hair then opened the drain, turned on the faucet and gave the thick mane a final rinse until the water ran clear.
Helping Duo step out of the tub, Heero wrapped a large towel around his slender body to ward off a chill, sat Duo on the closed toilet lid and used a second towel to dry his hair that was going to be a bitch to comb out.
Pain medication in force, droopy eyed and dressed in borrowed garments Duo leaned heavily on his friend as they entered the single bedroom at the end of the hall.
Heero had previously turned back the quilted comforter and sheet on the double bed. Sitting on the fitted sheet, his bare feet anchored on the wooden floor, Duo tested the last of his stamina while Heero took extra care combing through damp hair and securing the lengthy tresses in a loose ponytail.
"You look a bit more presentable." Heero commented when the grooming was completed. "Lay back."
"I hate chasing you out of your bed." Duo mumbled as the pillow caressed his achy head.
Heero pulled up the bedding and smoothed out the wrinkles. "Many nights I fall asleep on the sofa. Besides I wouldn't rest well if I thought you were uncomfortable." he confessed. "Go to sleep and if you need anything don't hesitate to call me."
*********
Heero kept watch until Duo drifted off into hopefully a dreamless sleep.
Once Duo was under the Sandman's sway, he assessed his breathing which flowed in and out without any tattletale wheezing, checked his pulse that was beating at a regular rate then switched off the bedside lamp but left the door ajar so light from the hall cast a soft glow inside.
*********
The digital clock on the microwave read 9:43.
"I should have insisted that Duo eat something." Heero chided himself as cold air from the open refrigerator hit his face.
Heero hadn't realized how drained he was physically and mentally until, sure that Duo was all right, he'd let his guard down. His body was sluggish, his mind jumbled with replays of city slums and mysterious men hell-bent on violence. A pistol pressed to Duo's temple. He shuddered.
He fixed a supper of sliced turkey and provolone with spicy mustard on whole wheat, a bottle of Smirnoff and a quart of orange juice.
Laptop set up on the kitchen table beside the sumptuous fare, he swallowed several gulps of the vodka-spiked juice to take the edge off his frayed nerves then divided his attention between munching on the sandwich and searching the Preventer criminal database for anyone with the first or last name Largo.
There were two listing but details were sketchy.
Largo Moore was an OZ pilot who'd earned the rank of Captain before he defected to White Fang. He was officially listed as Missing in Action and presumed dead after the collision of Libra and Peacemillion.
The second entry was Vincent Largo. He'd been affiliated with the United Earth Sphere Alliance and worked on Colony L1 from AC 142 until AC 145. He had returned to Earth after guerrilla attacks against the Alliance intensified. There was no record of his whereabouts during the war, no present information or whether he was alive or deceased.
Next Heero hacked into the Preventer personnel files but was again frustrated when no listing for Largo was found.
Scraps of crust joined crumbs on the plate. The drained glass was refilled, this time he omitted the orange juice. The undiluted vodka warmed his throat but didn't produce the desired degree of inebriation so he poured another drink.
During the war Heero would have never indulged in anything to alter his senses such as drinking or drugs, even to the exclusion of pain medication. He was strict with his diet and fitness regenerates and was always in control of his sexual urges because he couldn't afford to falter, have doubts or show weakness.
Heero Yuy was the Perfect Soldier, the focused fighting machine who, via the Zero System, fused with his Gundam in combat and chose self-imposed isolation to protect the ragged remnants of his humanity.
Then Heero met Duo Maxwell. Duo made an indelible impression on their first encounter. Hell. Duo shot him and he still has the scars to prove it.
On the surface Duo was extroverted. He was sociable and talkative and at times downright exasperating. However there was a darker side to his vociferous persona, an underlying rage that manifested itself in the guise of the God of Death.
But despite Heero's wishes for segregation and despite Duo playing the fool to hide his pain, both men discovered they shared the kindred spirits of lone warriors, a comradeship forged in the heat of battle and tempered by the cold callousness required to survive.
Heero's fingers curled into tight fists at the possibility Duo might have been betrayed by someone at Preventer. He had perhaps falsely assumed that he and his fellow agents were on the same side, after all each person had sworn to uphold the law and to eradicate evil in all its vile forms.
Still Duo was sure he and the men at the abandoned apartment hadn't simply stumbled upon each other but they'd been tipped off as to his stakeout site which should have been classified information.
Now Heero was certain. His gut instinct told him the meeting was in no way accidental. But was Duo's Preventer position or his reputed mastery of Deathscythe Hell the traitor's motivation?
All the pilots had been pawns in the war and therefore were probable targets. They were sinners and saints, assassins and saviors.
Each one had committed horrible atrocities in the pursuit of justice. They had littered the Earth and the Colonies and space with mangled Mobile Suits and the lifeless bodies of valiant soldiers and innocent civilians.
It was no secret Heero and Duo had many past and present enemies. Ex-OZ soldiers, ousted members of the Romefeller Foundation or the UESA, sympathizers of Field Marshal Noventa or supporters of Mariemeia Barton. The list was endless.
There were criminal factions of mercenaries who didn't view peaceful coexistence in a favorable light or war profiteers who opposed the impediment to their sources of revenue.
Finally there was numerous individuals intent on revenge or desiring the fame garnered by the elimination of any one of the Gundam rebels.
Without warning vengeance could rear its ugly head. Reprisals could be swift and deadly. Flirting with death was Heero and Duo's reality, the heavy price paid for peace.
"There's no proof the traitor is a Preventer." Heero mumbled as the vodka kicked in to flush his skin and trigger a buzz in his brain.
Heero closed the laptop. With a slight wobble borne of liquor and fatigue he set the plate and glass in the sink, put the half bottle of Smirnoff in the freezer and the orange juice in the refrigerator.
It was three minutes until eleven o'clock. Heero was too tried to think and just tipsy enough not to care.
For now Duo was healing, tucked safely in his bed. In the morning, when he'd slept off the vodka and he and Duo had an ample breakfast in their bellies, there would be a strategy session and a plan of action.
Heero shut the bathroom door. He took a moment to study his drowsy reflection in the mirror then splashed warm water on his face. He ran his battery powered toothbrush, without benefit of toothpaste, around in his mouth, lifted the toilet seat, braced one hand on the wall and emptied his bladder.
Using the muted light from the hall, he checked on Duo who was lying on his side, sheet and comforter tucked under his chin and his loose ponytail feathered across his pillow.
Satisfied that Duo's color was good and his breathing quiet and even, Heero got an extra pillow and blanket from the bedroom closet and retired to the sofa.
In the diffused glow from a streetlight filtering through the blinds, Heero toed off his shoes, stripped off his trousers and shirt, plumped his pillow, stretched out and arranged the blanket over his slender frame.
He directed his sight in the bedroom's direction. "Goodnight." he whispered then gave himself permission to fall asleep.
*********
Blue-green energy bolts tore at Duo's eyes, clawing their way through his pupils until the scorching blaze blackened over his sight. The high-pitched whine of failing engines thrust sonorous daggers into his mind as he blindly groped over the corpse covered ground.
The stench of death and decay enveloped everything in a suffocating cloud that rankled in his nose. Fleshless skulls glared through hollow-eyed sockets that radiated a cold vacancy.
Gnarled fingers snagged Duo's ankles, grappling to seize and drag him under a heap of charred bones. More skeletal hands snaked up his arms. Sharp slivers of splintered bones dug into his skin.
From somewhere around and above, in front or behind, a voice screamed out Duo's name. Or was it his own anguished wailing he heard shrieking in raw agony?
Searching for the phantom voice, Duo tottered on the edge of blackness just before the blood-soaked ground liquefied under his feet. With the last of his fading strength he clawed at thin air then he plunged into a telescoping tunnel.
Dense darkness and numbing cold shrouded his plummeting body, engulfing him in the vacuous void. The same arctic tide was sucked into his lungs with swamping asphyxiation.
Duo thrashed in bed.
Arms snarled in the comforter, legs tangled in the damp sheet and hands groped vainly for anything to halt his imagined fatal falling. Labored gasps for air pounded in his lungs and chilled sweat bathed him entirely in its clammy moisture.
"Duo wake up!" the tormented voice demanded this time closer and clearer.
With a wrenching start every taut muscle recoiled at once. Eyes flew opened.
A grotesquely contoured outline hovered at the margins of Duo's vision. Gradually the bizarre shape stabilized into a solid image until Heero's face came into focus.
Heero swept back matted bangs to gaze into Duo's fear-widened pupils. "You had a nightmare but I'm here now" he stated as he detangled the bedcovers and pulled them over his friend's shivering body.
Drained from his dark dreaming, his body cold and haggard, Duo offered no protest as he gave into his frail fortitude. With a low groan he intercepted Heero's hand and intertwined their fingers in a weak grip.
"Heero." he began before a tremor trailed off his words.
"It's all right." Heero squeezed his hand, "Try to calm down. Take a deep breath."
After two shallow intakes Duo's breathing evened out to more tolerable levels, the tightness in his chest eased and the dizziness subsided enough for him to push up on his pillow.
"Damn the war!" Duo swore hoarsely, "Damn OZ and the Alliance to hell!"
"Shhhh." Heero whispered. "Look at me." he ordered as he hooked his thumb under Duo's chin and tilted his head up.
Duo locked his eyes on his Preventer partner and discovered an unreadable expression on Heero's face.
Not comfortable with being inspected so closely, Duo shifted on the bed.
"Stay still."
Letting his thumb to slide down Duo's neck Wing Zero's master sat back with a satisfied sigh "After all the punishment you've endured plus the nightmare, I needed to be certain you hadn't relapsed."
Duo managed a lopsided grin. "I think you just wanted to look deeply into my eyes?" he teased.
A hint of blue sparks flickered in Heero's eyes, "I don't need an excuse to do that." he replied as he cupped his hands on Duo's cheeks. "No excuse at all." He repeated just before he brushed a kiss across Duo's parted lips.
Duo made no move to stop the kiss. Again heat traveled up both legs. Twin torrid tides crashed together in his crotch.
As Duo's quickening breaths fluttered over his face, Heero savored the essences of his natural musky scent mingled with sweat and the pheromones leaching from his skin.
Only inches apart, Duo whispered Heero's name then closed his eyes in anticipation of a second kiss that, until that moment, he hadn't dared to hope for.
Suddenly Heero pulled back, his yearning to have the beautiful man plagued by uncertainty. His mind augured with his heart, stating reason after logical reason why he should not cross the line.
"I'm sorry." he whispered.
"But..." Duo stammered as confusion took over. "I thought... we..."
Heero stood up and lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry." was repeated barely above a whisper.
Sensing Duo's confusion, he paused but kept his sight glued to the floor. "I shouldn't have been so impulsive." he apologized before switching off the light, closing the door and leaving his stunned friend alone in the darkness.
Duo stared at the door then slipped down, turned on his side and clutched up a fistful of the bedcovers.
Blinking back tears that threatened to spill over his eyelashes, he forced a single word passed the emotional lump clogging his throat.
"Why?"
TBC...
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