I believe this is the last bit of Circles- tho I suspect a drabble or two might appear later.

As always, apologies to the Harrys....

Circles Part 4

Duo took a deep breath. He had to go into his lab- all of his supplies were there and he still had a few things to do before tonight.

Bracing himself, he stepped inside, trying hard not to look at the man trapped in the circle. Duo knew the spell would keep Heero in good condition- it wasn't meant to harm, only to hold.

But he still felt guilty.

'Don't look,' he told himself, but it was impossible not to look. Heero was sitting in the circle, his arms around his knees, watching Duo as he walked towards the table.

He didn't leap to his feet, he didn't pound on the invisible walls, didn't seem to be trying a single spell to get himself out. He just watched Duo with a look that made guilt twist in Duo's stomach.

"Look, I am sorry. I really am. But I have to do this- once I do, you'll be free. It's not like it's going to hurt you-"

Glowing letters appeared over Heero's head. It's going to hurt me a lot.

Duo gaped at him for a moment. That was a new trick. "No it won't- you didn't know any of those kids- you weren't involved-"

I am involved with you.

"Not anymore." The look of pain that flashed across Heero's features made Duo's heart twist in his chest. "And after this- it will never have happened-"

And my whole life will be changed.

"For the better," muttered Duo as he collected the now-cooled potion from the cauldron and decanted it into a bottle.

I strongly disagree.

"That's your take on it now. But I'm sure you'll be better off-"

No. I love you, Duo. Don't take that away from me. Please.

"I- " Duo closed his eyes, turning away from the circle. "Heero- I have to do this. They all died because of me! And you don't know that I'm so important to you- I mean, you had a crowd following you around in school- I'm sure one of them will- take my place. Even better really- none of them were raised by evil wizards- they won't hurt you- won't run away-" He bit down hard, cutting off the words that had flowed out without his permission, and left the room, potion firmly clutched in his hands.

Damn it- he'd only gotten the potion- he hadn't grabbed the journal- or his other supplies.

But he couldn't go back in there. Not yet.

Carefully he placed the potion on the table in front of his battered sofa and eased himself down onto the cushions. He'd already accepted the fact that the changed time line meant that he wouldn't get to the school- and that his heart condition would go undetected until- well, until it was too late to do anything. That was a minor price to pay.

And Heero- well, he would be better off without Duo. No matter what he thought now- by tomorrow night, none of it would've have happened, and no one would remember differently.

This is for the best, he told himself. Those kids will be saved, my bastard guardian will be dead, and I will have never hurt Heero.

It's all for the best.

He'd take that phrase as his mantra, his shield- and he'd get through this.

Getting to his feet, he took a deep breath. He needed to go back in, grab the rest of his things and then he'd leave. He wouldn't even look at the circle this time.

This time he focused on the glasses by the door. Howard had remained silent, surprisingly throughout his discussions with Heero. "Howard, still there, buddy?"

The lenses of the glasses flashed. "Duo- you got problems-"

"Don't you start too- you and I discussed this- I need you to help me-"

"He's gone."

For a moment, Duo froze. He couldn't mean....? Turning, he saw the circle still in place- but Heero wasn't inside it. He touched the ring on his hand and was rewarded with a pulse of power- but no Heero appeared. A quick scan showed the only magic in the area was his own. Heero wasn't hiding? "How the hell did he get out? No one can escape from a circle!"

"I don't know, kid. He was there and then he wasn't."

"Did he do anything? Drink a potion? Cast a spell?"

Howard sounded sheepish. "I wasn't really watching kid. You didn't tell me to keep an eye on him. I only noticed when you walked in."

"He had to have done something! No one can just leave a circle!"

"No one can just walk through wards either, but he crossed yours," Howard pointed out.

Cursing under his breath, Duo dismissed the circle with a curt gesture. No sense in wasting the power. "I have to get out of here- he'll be back any moment with the Preventers." Grabbing a bag, he tossed everything he needed into it. "I've got to get there and finish before they track me down. Howard- you'll have to confuse the trail-"

"Kid-"

"Please. If they find me first- you know what will happen-"

"Fine, kid. I'll do it."

"Thanks Howard- I really do appreciate all the help-"

"I know, kid. I know."

A few hours later, he stood in a small park behind the row of houses that had been built in the place the orphanage once stood. Fortunately, the night was chilly and the park was deserted. He could draw his diagrams without worrying about being interrupted.

He'd made the calculations, set the time precisely. He should arrive back before the moon rose- in plenty of time to surprise his bastard foster father. Duo knew he wasn't a match for him- his best chance was to surprise the older man- take him unawares.

Glancing up at the sky, he noted that the moon was in the correct position. Time to start.

He chanted quietly, the diagrams flaring into life around him, the potion he'd made boiling in the middle of the largest one. Once it had boiled away completely, the spell would be finished. He clutched his wand in one hand, his gun was tucked into a shoulder holster beneath his coat- his foster father wouldn't expect that. He didn't want to use it- a gunshot might rouse the orphanage, but if he needed it-

The potion began to smoke, pouring upwards in a column, thick and dark. Duo frowned, still chanting. None of the notes had mentioned that... was something going wrong?

"Bravo, my dear student. I didn't know you had it in you."

At the sound of that voice, Duo stumbled backwards, the chant dying on his lips. What- what had he done? He hadn't gone anywhere- but-

A man stepped out of the smoke, brushing at the cuffs of his coat, flicking his blond hair off his shoulders. "Speechless? How unusual for you, Duo."

Duo flicked his wand, but nothing happened. What was going on? That-

Laughing, his guardian shook a finger at him. "Now, now, that's not nice. Trying to cast a spell? Don't you know that a resurrection spell temporarily drains your magic? Course, I guess you thought you were performing a time traveling spell. Hoped to save your little friends? How very tragic that you failed them again. Of course, I knew you would try- that's why I put the resurrection spell in that journal under the cover of the time travel one. I do have to thank you for being so predictable."

Dropping his wand, Duo pulled out the gun and fired.

The bullet stopped in mid flight and dropped to the ground. "Very good," his guardian smiled wider. "I see you've learned not to rely on magic." He flicked his fingers and Duo gasped as invisible fingers wrapped around his throat. "I'd love to stay and chat, truly, but this spell needs a death to finish- the death of it's caster- which would be you. Look at the bright side- at last you'll be of some use to me."

Duo fought the hand on his throat, the edges of his sight starting to fade, as he struggled for breath. He'd been played... damn it... and now his guardian would kill more people...

He focused on the blond figure, trying to form a spell in his mind, maybe right as he died- a curse-

Something silver slid through the air, something sharp and thin-

The pressure around his throat vanished and Duo fell gasping into the grass. His guardian looked- surprised. His body crumpled and his head fell after it, rolling a little ways away. Duo blinked in surprise. How-?

Heero stood there, cleaning his sword, frowning. "Bastard," he muttered, and the corpse burst into flames. He stepped around the flames and reached out a hand to Duo. "Come on."

"Where? How-?" Duo forced the words out through his bruised throat.

"I followed you." Heero bent and retrieved Duo's wand and gun. "We have to go- someone's going to report that fire. Hold onto me."

A moment later and they were in Duo's lab. "How the hell-?!" Duo started and coughed.

"Kid!" The sunglasses floated off the shelf. "You're here! What happened?"

"That wasn't a time travel spell," Heero told the ghost. "It was a resurrection spell. Can you get him some water? He was nearly strangled to death."

A few sips of water later, Duo had recovered enough to glare. "Going to turn me in now, I suppose?"

Heero rolled his eyes. "I was off duty. I'm not required to account for my actions when I'm not working for the Preventers."

"How did you even follow him?" Howard asked, still hovering over Duo. "I used my best stuff to muddle his path!"

"I was here the whole time- I just followed him."

"How did you get out of the circle?" Duo demanded.

"You let me out when you dismissed it."

"But you weren't in it!" Duo looked at the ring on his finger. Pulling it off his finger, he tossed it to the side with a curse. "Damn it," he said and sat down on the floor, leaning against the stone wall. "He was right- I am useless! Why I thought I'd be able to do something-"

"Stop it." Heero sat down beside him, shoulder to shoulder. "Just- stop. You aren't useless-"

"Right. You walk through my wards like they don't exist- manage to hide from me in a damn circle- and he- he makes me think that I could go back and fix it all- and all I did was make things worse! If you hadn't been there-"

"Duo," Heero's voice cut through his. "You aren't thinking. You know what I did. You could do it to me too." He put his wrist beside Duo's, exposing the small faded scar. "Don't you remember?"

"My first night at the school." Duo turned his own wrist, matching his scar up to Heero's. "You said..."

"I'd be your family because you didn't have one anymore."

"The Blood Bond- I forgot it could be used liked that." Duo sighed. "You made my wards think that you were me."

"Yes."

"And that's why I could only see my magic- you made it look like yours."

"Yes."

"And the ring?"

Heero sighed. "I messed with it when you were making it- I didn't want you finding me."

"Bastard."

"Yes."

"I still should've realized that spell-"

"I looked it over too, Duo. I thought it would do what you thought it would too, remember?"

Duo dropped his head down on Heero's shoulder. "Damn it... I really wanted to... fix things."

"I know you did, love. But some things just can't be fixed. Not even by magic."

Closing his eyes, Duo took a deep breath. After a moment, he asked: "Are you sure you aren't going to turn me in? You should."

"No. I happen to like your head where it is. Besides, turn you in for what? You were manipulated by that bastard- he knew damn well what you'd do when you found that spell. Technically, he was the guilty one- and his judgment was delivered."

"So what are you going to do?"

"My job. Watch you and make sure you stay out of trouble." He tilted his head a little when Duo didn't reply. "Not going to say anything? Not going to accuse me of being all about the job?"

"No. I'm beginning to see the advantages to it."

Heero's lips curved into a faint smile. "Well, that's a start."

OWARI

 

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