Author: Merula
Pairings: None
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Slight angst, violent
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.
Moment of Clarity
"Hello?"
"Heero? It's me. Are you busy?"
I squinted at the clock. It was 2:30 am. Why was Duo calling me at this hour? "Is something wrong? What happened?"
There was a rushed intake of breath on the other end. "Oh crap. It's after midnight there, isn't it? I'm so sorry, I forgot about the time thing-"
His voice was shaky. This wasn't good. "Duo. What's wrong? Did something happen at the yard?"
"No... no. Nothing there. I just..."
"You just?" I prompted, sitting up and flicking on the light beside my bed.
"I should call you later. I didn't mean to wake you-"
"But now I am awake. So you might as well talk to me." Maybe more direct questions were in order. "Where are you?"
"At the shuttle port."
"Ah. Arriving or departing?" Was he heading here?
"Departing. Howard's sending a ship for me. I'm going to go work with him for a bit."
Retreating to Howard could only mean one thing. "So you had another fight with Hilde?"
"We didn't fight. She... found someone else."
I blinked a little, settling myself against the headboard. "Oh Duo, I'm sorry."
"No. It's okay. It really is. I think I'm sort of relieved. It's just it all happened so fast today, I mean, she came into the office and we... talked and then the next thing I know I'm talking to Howard and..."
I let him talk on, making encouraging noises as it all spilled forth. Things I hadn't known had been happening and things I had, things Duo had hinted around in his weekly emails, and things I had gotten from the other guys when Duo's name had come up.
"Oh," he said suddenly. "Howard's ship is here already... I... holy hell, Yuy! I've been talking to you for-"
"You needed a distraction."
"Please tell me you have the day off today."
"Actually I'm due into the office in two hours."
"Shit! I am so sorry- I'll make it up to you- I swear-"
"Duo, it's okay. Tell Howard hello for me and send me your contact information when you get settled, all right?"
"I will. Thanks, Heero. I'm lucky to have a friend like you."
We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone with a sigh. Giving myself a shake, I slid out of bed and headed towards the shower. At least Duo had called me. I wasn't the one he was going to stay with, but at least I was the one he called when he needed to talk.
~*~
I glared at the phone on the corner of my desk as I tried to find the missing file that Chang had sworn he'd put on my desk.
"Yuy," I snapped into the receiver.
"Heero? It's Trowa. I have a problem."
"Is it a war?"
"No."
"Quatre been kidnapped?"
"Course not."
"Then I can't help you. The Commander's on the warpath and Chang lost the file she wants."
"It's Duo."
My heart turned to ice in my chest. "What happened to Duo?" He'd been fine when I'd talked to him a few days ago. It had been 6 months since he'd joined the Sweepers, things seemed to be going well...
"You haven't been watching the news today?"
"Do I sound like I've had time to watch the news? Would you get to the damn point?"
"Hijackers. Duo was on a Sweeper job for Quatre, and they tried to take Duo's ship, meant to strand him on one of those old abandoned colonies around L3-"
I couldn't breathe. "Is he okay?"
"He's fine. He stranded them and is headed here- but we need someone official to cut some of the tape- and Quatre's in Sanc. I'm headed out to get him, but Duo will be here by then, and someone should meet him. Can you-"
"Give me the details, I'm on my way." I memorized them, closed my phone and noticed the edge of a folder sticking out from behind my monitor. Pouncing on it, I checked the contents and grabbed my jacket.
"Yuy?" Wufei looked up from his desk as I tossed the folder at him. "Where are you-"
"Duo. Hijackers. L3 colonies. Look it up and get the details for me?"
I barely heard his answer as I left the office. Duo's ship would be arriving very soon and I didn't want him to land without having someone there.
My arrival sent a small swirl of panic among the small crowd waiting for Duo's ship. Apparently Wufei had asked the Commander to help, and she'd already made calls. Anything I asked for was granted, which made things considerably easier.
The look of relief that swept over Duo's face when he saw me waiting for him made it all worthwhile. I wanted, more than anything, to hold him close and tell him how thankful I was that he was alive. But I couldn't. All I could do was make things easier for him. I got him checked out by a medic, stood by his side while he told his story to the officials and turned in his flight recordings.
Then I managed to get him out of there and into my car. "Well, that whole trip just sucked." He sagged into the seat. "I think I could sleep for a week."
"I'm glad you're okay." It was all I could let myself say. I'd seen his wounds, heard his story, knew how close he'd come to not making it back... Later, alone in my apartment I could fall apart over it. But for now, I'd lock it down.
"I'm glad you were there for me." Duo gave me a smile that I couldn't help but return. "I was dreading coming back and having to go through all that rigmarole. I can't tell you how relieved I felt to see you there."
"It's all Trowa's doing. I didn't even know what was going on- it was rather busy at HQ today- I'm sorry, I really am, if I'd known sooner-"
He patted my arm. "What? Even you can't teleport, Yuy. You couldn't have done anything until I landed- and you were there for me then- interrupting what sounds like a hell of a day. Don't worry about it."
I summoned up a smile for him. "Quatre said to take you to his apartment. He didn't want you staying someplace without security, and he's got the room-" I'd wanted to take him to my place- but Quatre's was safer...
Duo laughed out loud. "That's for damn sure. His apartment is bigger than some homes I've been in." His expression darkened a little and I wondered what memory made him look like that. He shook it off a moment later and smirked at me. "Suppose Q will let me order pizza tonight?"
"After saving his ship? I dare say you could order several pizzas and he wouldn't get mad."
"Course he's not going to be here for hours yet," Duo leaned his head against the window. "Are you headed back to HQ after you drop me off?"
"Yes."
"Can I go with you?"
He intercepted my surprised look with a half-smile. "There's nothing like almost being stranded on one of those ghost colonies to make you appreciate your friends."
"Of course you can come with me." I wouldn't argue about getting to keep Duo where I could see him for a bit longer. Not ever. "I'm just doing paperwork- if you don't mind hanging around...?"
"Not at all. I can help, if you like. I'm really good at stapling."
~*~
I flipped the phone open without looking at the screen. "Yuy."
"It's me. Busy?" His voice brought that familiar shot of warmth to my heart.
"Not at all. You?"
"Are you kidding?" Duo chuckled. "What did you tell me when I decided to take Quatre up on his job offer?"
"I think I said: Quatre needs a bodyguard?"
"Right. The last time someone even tried something, he had them in a headlock before Rashid and I could even move. So, I'm thinking of joining the Preventers. It's got to be more exciting than this." That made my heart lurch. Having Duo around every day... but the Preventers wasn't the safest job...
"I'm not sure if I'd call it exciting."
"What would you call it?"
"Today? Hell."
"What happened?"
"Well, to start with, Wufei's down in medical."
"Why?"
"Well, you know we were on that stakeout? Things sort of exploded at about 3am."
"You caught them bringing the goods in?"
"No, I meant a real explosion. The warehouse blew up. Chang will be okay. The explosion flung him against a wall, so he got a little banged up."
I could hear the concern in his voice. "What about you? Are you okay? I know you've been working double shifts over this- when was the last time you slept?"
"Uh... I don't really remember."
His voice sharpened. "Maybe you should be down in medical too."
"No, no, I'm better than Chang- and one of us has to be mobile enough to do the paperwork." Something was happening over by receiving... I turned slightly and tried to figure out what was going on. There was a tight knot of people- a lot of hand waving.
"And you're letting me complain about my boring job? Why didn't you call me? Are you sure you're okay?" The group was getting louder. They all looked like Preventers... I knew there had been some stress in that department lately...
"I'm fine. I was just trying to finish the paperwork so I could go home and crash for-"
The gunshot was loud and I ducked instinctively, grabbing for my own gun.
"Heero?! What the hell is-"
"I have to go, Duo. I'll call you back."
"Heero- !" I hung up and peered around the corner of my desk. Shit... it was Klein... I heard he'd been reprimanded a week or so ago- and now he was apparently very angry. I didn't see any agents down- had he shot at the ceiling? He was waving his gun in the air, yelling something-
In a regular office, he might have had people scrambling away from him, might have created a panic. Here, in the Preventers' offices, he had a group of armed professional agents more than able to deal with him. It only took a few minutes before he was disarmed and secured. The Commander appeared on the scene moments later. Klein was taken off, reports were demanded and in thirty minutes we were back to normal.
Wufei had reappeared a few minutes after the Commander and in the process of bringing him up to speed and finishing the reports, I completely forgot to call Duo back.
"What the hell, Yuy?" A voice demanded behind me and I swung around in my chair to find a furious looking Duo standing there, glaring at me.
"What are you- oh hell..." I realized.
"Duo?" Wufei questioned and Duo turned the glare on him.
"I was on the phone with Heero when there was a shot," he snapped. "And someone said they'd call back, but I didn't hear anything and I didn't want to call in the middle-"
"Oh, Duo... I'm so sorry... I got sidetracked and forgot..."
"Have some pity on him, Maxwell," Wufei interjected. "We've been on double shifts and he's a little short of sleep- and brains apparently."
"I really am sorry..."
Duo's glare didn't diminish. "Are you finished with the reports?"
"Yes-"
"Good." Duo hauled me up and out of my chair. "I'm taking Heero home, Chang. Can you call Quatre and tell him everything's okay?"
"Of course."
"And then you need to go get some sleep too."
"Right."
I followed Duo out of the building, still trying to formulate an apology that didn't sound half-assed. I really had forgotten to call, it was inexcusable, and I couldn't even explain it to myself.
"Stop it," he said as we settled ourselves into his car.
"What?"
"You're beating yourself up over this, Heero. I can see it. It's okay." He gave me a half smile. "You gave me a hell of a scare."
"I really am sorry."
"I know you are." He leaned back in his seat for a minute and took a deep breath. "Maybe it was for the best."
I blinked at him. "Scaring you was for the best?"
"It gave me..." he paused, as if looking for the right phrase. "Sort of an epiphany- a moment of clarity. Seeing something I should've known before."
Clarity sounded good. I wished I had some at this point. "Did it?"
"Yep." He started the engine and grinned at me.
"You aren't going to explain it, are you?"
"Not right now. I think you need some sleep, and some food, and then I'll explain my epiphany."
"I'll look forward to it."
His grin widened. "Oh, not half as much as I will."
OWARI
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