Author: Merula
Pairings: 1x2
Rating: R
Warnings: Yaoi, OOC, post EW, Duo POV, angst, violence, Evil Doctors.
Disclaimer: Gundam wing is not mine.
It really helps if you've read the first Deliveryman. Otherwise some of this will make no sense to you!
Deliveryman Two Part 1
I paced the hospital waiting room back and forth. Damn it! I had told Heero to be careful today! You think by now that he- and Wufei for that matter- would have learned to listen to me! But no. The big bad Preventer had to go out and do his job, apparently forgetting that when I said to be careful it wasn't just because I was worried about him. Damn it! He knew what the docs had done to me better than anyone! Why wouldn't he listen to me?
For Wufei at least that had changed. The shock when he discovered me already waiting at the hospital when the ambulance with Heero in it arrived was priceless. I would've laughed if Heero hadn't been in such bad shape.
"Duo," Trowa was watching me pace with a faint frown on his face. "Would you stop it? You know he's going to be fine." The last sentence had the faintest tinge of a question to it.
"No I don't," I snapped back. "You know I never get anything really clearly. I just knew that he'd be in danger today- like he is nearly every freaking day. I told him to be careful, just like I do every day when he's on his way out the door. So the feeling was a bit stronger this morning. That's it!" Okay, so maybe that's why Heero hadn't taken my warning seriously. He heard it every day. But he was in danger nearly every day! Gods damn it but that boy needed a new job. One that preferably didn't give his lover a daily heart attack.
"You knew when he got shot." Quatre pointed out calmly from where he was perched on the sofa next to Trowa.
"Right before." I grumbled. I had been on a delivery at the time. I wondered briefly what the poor woman in that office building had thought when I had simply tossed the package at her and left at a run. "Stupid docs!" I added. It was a refrain they had all heard before. Ever since I'd had that last meeting with the docs and found out that they'd had a bit too much fun playing around with my genes.
Aw, come on now. You didn't think things ended happily ever after for me after that now did you? Like that would ever happen.
Now, I'm not complaining. After all, Heero did move in with me and that alone should rate at least one 'happily' in and of itself. But we're two very stubborn pig headed my-way-is-the-best-way kind of guys. We don't do sweetness and all that junk.
Well, not very often any ways.
Quatre became my new 'silent partner' in the business, but let's face it. That guy is never silent. Quatre had some very specific stuff in mind for me at times, but since it was in line with what I wanted to do anyway, I didn't complain.
Une on the other hand, told me that I was under no obligation to help the Preventers again- unless I wanted to. I think that thing with the docs really shook her somehow. She got it in her head that she'd been doing the same thing. I didn't think so, but once that lady gets something in her head...
The guys were very careful around me- even Heero. I think that guilt for the whole Zero incident was the motivator behind their new attitudes. For example, Heero and I will start to yell at each other and he just- stops. He'll turn around and walk out of the room. It's not very fun when the person you're fighting with just up and leaves. I have chased him down a few times, if I was mad enough, but he just refuses to fight with me- even verbally.
Considering that the two of us could do some serious damage if we did, it's probably a good thing that he stops us before we get started. I like my house the way it is- standing- and I hope to keep it that way.
Of course, I also like my lover the way that he is- or was. The bullet holes were not something I wanted him to have.
"What's taking so long?' I grumbled, not pausing in my pacing.
"Duo, for the third time," Wufei rolled his eyes "you know what's taking so long. He has three bullets in him. They need to take them out."
I really wished that he wouldn't be so damn logical. I wasn't feeling very reasonable at the moment and his logic was not helping. If he got logical at me one more time, I was going to throw something at him. Maybe that ugly couch for starters. Quatre smiled slightly.
"Fei, why don't you go get us some coffee," he suggested.
"I don't think Duo needs caffeine," Wufei replied casting a dubious look at me. I was tempted to bare my teeth at him, but I nobly refrained.
"Juice then," Trowa got to his feet. "C'mon."
Once they left, Quatre got to his feet and placed himself directly in front of me. I had to stop, since I couldn't run over him. I wanted to go around, but he had crossed both arms over his chest and I'm sure that I've mentioned before that Quatre Winner is not someone to mess with.
"What?" I growled at him. He just graced me with one of his wide-eyed innocent looks.
"Duo, stop and think about it for a moment. Do you think Heero's going to die?"
"No!" I snapped.
"Exactly," he tapped his chest. "Neither do I. He's doing fine."
"Doing fine? He's been shot..." What he was getting at sunk in. "Oh. Good point." I perched on the ugly couch and Quatre sat down next to me.
"Duo, I know this has all been a big adjustment for you," Quatre started.
"What has? Suddenly being psychic? Suddenly being able to toss stuff around? Suddenly..."
"Being in love?" Quatre finished, shutting me up very effectively. I hunched down into the sofa and crossed my arms over my chest. Quatre looked amused, damn him.
And I couldn't refute it either, not with Quatre's knowledge of the workings of my heart.
Not that I really wanted to either.
Quatre put a gentle hand on my shoulder, but didn't say anything more, which shows that he really is the smartest out of all of us.
"Family of Heero Yuy?" A doctor stood in the doorway, a clipboard in hand.
"Yes!" I leaped to my feet. The doctor smiled reassuringly at me.
"He's out of surgery and doing very well."
"When can I see him?"
"He'll be out for a while yet. You can go home and we'll call you when he wakes up."
I didn't want to go home. I wanted to stay here until Heero woke up. I frowned at the doctor.
"I'm staying here."
"We gave him some heavy sedatives. I am sure that he won't be waking up for hours yet," the doctor said in a professionally soothing tone.
"Why don't you just go home, shower, change and come back?" Quatre, ever the diplomat, suggested. "We'll take you."
I heard the faint commanding tone underlying Quatre's words and wanted to protest, but I was tired. I could use a shower and a change of clothes and I wouldn't say no to food either.
Trowa and Wufei appeared in the doorway, no cups in sight. Trowa looked pale and Wufei looked agitated.
Something was wrong.
Quatre told the doctor that we would be back and nearly shoved the man out of the room. "What's going on?" I asked when the doctor had left.
"Une called. We have a bit of a- problem." Wufei was looking angrier by the minute.
"What kind of problem?"
"The doctors escaped."
"What?!" How was that possible? The Preventers had tossed them into a maximum-security prison!
But Wufei was still talking:
"Une thinks they might be after you. She wants you taken to a secure location as fast as possible. You are to stay there until the doctors are found."
Until the doctors are found?! That could take days! Weeks!
"I can't leave Heero!"
"Duo," Trowa stepped towards me. "Do you honestly think that Heero would want you here knowing it wasn't safe?"
"Who says he's safe?" I retorted. "And who says that they are any threat at all? Last time weren't they all 'it was for your own good and we want you to be happy'?"
"The docs wanted you last time, not him. You're the experiment. And who knows what they might decide would be for your own good now." Wufei pointed out, being logical again. I would've tossed the sofa at him, but Quatre was in the way.
"I am not going to hide from them!" I protested.
"Duo-" Quatre started.
"No! I am not going to lock myself away. I know them better than any of you. If anything I should be out there looking!"
"And let them catch you again," Wufei growled. I opened my mouth and he waved his hand at me. "Yes, yes, if they are even after you. Still, it's better to be safe than sorry!"
"I'm tougher than I used to be."
"Because of what they did! Who knows what else they did to you? If there's a way to catch you, then they know it!" Wufei pointed out and I put a hand on the sofa.
"And if they do, then we'll be able to find them! Why can't I play bait?"
The three of them gaped at me, horrified. Trowa recovered first.
"There is no way in hell we are going to let you fall back into their hands after last time!" He snapped.
There was a throat cleared by the door. The doctor stood there, an amazed look on his face.
"The patient is awake. He refuses to take any more sedatives until he talks to someone named Duo?"
It shouldn't have surprised any of us. I wasn't the only one the docs experimented with. Heero was J's first test subject. We should've guessed that the sedatives wouldn't affect him the same as everyone else.
"That's me." I grabbed the doctor's arm and dragged him from that room before anyone could think to protest. "How is he doing?"
"Fine. Everything looks good. I just don't understand how he woke up! We used some heavy-duty tranqs on him! And then he broke the syringe when we tried to give him more." The doctor gave me a worried look. "He needs to rest- you'll make sure he does, won't you?"
"Yes," I agreed.
Heero was hooked up to so many things that it was a challenge to get next to the bed without tripping over something. He was lying flat, and his eyes opened immediately when I leaned over him. He didn't look drugged in the slightest. I had to admit the docs were good at what they did.
"Duo- you okay?"
"Better than you," I replied, and after hearing the door close behind the doctor, I brushed my lips along his cheekbone.
"I should've listened to you."
"Yes, you should've," I agreed. His lips twitched in a smile.
"You've been here the whole time?"
"I was here before you got here," I told him flatly. He didn't look surprised. Then again the man has been living with me for over a year. If anyone knew all my little 'quirks', Heero did. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been shot."
"Ha ha." I rolled my eyes at him. "The doctor said you should be resting. I guess they sedated you..." I paused. If the sedatives weren't working then- "Wait- is your pain medication working?"
"Nope," he smiled faintly. I frowned. Heero was good at just ignoring pain, as I had seen him demonstrate many times before.
"They should give you something else," I made to move away from the bed, but he put out a hand to stop me.
"I'm fine. Really."
"Yeah right." I caught his outstretched hand and put it against my cheek. "You're in a hospital bed with more holes in you than you are supposed to have. I wouldn't call that fine." His fingers caressed my cheek and his smile vanished.
"Something else is wrong. What is it?" He knows me too well.
"Nothing you should be thinking about."
"Tell me or I'll get out of this bed and find out myself."
The damn man would try it- no doubt.
"The docs escaped." I muttered.
"How?!" Heero made to move out of the bed and I held him down.
"Don't you dare!"
"Duo- you've got to go someplace safe! They're going to be after you!" He tried to slide out under my hands. Luckily, at the moment I was stronger than he was. "Damn it! Of all the fucking times! Duo- please! You've got to..."
"Une already ordered it." I tried to soothe him. "Stop trying to get up! All the others are here. I'm perfectly safe! I don't want to leave you yet. Besides, why are you all so sure that they'd be after me?"
"Duo, I don't want to take that chance." His hand caressed my face again. "I'll be fine. Please go- okay?"
I wanted to protest, but his very real fear stopped me. Heero didn't need an argument right now, no matter how well he thought he was doing.
"Okay," I agreed, wanting to see the worry leave his face. "But you have to promise me that you'll rest."
"I will. You know it won't take me long to heal," he smiled again, "and then I'll join you okay? We'll hunt them down ourselves if we have to." His smile turned slightly vicious.
"That sounds good to me."
"Duo- you need to get going. Who knows what they've planned. The faster you're safe, the happier I'll be. Please?"
I didn't want to leave him yet, but I knew that Heero was nothing if not persistent. He wouldn't rest until I left.
"All right." I bent down and kissed him gently. "Take care-please! I'll send messages with the guys."
"I will. Stay safe." I let go of his hand and carefully backed away from the bed. I turned at the door to look at him one last time. He raised his hand to me in a 'go on' gesture.
There were three worried looking ex-pilots waiting for me on the other side of the door, obviously prepared to drag me away by force if necessary.
I raised my hands in the air. "I'm going, I'm going!"
It was almost funny how fast they had me stuffed in a car and headed out to one of the Preventers' safe houses.
The other three spent most of the ride going over strategies on how to find the docs and how to keep me safe. I listened with half an ear. Something felt- odd.
We'd been driving for over half an hour when my patience began to wear thin. How far away were they taking me anyhow? Quatre noticed my agitation.
"Don't worry Duo. We'll find them. And as soon as Heero can be moved, we'll have him join you." Quatre reassured me after a while.
My fickle gift chose that moment to kick in stronger than I have ever felt it.
HEERO! DANGER! DEATH! HEERO!
I don't know what all I did, but I know it involved yelling something and lunging for Trowa, who had the bad luck to be driving at that time.
We were headed back to the hospital at lightening speed before I managed to catch my breath. My gift was still filling me with panic. Something very bad was/might/would happen to Heero. I realized that Wufei had me in a tight grip, nearly pinning me down in my seat. I could've broken it easily, but instead I let him hold me down. We'd be at the hospital soon. We'd be in time to prevent it- I hoped.
What was it? He had seemed okay! Better than okay!
We reached the hospital after what seemed an eternity and I threw Fei off, heading into the building at a run.
I'm sure I must've pushed some poor personnel over in my haste, but all I knew was that I needed to get to Heero right now!
I flung open the ICU door and ran down the hallway to Heero's room.
His bed was empty. The machines were disconnected, the alarms turned off. The indentation of his body was still in the mattress.
Where was he?!
In my pocket, my cell phone began to ring.
I reached in and automatically answered it, my senses still screaming at me. The voice on the other end was very familiar.
"Duo, m'boy. I do hope you don't mind, but we thought Heero would benefit from our care after his unfortunate accident."
Oh no. No no no...
"G." I took a deep breath, closing my eyes to block out the sight of that empty bed. "What have you done with him?"
"He's in good hands, don't you worry. We just had all that time to think while enjoying the excellent hospitality of your Preventer friends... and J did a lot of thinking about his project."
"Heero's not a project," I protested.
"I'm afraid he is, dear boy." G chuckled.
"But J said- when we saw you in the holding facility..."
"Ah yes, touching wasn't it? That whole Heero needs to act selfishly thing? I do think J actually believed it himself at the time, if it's any consolation." G chuckled again. "I am sorry, dear boy, but there is a new world order coming, and J wants his soldier ready for it."
"You can have me, just..."
"Oh, but see, we don't want you- at least not yet. We are not going to give up our bird in the hand for the one in the bush. As nice as it would be to have you both, we are not going to push our luck. Talk to you later, dear boy."
"No-" I started, but the line was already dead. He had hung up on me. I felt the hot sting of frustrated tears begin to build up. I should never have left the hospital!
I opened my eyes to find Quatre in front of me, his expression making it clear that he had heard at least part of the conversation.
"We'll find him, Duo." Quatre put a hand on my shoulder. "Wufei is already starting to try and run a trace on that call. Trowa is questioning the staff and getting the security tapes. Une, Noin and Sally are on their way. We'll get him back, I swear it to you."
"He's in danger," I told Quatre, the words spilling out. "I can feel it still. Worse than the shooting. They might kill him..."
I saw something dark flicker in Quatre's eyes. "They won't kill him as long as he's useful."
"They might not mean to..."
"Duo, as long as you are feeling that sense of danger, then he's still alive. We won't worry about it until it stops. We have to focus on finding Heero before that happens. Okay?"
He moved his hand down to my elbow. "Come on Shinigami. We have work to do."
I felt my own darkness start to rise up, the persona that I had needed during the war to get the tasks done. I resisted it for a moment.
"Quatre- are you feeling anything?" I saw the slight tightening of his features; saw that he was thinking about lying to me, and then his decision:
"Pain." He said briefly. "Terrible pain..."
TBC...
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