Author: Merula

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Yaoi, Assassins, Angst, Alternate POVs

Pairing: 2x1

One Night Sidefic 5

Duo POV

"Does he scream?" Kira hovers by my shoulder as we watch my partner get into position in the crowd below. "Does he scream when you fuck him? He looks like he'd scream..."

I'm tempted to turn around and punch him but I know what Kira is doing. Kira likes to make people uncomfortable, likes to throw them off balance. It's one of his little eccentricities.

If he doesn't stop soon he's going to learn about a few of mine... One more question and I will hurt him, Org orders or no.

"Are you monitoring the transmissions?" I ask him instead of answering his question.

"Of course. Normal. No sign that they know we're here." He sounds nettled. Kira was expecting me to be upset. It gives me a small sense of satisfaction to have thwarted him.

I check the rifle over one more time. If Heero isn't able to complete the job, then I will be the one to take out the target. I know my lover- he won't make a move if there is a chance of innocents being hurt. I once derided him for it- what does an assassin need a conscience for? Now it's one of the things I treasure about him.

"You never answered my question Duo." Kira's breath is warm on my cheek. "Do you like..."

I lash backwards with the butt of the rifle, catching him in the throat. It's not a killing blow- the Org would not be happy with me for taking out one of my somewhat functional siblings.

Though I am fast beginning not to care...

He chokes for a moment, trying to draw breath and I turn to look at him. "It's none of your fucking business, Kira."

"Unfair," he says, his voice harsh. "How am I supposed to find one for myself if you won't tell me?"

"One for yourself?" I lift an eyebrow at him.

"A lover," he snaps, sounding like a petulant child. "Why did you get one?"

He's not... jealous? Kira who avoids any physical contact at all?

"Kira- you've killed people who tried to ask you out." I point out and wonder if I should go farther, remind him why he doesn't like to be touched like that. But I'm sure he remembers...

So I just scowl at him and turn my back, watching the street. I can see the target's car in the distance.

He leans over the windowsill beside me and I'm tempted to simply push him out, especially when I see the way that he's eyeing Heero.

Heero's mine. I don't like it when people look at him like that. Kira knows I don't like it. He's doing it deliberately, trying to make me angry.

Maybe he wants to die?

"Not one like that. None of them were beautiful like he is." He says, his voice softer now. "None of them looked at me like he looks at you. He loves you. He'd do anything for you..."

"I'd do anything for him." I adjust the rifle against my shoulder. The car is closer.

"Then... " Kira sounds puzzled, "is that how you got him to love you? You didn't do anything to him?"

"I didn't do anything to him." At least I didn't think I did. I think he started sleeping with me in order to show me he had a value, but the love? That wasn't something I could force. That was just something to be grateful for.

Kira's expression twists. "That's not fair. Why did you have to be the one to find someone who could love one of us?"

I don't have an answer for him.

"Life's not fair," I tell him. "Speaking of- the car is getting closer and you aren't doing your job." I click the safety off and frown at him. "All I need is an excuse..."

He frowns back at me and picks up the headset again.

I can't wait until this damn job is over. I don't know exactly why the Org made us bring Kira with us, something about it being a job in our 'backyard' and needing to be extra careful, but I'm not going to let them do it again.

Maybe they were hoping we'd kill each other?

The car reaches the designated spot and for a moment I wait. Will Heero do his part? Or is the car behind them too close?

The car explodes in a rush of flame, and I feel my lips curve in a smile. This job is finally over.

Kira is back at the window, staring dreamily at the flames. "So beautiful," he says, and for just a moment I think he's talking about the explosion.

Then I realize he's focused on something else.

A faint whisper reaches my ears: "I want him..."

I think I've been patient long enough.

~*~

Heero's waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. "Where's Kira?" He asks and I bite back a growl.

"He's dealing with the rest of the equipment. We don't have to wait for him." I grab Heero's arm and tug him out of the building to our waiting car.

"I thought we had to drop him back at the Org."

"They can just come and get him."

Heero's watching me, his eyes thoughtful. We get into the car and he waits until I start the car and pull out into the traffic.

"What did you do to Kira?"

"Nothing."

"Duo."

I hunch over the steering wheel. "He made me mad."

Heero waits for a moment before asking: "Is he dead?"

"No, but if they put him on another mission with us he will be."

Heero nods. "All right. Let me call in and let them know the job is done. Do they need to retrieve Kira?"

"Yes." He won't be moving on his own anytime soon. I hope that was enough. I hope he sees it as the warning it was.

If he doesn't- if he goes near Heero again- I will kill him.

Heero pulls out his phone and calls in, his voice even as he reports the end of the job and requests a retrieval team.

When he finishes, he puts the phone away and then puts a hand on my arm. He doesn't speak, doesn't ask me to explain, just reminds me that he's there.

I wish sometimes that I had his calm... but he was trained so differently than I was...

We get home, perform our checks, make sure that we are secure in our home.

Heero is in the kitchen; he went down there after he changed, to get something to drink. I can hear him, even up here in the bedroom. He's learned to make noise, even as I have. Neither one of us is safe to sneak up on.

I finish changing and head downstairs. Heero is sitting at the kitchen table, a glass of juice in his hands. He's shirtless and I pause for a moment to just look at him.

He is beautiful...

He doesn't protest, doesn't struggle when I pull him up and out of the chair. He opens his lips under mine, slides his arms around my waist.

"Kira wants you," I tell him as I push him back against the table.

Heero's eyes widen slightly. He knows how I get. "Upstairs?" He asks as he tilts his head to the side so that my lips can trace the line of his throat.

"Right here," I drop the rope that I pulled out of that cabinet beside our bed onto the table.

Heero doesn't protest. He simply smiles a little and lifts himself up onto the table.

"You know you can do whatever you want with me," he says and surrenders himself to me.

~*~

Trowa is talking about our next mission as we climb the stairs up to Wufei's office. I'm glad he's the one going with us this time. I'm hardly ever tempted to kill Trowa anymore.

There's a nervous group of people hovering around Chang's office, whispering fiercely to each other. As we approach they draw back a little and the sound of whispering increases. What is going on?

I make out the words Kira, orphan and left, and decide that my sibling has apparently given his notice. We reach the office door and I hear Trowa inhale sharply.

The knife is driven point down into Wufei's desk- and there is a tinge of that dull brownish red on the blade... that is one way to tell the boss man you quit, I guess.

Wufei is in the middle of the room, arms crossed. He looks up at our entrance.

"So, Kira quit?" I ask him. I had to give Kira credit- he made his exit with style. A bloodied knife on Wufei's desk? Nice touch. I'd have to remember to tell him that before he died.

"Apparently," he says and the look he gives me is one I can't read. Something is making him tense and it's not the knife. Something else is going on here.

"Only apparently?" I ask him.

"Did you read the note? Anyone tell you?"

I look at him closely. He's pale, sweating slightly, and that is not like Chang at all. "Tell me what?" I scan the crowd of agitated people. Someone is missing. "Where's Heero?"

Wufei bites his lip, looking at the knife.

No. Kira wouldn't dare... and if he did... I am not going to be merciful when I find him...

"Chang..." I scan the crowd again. Unless he is busy elsewhere I should've seen my lover by now. He was supposed to meet us up here after he talked to requisitions.

Wufei's reaction tells me where he is, but I want to hear him say it. Once it's out, once I'm officially told then no one will be able to stop me.... "Where is Heero?"

"Kira took him."

"Dead."

"No," Chang corrects me and Trowa's hand hovers over my arm, trying to comfort, but not quite daring to do so. "Heero was alive when they left."

"I meant Kira."

~*~

Trowa POV

"Follow him," Chang says to me as Duo turns on his heel and leaves the office.

Follow him? Will Duo even allow that?

"Call us when he gets to Kira."

"How does he even know where Kira is?"

Chang looks grim. "Duo knows. Just go with him, Barton. Try to stop it from getting too messy."

Right, like that's even possible at this moment. I turn and try not to run down the hall. Duo won't like being pursued at this moment in time.

He's at the elevators, the bloodstained knife that he wrenched from Chang's desk still clenched in his hands. I stop beside him, just out of range, and wait.

He doesn't notice me at first. All of his focus is on that knife in his hands. After a moment, he looks up at me and lifts an eyebrow.

"Chang sent me to be your backup," I tell him and wait for him to argue with me. I've worked with Duo a lot these past years, and though I do not have Heero's ability to calm him down, I am hoping that I can at least get him to allow me to help.

"Fine," he says and his gaze drops to the knife in his hands again.

I really do not like that look on his face...

The elevator doors slide open and for just a moment I really don't want to get into that small, enclosed space with Duo. Not like this.

I push my fear down and step in beside him. He hits the button for the ground floor and the doors close with a click. A shiver runs down my spine. I hope I survive this.

Duo is silent, his eyes still focused on the knife, his body tense.

"How will we find him?" I ask cautiously. Kira could've taken Heero anywhere...

"Mountains," Duo says shortly and I blink. How does he know?

He lifts his gaze up from the knife and meets my eyes. "We are programmed to go to certain places when we leave the Org."

"And Kira's is in the mountains?"

Duo nods.

"Are you sure he'll go there?"

"All the others went to theirs," he says shortly and drops his gaze back down to the knife.

All the others? I'm still trying to figure out what he means when we reach the garage. I follow Duo to his car and hope that he doesn't try to leave me behind. He doesn't. The door opens under my hands and I slide in beside him.

The scream of protesting vinyl as Duo plunges the knife into the dashboard makes me jump.

"Keeping it safe," he says harshly and starts the car.

I've never seen Duo like this. Even on that first mission when I thought Heero's new partner was a little scary, I had still been surprised to find him at my door one morning telling me that he needed to dismantle the bomb he'd put in my room.

And even then, he'd smiled and apologized, even been a little sheepish about his behavior. Like a kid who broke a neighbor's window with a baseball.

I knew he didn't like people getting too close to Heero, had warned others about it on occasion, but even then I hadn't been one of the ones he'd scared off. I don't want to say I forgot about that side of his personality, because that would've been suicidal, but I'd been lulled by Heero's influence on Duo's personality.

We were going to be in deep trouble if we didn't get Heero back safe.

I watch as Duo's hands slowly tighten on the wheel, watch as his gaze grows darker, and really wish that I had stayed back at the Org.

"Duo," I said quietly, hoping to distract him, "when we get to the mountains, what are we going to do?"

"Kill Kira. Get Heero."

Okay. I can work with that.

We are getting closer to the mountains and I wonder again about what Duo said. Programmed to go to certain places? I can see where that would make it easier for the Org to track down rogue orphans... oh.

Duo is the one who tracked down his 'siblings'. If he said they all went to their places- then he meant the ones that he killed so far... how many had there been? I know they had thirteen children who finished the training... and were now down to four...

No wonder they could never leave...

The road begins to curve as we enter the foothills, winding up through trees and brush, and the light begins to fade.

Duo suddenly wrenches the car to the right and hits the brake. The car stops in a small cluster of bushes, just off the road.

"Stay here." He says and yanks the knife out of the dashboard.

"Are you sure?"

That makes him pause. "Yes. If I'm not out in 15 minutes call for backup." He reaches into the backseat and pulls out a crowbar. "Are you armed?"

"Yes." I show him the gun under my jacket. He nods.

"There's more in the trunk." He hands me the keys and vanishes into the dark woods.

I pull out my phone. It can't hurt to call in and tell them where we are. Just in case...

~*~

Nearly there. I can see the light glinting through the trees. Kira's careless...

A faint scream reaches my ears and my hand tightens on the knife. I know why he's careless... his attention is on something else. Something that belongs to me...

Closer still and I can make out the faint shape of the cabin; can hear the sound of cursing. Kira is indeed being careless... Almost to the door now...

"Fucking bastard!" Kira shouts, "Quit fighting me!" A sharp crack underscores his words.

I know that sound.

How dare he...

The door gives way beneath my shoulder.

Kira looks up and his eyes widen in his blood-streaked face. "How did you get here?" Heero is at his feet... and the sight of him makes me very angry...

The knife hits Kira's shoulder, spins him around just enough for me to slam into him and knock him against the wall.

He tries to kick me, but I've already yanked the knife back out. One of his hands is headed towards my face, so I grab it and use the knife to pin it to the wall.

Kira screams.

"Don't blame me! He wouldn't do as I asked! He fought me!" He turns his head so I can see the bruise on the side of his face. "I wouldn't have hurt him if he hadn't fought!"

"You never should've touched him." I hiss at him, pulling his other hand away from the one pinned to the wall. His fingers crack as I bend them backwards, waiting for the soft sounds that will tell me that the joints have popped free. His thumb makes a sharp snapping sound and Kira curses.

"Can't have you pulling that knife out." I tell him and take a step back, lifting the crowbar.

He screams when I break his arm, louder when I hit his knees. His fingers crack as the bar hits them, just for good measure. He won't be moving for a while.

Heero is pushing himself up from the floor when I reach him. His eyes are dazed; the pupils large and black and I suspect he has a concussion. There's a large bloodstained bandage on his upper thigh- the source of the blood on that knife? He's covered in cuts and welts and bruises and I memorize each one. Kira is going to pay for this...

"Duo..." His voice is raw and it hurts me to hear it.

"Shh..." I lift him up in my arms, looking at Kira, pinned helplessly to the wall, trying to pull the knife out with his broken hand. "Let's get you to the car." Heero's eyes close and I hope he's only passed out.

Trowa jumps out to meet us when we get close and I'm glad of it. I put Heero carefully in the passenger seat.

"Take him in, get him help." I tell Trowa.

"What about you?" He asks as he starts the engine.

"I'm not finished yet."

Trowa looks at Heero, his face grim and nods. "I'll see you at the medcenter then."

I touch Heero's cheek. "I'm trusting you with him."

"I won't fail you Duo." Trowa meets my gaze squarely.

Stepping back I close the car door and watch as Trowa speeds off down the road.

Then I turn back towards the cabin. I have quite a bit of work ahead of me still...

~*~

Duo POV

The explosion lights up the inside of the cabin, the walls collapsing inward, the roof falling to the side. I don't need to check inside. I know he's dead.

I turn away, head for his car. It should be easy enough to hotwire and get down to the medcenter. I need to see Heero. I need to make sure he's okay.

Kira's keys are dangling from the ignition. So this will be easier than I thought. I look over at the passenger side as the car starts up. The seat has a large dark reddish stain...

Heero's blood... I reach down to wipe it away and realize that my hand is already stained, the red fading to brown in spots.

Damn. I look down at myself and realize that I can't go to the medcenter like this. I reach up to push my bangs out of my face and hear the unpleasant crunch of dried blood in my hair.

At least it's still dark. I can go home and shower before I go to see Heero. I hope he's really okay. I didn't have much time to do more than assess his injuries- I don't know what Kira did to him before I got there... didn't think to ask at first- and when I did, Kira couldn't answer...

He better not have... Heero is mine. Kira knew that. He knew that going after Heero would make me angry...

He got off easy...

~*~

Where is he?

I look at Trowa, sitting patiently beside me, reading out loud from the newspaper and think about asking him to tell me what happened again...

He's already gone through it twice- and I still think he's hiding something from me. I woke up in the medcenter a few hours ago, bandaged and stitched up. Based on what Trowa's told me- he left Duo up in the mountains five hours ago.

When I told him to go get Duo, he'd just shaken his head. "I told him I'd take care of you," he said and when I protested that I was fine, still refused to go. "No. Duo trusted you to me and I don't want him angry at me."

I wasn't really sure what to say to that. I knew how Duo could get... I should've been more careful. If only I'd been more alert. I hadn't been expecting to be attacked in the offices- hadn't thought anything of it when Kira walked by me in the hall- until he drove that knife into my leg. I'd bent over out of sheer reflex and he must've knocked me out, because all I remembered was waking up in that cabin...

Bile rises in my throat for a moment. That had been... unpleasant. Kira hadn't been pleased with me when I woke up and shoved him off me.

"You let Duo touch you!" He screams at me as I knock him off me. I slide away as fast as I can, nearly sick to think that he's been touching me. "Why him and not me?"

"Because I'm his!"

I look at the clock again. Where is he? What if something has happened to him?

"Heero-" Trowa leans forward and taps my arm. "Stop. He'll be fine."

"You don't know that." It's petty of me, but damn it, this waiting is driving me crazy. "I always hate it when he goes out to face one of them. They're just as good as he is..."

"No," Trowa corrects me. "If they were he wouldn't get sent to eliminate them. Besides he had to have immobilized Kira somehow before he brought you out to me..."

Kira, pinned to the wall, screaming as Duo swung the crowbar...

"He was," I admit. "But... that was hours ago."

Trowa doesn't speak for a moment and I shift, uncomfortably aware of my bandages. I know how Duo gets when he thinks someone is simply getting too close to me... Kira did worse than that...

I don't forget, I can never forget what Duo's past is, can't forget the demons I know he carries inside of him... all I can do is hope that I make him forget them... but right now I fear that this has stirred them up worse... what if he can't make it back to me? What if I lose him to those dark parts of himself?

How could I have been so careless? I need to go find him... How can I convince Trowa to help me?

The door to my room swings open.

Duo stands there, shoulders hunched, hands in his pockets, his bangs shading his face.

Trowa sighs in relief and gets to his feet. "And there he is, Heero. See? I told you. Nothing to worry about." He moves to the doorway, his hand not quite touching Duo's shoulder. "He's been waiting for you." He says to Duo.

I hear Duo murmur something and Trowa's soft: "you're welcome." He gives me a faint smile and vanishes out the door, leaving Duo and I alone. He really is a good friend.

Duo stays by the door, hunched in on himself. This wasn't how I expected him to act...

"Duo?" I try and he looks up at me. His expression makes me hold my hands out to him. "Come here?" For just a moment he doesn't move and my chest tightens. Won't he take even this comfort from me?

Much to my relief, he does, takes my hands and lets me pull him down beside me. His hair is damp, his black shirt and jeans are not the clothes he had on earlier, and I realize that he must've gone home to shower.

That surprises me- and then I realize what he must've looked like when he finished....

He curls up in my arms without speaking and I stroke his hair, wondering how to help him.

"Are you okay?" He asks, his voice soft. "Did he... hurt you?"

"I'm fine." I reassure him. "The docs stitched me up a bit." I touch the top of my leg. "I got some bruised ribs and a few cuts, but nothing serious. You got there just in time."

He lifts his head and looks at me, his fingers skimming over my bandages. "Did I?"

I realize what he's asking, why he's so worried and mentally smack myself. "You did. He only managed to kiss me- and that's when I was unconscious. That's all."

Duo frowns a little and leans up to kiss me, his lips firm and demanding. I let him reclaim my mouth, willingly open my lips for him. This is familiar, expected and welcomed...

My hand slides down his braid, catches on the tie. Something crunches under my fingers and I pull my hand away as Duo curls back up beside me.

My fingertips are covered with a brown substance... dried blood. I lift Duo's braid up, pull it through my fingers and find the end. The tie is coated... he must've just grabbed it again without thinking...

What did he do that would cover even the tie like this?

"Love," I say softly. "What did you do to Kira?"

"Killed him," Duo's answer is just as soft. His hands are moving over my bandages.

It can't be that simple. He's been gone for hours, had to change before he showed up here...

"Are you okay?" I try instead.

"Now I am," he says, "because you're here. I'm always better with you." He looks up and meets my eyes. "That's why I can never let you go..."

That makes me smile. "Good. I don't want to be let go."

He puts his head down on my shoulder and closes his eyes as I hold him close. Later I'll hear the whole story, but for right now this is enough.

OWARI

 

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