Author: Merula
Pairings: 1+2
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Ghost Rider fusion?
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine.
The Rider Part 1
"Another one for your spook file, Duo." Wufei leaned in the doorway and tossed the file folder on my partner's desk.
"What is it this time?" I asked as Duo picked up the file and flipped through it. "Another mutant sewer alligator?" Duo lifted an eyebrow at me and Wufei chuckled.
"No, this one is Death himself riding through the streets on a motorcycle."
"Surely Death has better ways to travel," I retorted.
"Hey!" Duo interjected. "I happen to ride a motorcycle!"
"But you aren't death- not anymore." I pointed out quietly. It worried me sometimes how Duo still seemed to cling to the idea of Shinigami. The war had been over for years- he needed to let it go.
He shrugged. "Some days I wonder," he murmured and looked back down at the file. I glanced at Wufei and saw my worry reflected in his face.
"So, are we going to go hunting for this one? He can't be hard to miss," I said lightly. Duo liked the spook jobs- he'd ask for them over other assignments and I wondered why. He didn't seem to solve many, but Une was happy to give them to someone who wanted them- and the only one who wanted them was Duo. "Black cloak, scythe..."
Wufei chuckled. "Oh no. This one is a skeleton in motorcycle leathers."
"Death had gotten a new look?"
"Apparently." Wufei shrugged and cast one more worried glance at Duo before vanishing down the hallway.
I watched my partner study the file for a few minutes. Duo was frowning slightly as he flipped the pages.
"What do you think?"
He looked up, nearly startled as if he had forgotten I was there. "Ah, it's nothing. More than likely some guy in a Halloween mask." He tossed the file onto the corner of his desk.
I was tempted to reach for it, but I had a feeling that Duo wanted me to drop the subject. I don't know why, but he seemed as tense as a strung bow- and it had something to do with that file.
So I changed the subject, asked him about another case, and watched him relax.
And I wondered about that file.
So when Duo got called out to talk to a group of agents later that afternoon, I pulled the file off his desk and read through it.
At first I was inclined to agree with Duo's assessment- it was some guy in a mask who had decided to play vigilante. The streets he'd been seen on weren't in the best areas of town- it wouldn't surprise me if someone got their kicks by going down there and wrecking a little vengeance.
But... some of the descriptions said the guy- and the motorcycle- were on fire. How was that possible? Some kind of trick? There hadn't been any big fires lately- and you'd think a blazing skeleton would accidentally start a few...
I closed the file and put it back carefully on Duo's desk. That one was just strange... I wondered what it really was- and why Duo had dismissed it out of hand. If someone was playing vigilante down in that section of town, then maybe it wasn't a matter for us- but some kind of law enforcement should be looking into it...
Duo came back a few hours later, right before our shift ended. I gathered up my stuff as he swapped his Preventers' jacket for his leather one.
"Got any plans for the weekend?" He asked me as we headed down towards the parking garage, the elevator marking the floors off slowly.
I shook my head. "Not really."
"You really need to get out more, meet some people, have a good time." Duo frowned at me. "It's not good for you to be alone so much."
"I know plenty of people," I countered. "And as far as being alone..." I shrugged and focused my gaze on the changing numbers above the elevator doors. I didn't want to get into this again with Duo.
"It's really not good for you."
It's not good for you either, I wanted to counter, but didn't dare. How Duo of all people could chide me about this...
"We've talked about this," I reminded him. "You know why I am." He opened his mouth, but I didn't let him start. "I can't change the way I feel. I really have tried and I can't. Just like you can't change the way you feel."
The elevator doors slid open and I headed for my car. Hopefully the discussion would end here...
"Heero," his voice was soft, "I wish I could..."
"It's okay," I turned slightly and summoned up a smile for him. "I know. We've gone over this before. I'm fine, I really am."
He smiled back before turning to head towards his bike, the crossed scythes on the back of his jacket glowing slightly in the dim light of the garage.
I got in my car and headed home. I had lied to Duo. I wasn't fine. I hated going home to my empty apartment, hated the silence that seemed to crowd into the rooms, that couldn't be driven away with music or the TV.
Many times the silence drove me out of the apartment, I went for long walks or drives at all hours of the day and night, always dreading returning to that silence.
That Friday, after leaving the office, I couldn't sleep... how much different would it be here with Duo beside me? Even as a roommate... but I couldn't ask him for that either. Not now...
So I got up and dressed, grabbed my keys and went for a drive. I never had a destination in mind, just headed out and came back when I started to get tired.
I drove, cruising the nearly-empty streets of my city and wishing that things were different...
I nearly missed the flash of orange down one of the streets.
Fire? Down there? I turned the car and headed down the street quickly- chasing the flare... But it was moving... how could it be moving...? Was I that tired?
Then I turned the corner- and slammed on the brakes.
Heading towards me, flames blazing- was the thing from Duo's file.
And it wasn't a guy in a mask. Wasn't some kind of optical illusion.
It roared past me, heading down a dark alleyway and I had to remind myself to breathe.
For a moment, I nearly followed- then realized my car would never make it down that narrow space. Instead I parked the car before I hit someone and tried to organize my thoughts...
I had to call Duo- tell him that I saw his spook file- and in this case the spook had looked disturbingly real. I ran the image through my head again- the blazing bike, the thing riding it- all in flames- the way it had vanished down the alley, trailing flames- and yet had the flames dimmed down in the alleyway?
I ran it through again- yes- the flames had seemed to vanish, because right as the biker had gone through that last bit of light, the orange color of the flames was gone and the alley light had been the only illumination, reflecting on the bike and on the back of the rider's jacket...
The back of the rider's jacket.
It couldn't be...
Leaning forward, I started the car again. Only one way to find out.
Duo's bike was on his driveway. I touched it carefully as I passed it, the metal was still warm. Not too surprising.
Duo's lights were on. I rang the doorbell and waited.
"Heero?" He blinked at me. "What's wrong?"
"I saw your spook file tonight."
"You what?" He blinked again. "Which one?"
"The one from today. Death on the motorcycle."
He covered it up well. For just a moment I saw panic rise up in his face, replaced a moment later by feigned surprise.
"No way! So was it a guy in a mask?"
"No." I met his gaze evenly. "It wasn't. It was very real."
He chuckled. "Sure you haven't been drinking? Or dreaming?"
"No." I stepped passed him, into the hallway and picked up his leather jacket. "It was a burning skeleton on a motorcycle. And you want to know the weird thing?"
"That's not weird enough?"
I turned, his jacket dangling from my fingers. "Once the flames vanished- it was wearing your jacket."
"Heero..."
"I know what I saw, Duo."
He sighed and ran his fingers through his bangs. "Look... I can't explain it. You'd never believe me anyway..."
"Duo," I put the jacket back down. "Why don't you try me?"
"Well, it's not really logical. I mean, it's all weird stuff, kind of out of your experience... it's not that I don't want to tell you, but it's really hard to believe- even when people do see me they don't really believe it..."
I sighed and shook my head. "Duo- first off, I saw you. I do trust my eyes."
Pausing, I considered the next part. Should I...?
"Secondly, you might be surprised by my experience." I pulled the collar of my tank top down. The mark burned on my chest glowed for a moment and I saw Duo's eyes widen.
Then he smiled. "Let's go sit down. It's kind of a long story..."
OWARI
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