Life Goes On Part 17
The whistle of the tea kettle had Heero excusing himself from the living room, where he had been standing while his family sat at the two couches at either side of the space. At their arrival just moments before, he instantly went into host mode to keep himself occupied while answering their questions regarding Duo's condition. It helped keep him from dwelling too much on the answers he was giving.
As was expected, Noin was beside herself, occasionally drying her eyes with her handkerchief as she sat and listened to what little Heero could explain. While Zechs remained silent and strong for his wife's sake, squeezing her hand with his in encouragement, it was clear in his eyes that it was taking effort for him to hold himself together.
Danielle and Kent sat together across from the other couple as they took everything in. Every now and then, they would glance at each other in worry. For the most part, however, they were the in control of asking the questions that were on all of their minds and learning what they could of the situation in their ever-present lawyer fashions. Ever the lawyers of their tight group.
With a deep sigh to himself as he stepped into the kitchen to turn the burner off and take up the tea kettle, Heero did his best to will away the dark thoughts that were beginning to take hold. With Duo still away to decorate on the main hall at Wayne, he no longer needed to keep up his air of confidence that everything was going to be all right.
The truth was that he really didn't know that for sure.
Quietly stepping into the kitchen, Danielle watched as her son poured the steaming water into the five teacups sitting on the counter. With a sad frown, she waited until he lowered the tea kettle back onto the stove before slightly tilting her head and asking quietly, "How are you holding up, Heero?"
It was the first time that anyone had come out and asked him that. Heero went about setting the teabags into the cups and shrugged, "Fine." Even he had to admit that he did not sound nearly convincing enough, and only proved the contrary.
Danielle bit her lip and closed the distance between them just as he was turning to face her. Tightly wrapping her arms around him, she whispered, "It's all right to cry, you know? No one is expecting you to be the strong one. Especially when you're the one who has the most to lose here."
Unable to hold back the damn of emotions that he had been welling up since Duo had told him that he was dying, tears sprang into Heero's eyes. Trembling, he reached up to hold onto his mother tightly and rested his head against her shoulder. Finally, he admitted aloud in little more than a shaky breath, "I'm so scared, Mom." The tears flowed freely as he whimpered, "I can't lose him."
Rubbing circles along his back, Danielle had to fight her own urge to cry along with her son. "I know," she managed to tell him in what she hoped was reassuring him that she really did understand. "I know," the red-haired young woman repeated a bit louder.
She really did know what it was like to lose a soul mate. When Odin had been killed in a car accident years before, Danielle felt like her life was over. Had it not been for their only child, she would never have gotten through the pain. She knew that she had to live for Heero's sake, to watch after him. He still needed her.
But there was no one like that for her son if Duo were to die. And what the pain would do to him should that happened terrified Danielle.
Then there was her own emotional investment in to braided neko. Duo was the reason that she and Heero had such a wonderful relationship now. He showed her the error in her ways when she thought that she was doing the right thing by forcing her wishes and dreams for her son without taking his own desires and hopes into consideration.
Small tears filled Danielle's eyes as she thought of how she would forever be in that cat-eared boy's debt for everything good in her life now. And yet, here she was- powerless to do anything that could save him. It was devastating.
After a long time of their just holding onto each other, Heero's body finally stopped shaking and his silent crying stopped. Slowly pulling back to dry his face and eyes, he sniffled. "Thanks," he smiled sheepishly. "I guess I did need that."
Cupping the side of his face, his mother helped dry the last tear streaks as she smiled lovingly, "No need to thank me. Just promise me that you won't take on all of this by yourself. You have Trent and I to turn to if you need anything."
Heero smiled back and nodded, "Okay. I promise." Looking back to the counter, he winced, "I better finish the tea before it turns cold."
With a wave of her hand, Danielle shook her head, "I'll take care of that. You've been running around doing things ever since we got here. Just go sit down and relax for a bit." That said, she moved to the refrigerator to remove the cream.
Having nothing to do at that moment, Heero had to admit that he was a bit fatigued. The emotional strain from the last couple days was finally creeping up now that he allowed himself to actually feel it. Squeezing his mother's shoulder in appreciation as she poured the cream into the teacups, he stepped from the room.
Moments after Heero sat down beside Trent, the door opened and Duo stepped in. Directly in his line of sight, his eyes fell on his parents sitting together on the couch. Biting his lip, the cat-tailed boy whimpered before all but running into the living room, hugging Noin and Zechs fiercely. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything," he whispered brokenly.
Holding onto their son tightly, the young couple whispered their reassurances as they fought their own tears. Danielle quietly entered the room with a tray carrying the tea that she'd finished preparing, along with a sixth cup that she added when she heard the door open. Once Duo settled down enough to sit between his parents, the red-haired, retired law firm executive served the drinks.
After a moment for everyone to catch up, Trent announced, "The four of us will be staying at the Renaissance Suites, just down the block. That way, we can be close until this ordeal is cleared up." Both Heero and Duo nodded, the appreciation more than evident in their eyes.
Clearing his throat, the braided teenager nodded to his lover across from him and told everyone in the room, "Well, since Heero's not one to boast, I'm sure that he hadn't told any of you yet. Mister Klein already met with him and was pretty impressed."
With a small gasp, Danielle turned to her son with wide cobalt eyes. Heero blushed a bit and shrugged, "He wants me to make some artwork to be judged on for the Stellar Gala. The competition is by invitation only, so I suppose it's a good thing that he was interested enough to have me partake in it."
"A good thing!" his mother exclaimed. "Heero, that's a wonderful thing! From knowing how he runs his gala, that man has a very keen eye for talent. The fact that he wants to see what you can do is a remarkable accomplishment!"
Zechs, Noin and Trent all voiced in over one another to say much the same and congratulate the Japanese young man. Ducking his head a bit, Heero's face burned all the more. "Thanks for embarrassing me," he smirked at his partner as the praises continued.
Winking, Duo grinned, "Well, you deserve it."
Everyone fell silent when the vidphone rang. The small caller ID on the side of the closed computer showed the name 'Doctor Treize Khushrenadah' on its lit screen. Stiffening, Duo swallowed hard before reaching towards the table that he was closest to. As he reached to open the monitor, Heero was instantly at his side and holding his free hand.
The parents rose from their seats and stepped out of the room for a moment to give the boys some privacy. Whatever the reason for the call, they knew that it was only right for Heero and Duo to hear it first. This was their fight and so they needed to face it head-on for better or for worse. And so, unless they were invited, the quartet silently agreed not to be involved.
When he vidphone was opened, Howard's image appeared. His eyes widening a bit behind the thin-framed glasses, he smiled, "Wonderful! You're both there, so I can tell you both at the same time!"
At the almost giddiness in the old man's voice, Heero and Duo shared a surprised look. Turning back to the screen, the braided neko licked his lips and asked, "You have some news, then?"
"Do I!" Howard laughed. "Only, I don't wish to discuss this over the phone like this. I just wanted to be certain that you were going to be around before Sally, Treize and I head over."
Nodding, Heero replied, "We'll be here. We also have our parents here as well. Is this something that they should be involved in?"
The white-haired scientist answered, "I would, my boy. There is a lot that we need to discuss, and I think it would only be fair for everyone involved to have a say in the matter. Every opinion will help. We'll be there in twenty minutes." With a quick salutation, the call ended and the screen went black.
Almost afraid to believe that there might actually be some good news, Duo fell back into the couch with his violet eyes still on the blank monitor. "God, Heero," he breathed. "Do you really think that they might have found something?"
Sitting back beside his lover, Heero met the eyes turning to face him and said quietly, "We'll know in a few minutes." A small smile tugged his lips as he commented, "But he did seem pretty excited about something. Duo squeezed the hand in his and nodded. All that they could really do now was sit wait to hear what Howard wanted to discuss.
It was going to be a long twenty minutes.
* * * * * *
The caffeine from the tea that Danielle kept coming was keeping Howard on his toes, even though he was already pretty revved up to reveal what he had come to for an answer to the problem,. Speaking what felt like a few hundred words a minute, he used the images on his laptop along with some charts that he'd grafted to show the positives and negatives in allowing Duo to revert back.
Every now and then, Sally and Treize would manage to add in. But for the most part, they sat in silence along with Heero, Duo and their families. In the end, it would be up to the braided neko if he felt comfortable enough with the idea of returning to his cat state and the risks involved with it. If the idea was not sold to him, the race against the clock would only be that much more difficult.
Throughout the demonstration, the two doctors would look for any sign from Duo to see how he was leaning in the decision. There was no sign to be found as he just watched and listened intently to Howard's every word.
When the old scientist finally fell silent, however, Duo was the first one to speak up as all eyes turned to him. "So," he began with his ears drooping, "If I were to go back and you were able to rebuild me, there's no guarantee that I would be able to keep my memories of everything that I've been through up to now?"
That was going to be the hardest sell, Howard knew. With a deep sigh, he frowned deeply and shook his head, "I'm sorry, Kit, but there is just no telling. There has never been a situation like this before. I just don't know the answer to that."
Heero squeezed the hand that was clutching onto his own and turned back to face the scientist. "But you know for certain that allowing him to revert back safely would work? It would save him?" he inquired.
"We've been working on this theory since the idea came up yesterday," Howard replied, adjusting the glasses on his nose. "And already, we are well on our way to coming up with how a safe transition back could happen. We weren't looking at the whole picture when we thought to stop the breakdown in Duo's make-up. It is taking far too long for us to come up with the solution that way."
Lowering his head a bit, the old man swallowed hard before meeting the neko's violet eyes and saying in all certainty, "And I believe he is too far along for any hope of us being able to stop it, now." Howard tapped the monitor of his laptop displaying the DNA strands that he had enlarged and stated, "But allowing a safe revert will bide us the time we need to build him the way he should have been built, without a flawed structure."
Slowly turning to look back at his parents on the couch just behind him and Heero from where they were sitting on the floor, the cat-eared boy asked, "Mom? Dad? Do you think I should go through with it?"
With a small, sad smile, Noin tilted her head and answered, "Duo, this is really up to you. You know better than anyone how much time you think you have here. No one else here can be as sure about that."
Zechs nodded, "She's right. You should be able to tell just by the things that you've been experiencing through this change what we're up against. And even if you didn't, there is a lot at stake in accepting or not accepting the treatment. It wouldn't be right for us to make such a decision for you."
Duo took a deep, shaky breath as he took in everything that he had learned. Howard was right in saying that there was no way to stop what had already started. He could feel that, himself. And in what he felt, he knew that there wasn't much time.
But to risk losing everything that he'd come to know and love... it was terrifying to him that such a thing might actually happen.
Slowly turning his head to meet Heero's cobalt gaze, Duo felt his heart breaking at the thought of what such a thing would do to him. A reassuring smile tugged the Japanese student's lips as if reading his partner's mind as he told him quietly, "I'll stand by whatever you choose. Whatever happens, we'll get through it, remember?"
"Yea," the braided neko whispered, smiling back in return and playing with his tail nervously in his hands. Somehow, they'd manage to get through. He knew that.
But, to have a chance to do that, he also knew that he needed to live to see it through.
That in mind, Duo faced Howard once more and nodded firmly, "All right. Let's go with your solution." Sally and Treize sighed deeply in relief, their shoulders sagging while the parents at the couches smiled to themselves.
Clapping his hands together, Howard cheered, "Wonderful! Within a couple of days, I should have the right concoction that I would need to make for the revert process to go smoothly."
Danielle folded her arms and frowned, "Now that you mention it, how do you plan on obtaining the chemicals and whatever else you would need to create such a serum? Surely you were not able to bring everything that you would need since you gave your practice up."
A white eyebrow raised as the old man smirked, "Ah, you are right there, my dear. However, Duo is not the only one that I have been keeping tabs on over the years. An old friend of mine has the tools I need.
"Doctor J."
TBC...
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