Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Making Heero Human ❯ Chapter 15

Cherry Blossom: All right people, now honestly, who actually believed that Relena was just going to mosey off into the sunset and leave Heero and Duo alone?

All: ::raise hands::

Cherry Blossom: ::shakes head:: Shame on you. Our girl is more persistent then that!

Matteo: Our girl?

Cherry Blossom: I mean really, why on earth would I introduce a character and then have her leave in the same chapter without actually doing anything?

Duo: Well…you do like the pointless things…

Cherry Blossom: NOT IN DRAMA FICS!! When are you guys gonna learn that there's a method to my madness?

Heero: What was the method behind the Wufei peanut butter thing?

Cherry Blossom: I needed to make you laugh. And show the rest of the audience how demented you've become.

Heero: …hn.

Duo: So…I take it this means Relena's not gone?

Cherry Blossom: Oh she's far from gone. In fact, she's gonna be just the thing to push our poor Hee-chan right over the edge.

Heero: ::flatly:: I'm going to hate this chapter aren't I?

Cherry Blossom: And whoever said that it was about time Duo cashed in on his bet…you're absolutely right. ::wicked smile::

Heero: What bet? ::eyes narrow::

Duo: Uh…nothing! It was nothing Hee-chan!

Heero: ::not buying it:: Uh huh.

Cherry Blossom: For all people who still have no clue as to what's going on, or why I put in one scene in a certain way…you'll find out soon enough. Now…on with the fic!

Heero: Tell me!

Duo: ::running away:: Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!

Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Wing I would have enough money to buy a decent word processor. Since I am presently typing this on the word processor from HELL this scenario is very improbable.

Warnings: Shounen ai!! Shounen ai shounen ai shounen ai shounen ai shounen aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!! Have I made it clear to you people yet? MALE/MALE RELATIONSHIPS!!!! HOMOSEXUALS!!!! Got it? Good. So don't flame me because of it.

Making Heero Human - Part 15

Turning in her half-hearted walk back to her limo, Relena looked up at the window where Heero and Duo's room was. She considered running back into the house and confronting Heero, but quickly changed her mind. It would be difficult to talk to Heero with the braided pilot near bye, hovering over him.

'Why does he always have to be hanging around?' she fumed inwardly. 'I'm sure Heero would admit his feelings for me if that boy didn't keep him so distracted all the time.'

"Miss Relena?" a surprised voice interrupted her thoughts. "What are you doing here?"

Relena turned and found Trowa and Quatre regarding her with wary surprise. Well…Quatre was regarding her with wary surprise. Trowa's face held no expression, as usual.

"I came to see Heero," Relena explained.

The blond Arab sighed with a weariness only accomplished by those who felt the pain of others as deeply as their own. Relena took a step towards him, concerned, but she stopped when the unibanged boy beside him slipped his arm around his waist in a protective gesture. Surprise overtook the princess for a moment before she regained her senses.

'So…that's why he was so adamant about finding pilot 04 when he came to the Sanq Kingdom. I should have suspected as much. And to think I just callously used him as an excuse to keep Heero with me...'

A pang of remorse caused Relena to wince slightly. She knew that it had been selfish of her, but she really couldn't help it. She needed to have Heero near her. And he needed her too, she was certain of it.

"You really shouldn't have followed us here Miss Relena," Quatre reproached, letting Trowa support his weight. "It's dangerous. What if OZ tracked you? They might use you as leverage against us."

Relena had the sense to look guilty.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think of that. But I really needed to talk to Heero," she said pleadingly.

Quatre only sighed again, shaking his head at her persistence. He knew that although he did seem to have a strange connection to her, Heero did not love the girl like she wanted him to, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her this and risk hurting her deeply. Besides, she never would have believed him. She could only see what she wanted to see.

"Quatre…what's wrong with Heero?" Relena asked hesitantly. "He seemed different…vulnerable I guess. I know he's a bit feverish but there was something more…"

Quatre's eyes blinked in concern.

"He's feverish? Why didn't he tell us he was feeling sick? I swear sometimes I just want to smack him…"

Trowa hushed his love by pressing a finger to his lips.

"Shh…you know Heero. He probably didn't want to acknowledge that he was sick. And with all that's happened lately…"

"What's happened lately?" Relena demanded, becoming impatient. She could tell that something was very wrong, the way Quatre and Trowa were sharing worried looks. Did something happen to Heero? Why wouldn't anyone answer her?

Quatre bit his lip, obviously debating whether or not to tell the young princess what he knew. Relena could see his indecision.

"Please tell me Quatre," she begged. "I want to help him be happy again."

After a few tense moments, the blond boy gave in and nodded his head.

"Heero," he started, "hasn't been himself lately. We think it's because he's discovered a new emotion and now it's triggered a bunch of emotions he doesn't know how to deal with. There's something he desperately needs to get off his chest but he won't tell us what it is."

Relena drew her breath in sharply. So…this was what Heero had been hiding.

'I knew it. I just knew it,' she thought with triumphant glee. 'Heero's finally figured out that he loves me except he can't let himself show it because of his training. No wonder he didn't want to see me. He probably can't control his feelings when I'm around.'

Trowa saw the glint in Relena's eye and worried briefly at it. But when the girl simply thanked Quatre for telling her and wandered off in the direction of her car, Trowa promptly forgot about her and turned his attention to the little blond angel beside him.

"Let's get you inside. I have a feeling it's going to rain soon," he suggested.

Quatre frowned, his eyes following Relena's trail.

"Something's off. She's never left so meekly before. I expected at least a brief argument about not letting her take care of Heero herself," the smaller boy mused.

"Maybe she finally got the hint," Trowa suggested, bringing up a hand to cup the boy's cheek softly. "Don't stress yourself out over it. We've got enough to deal with as it is."

Quatre made a face and then smiled up at Trowa.

"Don't remind me. Maybe we should go check on Heero. If he really is feverish then it's going to be tough getting him to stay in bed for a couple days."

"Duo will probably threaten to chain him to the bed if he doesn't take it easy," Trowa said dryly, making Quatre giggle behind his hand.

"Hm…" the blond mused, with more than a hint of mischief in his eyes. "I wonder if Heero's in to that sort of thing."

Trowa's eyes widened and he looked at his lover in horror.

"Quatre!"

"What?" Quatre asked, innocently batting his eyelashes. "I was just wondering"

"You're terrible," Trowa remarked, shaking his head.

"Yup," Quatre declared happily. "But that's why you love me. Now let's get inside before I freeze."

Trowa bent and swept Quatre up into his arms, smiling slightly at the whoop of surprise his lover gave.

"Your wish," he whispered seductively, "is my command."

Quatre shivered and it wasn't from the cold. All thoughts about Heero and Relena flew from his head in an instant as he clung to Trowa's neck and allowed him to carry him into the house.

Not far away, Relena sat in her car, thinking up ways that she could talk to Heero alone and make him admit his feelings for her. The Princess of the Sanq undertook the task of finally cracking Heero's shell with an intensity not unlike the kind the Perfect Soldier himself had when completing a mission. She would help Heero to realize his emotions. And then they could both be free and happy.

"Come on Heero, open your mouth. I haven't got all day you know."

"…."

"Look it's not going to kill you to put this in your mouth and it'll make you feel a whole lot better, trust me."

"…."

"Oh come on, I even coated it with honey so it'd taste better. Just do it, for me?"

"…."

"If you keep on being stubborn I'll just have to ram it in the other way. And you won't like that as much."

"You wouldn't dare-mmph!"

"Aha! Gotcha! Now you swallow that like a good boy and then it's right to bed with you," Duo crowed triumphantly, dodging Heero's purposely miss-aimed blow.

The Perfect Soldier glared at him furiously.

"I don't need to take these pills*. I'm perfectly fine," he declared icily, although the flush across his cheeks said differently.

"Now now," Duo counseled. "It's only aspirin and it'll keep your fever down at least. We wouldn't want you catching anything serious."

"I'm fine!" Heero yelled, avoiding Duo's hands and leaping off the bed to show his fitness. The plan backfired, however, when a sudden bout of vertigo sent him stumbling to the floor. Luckily, Duo's hands caught him before he could give himself a concussion.

"Perfectly healthy, eh?" Duo retorted, hauling the disoriented pilot back onto the bed. "Right, that's why you can hardly stand. When was the last time you ate something anyway?"

Heero thought about that for a moment.

"Uh…"

Duo rolled his eyes and waved his hands about furiously.

"I thought so. Your blood sugar is probably in the basement. Dammit, Heero! When are you going to learn to take better care of yourself?" he yelled.

"I can go for three weeks without food," Heero stated calmly.

Duo glared at him and resisted the urge to shake the boy.

"Yeah and nearly kill yourself in the process. Look, I'm going to go get you something to eat. You stay here and rest, God dammit. I don't wanna come back and find a corpse, okay?"

Heero refused to answer, staring sullenly down at the blankets piled over him by Duo. The braided pilot saw this and sighed, coming over to take one of Heero's hands in his own.

"Look Heero, I don't mean to yell at you but it really hurts me when you don't take care of yourself properly. I care about you a lot. I don't want to see you suffer needlessly. I don't want to see you suffer at all if it can be helped. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you," he explained quietly.

Heero licked his dry lips and squeezed Duo's fingers.

"Really?"

"Really."

Sighing, Duo released Heero's hand and walked out of the room.

"I'll be back with food. And I expect you to eat it all!" he called out as his form disappeared from view. The door swung back but failed to shut entirely, bringing the soft sounds of Duo's footsteps to Heero's ears.

Heero smiled and settled back down to rest, lying his cheek against the cool pillows. He dozed lightly for a time and when he woke to voices in the hall, it took him a while to determine their placement. When he recognized them, he soon wished that he hadn't.

Duo peeked into Heero room and shifted the tray in his hands. A bowl of soup and some rice with fish sat upon it and Duo was careful not to let a drop spill. Through the crack in the door, Duo could just make out a sleeping figure, lying curled up in the blankets. He smiled.

'Aw…that's just so cute. Hee-chan sure doesn't look like a dangerous assassin when he's sleeping,' he mused, balancing the tray in his hands.'I don't want to wake him…but he really should eat something.'

"Maxwell," a voice called, interrupting his thoughts.

Duo jumped a little at the sound and some soup sloshed over the sides of the bowl. The braided boy turned to glare at the source of the voice.

"Geez Wufei, are you trying to give me a heart attack here?"

"Sorry," the Chinese boy said, a smirk across his lips showing that he was really not sorry at all. "Is that for Yuy?"

"Yes," Duo answered. "He's sick and he hasn't had anything to eat since God knows when. But he's sleeping now and I don't know whether or not to disturb him."

"Let him sleep," Wufei suggested. "He can eat when he wakes up."

Duo nodded and shifted the tray once more in his hands, unsettled when Wufei continued to stare at him.

"Did you…want something 'Fei?" he asked, finally becoming fed up with the silence.

"Actually I wanted to give you something," Wufei said, handing Duo an envelope.

The braided boy took it, awkwardly, unable to open it with the tray in his hands.

"What is it?" he asked.

"The money from our bet," Wufei explained. "Three hundred dollars exactly. You've earned it. I've never seen Heero display so much emotion in his life. You must have really done a number on him Maxwell. What did you do, tell him you loved him?"

Duo gasped and his grip on the tray faltered sending the contents crashing to the floor.

"Dammit!" he exclaimed, frantically picking up pieces of broken glass and china. Wufei helped him scoop up the rice and mop up the soup with napkins and soon they were back on their way downstairs to throw out the remains of Heero's dinner.

Once in the kitchen, Duo remembered about the envelope clutched tightly in his hands. He handed it back to Wufei brusquely.

"I can't take this. The bet's off Wufei. I didn't try to get Heero to open up just for a couple bucks. He's worth much more to me then that," Duo said.

Wufei took the money with a look of confusion and then comprehension.

"You did tell Yuy that you loved him! And you meant it, too!" he accused.

Duo blushed, a bit embarrassed.

"Yes, but keep it down will ya. I'm sure Heero doesn't want the whole world to know about our uh…relationship, if you know what I mean."

Wufei bowed and shoved the money into the folds of his overcoat, happy to have it back.

"Suit yourself. And congratulations. I hope that you and Yuy are very happy together," he said solemnly.

Duo laughed and dumped the bits of broken glass in the trash, being careful not to get any slivers imbedded in his skin.

"So do I Wu. Now, help me make another tray for when Hee-chan wakes up? Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaase?"

"Absolutely not. I have things to do."

"Oh come on! You so do not have anything better to do. Help me!"

"I must worship Nataku."

"I'll leave you alone for the rest of the week."

"No."

"I'll leave your Gundam alone for the rest of the week."

"…Deal."

"All right!"

The two worked together in the kitchen, totally oblivious to the conflict taking place upstairs.

Heero lay absolutely still, his eyes squeezed shut in a mockery of sleep. His fists gripped the sheets painfully and he couldn't help the tears that escaped him to travel in wet trails down his cheeks.

// Three hundred dollars exactly. You've earned it.//

//You must have really done a number on him Maxwell. What did you do, tell him you loved him?//

'So,' he thought painfully, 'it was just a bet. Just a silly game called 'Making Heero Human' and I played the part of the fool perfectly. I meant nothing to him, just a way to get a lousy three hundred dollars out of Wufei. And every thing that I felt, every thing that he said was just…God, I can't believe I was so stupid! How could I have let myself think that anyone could actually care for me? J was right. I should have never let my emotions get the best of me. How stupid to let my guard down for the sake of a pair of sparkly violet eyes…They're probably both laughing at me right now, patting themselves on the back. Good job, we finally managed to crack the Perfect Soldier. He's not so perfect anymore, is he? Is he?'

"Shut up," Heero groaned out loud, feeling a slight wave of dizziness move through him. His head ached terribly and he wanted nothing more then to curl up and die.

"Heero?"

The boy's head shot up and his eyes searched in the darkness for the source of the voice. By the window stood a shadowed figure, blue eyes wide in the moonlight.

"R-Relena?"

To Be Continued.

* Seriously now, who thought they were talking about something else? Who here thought they were talking about something nasty? You little hentai's you!

Melpomene: MY TIME IS AT HAND!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Matteo: Whoa. Calm down, would ya? You're scaring the reviewers.

Cherry Blossom: She's right, you know. The next chapter is going to be allllllllll angst. Anyone who can't handle it should seriously reconsider reading this series any more.

Heero: YOU MADE A BET ON MY EMOTIONS?!!!

Duo: Ack! Heero, you've got it all wrong! I wasn't playing with you man!

Heero: OMEO O KOROSU!!!!

Cherry Blossom: Waiiiiiiit! Don't kill him. I need him for the next chapter. Well…actually, I don't need him that much.

Melpomene: The next chapter is totally about you Heero. We're finally going to get to see what's going on inside that mind of yours. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Matteo: Ooooh! The climax! This is so exciting!

Cherry Blossom: Contain your excitement long enough to plead for reviews, okay? I really want to break the five hundred mark this week. ^__^ Besides, this part was out super fast! I deserve a reward, doncha think?

Matteo: Review!

Melpomene: BuAhAHaHaHAhAHaHAhAHahAHAhAhAHahAHa!!!!

Duo: ::sweatdrop:: Ne…you should really invest in some valium or something.