Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Frozen Heart ❯ Chapter 9

Frozen Heart 9

"I wondered how long I had before you showed up."

Duo was proud at the steadiness of his voice, considering how fast his heart was beating.

**Keep your cool, Duo. You can do this.**

But it was so hard. He had barely recovered from the gut-wrenching pain of losing his braid. He had loved that braid. Cutting it off was almost like cutting off a part of his life. Why, when he had finally summoned the strength to let go, did he have to be confronted with the one person because of whom he had turned his back on the past?

He didn't think to question how Heero had found him. This was Heero Yuy. Perfect Soldier. It had only ever been a matter of time. What he hadn't expected was the suddenness of the encounter. Nor the mindless yearning that had seared through him. Suddenly, all his senses had sprung alive. His entire body hummed with energy, and he could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins. It was as though he was firing up. Coming alive.

**You're pathetic, Duo. Pathetic!**

Not that his unmitigated disgust did anything to lessen the intensity of his response to Heero's presence. It had always been that way for him where the other boy was concerned. However, whereas before he had allowed his overwhelming attraction for Heero bludgeon his pride, this time he was determined to hang on to his senses. Grimly, he gathered his anger around him like a shield.

**He was most likely going to die, but damned if he was going to show Yuy any more weakness to scorn.**

His violet eyes hardened.

When Heero didn't respond, he placed the bottle he'd been holding gently down on the countertop and slid off the stool.

"So," He said with brittle vivacity. "do we finish this outside? I don't think the bartender will be very pleased to have to rub my blood off his counter."

Heero felt as though he'd been sucker punched. Duo believed he'd come to kill him. The pain that had started in his heart the day Duo left twisted a bit more. After everything they had been through together, Duo really believed that he was cold-blooded enough to want him dead.

**We were comrades, Duo. Partners. Doesn't that count for anything at all?" Hurt streaked through him, catching him unawares. **How could you think so little of me?**

"Don't be stupid!" Pain put a cutting edge in his tone.

Duo allowed a mirthless smirk to stretch his lips.

"Sorry, can't help myself." He said carelessly. "Stupid to the bitter end, that's me."

Heero's fingers clenched. Had he imagined the vulnerability just a handful of seconds ago? The Duo before him was all irreverent bravado. Fire danced in the violet eyes, but it was fire sheathed in ice. Fire that burned. Ice that cut.

His Duo was laughter and mischief. That was the Duo he had always dealt with, the Duo he understood on a personal level. He knew how to respond to that Duo. He knew how far to push, how much to give.

This wasn't his Duo. This was Shinigami, the Gundam pilot that Oz feared and hated. This was the face that he understood as a weapon directed at the enemy. He had never had this face directed at him.

He knew how to deal with Duo Maxwell. He didn't know how to deal with Shinigami outside the battlefield.

Uncertain, Heero fell back on his customary silence.

Silence that wore on Duo like steel claws. He used to be adept at discerning Heero's moods from a twitch of the other's eyebrows. But without the use of his eyes, he felt lost and totally unable to navigate the turbulent depths that communicating with Heero was like.

He shrugged. "Well, if my death isn't on the cards tonight, I'd like to finish this bottle before Jason gets back." He kept his tone light, but the dismissal in it was real. "See ya around, Yuy." He almost winced at his own frivolity.

**What the fuck are you doing? Why areyou goading him? Shit, Maxwell, do you really want to die that badly?**

Anger, red-hot and unexpected, swept through Heero, and before he knew it he had grabbed Duo's shoulders and pinned him against the counter.

Duo almost cried out at the sudden move, but he didn't try to evade Heero. He knew from experience that it would be futile. Instead he lifted his chin and `met' the other's stare squarely.

"Finish it now or get off my case. Make up your mind, Yuy. I haven't got all night." Fighting words. In a way, they were all Duo had left, and he clung to them with the determination of a dying man grasping at straws. He was not going to let Yuy see the pain lying so close behind the defiance.

"You would throw it all away-the mission, your team mates, your Gundam- because I lost my temper and hit you." Heero's fingers tightened around the cloth he held. "You're a soldier, Maxwell. You have no right to let your personal problems get in the way of your duty." His tone was heavy with censure. Only his eyes showed the hurt Duo's absence had wrought.

But Duo couldn't see that. He heard only Heero's disapproval and disgust.

Duty.

**Damn you Heero. I laid my heart out to you, and you talk to me about duty? Duty?**

"Y'know what, Yuy?" He hissed. "You're right. Soldiers have no right to feelings." In a lightning move, he knocked away Heero's hands and shoved the other boy away. "That's why I've quit."

**NO!**

Heero reached out to grab Duo's arm. He was not, could not accept this.

But Duo had had enough. More than enough. His temper snapped and he swung.

Heero ducked the attack easily and countered, his arm hooking around Duo's arm in an attempt to pin the smaller boy. He tempered his strength, painfully aware of Duo's limitations.

Duo tried to twist away, and he would have succeeded, had his eyes been at his command. However, his blindness caused him to miscalculate and he overbalanced, his momentum sending him crashing heavily against a group of people passing nearby. They went down in a tangle of arms and legs.

"Duo!" Heero's cry was swallowed by the horrified shouts that rose up around them.

Duo swore viciously as he attempted to extricate himself.

One of the people he had unwittingly knocked over, angered, yelled.

"What the hell were you doing? Haven't you got eyes on your head, asshole?!"

He didn't get the chance to hear Duo's response, since Heero's fist had found its way squarely to his jaw. That one punch led to a melee as other patrons cheerfully joined the fray. Bar fights were always a good way to spice up the evening.

**Wonderful, Duo. Now you've gone and brought the house down. Literally.** He set about crawling out from under the flailing fists without being tripped on or kicked.

"Max!" Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and literally dragged him to safety. "God, I'm going to kill Jason!"

"Derek?" Duo asked, bemused, his nose confirming the older man's scent.

"You're bleeding." A gentle hand touched the dull ache on the corner of his mouth where he had caught a fist in the confusion. "Damn." A sigh of exasperation. "Let's get out of here."

Duo almost protested. He could still hear the sound of fighting and he knew Heero was likely still swinging. He wanted to stay, just to make sure that the Japanese pilot was okay. But, his shoulders slumped slightly, the gesture would be meaningless. Heero was more than capable of handling over-enthusiastic drunks. And without his eyes, he was more a liability anyway.

"Let's." He agreed softly.

Quatre's eyes widened when the sounds of fighting drifted outside. Surely…?

"Max!" Jason's horrified exclamation was barely out before the two were rushing back inside. "Oh God!" He groaned at the sight of the fighting going on.

"Allah!" Quatre caught sight of Heero in the middle of the fray and waded in. He had to stop him before the Japanese really got started. "Find Max!" He hollered at Jason.

Jason was already scouring the area, his breathing easing only once he had zeroed in on Derek and Duo well outside the battle area. Quickly, he made his way to them, trying to ignore the blistering glare his brother had leveled on him.

"Max, are you alright?" He asked worriedly, taking in the slightly glazed look in Duo's eye.

"We were just leaving." Derek told him in chilly tones that warned him they were going to have a serious talk sooner than later.

Jason spared a quick glance at Quatre. The blond was busy staving off a meaty aggressor. He nodded. Together, the brothers helped Duo maneuver past both fallen men and furniture.

Finally, safely ensconced in Derek's car, Jason ventured a question. "How the hell did that start?"

Duo shook his head. "Don't ask." He said dully, inexplicable tired. "And Derek, it wasn't Jason's fault. Honest."

Derek threw him a searching look. "Are you sure you're alright?" He queried. "Maybe we should stop at the ER and have you checked out."

"I'm fine." Duo insisted testily. "Look, I'm just tired, okay? Let's go home."

Derek nodded. "Fine." He grinned suddenly. "By the way, I like your new look."

Duo touched his shorn locks tentatively. "Yeah." But his tone was sad.

"They've gone." Quatre said softly as he and Heero stepped out of the thoroughly trashed club. It had been a good work-out, he admitted to himself.

"Hn."

"What did Duo say?" Quatre prodded gently.

**He doesn't want me anymore.** Heero closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, they shone with the hard glint of determination.

"Irrelevant." He bit off. "We go to Plan B."

**Which means you botched it.** Quatre sighed. "Let's go tell the others."

-end Part 9