Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Under Pressure ❯ Dear Friends ( Chapter 4 )

Author's Note: Well, now that we know Heero and Duo's past, does the story so far make much sense? Please tell me how I did depicting those two in an angsty moment… Never had to write like that before… Flames are as welcome as Reviews are…

Disclaimer: I do not own the Gundam Wing idea/ characters/ plot/ whatever else you might think of. I only own Queen in the sense of the fourteen or so CD's that I have purchased.

Title: Under Pressure

Summary: Duo Maxwell is just a simple pizza worker, trying to survive life in NYC. But, what happens when a job assignment brings up old memories? Will he embrace the new chance fate has presented to him, or will he turn tail and run? 1x2x1

Rating: Let's just make it R, just to be on the safe side…

Chapter Rating: PG. 13

Pairings: 3x4, maybe even a little 1+2!

Warnings: Short chapter. Duo is in peril of getting hurt… Some sap from Heero?


CHAPTER FOUR: DEAR FRIENDS…

//So dear friends your love has gone

Only tears to dwell upon

I dare not say as the wind must blow

So a love is lost, a love is won

Go to sleep and dream again

Soon your hopes will rise and then

From all this gloom life can start anew

And there'll be no crying soon//

(Dear Friends, Queen)



After recovering from his recent onslaught of memories, Duo began to go through the routine movements of creating the two pizzas, pulling out the prepared ingredients and creating the meal. Sliding the two pizzas into the large oven, Duo sank into his chair and began to quickly go over the aftermath of that meeting with Heero so very long ago.

After Heero had left the apartment, Duo had cried for a few minutes before determinedly gathering several of his necessities and packing them into a duffel bag, intent on leaving the man who he used to love with all his heart. Grabbing the car keys that hung from their hook, Duo quickly drove to a nearby bank and withdrew several hundred dollars, planning on trying to erase Heero's name from his checking account. After speaking to one of the tellers about this plan, Duo realized that he needed the other man to be there, so that the process could be perfectly legal. Muttering under his breath, Duo thanked the woman who had assisted him, then returned to his car. Sitting for a moment, he had contemplated on where to go when the face of a familiar friend popped into his head. Starting the car, he had driven for a good forty-five minutes before reaching the other's house, and then he had sat in his car for a good three minutes, trying to procure a decent explanation from his troubled mind as to why he had suddenly appeared on his friend's doorstep. Deciding to just go with whatever came from his mouth first (which wasn't always the best idea), Duo had walked the short flight of steps to the front door and had rung the bell.

Shifting his weight from one foot to another, Duo turned wide eyes to the door as the resident of the house opened it and blinked at him curiously. Wondering who the hell this uni-banged guy was, and why he was only wearing a tie loosely around his neck, a pair of hot pink boxers hugging his waist while one lone white sock sagged around his ankle, with his toe poking a hole through the end, Duo meet his eyes and asked, "Uh, is Quatre here…?"

Blinking at him several more times, the strangely banged man stated placidly, "I believe that Quatre is busy at the moment, but I'll tell him that you dropped by-"

"DUO!" a bright and bouncy voice exclaimed, coming behind the tall, sandy brown haired man to smile at the braided male and ask, "How are you doing? I haven't heard from you for some time now! Come inside! Please, don't mind the mess, we usually clean on Thursdays…"

Stepping over a discarded shirt, then a rumpled pair of jeans, Duo followed the short blonde through the mess to the large living room, where a card table was currently standing, with two chairs opposite each other casually propped up beside it. Seeing the hands of cards, Duo asked his long-time friend, "What were you guys playing?"

Almost tauntingly, a small smirk played across his somewhat bruised lips as the nearly nude man met the braided man's eyes. "Poker", tallest of the three said.

Eyeing his attire, Duo asked, "What version?", even though he already knew the answer. Hell, he and Heero had played it often enough together… `Aw damn. I'm not supposed to think about that cock-sucker… and is he ever good at that… Damnit! Focus on the subject at hand Duo!'

"Trowa!" Quatre exclaimed, one gloved hand whipping out to slap the other man across his bare arm. For some reason, Quatre had dressed himself like it was the arctic inside the house, layers upon layers of clothing covering his body. Hands grabbing hold of the glove, the tall man took the glove as his own and slipped it over his own hand, even though the fingers were a bit of a tight fit. Glaring, Quatre demanded, "Now you give that back! You did not win that, so you don't have any right to it!"

"Oh, but I know how much you love a challenge, Quatre…" the man named Trowa began, letting his voice convey that he simply wasn't addressing the issue of the glove. Blushing lightly across his cheeks, Quatre faced Duo once more and asked, "Uh, Duo, what did you come and see me for? I get the idea that it is for more than just some friendly chit-chat…"

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask you a question Quat." Duo started, running a slightly trembling hand through his long bangs. He would need to trim them sometime soon…

"What is it Duo?" Quatre asked, taking a chair and sitting down, his back perfectly straight and his hands in his lap. Chuckling over how proper he looked, Duo snagged the other folding chair and turned it so he was sitting backwards, his legs to the side of the seat. Crossing his arms and leaning his head onto the back of the chair, Duo asked, "Well, I was wondering if you had any connections in a big city somewhere. It doesn't matter where, I just want to get away from this goddamned place."

Turning his head as Trowa walked into the kitchen, Quatre carefully thought over what Duo had asked, and the short blonde questioned the man, "Will you tell me what happened?"

Watching as Trowa walked into the kitchen and moved to the refrigerator, Duo asked, "Hey Quat, is that guy your boyfriend?"

Blushing as red as a fire truck, Quatre nodded his head erratically, and stammered, "Uh, but, w-why do you care Duo?" Seeing that he had somehow struck a sensitive spot, Duo decided to not tease the shorter boy on his love life, but decided to say instead, "Just, don't take him for granted. I did, and look at me now…"

Blinking, Quatre mulled over the last sentence carefully and asked, "Did you and Heero break up?" Nodding his head slowly, Duo lowered his gaze and kept his mouth shut, letting Quatre formulate a plan in his head.

Blinking his eyes, Duo looked around the kitchen and decided to check on the pizzas. Looking at the timer he found that he still had eight minutes until they were done, and so settled back into his memories.

Quatre had made several phone calls for him that afternoon, and the short blonde was eventually able to set up an apartment and plane rides for his old friend. All Duo had to do was pay his bills once he was there. Smiling at the young business man (Quatre had inherited his father's business company three years ago), Duo hugged him once in farewell and began to carefully navigate his way through the haphazard array of clothing to the front door. Turning back to face Quatre once more, Duo asked, "Hey, Q-man, what does the winner of the game get?"

Smirking, Trowa entered the room once again and stated dryly, "To be on top." while Quatre blushed brightly once more. Laughing, Duo left the house as Quatre said something that sounded suspiciously like, "You know you like it, circus boy."

And so, Duo had boarded the next plane to New York (irony is a bitch, huh?) and had gone to the address where his flat was located. Quatre had even arranged it with the owner so that Duo's first month was free! After a day of unpacking and settling in, Duo had gone job hunting and had promptly found the small, family owned and operated pizzeria `Under the Fire'. And, here he was now.

So caught up was the braided man in his memories, that he never even noticed when the pizzas started to burn and catch on fire.



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Sipping his water nonchalantly, Heero happened to glance over the top on Wufei's head and saw a thin trail of smoke emerging from the swinging door that led to the kitchen, where that braided baka had disappeared to. Hn. If someone had told him that he would see his ex today, he would have given them his famous death glare and ignored them. Now, however… Closing his eyes while he mentally sighed, Heero placed his glass back onto the table and sneaked a glance over the still talking Wufei's head to see that the smoke had not disappeared. Was that baka burning the pizzas?!, Heero wondered to himself before pulling his mind back to the topic at hand. And that was… Whatever Wufei was blabbing on about. Really, did his work associate have to keep talking about the merger that was to take place in two weeks? Or the fact that the company stock had decreased by thirteen percent? Or the fact that he wasn't paying attention… Wait, what?

Turning his Prussian eyes back to Chang's, Heero felt a prickling of hairs run down his neck as the small trail of smoke coming from the kitchen began to increase in thickness. If Duo had burned those pizzas, he should have been able to stop the smoke by now. So, why was the smoke increasing? Suddenly, the shrill sound of the smoke detectors filled the small pizzeria, causing both himself and Wufei to jump from their seats. Silently telling the man to go find An and her mother, Heero ran to the kitchen door, pushing it away from him as the water sprinklers went off and started to drizzle down into the kitchen. Covering his mouth and nose with his hand, for the smoke was making him cough, Heero found the slumped over form of Duo on the ground, braid over his shoulder and chest rising and falling erratically with each struggled breath. Taking his shoulders, Heero knelt and pulled the man over his shoulder, fireman style, before turning and quickly jogging from the room, mindful to not jar the braided man nor hit his head on anything.

Running outside of `Under the Fire', Heero placed the man on the sidewalk as a fire truck arrived, and three men quickly entered the building. After less than four minutes, Wufei, An and her mother were brought out from the office room by two of the firemen, the third returning only a few moments behind them saying that the small fire was put out. Standing beside Duo's resting form, Heero turned his head quickly to see a woman approaching both him and his braided baka. Holding his ground, he blinked when she smiled at him and said, "I am Melissa, and I work for the New York Fire Department. Did you inhale much smoke? Are you feeling alright? Not lightheaded or anything?"

"No. I am fine." Heero stated in a monotone voice, wishing that this somewhat perky woman would just leave him and Duo… Change that. Just leave him.

Staring at him calculatingly, Melissa nodded then turned her attention to Duo. "What about him? How long was he in there, do you know?" Eyes softening just a fraction, Heero informed her, "He was in there for about two minutes before I went in and got him." Taking a breath, he asked hesitantly, "Is he… Is he going to be okay?"

Smiling warmly at the disheveled man, Melissa nodded and took Duo in her arms and easily carried his limp form over to the fire truck, where an Ambulance had just arrived. Sighing, Heero turned on his heels and walked stiffly to where Wufei and that girl An were standing.



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Opening his eyes dully, Duo hissed in pain when his head began throbbing, like his brain wanted to break free from his skull. Feeling a pair of hands rest on his shoulder, the braided man was suddenly reminded of when he was sick with the flu and Heero took care of him… Blinking back the wetness that was suddenly accumulating behind his eyes, Duo turned his head to see who was holding his shoulders, wincing slightly in pain as his head throbbed in protest.

"You really shouldn't be moving yet… You did just wake up…" a woman's voice told him, forcing him to be still by keeping her hands on his shoulders and pressing down with her weight when he tried to move. Sighing, Duo said, "Okay. I won't try to move or stand yet. You can take your hands offa me…"

"Glad to know that I have your permission…" the woman stated as she dropped her hands from the man's shoulders and walked to stand in his line of vision. Studying his body carefully, she said, "My name is Melissa, and I work for the New York Fire Department. Do you hurt anywhere? Do you have any problems breathing?"

Shaking his head, Duo winced as his head throbbed once more, and told her, "Don't have any problems breathing, but my head hurts like a… I don't know what… It just hurts a hell of a lot…" Smiling at his description, Melissa nodded and opened a container that was inside the Ambulance. Holding out two small pills to the man, she instructed, "Take these."

"What are they?" Duo asked cautiously as he eyed the pills warily. Laughing at his actions, Melissa stated, "They are just some pain relievers. They won't kill you!" Smiling, Duo took the two pills easily, and was asked by Melissa if he could stand on his own. Struggling to his feet, Duo showed her that he could, indeed, stand, and asked if he could leave now. Shaking her head, Melissa stated that she wanted him to rest with the Ambulance until all the paperwork was settled, then he would be free to go on home. Nodding with little pain, Duo sat and waited patiently… For two minutes. Facing Melissa, who was currently filling out some important looking form, Duo asked, "Hey, `lissa, who got me out? A fireman?" Looking at the man, Melissa shook her head once and said, "No, one of the customers, I believe."

"Which one?" Duo gasped, wondering if he could have possibly pulled him from the kitchen… But, didn't he…

"Huh?" the firewoman asked, looking up in slight confusion for a moment before realizing what Duo was asking. Returning her attention to the paperwork, she told him, "The one with the really messy mop of hair, and the blue eyes. Looks kinda Asian…" Hearing Duo's sharp intake of breath, Melissa looked at her ward in worry, placing a hand on his shoulder and asking, "Hey. You alright? Don't faint on me here."

"N-No… I'm… Okay…" Duo said, coming back to his senses and meeting Melissa's worried eyes with a smile. Glancing at the paperwork, he asked, "Is there anything that I need to fill out?"

Realizing that the man wanted to change topics, Melissa decided to let the subject drop, and instead nodded, handing the long-haired man a form and telling him to fill out all the required information.

Fifteen minutes later, the authorities and the Le family had all the information sorted out, and the Ambulance began to pull away, leaving the fire truck sitting in the street in front of Under the Fire. Telling Duo to go on home, Melissa watched as he began to follow her instructions, turning a corner and, presumably, on his way to the subway. Moving her gaze to that of the man who had brought Duo out from the building, Melissa made her way to him. Blinking at her in slight confusion, the man stood there patiently while she asked him, "Hey, can you make sure that he gets home alright? I don't usually do this, but that guy just seemed to have a lot on his mind, and I am a bit worried for him. Would you mind doing this? You do seem to know him a bit…"

"Hn." Heero stated, not bothering to confirm with the woman what that one sound meant. She seemed to take it as a yes, and began to thank him. Holding up a hand to stop her flow of words, Heero asked, "May I have his address, in case I lose track of him?"

"Sure. I have it right here." Melissa said, copying the street name down and handing the paper that it was written on to the somewhat shorter man. Nodding his thanks, Heero turned and began walking in the same direction that Duo had gone, turning the same corner, presumably going to the same subway station as the braided male.