Author: Merula
Pairings: 1x2
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Yaoi, OOC, post EW, Duo POV, angst, violence, Evil Doctors.
Disclaimer: GW is not mine.
This is either an epilogue or the beginning of D3. You need to run away now.
Deliveryman Three Part 1
Heero was on the porch, watching the birds. It hadn't been that long ago that we'd watched them build a nest up in that tree. Now, they were feeding their babies.
I just wished Heero didn't look so... predatory.
He was sitting absolutely still, his eyes focused on the nest, head tilted slightly to the side, almost as if he was scenting the wind. Maybe he was- I don't know.
The genetic manipulation the scientists had done on him had altered his brain chemistry- made him more animal and less human. It hadn't worked exactly like they had wanted it to- no surprise there- as Heero didn't come to heel.
To be honest, he had. Just not to them. He was mine to order as I pleased and it didn't please me in the slightest. The last thing I had wanted was to be Heero's master. Of course, the damn scientists had been pleased. Such a fucking success- in a way. Course, they couldn't fix him- or so they had claimed.
I had nearly lost him. He had been willing to die rather than burden me with his illness, knowing that I found the idea of him subservient simply horrifying. But J had played that final card and kept Heero alive for me. Heero had still insisted that he was unsafe to be around.
So I had taken him away from everything. Away from everyone else, someplace that Heero felt safe and comfortable. He still worried that he would hurt me someday.
Some days I did too.
I had hoped having Heero here by himself would give him time to maybe- find a path back to his old self. Some times it seemed that he had. Some times we would do programming for Quatre, or read cases for Une, or play chess over the net with Wufei. We'd cook dinner together and curl up on the sofa afterwards.
Other times- other times he sat at my feet in the evenings instead of beside me on the couch. Or went off into the forest to come home with scratches all over his body. Or he'd rub his cheek against me, breathing in the scents I brought back from town when I had to go get supplies.
Or the one and only time we had argued- and I had found his teeth at my throat. That had scared Heero badly. He'd vanished into the woods for hours. It had scared me badly too, more than I told him it did, but it had scared me more when hours had passed and he was still missing.
By the time he had shown up again, I was more relieved to see him than scared. I had known nothing bad was happening to him, thanks to the damn docs, but seeing is believing as they say. Heero had been a wreck. He had wanted me to leave him out there, but I had pointed out that J had said that if I wasn't with Heero, then I was theirs.
That wasn't exactly what he had said, but it had made Heero shut up about the whole leaving him thing.
I didn't care if he did put those teeth into my throat someday. I couldn't hurt him and I couldn't leave him. I didn't want to.
I opened the door to step outside, and Heero turned his head to look at me.
"Just getting some wood for the fire," I said calmly, trying not to show that his unblinking gaze was pulling on my nerves.
"Okay." He smiled and blinked. "I think the babies are going to try and fly soon."
"Really?" I went to stand beside him, shading my eyes as I looked up. Heero's arms went around my waist.
"See? They keep flapping their wings. And they look like they have almost all of their feathers now." He said in my ear.
"I hope they don't land on their heads trying that," I said and was rewarded with Heero's chuckle. We stood quietly for a bit, watching the babies bounce around in the nest.
It was easy for that bit to forget the doctors, forget my worries about Heero, and just enjoy the moment. Our peace was fragile, I knew, and might be broken at any time. A wind kicked up and I shivered. There were some things that the colonies had- like climate control- that I missed.
"Let me go, or we're going to be cold tonight."
"I'll keep you warm," he growled in my ear.
"You'll exert less effort if we have a fire going." I wiggled out of his embrace and headed down the patio stairs. "I'll be right back."
I scooped up an armload of wood and started back, shivering a bit in the cool wind.
My precog chose that moment to kick in. I turned around and saw a dark shadow moving in the trees. I froze. I knew that bears had been reintroduced into the mountains, but I hadn't actually ever seen one. Only the occasional paw print.
For a moment, I wished that Trowa were there. He could do his Dr. Doolittle thing and the bear would just move along. Course, Tro talked to lions, not bears, but didn't they kind of go together- lions and tigers and bears...
The bear moved closer and I could see it clearly.
Oh my.
I took a step back, and then another, my ankle bumping into the base of the stairs, my foot landing on a twig. The resulting CRACK made the bear's head swing in my direction.
Oh shit.
I scrambled backwards, trying to go up the steps, lost my footing, and felt myself fall. The ground rushed up to meet my face and I had time to think that at least I wouldn't feel the bear eat me...
"Duo? Duo?" Gentle fingers pried my eyelids open. "Duo? Can you hear me?"
It was too bright. I blinked at the brown fuzzy shape in front of me. "Is that you bear?"
"Duo?"
"You don't want to eat me," I told it. "You know my name. Not polite. Sides, I wouldn't taste good. And Heero would miss me."
Fingers touched the front of my head. "Doesn't feel broken," I heard the bear mutter. "Possible concussion..." His voice got louder: "Duo, do you know who I am?"
I blinked. The fuzzy brown shape stayed fuzzy and brown. Huh. There was some gold fuzzy in that shape too. "I don't know any bears."
"I'm Heero."
"Heero's not fuzzy." I told the bear. Hands slid over my neck, down my shoulders- checking for injuries.
"What hurts?" the bear asked.
"My head." I reached up a hand to touch my forehead and winced. That hurt. "You scared me, remember?"
"No," the bear replied.
"Well you did."
The hands were moving down my legs. "Who scared you- Heero or the bear?"
I frowned. "You did bear. Don't you remember?"
The bear grabbed a hold of me and lifted me into the air. The world began to spin in a very disconcerting way. "Oo."
"Close your eyes," the bear told me. I did, but I still felt dizzy. I clung tight to the bear, though he didn't feel fuzzy, which was very odd.
The bear was muttering under his breath. I couldn't make out most of it, but he sounded upset. I heard a door open and close, and there was a familiar scent in my nose- lasagna. I had put one in the oven for dinner before I left the house to get the wood. The bear had taken me into our house?
A few moments later and I was being put down on something soft, and a cold feeling enveloped my forehead. It felt good. I heard soft noises in the background and wondered what the bear was doing. Was he talking to Heero? Maybe they were friends. Though Heero had never mentioned being friends with any of them...
"Duo," a voice next to my ear. "Can you open your eyes?"
I tried. "Too heavy."
Fingers touched my eyelids again, and I blinked at the brightness. "No," the voice said. "Different sizes, not contracting... I know, but... He's got a huge bump on his head. He called me a bear.... I don't think that's funny."
Something growled. I wondered if the bear was mad. I hoped Heero hadn't made him mad.
"I know he's supposed to heal fast- but this is a fucking head injury!"
Someone sure sounded mad.
"I am not being overprotective!"
Huh, the bear sounded an awful lot like Heero now that I thought about it.
"Fine. But if he isn't, then I will rip your guts out G."
G? G wasn't here was he? G had hurt Heero. I wanted to hurt him back.
But... I couldn't kill G. He had helped us... but I wanted to. Was he here? Was he trying to take Heero again?
I opened my eyes. Things were still blurry, but not as bad. I could see Heero in the kitchen. The soft thing under me was our bed. His back was to me, and his cell was up to his ear. I couldn't see G or the bear.
Had there been a bear?
My head hurt. I needed to get to Heero. If I were there with him, G wouldn't take him. I slid my feet off the bed and tried to sit up. The world spun around me the moment I raised my head and I felt sick. I wanted to stay on the bed...
"I know what you want for your help, G..."
I couldn't stop. I had to get to Heero. We didn't need G's help. I didn't need it. He'd take Heero again...
I closed my eyes, hoping the fact that I couldn't see the world spinning would help. I pushed myself to my feet. I knew which way the kitchen was.
I took a step and pain shot up my leg. Twisted ankle. I gritted my teeth and kept going. Painfree step, painful one, painfree, painful... Through the sliding doors, across the dining nook, avoid the island... into the kitchen...
"Duo! What the hell are you doing?" I opened my eyes when Heero yelled and the world did one of those spins again. I couldn't keep my balance and my stomach heaved.
Before I hit the floor, Heero caught me. "Duo?"
"Don't go with him." I grabbed on as tight as I could.
"Don't go with who?"
"G. I don't care what he says. I'm fine." Heero carried me to the bed. I tightened my grip more just in case he was thinking of leaving me there.
Heero eased us both down to the bed, my head against his shoulder. I put my leg over his just in case. "Do you know who I am?" He asked.
"You're Heero."
"Where are we?"
"Home. On our bed."
I felt Heero relax. "Does your head hurt?"
"Yes." That seemed like a stupid question. My head was pounding.
"I'll get you some pain meds." He tried to move back a little but I hung on tight. Heero is stronger than I am, but I had a good grip. "Duo, let me go."
"I don't want to." I pulled him down on top of me and wrapped my legs around his waist, ignoring the twinge of pain from my ankle.
"Why not?"
"I'm afraid you'll leave." His lips touched my forehead gently.
"Duo, beloved, I've been trying to leave you for months and I haven't managed it yet. I won't do it in the next few moments. So please let me get some meds for you."
If that was supposed to get me to loosen my grip, it wasn't happening.
I tightened my grip. Anyone else and I'd be leaving bruises, maybe breaking bones, but Heero didn't even flinch.
"You need the meds, love."
"I need you more." I felt him sigh.
"You aren't being reasonable."
"This shouldn't surprise you."
"At least you're sounding like yourself again." His lips touched my cheek, moved down to my shoulder. "You really worried me. It's been a long time since you've looked at me like that..."
"Like what?"
"Like you didn't know me... Like after we rescued you from the doctors."
I didn't remember that time well, I only had vague impressions- the other pilots had fought against me and the Zero program within me... all I really remembered was waking up in the hospital afterwards.
"But it was better than the fear..." Heero added in a whisper. "You feared me after that, and it hurt."
"I'm sorry... but Heero, that was..."
"You fear me now." Heero interrupted.
"I fear for you," I corrected him, wondering why we always had to have these deep talks at the worst possible moments. My head felt like it was splitting, my ankle ached, things still looked fuzzy at the edges and I wanted that pain medication. But I was too afraid to let go of Heero.
"Let me go get the meds." He kissed my cheek again, brushed his lips over mine. "I'm sorry for worrying you- you don't need this now. Please- let me help you."
I released him, the pain in my ankle again making me wince. Heero slid away from me and I hoped I hadn't made a mistake.
He was back a moment later with the pain meds and a glass of water. "Take them slowly. You'll heal fast, but we don't want you to throw the meds back up again."
I did as he asked and lay back down again. He leaned over me, untying my shoes, pulling off my socks... and I couldn't hide the wince when he pulled the boot off the foot with the sprained ankle.
"What is it?"
"Sprained," I told him. He gently pulled off the sock, and then let his fingers run over the bones.
"I think you're right. I'll get a bandage for it." I closed my eyes as he turned back towards the bathroom and our first aid kit.
The meds were beginning to kick in. The pain was easing, and I really wanted to sleep.
I felt Heero sit down on the bed and lift my ankle. "Duo? Still with me?"
"I'm tired."
"You can't go to sleep yet. Not with a concussion."
"It feels better now."
"Not yet." I felt the bandage begin to wrap around my ankle. "Talk to me. Let me know you're still awake."
I growled and he chuckled. I tried to think of something to say.
"Do you really think about leaving me?"
Heero's hands stopped for a moment. "Sometimes. I think it would be safer for you. I don't- trust myself."
"I trust you."
"I know," his voice had warmed a bit. "And I don't think I could."
"Because of the doctors?" I asked.
"No," his voice warmed even more. "Because of you."
My ankle was placed carefully down on the bed. I felt Heero stretch out beside me. His hand brushed my forehead. "The bump is already going down."
"The docs knew their stuff," I wiggled closer as I remembered something else. "What did G say?"
"What did G say about what?"
I opened my eyes and blinked at Heero. "Didn't you call him?"
Heero shook his head. "G vanished. No one knows where he is. Why would he give me his number?"
"I heard you talking to someone earlier. You said G...."
"Duo love, you thought I was a bear earlier. I don't think you were hearing anything right." Heero smiled faintly.
I blinked again. I could've sworn I'd heard Heero on the phone with G.
But then... I hadn't quite been all here yet.
Hell, I wasn't sure I was all here now.
"What happened outside?" Heero asked me. "You said something about a bear frightening you?"
"I went down to get the wood, and I turned around to find it glaring at me. I tried to back away and fell, I guess..."
"How close was it?"
I had to think about that one. "It was by that big oak."
"That's pretty far away really," Heero sounded amused.
"You weren't there," I snapped.
He kissed my cheek. "I know, I should've been."
"I was actually wishing for Trowa," I told him and he laughed.
"To talk to the bear?"
"Why not? It's a good trick. Maybe I need to learn that one."
Heero's hand touched my forehead again. It hurt, but slightly. "This is going down. Do you want to sleep? I'll have to wake you every hour or so, but you can get some rest."
Sleep sounded like a great idea. I closed my eyes before Heero could change his mind. "Okay," I told him and reached out to wrap my fingers around his. Just in case. "You'll wake me up?"
"Promise." He pulled me close and I let myself curl up against him.
~*~
I watched Duo breathe, watched as the truly spectacular bruise on his forehead began to slowly fade, watched his fingers clench and loosen around mine ever so often.
Too close for comfort, said the soldier inside my head. Good thing he believed that lie about G. But you'd better erase that call from your records, just in case.
Duo might check, that's true. I needed to take care of that and I would. But right now I needed to watch him breathe. He had scared me badly when I had heard the thump of his body hitting the ground, worse when I had rushed down to find him unconscious on our stairs with that bruise already forming on his forehead.
Safe. He's safe. The beast inside me gloated. Nothing can hurt him when I am here. I will always protect him.
I hoped I was right.
OWARI
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