For Plaid- HeeroDuo, argument and making up. I went more on the making up side...

Halloween Drabble 50

I stepped onto the elevator, ignoring the nudges and whispers of my coworkers. After yesterday, I had sort of expected it. Duo has an... explosive personality, and he doesn't get mad quietly. I was sure by the time I had gone home yesterday that news of our disagreement had already spread over the building.

Sighing internally, I tucked myself into a corner and focused on the numbers over the door. I wondered if Duo was already in our office. Maybe I should go see Une, ask her if I could work in R&D for a few days. Just to get me out of Duo's range for a bit until he calmed down. We didn't have any thing pressing at the moment- the worst of our cases had wrapped up yesterday.

I still wasn't sure why he'd gotten so angry... the raid had gone well, we'd captured the leaders, everything went perfectly. We'd arrived at HQ and he'd gone up to start the reports and I went to Medical. He'd been fine- perfectly calm- when I'd left to get my arm stitched up due to a minor wound I'd received in the raid. When I joined him in the office, he'd tossed the stack of file folders at me, sworn at the top of his lungs and stalked out.

What had set him off? I'd looked through the folders and hadn't found anything. I hadn't neglected any part of my job- hadn't done anything to make him angry.

Course, when Quatre had dropped by our office, I had asked him about it, and he'd just shaken his head and told me I was being dense. At the time I just thought Quatre was being his normal annoying self, but maybe... I was missing something?

Duo wasn't in the office when I got there. Maybe he'd gotten himself reassigned for the day? I sat down in my chair and turned my computer on. I hoped when Duo got in that he'd be in a more amenable mood- maybe I'd even be able to coax an explanation out of him?

The box of Kleenex caught my eye and I had a sudden thought. It wasn't the best of ideas, but it might amuse Duo- and an amused Duo was easier to reason with. I picked up one of my pencils and taped a piece of Kleenex to the end. Planting the creation on the center of our desks, I turned to my computer and got to work.

~*~

I paused at the door to our office and took a deep breath. Okay, so I had totally overreacted yesterday- and confused my partner no end. Or so Quatre had said when I'd seen him in the lobby this morning.

"Give the poor guy a break and fess up, Duo," he'd said. "What's the worse that could happen?"

I could think of a lot of worse things, honestly. Had thought of them already. I wasn't going to confess to being head over heels in love with my partner- but Quatre was right- I couldn't just blow up at the guy and not give him some sort of explanation.

Opening the door quietly, I peeked in. Heero was already there, typing away- more than likely on the reports I hadn't finished yesterday. Guiltily, I slid into the office and sat down at my desk. Heero didn't turn away from the computer- I knew he wouldn't look at me until he reached a good place to stop for a moment.

I opened my mouth to apologize- and blinked at the thing that sat in the middle of our desks. I knew I hadn't put it there- so it had to have been Heero. But why had he taped a tissue to a pencil?

Then I got it and laughed out loud.

"Truce accepted?" Heero asked and I laughed again, relieved that he wasn't angry with me.

"No truce needed," I said and picked up his mini flag. "I surrender unconditionally. It was all my fault."

"Something I did made you mad," he persisted, turning around to face me fully. "What was it?"

For a moment, I nearly shrugged it off. Nearly said that it must have been the fading adrenaline.

But Heero was looking at me with such concern in his eyes, that I just couldn't. I wouldn't tell him all of the truth- but I could tell him a little-

"You scared me yesterday," I told him. "You never even said you were injured- never asked for medical help until we got back here."

"It was just a scratch."

I took a deep breath. "A scratch from a knife held by someone who specialized in poisons. I know you read his files- you saw some of his victims."

He frowned slightly. "I did- and I remembered when I got to Sally- had her check me for all the ones we knew he used. It's just- at the time- I was focused on the job-"

"I know you were. I know that's how you are. It just..." I searched for a neutral way to put it, "worries me sometimes."

His frown vanished and he looked chagrined. "I'm really sorry, Duo."

"Apology accepted," I smiled for him. "Just- don't do it again, okay? I..." My mouth ran away with me for just a minute and I blurted out: "I don't want anything to happen to you."

He studied me for a moment and I wondered if I had given myself away.

Then he turned back to his computer. In a tone I'd never heard from him before, he said: "I won't. I'll do my best to keep safe. For you."

OWARI

 

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