Author: Sunhawk
Pairings: 1x2
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Yaoi, God-child universe, Heero POV...
Disclaimer: I do not own GW.
I'm going to regret this. *sigh* This is the only thing I have that's half-way decent, and I'm going to hate myself for not saving it for Christmas day, but... it's not a Christmas fic. So I'm going to throw caution to the wind and post this now, even though it's going to leave me with almost nothing left to speak of.
I think there's some part of my head that thinks I'll be able to pull something out at the last minute. *giggles hysterically* Uh... yeah. Right.
So, for the seventh day, we have actually ficcage. This is in the God-child universe, Heero POV...
Shatter
I'd been home from the hospital for almost two full days, and I don't think I'd seen Duo stop and just sit down for more than a few minutes at a time yet. He was the essence of frenetic efficiency. Nothing that passed his line of sight was left undone. I doubted there was an unwashed dish or article of clothing in the entire place. My pillows were plumped before I had a chance to notice they needed it. Fresh ice appeared in my water glass before the water had a chance to dare reach room temperature.
Duo and I have been together for a long damn time, and I knew this meant his state of mind was... not good, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Any attempt to get him to talk to me about himself was met with chipper denial and a sudden need to clean out the freezer or vacuum the study. All I could do was lie flat on my back where I was ensconced on the couch, watch him moving at ninety miles an hour, and worry about the brick wall he was going to hit when he finally stopped being able to out run his thoughts.
It hadn't been any mega-dangerous Preventer mission this time, just a stupid accident. Rush hour, a deer, an inattentive driver, and a five car pile-up. It was as close as I've ever come to dying without the destruction of a Gundam being involved. And I think that was somehow the aspect that had hit Duo so hard. Our job can be dangerous, but when you're going out in the field, the one left behind is sort of... prepared. You know they're in a dangerous situation and you have time to put your head in the right place. But I'd just been driving across town; there had been nothing to worry about. No warning. A day like any other day. Kind of like the blow they say killed Harry Houdini... a blow just like dozens of others that he'd taken, but because he hadn't been prepared for it, hadn't seen it coming...
I had tried that morning, to get Duo to slow down for two seconds and talk to me, and the result was, apparently, his sudden desire to sort through the spice cupboard to check expiration dates. I'd dosed off waiting for him to come back, so when the knock had come at the front door, Duo rushed to answer it, thinking I was still asleep.
I hadn't really meant to pretend to be napping, but Duo didn't actually check on me to see, just taking our guests around into the kitchen, shushing them the whole way. Mei passed my line of sight, Alex perched on her hip, and the little guy waved at me over her shoulder as they went by. I grinned at him and waved back.
Mei settled at the kitchen table with Alex, and I could hear Duo at the stove, from the sounds of it, mixing tea.
'How's he doing, Uncle Duo?' Mei asked while she settled Alex in her lap, handing him some sort of toy to keep his little hands busy.
'He's going to be fine,' Duo assured her, tone just a little bit too firm.
'Daddy said he's got a long...' she began, but Duo managed to almost drop something I couldn't quite see.
'Oh man,' Duo said cheerfully, 'that would have been a heck of a mess!'
'Nice catch,' Mei teased, and Duo was right there with his next line to make sure the topic stayed changed.
'You want your usual mint or you want to try some of this new stuff I found?' There was the sound of boxes being shifted and Duo came into view for a moment, as he brought a box of tea over to show Mei.
'Oh, that does look good,' Mei commented and they agreed they would try the new stuff. I suppose I should have called out and let them know I was awake, but I had a vague hope that somebody else might get Duo to open up and talk. Though, listening to the conversation in the next room, that hope was rapidly dwindling.
While the water heated, Duo barraged Mei with questions about Alex, a topic that was usually a good bet to keep a young parent occupied for ages. They discussed the latest tooth coming in and drool, the benefits of the frozen teething rings over the regular plastic ones, and how many diapers a kid could go through in a day. Duo drove the talk where he wanted it to go with teasing questions designed to get Mei wound up and firmly on topic, all while he flitted about the kitchen in almost constant motion. It was beyond frustrating that nobody else seemed to realize what he was doing. The evasion game he was playing.
When the tea was finally ready and he brought it to the table, it was almost as though he'd caught himself by surprise. Like he hadn't stopped to realize the logical next step required him to sit down across the table from his guests and actually drink his tea. To be still. To stop moving. To allow somebody else to actually get a good, solid look at him.
'Uncle Duo,' Mei said, dropping the talk of Alex's new skill of skinning out of his own pajamas at inopportune times. 'You look exhausted!'
'Darn neighbor's dog kept us up all night barking at nothing,' Duo chuckled ruefully, and if I had not known that he was making it up, I'd have never suspected a thing.
'What neighbor's dog?' Mei asked suspiciously, and I couldn't help a tiny smile... the girl had been a dog lover from the time she was old enough to walk, Duo should have realized she'd know if there were any dogs within a mile of our house. And there weren't.
'Not sure,' Duo told her, rising to go rummage in the cupboard for something to go with the tea. 'Sounded like it was coming from the north, so it might be old lady Fenix got herself a dog.'
'Old lady Fenix owns seven cats,' Mei replied, the suspicion in her voice becoming stronger. 'Somehow I can't see her suddenly buying a dog.'
'Could be the Coles then,' Duo chuckled, and brought the whole package of cookies to the table. When he set them down, whatever toy Alex had been playing with hit the floor when he suddenly found something else he was more interested in reaching for.
It rather surprised me that Duo would stoop to using the little guy as a distraction. But Mei is Chang Wufei's daughter, and what she didn't learn about stubborn from him, she invented herself. Deftly pulling a single cookie out of the box, she broke it in half, handed half to Alex, popped the other half in her mouth, and leveled a glare at Duo I didn't have to see to feel the heat of.
'Put those away or I will let you deal with it when he stuffs himself sick and pukes all over your kitchen,' she commanded, the imperial tone spoiled only a little by it being delivered around her half of the cookie. 'You are not using my son to change the topic for you.'
Duo sighed and went to put the cookies away, telling her while his back was turned, 'Just leave it alone, Princess.'
'Uncle Duo,' she said, tone gentling substantially. 'This has been a rough time, and you need...'
Duo was out of my line of sight, but I heard the cupboard door close somewhat solidly and when he spoke next, the quality of his voice told me he was standing there, still facing it. 'There's nothing I need, Mei,' he told her firmly. 'Everything is fine. Just drop it, ok?'
'Of course everything isn't fine!' Mei huffed at him, the exasperation plain in her voice. 'You look awful! Are you sleeping at all? Are you even eating? How do you think you can take care of Uncle Heero if...'
I felt for the kid, I really did. I understood her frustration quite well. But I also knew she wasn't going to get anywhere by lecturing, and in fact... had just pushed too hard. I sighed, but there was nobody near enough to hear me.
'Mei-zhan!' Duo snapped, and I couldn't say I'd heard him use that tone of voice with his God daughter since she was about five years old. And just like it had when she'd been five, that tone brought her up cold. She might be a grown woman with a son of her own, but I could tell from her body language that for a second... some part of her head was that little kid again. There were a long few minutes where the only sound was Alex smacking his hands on the table.
I heard Duo sigh, and then I heard his slow footsteps as he came back to the table. Mei didn't speak as he pulled his chair out and sat down again. The uncomfortable silence hung there between them for a minute before Duo cleared his throat and leaned down to catch Alex's eye. 'So what have you been up to this week tadpole? Staying out of trouble?'
It took Mei another few seconds to decide if she was going to fight it, and I was almost surprised when she seemed to give in so easily. 'Mostly just teething,' she finally said, voice wavering only a tiny bit, 'though he's learning new words like a little magpie.'
'Well that's good,' Duo said, somewhat inanely, and I could hear the weariness in his voice where he hadn't quite been able to get it tucked away. I knew him well enough to know he felt bad for snapping at Mei and it was just adding to the things weighing on him.
'I think he said Uncle Duo the other day,' Mei said, managing to set her stung feelings aside enough to tease. '....Or else he sneezed.'
It made Duo snort a little laugh, but I could see him and he still couldn't quite look up at her. I ached for him, but in that moment I gave up on Mei getting anywhere.
In the kitchen there had fallen another of those uncomfortable silences, and suddenly Mei leaned over and plopped Alex in Duo's lap. 'Watch him a minute, would you? I have to use the bathroom.'
'Sure,' Duo said, almost automatically.
Mei rose, and as she turned to leave the room, patted Alex on the head and said, 'Who's got you, tadpole?'
Alex looked up at Duo, reaching out for Duo's nose with one hand and shirt pocket with the other. 'Uh-Doo,' he said quite clearly, and it did indeed sound a little bit like he sneezed.
I don't know if Mei got to see the flash of joy and surprise that bloomed on Duo's face before she left the kitchen or not. I kind of hoped so, it would go a long way toward erasing whatever hurt feeling were left from his having snapped at her.
'Uncle Duo?' he prompted and Alex obligingly parroted out his version again.
'Uh-Doo!' Uh-Doo!'
Duo's wide grin toned down to something that was all about his fondness for Alex, and then it shifted again and the mist of melancholy rose in his eyes.
Alex, for his part, had somehow managed to get hold of the end of Duo's braid and was busy trying to stuff it in his mouth, his 'Uh-Doo' taking on a certain amount of determination. It made Duo snort out a noise of amusement that turned suddenly into something else.
'Well crap,' I heard him mutter, and Alex left off trying to eat his hair to look up as Duo dashed his hand across his eyes, trying to stem the tide.
'Uh-Doo?' Alex cooed, managing somehow to make it sound concerned though he could hardly have known what was going on. Duo just... lost it, sobbing brokenly and gathering the little guy up close.
I struggled to sit up, trying to figure out how in the hell I was going to get myself out there, when a hand landed on my shoulder. 'Don't you dare, Uncle Heero,' Mei whispered next to my ear, and I was startled to find her right there beside me. I'd been so focused on Duo and Alex, I'd never noticed her come into the room.
'He needs me,' I told her lowly, not able to tear my eyes away from the scene in the other room, framed by the doorway and somehow seeming miles away.
'What he needs is to get this out of his system,' she said, not taking her hand away from my arm. 'And if he sees you trying to get up...'
She left it hang there and I sighed, knowing she was right. She let go when she felt me relax back against the cushions. 'Damn, stubborn man...' I grumbled and swallowed back the lump that was trying to form in my own throat.
'Takes one to know one,' Mei said softly, settling down to sit on the floor next to me.
Out in the kitchen, Duo began to rock gently back and forth, and Alex patted his head, crooning 'Uh-Doo,' in a tone of voice that was either consoling or showing off, I couldn't tell which.
'Don't worry,' Mei whispered, 'Alex has got this.'
'Are you sure he's not just sneezing?' I said, because it was tearing me up inside to not be able to go replace Alex in Duo's arms.
'Are you kidding me?' Mei snorted softly. 'As hard as I worked to get him to say it? This cost me a new teddy bear, three cookies, and the promise of a puppy!'
I had to turn to really look at her to judge her response when I asked, 'Are you serious?'
Her smile completely faded away and she leaned her head down to rest on the couch next to my arm. 'Yeah. Though this isn't quite how I'd planned the surprise.'
I'd have hugged her if I could have figured out how. 'It's been a long time coming.'
'I could tell,' she said simply, and it made me stop and think.
'Why don't you go make that trip to the bathroom for awhile,' I prodded. 'He won't be happy that... that we saw him like this.'
'Silly Uncle Heero,' she chastised lightly. 'It's only something in his eye.'
I managed to contain the snort and she kissed me on the forehead before slipping from the room. Out in the kitchen Alex had discovered that Duo's face was wet and his 'Uh-Doo' changed to an 'Uh-oh' and he began patting Duo's cheeks.
When he started trying to figure out where Duo's 'boo-boo' was so he could kiss it better, I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep again.
Alex had things under control.
OWARI
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