"Shadow Man"

Written By: Kaeru Shisho

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story.

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Yaoi, AU, angst, sap, romance, drama

Pairings: 1x3, 2x4, 5xC

Summary: Hardly more than a shadow himself, Trowa glimpses the shade cast across the concrete of another young man, who is about to make a fatal mistake.

A/N: This story takes place in a universe more like ours today, where the colonies exist, but not in space, and where the world is on the cusp of change

" Shadow Man"

Chapter 7

Duo shouldered the "shoe" bag, and I heaved mine over my back and lunged for the door of Lowe's house, but his shout and the screech of a window opening brought me up short.

"This way!" he called from the window.

It was a single story building, so it wasn't a jump. I had the presence of mind to leave the note Heero had written in rather shaky handwriting on the bare desk, before climbing over the sill, and slamming it shut. Duo tugged on my sleeve, pulling me in the opposite direction I'd been about to go in. He took off into the back yard, turned to the side, and then I saw him leap a wood pile and use that to gain the height he needed to vault the fence. Duo must have known what he was doing, but I hadn't that luxury. I had to be more cautious. I was carrying delicate stuff, so I ran across the fence top like a narrow, wobbly balance beam until I found a decent landing spot.

He was waiting for me, fumbling with a gadget in his hands.

"What are you doing? Let's get the hell outta here," I said.

He held up the device, looking as if he were about to lob it over the fence. "Just setting this bomb to blow up the place to cover our tracks."

"For crying out loud! You are insane! Forget that." I gave him my best fiery glare, staring him down until he "switched off" the silly "bomb" and buried it in a pocket.

Duo's voice had an angry edge to it. "You gotta better way to cover your ass?"

I wanted out of there and started across the neighboring yard, putting distance between me and Lowe's place. "Yeah. I left a note he wrote saying he'd collected his things and gone with Relena for the time being. I did have a plan." Heero's writing had been very shaky. I hoped Lowe would recognize it, accept it.

"Cool," he whispered.

Before I could tell him just how insane I thought he was, he signaled "quiet" with a finger to his lips and shot ahead, leading me to a gate. This he unlatched in silence, gesturing for me to pass through first, and then closed it quietly behind us. "Okay, then, you gotta car?"

"Yeah." I hadn't walked the fuckin' five miles to get here, I nearly added! I shoved any other words I had for him to the back of my head and listened for the sound of pursuit and only heard a dog barking in a yard one over. I had my bearings by that time and set out toward the old truck, sticking to the shadows. "And I'm going to it."

He skipped to keep up with me, but stayed low and quiet. "Can I catch a ride?"

"You don't have one of your own? You were following me, you said."

Now he went quiet and when I looked over at him he bit his lip and looked down, cocky attitude gone. "No car."

Not that I understood his problem, but I hardly cared at that point. I'd got what I had come for. Now, if I could only get it to Heero without getting caught. A door opened behind us and I nearly broke out in a run. His hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"Not him," he whispered.

I heard a jangle of chain and a dog bark and relaxed a tad. A couple of voices added up to "taking the pet for a walk". Weird hour for that, but I suppose it takes all kinds and some folks worked off-hours. I liked the feeling of having them between Lowe and us.

We reached the truck and I unlocked both doors, opening the passenger one first. "Stash the bag behind the seat," I told Duo as I went around to the driver's side and did the same with the bag I'd carried.

I noticed the dog walkers had crossed the street, hanging around a tree.

I heard another door and the shuffling of feet. Duo sucked in his breath and I could see the fear in his eyes before he closed the door, shutting off the interior light.

I didn't want to find out if that was Lowe or some neighbor next door. "Hurry! Get in!" I hissed.

The door edged back open for a split second and Duo dove into the passenger seat as I started the engine. I didn't need to warn him not to draw attention; he eased the door closed and slumped low in the seat. Heavy footfalls pounded the sidewalk coming our way. I pulled away from the curb, keeping my speed down, acting normal even though my heart was pounding and telling me to burn rubber out of there. Just to add to my anxiety, I glanced into my rear view mirror.

A dark form loomed at the side of the road.

"Fu-" I stifled the rest of my curse and throttled my heart rate. I knew it was only a trick of the shadows, but the figure appeared huge, growing in my imagination to GIANT stature. Where had he come from? Guilt and panic were about to run amok in my head when we reached the corner and a voice shocked me to attention. I'd nearly forgotten for a few seconds that I had a passenger.

"Go left then straight then turn into the Jiffy Market parking lot."

I did as he asked, and soon spotted the store front he meant. "I'd rather get going."

"Just ten seconds...twenty. I'm not going in."

I stopped out of the limelight and he popped out of the door, leaving it to swing shut, barely, enough to switch off the interior light, and then he disappeared around the back of the truck. I wondered what he was up to and considered just driving off, when he reappeared at the door and hopped in. He turned his face to me, saying, "Okay. Go out the opposite way and turn up the hill."

That's when I noticed the dark green tank top wadded in a fist diving into the pillowcase behind his seat.

"What's that about?"

"I covered your license plate when we loaded up. Just in case."

I hadn't thought of that. What if the GIANT had been Lowe and he'd gotten a good look at it and had traced it back to the circus? "Thanks." It made me reconsider Duo's background. Lock picks, "bombs", stealth techniques?

"Least I could do," he said as he fit himself comfortably into the seat, stretching out his legs a bit. He yanked at his hair and the ridiculously long braid re-emerged, snaking down his shoulder and across his lap.

He wasn't very tall, possibly even shorter than me now that I was scrutinizing him. Slim. Nice looking. That train of thought just annoyed me. "So, you lied," I said putting as much accusatory anger into it as I could manage.

"Sorry. It wasn't all a lie. I, well, I wasn't really following you. I was going to raid Heron's stuff to see if I could find a clue about what had happened to him and you just showed up. Pure coincidence."

I caught him sneaking looks at me from under his messy bangs. "And it was a new moon tonight. Dark and all. The rest was true. About Quat... and all."

What was the use of being mad at the strange guy? I wasn't sure I could hold that much passion for long anyway. I let it go with the breath I'd been holding. "Fine. So where do you live?"

"Officially? St. Helen's Orphanage until school's out. But don't take me there!" He grinned with a saucy wink. "Not at this hour. Don't need to get written up again. You can drop me at Quat's, which is coming up pretty much when we get to the top of the hill."

That bit of news sent my brain in hyper drive. The orphanage? Duo was an orphan, too? Not one of the have-it-all crowd? I kept my eyes on the road. One more turn, another 100 feet altitude climb and I noticed the high iron fencing rising out of the concrete foundation-sturdy rods broken every fifty feet or so by an ornate "W".

"Here's good."

"I can get you closer to the house," I told him.

"Nah, don't want to wake the staff, right?" He chuckled and pulled on a pair of gloves from his jacket.

He was going to scale that fence! I could see a wire running along the top, so he had to know he'd set off some kind of alarm. He'd been a help to me tonight. I couldn't let him take such a chance.

"You can come stay with me-for the night," I told him.

I think that got to him because he twisted around all the way to look at me and his smile crooked. "Thanks, really, but he's actually expecting me." He pointed absently over a shoulder as he opened the door. "Security's off. Thanks, though. Oh, here-!" He handed me a scrap of paper. "Quat's cell."

"Uh-," I started to say something, but didn't know what.

"Give'im any encouraging rootaceaous vegetables, ya know? He's really worried. 'Kay?"

He waited there until I promised to think about calling his boyfriend then raced to the fence. The last I saw of him was the tip of his braid flying over the fence. I stuck around for ten minutes, waiting for someone to unleash the dogs or hit the sirens or something, but the place stayed dark and quiet.

I drove home with a cab-load of Heero's belongings and a head full of things to think about.

I hadn't driven very far when the quiet started nagging at me. Was Duo okay? You just left him there.

"Aw, fucking hell," I groaned and braked to a stop.

I hated having a guilty and anxious conscious distracting me from my empty-minded contemplations. It would only get worse, probably beating me silly in my sleep later. Consequently, I decided not to fight it any longer. My cell phone had enough life for at least one call, so I tapped in the number scratched on the notepaper.

A tight voice answered, "Hello? Quatre Winner speaking."

I recognized his voice and even if he had phone ID, I'd identify myself too. "Trowa here. I-"

"Yes, it's Trowa!"

In the background I heard Duo crow, "I told you he would!"

"I just wanted to be sure he got-," I couldn't think of the right word.

"Duo's safe," Quatre said, supplying what I was missing. "Thank you for bringing him home. Are you-?"

"Fine." I felt embarrassed and was ready to hang up.

Again I heard Duo's throaty voice. He must have been standing ear to ear. "-and once 'Ron gets his cell recharged he'll call-"

Ron? Who was Ron? Oh, I got it. Ron was short for Heron. Fuck. I'd have to tell him why his best friend hadn't thought to get in touch for months after disappearing without a word.

Quatre spoke up. "Thank you for doing this for us. How is-?"

I cleared my throat, interrupting him. I didn't know who else might be listening in on our conversation. I'd kept Heero a secret for months and didn't want to blow it tonight.

Duo cackled. He must have been coming down from his own adrenalin rush. "And I told you he was more paranoid than 'Ron. Tell him it's safe to talk."

"Oh," Quatre said. "This is a secure line and no one can hear us. Duo told me that-what was the name?" he asked away from the phone.

"Heero," Duo called out.

Quatre came back on the line. "Sorry. Is Heero all right? Duo said he had an accident?"

"He fell and broke a lot of bones and, ah, lost his memory."

Quatre gasped, "Oh!" and I could hear Duo murmuring to him.

"He didn't call you, because right now he doesn't remember you." There I'd given him the worst of it. I heard a muffled cry and the sound of scraping and then Duo.

"Hey, it's me. Listen Quat's kinda upset. Anything good to leave him with tonight?"

I bet he had his hands full. I could hear sobbing now. "I'm training to take care of him so he can recover in my trailer. That's happening soon. He's talking, can see and hear and he's healing fast."

"Thanks, man. What's that Quat? Oh, okay, I'll ask. Say, is it okay if we save your number?"

No one but Wufei, Cathy, and the circus Ringmaster had my phone number. This was a real invasion. I had to think.

"Hey, I won't if bothers you. Just askin'-."

"Fine. It's okay. Thanks for asking. I, ah, have to get going."

"You bet. Thanks for checking up on me and all. Good thing you didn't call a few minutes later, we probably wouldn'ta answered, heh, heh."

I heard Quatre's scandalized shout, "Duo!" and then Duo's chuckle. "Well, we had a lotta fun, didn't we? Anytime you wanna try for more loot, call, okay?"

"Yeah, um, bye."

I went back to thinking about Heero, Lowe, the night, but this time I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from turning up thinking about Duo Maxwell.

When I could see the hospital, I decided to stop. I knew I wasn't going to get in to see Heero in the middle of the night, but I wanted, somehow, to let him know I'd been successful. I drove around to the back parking lot and found his window. The shades were open, but it was too dark to see anything else. What I needed were a good pair of field glasses.

Thinking that way led me to remembering Heero's binoculars and then Heero's telescope. I hadn't seen either of those, but most likely he'd kept them in a closet or even the garage. Maybe Duo would know? I'd need to take the braided one up on that return trip offer.

I thought I saw movement through his window so in case Heero was awake and could see me I gave him an exaggerated thumbs up sign. That would have to do. I didn't want to get picked up by security with a truckload of stolen crap, plus the tension and late hour started to wear on me about then, so I headed for home.

I returned the truck and lugged Heero's crap to the caravan I'd called home for most of my remembered life. I guess my brain functioned better on adrenalin than rest, because I remembered to locate a free outlet and recharge his laptop. And his MP3 player. Nice shit. After that I tried not to think about much so I'd be able to crash and sleep.

This would have worked out pretty good, except that there was no Wufei in our trailer. I had my suspicions as to his whereabouts, and those were nothing I wanted to dwell on. I wasn't in the mood to think about him sleeping with my sister. Not on top of everything else I was trying to stomp down in order to stop my brain from spinning and get some rest. So, consciously I shut down.

My unconscious was another matter. It replayed my evening's terrors, the fright, the worry, and the shadowy figures, against a background of stored up resentments and insecurities about my friendship with Wufei and lack of friendships with the non-circus folk at the high school, and for good measure spiced it up with the rerun of the horror of watching someone I knew fall to his near-death. I hadn't had a bad dream in years, but this one packed a wallop.

This nightmare featured Heero falling past my out-stretched arms and splattering bloody guts dead, while Wufei and Duo rated my performance (poor) and Catherine and Quatre passed around refreshments. There was a calliope and a dog in a spacesuit in there someplace, too.

I remembered the dream, because I woke up immediately, and since I didn't want to chance a repeat performance, I got up after three hours of sleep. Woefully short of the rest I needed, I got through the morning chores in a blur, rushing to get done and see Heero.

I fed the animals the right foods, at least. I couldn't remember which tent was which and found myself staring at a bunch of clowns instead of the trapeze. Wonderful. I marched to the one next to that. One look at me and Catherine told me to leave the tent and wouldn't let me attempt the high wire. Good call. I wouldn't have hurt myself, but I might have looked ragged and given everyone else a bad impression of my competence.

I spotted my best friend showing off his Chinese swordsmanship. I wanted to avoid Wufei altogether. I was afraid of what I might say to him. He hadn't come to the trailer last night, validating my suspicions that he was sleeping with Catherine. I don't know why that bothered me. I liked him, admired him. I guess if he'd asked me if it was okay I would have even approved, but he hadn't said a thing to me.

Unless he had and I'd been so wrapped up in Heero I hadn't listened? Had I even bothered to care about anything anyone had tried to talk to me about for months? The answer to that: probably not.

Now I felt like a jerk. Catherine had her new place, probably had gotten it with him in mind, and I'd missed being a part of that decision-making process. I had no right to expect more when I wasn't willing to give more. I needed the few good relationships I had, so I needed to make things right between us. I needed to try being a friend to Wufei.

I needed to stop talking to myself and talk to him!

I sought him out on my way out to borrow a truck and found him instructing some newbie clown about proper sword technique.

"Better pay attention, Al," I told Alonzo the "Loco Latin" clown, "Chang's an authority."

I meant the compliment, and Wufei must have known it. He shot me a genuine smile, and then my best ally on the planet said, "I did inform Al of my accomplishments, the awards and achievements I had received from my clan for my swordsmanship, but since swallowing the damned sword wasn't one of them, he chose to nearly cut off his hand rather than pay attention."

"I didn't want anything too fancy!" the kid said defensively.

"Don't confuse skill with show," I said.

"Or aptitude with flair," Wufei tagged on.

"You done here?" I asked him, hoping to have a minute to talk. I didn't mean to tick him off, but I did.

"Do I look done? If he can follow instructions, I might have him ready to practice the sword act he and Zack must master in two days. I have only half an hour to do this and I'm wasting it talking to you!"

"Hey...sorry." I backed off knowing I had already cost him time having to do my chores and cover my hours. He had every reason to be mad at me.

His eyes drilled into mine another heartbeat, and then his expression softened. "My apologies-"

I didn't let him finish something he didn't really mean. "No... no...it's okay. You owe me nothing, but I owe you. I haven't been too communicative lately."

"Are you ever?" he said, chuckling.

"I just wanted to say it's, you know, you and my sis... it's okay- all right?"

We stared at each other a few seconds longer. Yeah, he knew what I meant about him and Catherine. He nodded brusquely and said, "You honor me."

"Feeling's mutual."

I left him with that thought, detoured to my trailer to grab the bag containing Heero's computer stuff, and then loaded the truck and took off for the hospital.

The sky was blue and cloudless, birds were singing, flowers scented the air. A fine day. I might have been humming a tune when I walked into the building; I felt that good.

A harried-looking nurse's aide saw me and cried out, "He's here!"

I had a moment of fight-or-flight consideration.

A doctor appeared out of nowhere and blocked my exit, so I stayed to fight. "I just got here," I explained. "Is he okay?"

"He's..."

I hated pauses where doctors judged your ability to take the truth. "Is he all right?" I repeated more carefully.

"He's distressed and dislodged several of his monitoring devices. He's finding it frustrating, being unable to do things or remember things. The loss of physical and mental function caused by neurological impairment leads to new problems."

"You mean that as he regains more of his mental facilities, he becomes aware of his shortcomings."

"Something like that, except we call them 'disabilities'." The good doctor relaxed a little and walked with me to Heero's room. "For example, his decreased ability to interact with others in socially acceptable ways, his inability to walk, his inability to manipulate objects, and his inability to process and retain information-"

"He seems to remember what I tell him. I don't see any problem with his thinking ability," I told the man. "So, can I go see him?"

"Yes. He's been calling for you. I hope your presence will have a calming influence over him. He's refusing medication; he tore out the IV's."

"Sounds like he's getting better to me and wants to start doing stuff," I said. "I would if I were lying there all the time."

So, yeah. I found Heero in a bad mood, glaring out the window. I noticed new bandages where he'd torn skin ripping out needles. "Ouch."

"Fuckers want to keep me drugged all the time," he growled.

"They like complacent patients," I agreed.

His frown deepened and I waited him out for a minute, watching the tension slowly drain from his features. His eyes sought out mine, and I noticed a flicker of interest. "You were successful last night. I saw you."

I held up the bag and gave it a pat. "Yeah."

"My computer."

I helped him sit straighter and open the laptop. "Battery's charged."

"Hn." He tapped it to wakefulness.

I stood back, moved to the window, and let him entertain himself. I could see typing one-handed was frustrating him, but until the left arm was out of traction, there wasn't much I could do. Wufei had warned me that sometimes a head-injured patient must learn new ways to do simple routine tasks-such as how to button a shirt or tie a shoe with one hand, or how to compensate for memory loss by using a logbook or calendar. Helping Heero write that note to Lowe had been a trial. I wasn't sure how to help him with a computer. If it were me I'd want to fumble alone and not be fussed over.

I determined he was having a problem when he hissed. I turned his way as he curled his fingers into a fist. "I'm locked out of files with passwords I no longer remember."

Well, at least he could type. "Would you have saved them someplace? Written them down?"

"I don't know."

Ah, the memory problem. "We got a few data sticks," I said as I searched the bottom of the bag. I'd made a point of gathering them from Duo's pillowcase hoard. "Yeah, here."

"We?"

Ah. "You want the long story or the short?"

"Short."

Naturally. "I ran into Duo Maxwell, a friend of yours, and he helped me find your stuff. He'd been at your house before." And sneaked in and out before, too; at least, he seemed to perform like an experienced entry-and-escape man by the way he knew his way around.

"Duo."

I interpreted his scrunched up expression to mean he couldn't attach a face to the name, so I shed some light on him. "Funny guy with long hair in a braid past his ass and a boyfriend named Quatre, who was your best friend, until you suddenly disappeared."

He gestured for the memory stick and shook his head.

I plugged one in, not wanting to watch him hit and miss about with it. "Seemed like nice guys."

"Hn."

"I brought you some clothes and your phone recharger."

"I don't recommend you use that," came a voice from the door. In walked, surprise, surprise, Wufei. "I rushed over to tell you, warn you. As soon as it is activated again you can be found. The same goes for that," meaning the computer. "Your IP address can be traced once you get on the internet, and if the law gets into the loop, then your actual physical location can be found."

Heero was frowning now, having gone beyond frustration straight to anger. "I know that. I just can't remember certain things: people, events. Facts I know." He pounded his hand on the bed. "I'm so weak. I can't hold on to anything! If I could just glue the mouse to my hand-!"

"I can solve that problem." Wufei exited the room smoothly, leaving his words floating there without support.

"So," I said to fill in the gap, "I've left your clothes at my place, all except this one set I'll store here for you to go home in." I didn't say how he might not be able to get into the jeans or shirt if he was still in casts.

"Thanks."

We avoided eye contact for a few minutes until Wufei came back, toting medical tape.

"First, I'll attach the laptop to the tray, so it doesn't fall off," he said, doing just that as he spoke. He criss-crossed the corners and above and below the keyboard, until the computer was stable.

"May I?" Wufei touched the stiff fiberglass casing around his arm.

"Yes." Heero let him bind the mouse to his cast and around his thumb a few times. "That's enough. I can't drop it now."

He still looked hugely unhappy.

"Is the binding uncomfortable?" Wufei asked him.

"It doesn't matter," Heero muttered. "I want to leave this place, but they won't let me go. They may never let me go if I can't get control over my body. I can't even feed myself," he added with a look of disgust.

"In most cases, patients are discharged from the hospital once you demonstrate you will be safe in the home," Wufei said. "I'm certain we can all conspire to prove that."

Conspire? Was he suggesting we deceive the staff he respected so much? I wasn't sure where this particular Wufei had reincarnated from, or if he believed in that particular form of ancestor rebirthing, or if I was happy to have him butting in on my time with Heero. He didn't give me the chance to kick him out.

"Trowa, would you get us both a cup of tea and one for yourself, if you want it?" He handed me a credit chip, a cheap smile, and a "get out" gesture.

"Sure," I said to cover up for how uncomfortable I felt rather than as an act of compliance.

He obviously wanted Heero to himself. What he had to say to him must have been about me or he wouldn't have cared if I'd listened. I wasn't thrilled to be talked about to my face or behind my back; still, I left to the snack bar, which was closed, conveniently, meaning I had to wait in line at the hospital cafeteria two floors up. Wufei was smart to plan a scenario that would maximize his one-on-one time with Heero.

I passed on a drink for myself. No amount of caffeine was going to do anything more than give me the jitters. I was so short on sleep from my night's activity and early morning workouts and chores, that even an empty gurney sitting outside a room looked inviting. Would anyone notice an extra body lying about, I wondered?

I juggled the cups to free one hand for opening the door and entered with the feeling that they'd been talking right up until I stepped in.

"No one wanted sugar, right?" I asked this, perfectly willing to turn around and go back to get a couple packets just to have an excuse not to be there with them staring at me.

"No."

"No."

They even made similar faces, like I'd insulted them or something.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks," I told Heero, feeling a bit hurt at the same time I knew I felt like shit so why not look like it, too. "You've told me that before."

"Go home, Trowa." This Heero said in the gentlest tone I'd ever heard from him.

I wanted to hear him talk to me in that way again. I wanted to lick his face, what I could reach, or something else primal. A cat would purr. I had no idea how to express myself.

Wufei took the Styrofoam beverage containers out of my hands and set his aside while he poured Heero's into a special "sippy" cup. "My cousin and I are enjoying a nice afternoon together. Why don't you take advantage of that and get some rest?"

Huh?

"It's fine," Heero said. "He's knowledgeable concerning computer technology and can help me get things set up here. He's already taken the stored phone numbers off my cell phone."

"He's keeping the memory chip, but we've bought him a cell phone with a new, unlisted number," Wufei informed me. The "we" being him and my sister, I assumed.

This all sounded so reasonable that I really couldn't argue without sounding like a stubborn, sulky child. Besides, they'd both formed a solid front against me. I was voted out two to one.

I made that three to none.

"Yeah, well, okay," I felt for the truck keys and found them in the pocket I expected to find them. "I'll, um, catch you later then."

"Tomorrow. Come tomorrow," Heero said.

I nodded and left. I was grateful to have a friend like Wufei and then I was a little jealous about sharing Heero with him. Weird.

(o)

When I came to see Heero the next day, he was busy on his laptop.

"Hi," I said.

"Hn." He was pretty much involved in his one-handed typing.

"You're getting good at that," I told him.

"I have the details figured out now," he said vaguely.

I let him type until he was ready to talk. I enjoyed watching him. More of the bandages had been removed from his head, revealing dark bruising- still. His hair had grown out and looked even more untamed than in the past, and sexier. His hand stopped typing and smoothed over the stubble shadowing his jawline. My concentration drifted a little as I imagined my hand doing that. My desire to reach out and touch him was crazy intense.

"Would you like help shaving?" I asked. I could hardly contain my excitement.

His eyes shot up to meet mine, speaking of intense. What a look! And then his eyelids dropped. "Yes, that would be a relief. It doesn't grow fast, but it itches."

This room had a sink, but no bathroom. Maybe they didn't think he'd ever be able to get out of bed. There were disposable supplies for tooth brushing and shaving, so I used what was available. After tucking a towel under his chin, I worked up a little lather and started on one side. I hadn't considered how intimate close contact like this would be. I tried to think about clowns, helping one with his makeup, in order to control my urge to kiss him.

I'd scraped one side and had to rinse the razor at the sink. He used the break to talk. "You met a guy named Duo who'd been a friend of mine? He told you that?" Heero asked.

"Yeah. He seemed sincere. He had plenty of ways to have turned on me, but he didn't. I'd say he was honest."

"Tell me more about him. You said he'd been on familiar terms with my house."

I ran the razor over the other side, careful of the curves and hollows of his face. I decided not to mention Duo's stunning, violet-colored eyes and blood-pressure-raising smile. No reason to go there when I barely had control over myself in close proximity to a pair of heart-attack blue eyes and beckoning, plump lips. I really had to get a grip, so I imagined a thin rope out in front of me and a long, deadly fall if I wavered, and found my concentration improve instantly.

"Oh, he made no secret of having been there before and probably had to exit unseen and in a hurry more than a few times from the way he bounded out the window and out the back way. He knew the neighborhood dogs and lot perimeters."

Heero gave me an appraising look, which if he thought I was going to admit the guy was attractive then he had another thing coming. I could hide my feelings with the best of them, once I had my focus in charge and emotions under wrap.

"And you gave him a ride home?" he questioned further.

I considered joking with him and telling not until after we fooled around and had a ride of a different sort, just to see his reaction, but decided not to test the boundaries of our new friendship that far.

"Not exactly. Duo didn't have a car or, frankly, much of his own from what he let on. He lives at the orphanage, he said, but not for much longer. I guess they kick the kids out when they get too old."

"That isn't bad if they all get trained for jobs first."

"Guess so."

"So where did you take him?"

I held his chin in place while I shaved his upper lip. "I dropped him at his boyfriend's place. Fancy gated place. I wonder how they sort out who pays for what, seeing as how rich Quatre is?" This last part I was mostly saying to myself, not expecting Heero to voice his opinion. As soon as I went over to rinse the razor again he did, though.

"Quatre. You said that he claims to have been my best friend? And I don't even recognize his name!"

"Want to talk to him?" I knew that Wufei had taken off the numbers Heero had used before dumping the old memory card so his calls couldn't be traced. He had the new phone. "He might help with those passwords, if you haven't found them yet."

"I haven't made any progress."

He appeared to be thinking over the phone call, so I thought to give him a chance at privacy. "I'm done here after I wipe you clean. I can leave if you want."

"No. Stay. I might need...something."

It never ceased to amaze me at how good he could make me feel. Just feeling needed gave me a glow inside. I wiped off the shaving cream lingering around the edges with a warm washcloth and knew from his expression how good he was feeling.

I put the phone in his hand and cast about for the list of numbers.

"I memorized them all," he said with a touch of pride. "There is nothing wrong with my short-term memory."

"Good." That, I felt, was an excellent sign that he was healing fast. Then I remembered the number Duo had jotted. "Wait, use this one. Quatre said it would go through a secure line."

"Smart." He read off the numbers and placed the call. We both waited a few moments. "Hello. Yes, this is...Heero."

TBC

Chapter 8

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