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"Waiting for Shinigami"Written By: Dragonmistress_7 Disclaimer: I do not own them with a fox, I do
not own them in abox. I do not own them on Tuesday, I borrow them
so we can play. Ido not own Gundam Wing, don't sue me, I don't own
anything! Rating: Eventually, NC-17, for now, like, G? Warnings: OOC, Eventual lemon (1x2)temporarily
POV Pairings: 1x2, 3x4 Summary: The war is finished and time has passed. Heero is sent to find Duo and try to convince him to join Preventer but somewhere along the way feelings change Notes: Kind of strange fic that wouldn't leave
me alone. I don'tthink it will be too long. Not my normal stuff, but
a good start, Ihope. Will set up shrines to all who give feedback.
(winces) soften
Waiting for Shinigami
Chapter 3 Heero had panicked somewhat when he'd seen Duo. The look on his old friend's face had told him that the old Heero was expected, and the new one would meet with nothing but ridicule, especially since Duo believed the only reason he was there was to recruit him. Better to put up a front for now, and let the mask slide bit by bit as the week progressed. He was not ashamed to admit that if Duo rejected what was underneath that mask, it would quickly be pulled up again. He hadn't understood why Duo kept looking at him on the ride back to his apartment, or the odd look he got every now and then after they'd reached the place. It was the next morning before he figured out what Duo was expecting of him. "Heero, why haven't you said anything about Preventers yet?" he asked. Heero took a deep breath and let the mask slip. "I hate to talk about work when I'm on vacation. Is there any good shopping around here? Sally's birthday is coming up and I have no idea what to get for her," Duo frowned. "I'll help you look this afternoon. That's not what I meant and you know it. Why haven't you mentioned me joining? That is why Une sent you, isn't it?" Heero nodded. "That's why she sent me. Do you want pancakes for breakfast? Quatre says I make the best chocolate chip pancakes in existence. I have to say I agree." "Sounds good. Quit changing the subject!" Duo said in frustration. That stopped him. Since when was Heero frustrating? Or at least, since when was he frustrating in this way? Heero sighed. "You really want to know? The truth?" Duo nodded. He expected nothing less. "I haven't said anything `cause I don't give a damn whether you join or not," Heero said with a shrug. Duo was floored. Heero seemed serious enough. "You don't?" Heero shrugged again. "It would be nice to work with you again, and you would be doing something productive instead of sitting around here feeling sorry for yourself, but it's your life. Do anything you want, but make sure you want it." "I don't understand," Duo said miserably. "Do you know why I work for Preventers?" Heero
asked, not looking up from his pancake batter. He licked his fingers
absently when his stirring got a little wild. "It's because I
like working there. I enjoy my work, and I'm damn good at it. If I
didn't, I would find something else. If you don't think you want to
do it, It was the first time he had said Duo's name since his arrival, and it seemed different to Duo's ears than it had been three years before. Kinder, warmer, maybe even amused by Duo's obvious confusion. He began to pour out pancakes on the hot griddle. Duo watched the pancakes cooking and waited for Heero to flip them before speaking again. "Then why did you come? If you aren't going to drag me back by the hair, why did you tell Une you'd do it?" "First of all, I never told Une I'd do it, she told me. I didn't say anything and let her think what she wanted to think." He put the finished pancakes on a plate. "Second, I told you in the car yesterday. I came to see you. Here, try this. It's delicious." And it was. "Where'd you learn to cook like this?" Duo asked between bites. "Hilde, mostly," he replied, pouring out more pancakes and again picking up his spatula. "She's good friends with Sally. She gave me a pasta sauce recipe that's amazing. I don't like to cook much, but everyone else likes it when I do. About once a month they force me into the kitchen and won't let me leave until I can serve a table of eight. Usually, it's just the six of us, Sally, Hilde, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and myself, but sometimes we invite other people. Lady Une has been maneuvering for another invite since she tasted my veal parmesan. I support Quatre's sweet tooth, and apparently he passed on some of my lemon cookies to Relena. She hunted me down, on assignment, no less, so I could write out the recipe for her personal chef." It was, if not the most Duo had ever heard Heero say at one time, certainly the most that was not absolutely necessary. Could he, perhaps, have been wrong in his assessment that Heero was unchanged? This conversation certainly seemed to point that way. Something had happened to the Perfect Soldier that Duo didn't trust. He carefully reviewed everything Heero had said, again looking for his angle. "Does Hilde work at Preventers?" he asked. "Hilde?" Heero chuckled, and Duo blinked in surprise. Had he ever heard that sound before? It was a nice sound. "You couldn't convince Hilde to work for Preventers. She'd rather take a beating every day for the rest of her life. Hilde does a little bit of everything. I'm quite certain she has a job, but I'm not really sure what it is. Something with computers… mainly… I think. It sounded boring, but she loves it." Duo sat stock still, fork halfway between his plate and his mouth, in the presence of a complete stranger who looked just like somebody he used to know. Heero regarded him critically. Oh, boy, he'd really stepped in it this time. Not knowing every detail about Hilde's job was something the Perfect Soldier would never have allowed. "I'm sorry. I guess I went too far," he said soberly. That broke the spell. "What do you mean "went too far"?" Heero couldn't help it, he grinned. "You get used to it," he promised. "I've changed in these past three years. I had to overcome my training, be somebody real. The man who was waiting underneath the training, he's a pretty weird guy." Duo's head was spinning. He didn't know what to believe. In spite of his cynicism, he'd never pegged Heero for a liar, yet his brain was already trying to work out the angle, the plan. He had nothing. This Heero was not congruent with his thought processes. "O-o-okay," he heard himself stammer. Yeah, good comeback, Maxwell. Nice way to keep it together. Not going to let him throw you this time, huh? It was shortly afterward that Duo excused himself and went back to bed. Heero would have been worried, but Duo had managed to finish his pancakes first. Duo lay on his bed, trying to piece together a grinning Heero from the fragments of memory that he would allow himself. No matter how he tried, he still came up with the grim expression of a boy who knows he's going to die. But Heero wasn't a boy anymore, and he had made it very clear only minutes before that he had every intention of living. For the first time, Duo wondered if it were possible that Heero had really become the person Duo had always know he could be. That was the person who was Duo's friend, not the "Perfect Soldier." The soldier would have killed Duo after two, maybe three days in the same safehouse with nothing to do. The real person, the one who had been his friend, had saved him from the soldier more times than he cared to think about. Could it be he could now see that person, without the soldier there to temper him? In his mind, Duo doubted. In other, less controllable areas, hope welled up from it's eternal spring. Maybe there really was a way to completely rearrange oneself and get a whole new perspective on life. He snorted derisively at the thought. And maybe he would suddenly grow wings and fly to Heaven. Heero had been a rock in a mud pit during the war; why would he be any different after it? Still, it gnawed at him. If there was a chance Heero really had changed, Duo wanted to know about it. If Heero had changed, become the person he wanted to be, then anyone could do it. Maybe even Duo. ~ * ~ |
