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"Apres La Guerre "Written By: Waterliliylf Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. All rights
remain with Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. No profit being
made here. Rating: R Warnings: Duo POV, angst, sap, humor Pairings: eventual 1x2 Summary: Post War Fic, mostly Duo POV set seven
years after the end of the War and absolutely oozing angst and sap
and humour and confusiona and Duo-suffering.. Long 1x2 get together
fic "Apres La Guerre " Chapter 89 - Aftermath: Five days. That was all: five days since Zechs had been shot the
first time, in the desert on L4, and here they were again, in another
hospital, on Earth this time, Zechs unconscious again, himself and
Duo sitting by his bedside. It was different, somehow. He'd been – in control
back then. Yes, he'd been terrified for Zechs, but there'd been a
huge spike of adrenalin and anger as well, and he'd been driving a
car that was a weapon in its own right, and he'd been utterly focused
on saving them both, on taking Zechs to safety. He'd guessed, even before the doctors confirmed it,
what had happened to Zechs; known that a collapsed lung was dangerous,
but in no way lethal; known that there hadn't been enough blood loss
to pose any serious problems. He'd taken out the unknown attackers
on a wave of pure fury, and there had been a savage exultation in
that; in killing the men who had dared to hurt his lover. This was so different. He'd never, never meant for Zechs, still hardly
recovered from his previous surgery, from a long space flight, from
long hours of worry about Wufei and Duo, to get involved in any of
the fighting. He'd never intended that for one heartbeat. If he'd
guessed, if he'd had any idea that would happen, he would have consigned
L4, all the damn colonies and the Earth, to perdition without
a second thought. He still would, if it would save Zechs. 'Hey.' Duo squeezed his hand. 'You OK?' 'No.' It was five past three: that doctor had told him
Zechs should be awake by three. He was on his feet abruptly, forcing
himself to look away from the still figure on the bed. 'Stay with
him. I'll be back in a minute.' People got out of his way as he stalked down the corridors:
he'd left Zechs' side for five minutes to change out of the bloody
Preventers uniform – soaked with Zechs' blood – only when
the doctors had told him that it might transfer some sort of infection.
He didn't give a damn about any of their other patients, but he wouldn't
be the cause of making Zechs any worse. So, he didn't exactly look
like a blood-soaked nightmare figure any more, dressed in some clothes
one of the nurses had found for him, but the expression on his face
was clearly enough to cleave a path through doctors, nurses, Preventer
agents and Sanque guards rushed in from the embassy – too damn
late – until he got to the doctor's office. Wufei glared at the woman who'd performed Zechs' surgery.
'He hasn't woken up yet. You said he'd be awake by now.' 'Mr. Chang, I said he might be awake in half
an hour, or it might take a little longer.' She sounded exasperated,
and then looked at his face and her voice softened. 'This is not a
bad thing, sir. Sleep is the best thing for his highness, right now.
His body has suffered considerable trauma.' 'I know.' He did know, really, but he wanted Zechs to
wake up, to look at him. To say something. 'I know this is a worrying time, but there is no reason
to think he will not make a full recovery in time,' the woman assured
him. 'How soon can he fly?' That was all he wanted: for Zechs
to wake up, and be well enough for a transatlantic flight, so he could
take him and Duo home. He could take care of them there; not like
in this strange place, in a country where he couldn't even speak the
language. She blinked at the question, and a more gentle expression
settled on her face. 'Mr. Chang, I'm sorry, but not for several weeks.
At a minimum.' 'I see,' he said tonelessly. 'Thank you.' He nodded
and walked back into the ward. Duo looked up, shifted slightly on the couch beside
the bed to make room for him. 'What did she say?' 'What they've been saying all along. He's as well as
can be expected, given his injuries, and the amount of blood loss.
I just – I want him to wake up. Even for a second. I want him
to know I'm here with him.' 'I know.' Duo rested his head on Wufei's shoulder. 'God,
this is the worst part, right? Waiting.' 'It's all been the worst part.' Watching Zechs walk off with Duo had been terrible,
but he'd known Duo would keep him safe, and anyway, he wasn't going
to do anything dangerous in itself. Just talk to Noin. He wouldn't
be in danger. Then he'd taken off with Heero, and put his love, the
centre of his life, entirely out of his mind, and focused on the mission,
something that had been, in retrospect, appallingly simple to do. He and Heero had always been perfect together. Then Duo had come skidding round the corner, yelling
that Zechs was down, and everything had just gone – grey. He
knew he'd fired on some agents as he ran back to find Zechs; at the
time he hadn't cared who they were, whose side they were on, and then
he was in a narrow, dimly-lit corridor and Zechs was bleeding at the
bottom of a staircase. He knew it had taken twenty minutes for help to arrive,
because he'd timed it. It had seemed like an eternity. Duo had been
there for some of the time, and for some of it he'd been alone, trying
to staunch the blood. He'd taken out three other agents – two women and
a man – during that time. He was fairly sure they'd been hostile,
but by then he'd have killed anyone he didn't know who'd tried to
come close, and he'd heard firing in other parts of the building;
echoing gunshots and screams, and an explosion, too close for comfort. Then Duo had been there again, and Heero, and Noin,
and two medical officers. He hadn't left Zechs alone for one second after that;
he'd gone in the ambulance, and insisted on being present for the
surgery. 'Oh, Gods. I just want him to look at me, for
one second.' 'Yeah.' Duo, who loved Zechs too, rubbed one hand across
his eyes. 'It – wasn't this bad on L4, was it? God, that seems
like months ago.' 'Five days.' Something like that anyway. Maybe six or
possibly four. The rebellion on L4; being abducted with Duo; Trowa
flying to save Quatre; global war imminent. It had all happened far
too fast to take in. Zechs being shot. Again. Not just once, this time. 'Five days, fuck,' Duo said. 'I was thinking that, that
this is different. I don't know why.' They'd been Preventers, he thought dimly, this time.
They'd worn the same uniform he had, taken the same oaths to protect
the peace. Was that it? He swallowed. 'This time, I really thought…that
he might not make it. I don't think I ever thought that on L4. This
time, I just felt so damn helpless.' 'You saved him,' Duo said softly. 'You do know that,
right?' He shrugged, leaning a little on Duo's shoulder. He
was exhausted, and he didn't care about anything in the universe any
more except that he wanted Zechs to wake up. 'Wu, was it … like this, when I was in my coma?' Wufei thought for a minute; it was something they'd
never really talked about. Almost half a year lost of Duo's life; a half year in
which Wufei had begun to know, to admit, certain things about himself.
He'd got to know Quatre and Trowa properly, admitted he was gay –
to himself and to Quat – accompanied the two of them to clubs,
once or twice, although he'd been far too uncomfortable to do anything
more than sit in a corner, nursing a drink, and hope no one would
try to talk to him. He'd taught Quatre how to meditate and to cook, and
Quatre and Trowa had shown him what it was like to be in a relationship
with someone you loved. 'Not really,' he said finally. 'The doctors told us
you'd be unconscious for months; I think at the start, we thought
you'd just wake up anyway, and then we realised that wasn't going
to happen.' He shook his head, remembering. In the beginning, Quatre,
especially, had refused to believe that his best friend wasn't just
going to wake up at any moment. 'The doctors said you'd be able to hear what was happening;
at least to know there was someone with you. Trowa and I never really
knew what to say, so we used to read aloud most of the time. I would
read notes from whatever case I was working on, sometimes, or history
books.' He smiled at a sudden, distant memory. 'Trowa was trying to
be more involved with WEI; he used to read you accounts and reports.
Business text-books, financial journals, that sort of thing.' 'Sheesh,' Duo snorted. 'No wonder I didn't want to wake
up! You could have tried reading something exciting for a change.
What did Quat do?' Wufei laughed slightly. 'He played his violin, a lot.
And he used to talk about all sorts of little things; recipes he wanted
to try, films he'd seen, the apartment he and Trowa were renting.
He used to bring you things he found in the hospital garden: leaves
and feathers and stones; all sorts of things. ' 'Yeah. I still have some of that stuff.' Duo squeezed
his hand. ''Fei, listen. I get you're still pissed as hell with him,
but that's – that's why I can't be. Not really. Not after everything.
I just – I can't.' Wufei sniffed. He didn't want to talk about Quatre Winner.
It was his fault, at some level, all of this. Quatre's, and Wufei's own. He'd persuaded – forced – Zechs to
be a part of all this, against his will. ''Fei, don't.' Duo slid an arm around his waist, pulling
him into a hug. 'Stop doing this to yourself. He's going to be fine.' 'It's my fault,' Wufei said, the first time he'd said
it out loud. 'He didn't want to be involved in this. I pressured him
into it.' 'No!' Duo said firmly. 'It bloody well isn't. If it's
anyone's it's mine. You told me to look after him, you trusted me,
and I let him run into a fire-fight. Fuck, he wasn't even wearing
a vest.' 'Not your fault,' Wufei said at once. Duo sighed. 'OK, can we just blame that bastard Barton
for everything and have done with it? Oh, phone.' He groped in his
pocket as it started to ring. 'Yeah, this is Duo Maxwell. Sorry, who is this?'
His brow furrowed. 'Yeah, I guess I am their guardian, kind of. Look,
can you wait for just a second?' He stood up, giving Wufei a confused look. 'Something
about the kids. I'll take it outside. Kiss him for me if he wakes
up, OK?' 'OK,' Wufei whispered. He knew he should be curious,
worried, perhaps, on Duo's behalf, but he just couldn't bring himself
to care about anything that wasn't Zechs. Duo was back in a few minutes, shaking his head, and
looking puzzled. 'What is it? Are they all right?' 'I dunno.' Duo sat down beside him. 'That was some guy
from Social Services; apparently when the kids arrived on Earth, their
names triggered some alarm somewhere. I couldn't really make head
or tail of it; something about their mother remarrying years ago and
taking them to L4 to live with her new husband. The grandparents didn't
approve, but she was their legal guardian, so they couldn't stop her.
But they tried, apparently, got the kids listed as missing or something.
When they came back to Earth yesterday, it set off all sorts of flags.' Wufei had no idea what to say. 'It's a good thing, isn't
it? That they have family here to look after them?' Duo set his jaw. 'The damn grandparents clearly didn't
care all that much, if they never made any effort to find them in
all these years.' Wufei nodded, forcing himself to focus on this new problem.
The children were part of Duo's gang now; part of the family. He'd
spent time with Nat, back on L4; begun to teach him a few simple katas,
given him books to read. And Zechs adored the little girls, and he
had talked about how he'd like to have a daughter, one day. 'Have
you thought at all about their future?' 'No, isn't that awful? I mean, there's never been time, has there? It was all about getting them off the streets, and then us all getting off L4. But I can't just let them go off with these strangers.' 'Of course not,' Wufei assured him at once. 'You do
know, if you want to bring them home, Zechs and I wouldn't have a
problem with it. We're both very fond of them.' 'Jeez, 'Fei.' He suddenly had Duo around his neck, half-strangling
him. 'Thanks, man. I don't know. I don't know how to look after three
kids, and um, I'm not sure what's going to happen with Heero.' Heero. Of course. Wufei blushed, glad Duo's face was
buried in his shoulder and he couldn't see. Of course Heero was going
to be a factor from now on. How stupid of him to have forgotten. Did
that mean Duo wouldn't – want to come back home? 'We'll sort it out,' Duo continued. 'These people can't
just turn up out of nowhere and suddenly decide they want them. Can
they? After all they've been through? We can't just hand them over
to total strangers who've ignored them for years.' 'Call Heero,' Wufei said suddenly. 'He's a lawyer. He'll
be able to tell you.' 'Good idea.' Duo brightened at the suggestion, jumping
up and heading back out the door. Wufei watched him go, noting the sudden spring in his
step, the jaunty flick of his braid, at the mere mention of Heero's
name, and smiled faintly, before turning to look back at Zechs. Duo was out of the room for longer than he'd expected,
and then he thought about it and wasn't surprised at all. Duo had
come to the hospital with them, leaving Heero at Preventers. There'd
been one brief phone call, after Zechs' surgery, but nothing else.
Of course he needed to talk to Heero. Still no movement from Zechs; he looked like a carved
image, so pale against the white sheet. Oh, Gods. He'd lost so much blood, spurting from his wounds regardless
of how desperately Wufei had tried to staunch it. He'd thought he'd
lost him once, hardly able to feel any flicker of a pulse. ''Fei! Stop that!' Then he had Duo wrapped tightly around him again, murmuring
words of comfort, begging him to stop crying. He didn't know he'd
started, had no possible idea of how to stop. 'Listen to me, Chang!' Duo suddenly seized his
shoulders and gave him a good shaking. 'You've got to stop this, OK?
He is going to wake up, and he is going to be fine, and he is going
to freak out if he sees you like this. Got it? You have got
to calm down a little bit; do you really want him to wake up and to
see you like that?' That calmed him down, as nothing else could, and he
subsided into Duo's arms, and just let his beloved friend hold him. 'It wasn't your fault,' Duo muttered. 'Blame that bastard
Dekim Barton. Blame him for running blind into a gun fight, or me
for not being able to stop him doing it. Not yourself.' Wufei pulled in a deep breath, then another, and another.
Duo was right. He had to keep calm. Keep calm and get on with things.
Zechs would need him to be calm and strong. Duo needed him now. 'What did Heero say?' he asked finally, when he thought
of it. 'Huh? Oh, yeah. Not to worry about it. Says the kids
are wards of the Sanque government right now, and no one can take
them anywhere. He says he'll clear it up.' 'Good.' At another time, perhaps, he might have felt
a twinge of jealousy: Duo clearly regarded every pronouncement of
Heero's as law, but he'd made Duo feel better. That was the important
thing. The only important thing, even if Wufei didn't really think
things were that straightforward. 'Yeah. Everything's good, out there, from what he says.
'Bits of isolated trouble; protests that got a bit out of hand, but
things're calming down. On L4, even. Quat made some official announcement
to the ESUN; Heero sent me the link. Want to hear?' Wufei shrugged, not terribly interested, but Duo passed
him the phone anyway. Even steeling himself for it, it was still a shock to
hear Quatre's voice. Not very clearly: there was too much static on
the line, and he sounded very tentative. 'This is Quatre Raberba Winner, speaking on behalf of
the L4 Colony.' As he spoke, his voice firmed, clear and bright and
chiming. After everything, he shouldn't get to sound like that. ''We,
the people of L4, appeal to the ESUN to be allowed to rejoin the other
nations of Earth and the Colonies and…' There was a loud, crackling burst of static and the
sound died. 'Is that all there is?' Duo nodded, taking his phone back. 'Yeah. Heero said
there was more, he heard an official transmission, but that's what
the media are playing.' He gave Wufei a look with a hint of challenge
in it. 'Fei, I called him.' Not a surprise. Not at all. 'What did he have to say for himself?' Wufei asked sharply. 'Not very much. He hopes we're all right. He's sorry.' 'He's always sorry.' Wufei turned his back on his friend,
going back to sit by the bed. 'How's Trowa?' Duo didn't immediately answer. Oh, dear Gods. Not Trowa
too. 'Duo! What's wrong?' 'He's OK,' Duo said quickly. 'Totally saved the day,
Quat said. He just – sort of collapsed when it was all over.' 'What? What do you mean, collapsed?' 'He's fine, seriously. Quat had a doctor look at him;
just exhaustion more than anything. God knows when he last slept or
ate properly. He was asleep when I called, and Quat didn't want to
wake him.' They were back together, then, by the sound of it. Hardly
a surprise. Quatre had only ever had to look at Trowa. 'The war's over then,' Wufei said dully. 'Pretty much, yeah. Still some resistance on L4, Heero
said. Barton's men. L3 as well. Nothing serious, I don't think. 'That's good.' It was, he supposed, except he didn't
care about any of it. 'Yeah.' Duo sounded as uncertain as he was himself.
'Hey, you want something to eat? A drink?' 'Maybe some tea.' He didn't want anything, really, but
Duo clearly needed something active to do, and it would give him a
few moments alone with Zechs. 'OK.' Duo gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before
he left, and Wufei moved closer to the bed, taking Zechs' hand in
his. He hadn't even given him a ring, he thought absently,
looking at the circle of jade on his own finger; hadn't even made
that small gesture of commitment. He hadn't even thought about it. 'I don't deserve you,' he said softly. Zechs had given
him everything imaginable, from the very beginning; had been infinitely
patient and gentle and loving with him. 'I love you so much. Please,
Mil, wake up. Please.' He didn't. It took three more hours, and even then he
didn't wake up as such. The monitor he was linked to began to show
slight variations, and then the room was flooded with hospital staff,
and he and Duo were shoved into one corner, listening to the rapid
flow of Italian. Finally, finally, the surgeon he'd spoken to
before, came over to them, smiling. Yes, there had been some slight
complications – she tried to explain but Wufei didn't understand
the medical terms, and her English wasn't quite good enough to explain
them simply – but his highness was comfortable now, and stable.
Well enough for a few moments' speech, if he wasn't excited in any
way. 'I won't,' Wufei promised immediately, and suddenly
found himself beside the bed. Zechs was the one, this time, who reached to take Wufei's
hand. 'I'm – not supposed to excite you.' It was the
best Wufei could manage, stammered out. Zechs couldn't really say anything, with the tube down
his throat, but he smiled around it. He was all right. Dear Gods, he was alive, and smiling,
and looking at Wufei with all his usual affection. 'You're an idiot,' Wufei said in a rush. 'You
ran into a fire-fight and you didn't take any precautions whatsoever,
and you weren't even supposed to be there, and it was all my fault
for making you do it, and I never got you a ring and…' 'Stop,' Zechs managed, rasping the sound around
the tube. ''Fei. Love you.' 'I love you,' Wufei said immediately. 'Oh, so very much.
Always.' 'Me too,' Duo said suddenly, at his elbow. 'Sorry to
butt in and all, but just wanted to say it.' Wufei pulled him down beside him, and Duo added his
hands to their joined ones, just for a moment. Things were going to change, he knew that, but for now,
it was just the three of them.
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