untitled Deathfic

-----part 1-----

The last thing Duo heard was the sound of Deathscythe's supposedly 
indestructible cockpit window cracking. Then, his head struck the cockpit wall 
and he was knocked unconscious as Deathscythe plummeted into the ocean.

The battle continued high above the disabled and damaged Gundam. Heero, Wufei, 
Trowa and Quatre fought hard against the OZ troops. No matter how many they 
killed, more seemed to come.

As he fired at one Aries after another, Quatre was suddenly struck by a profound 
sense of loss. 'Huh?!" he looked around, trying to determine was it meant. At 
first it didn't register. Then, he realized that Deathscythe was not present. 

He quickly finished off a number of fighters in his area, then ran a search for 
Deathscythe. He located Duo's Gundam quickly and dove into the ocean. He found 
Deathscythe and retrieved the damaged Gundam. 

The other three pilots finished the battle and turned in time to see Quatre 
pulling Deathscythe out of the ocean. Heero hurried over, horrified. The crack 
in the 'window' was near the top of the cockpit and the tiny compartment was 
still filled with cold salt water.

-----part 2-----

Heero pounded, uselessly, on Deathscythe's cockpit window. Even cracked, it 
wouldn't budge, leaving Duo trapped inside.

"Damn it all to hell!" he swore, angrily. "We need to give him a proper burial! 
We can't just leave him in there like this."

Quatre considered it for a moment, then stepped up to Heero, putting a hand on 
his shoulder. "We'll just have to bury Deathscythe, too." he decided. 

"And if we get another pilot?" Wufei asked.

"Bite your tongue!" Heero proclaimed. "Duo was irreplaceable."

"But we do...?" Wufei asked. "Just hypothetically. Then what?"

"We'll get him a new Gundam." Heero declared. "Only Duo touches Deathscythe."

Since it would take too long to bury Deathscythe underground, a 'burial at sea' 
was chosen.

"Duo would be pleased." Heero thought as he and the others stood on the 
shoreline, watching their young friend's burial site as the sun set over it. "He 
used to love coming to this beach."

Heero watched the waves for a bit, very distractedly. It was as if everything 
that had ever mattered was suddenly gone. And for Heero Yuy, that was more true 
than anyone could have imagined.

After his initial mission had been aborted and it had eventually become clear 
that his 'handlers' hadn't really known what they wanted. His heart and mind had 
wandered, aimlessly, for a bit. Then he'd encountered the living angel who 
called himself Duo Maxwell.

Duo had pierced Heero's rough exterior. He'd uncovered the human being who hid 
behind the Perfect Soldier ice. And he'd unlocked that human being's heart.

And now he was gone, taken far too soon. His sweet voice was forever silenced, 
his beautiful eyes would never open again, though every twilight would remind 
Heero of Duo's gaze. 

//He's all alone up there.// Heero thought. //He was too young to know anyone he 
lost. We all were. I can't let Duo be up there alone.//

He turned and began to walk toward the water, intending to join his beloved.

-----part 3-----

"Heero!" Quatre grabbed the back of Heero's tanktop. "Trowa! Wufei! Help me get 
him out of here!"

"Let me go, Quatre." Heero demanded. He tried to break free, but Quatre wasn't 
about to lose another friend. "I said..."

'I heard you." Quatre replied. "Sorry, I can't let you kill yourself."

"Duo needs me, Quatre." Heero insisted. "I have to go to Heaven so I can help 
him."

"Why?" Quatre asked, quietly. "There will be plenty of angels up there to help 
him out."

"Quate's right." Wufei pointed out. "You're needed here, Heero."

"No." Heero shook his head. "I have to be there. It has to be me."

"Why does it have to be you, Heero?"

"It just has to." Heero shot back.

"Tell me why." Quatre said, gently. "I want to know."

"Because it's my fault he's there." Heero grumbled. "There, I admit it. I failed 
to protect him and he died. Duo's death is entirely my fault."

"No, Heero." Quatre shook his head. "You're not to blame. It was those OZ 
bastards who shot him down. It's their fault! Them and those doctors who forced 
us into this life. We should be in high school worrying about acne, and homework 
and the prom. Not throwing away our lives from someone else's ideals."

"You're scared." Heero accused.

Quatre nodded. "Yes, I am. Until Duo's death it was so easy to think 'Oh, that 
doesn't happen to us. We're the good guys. We're going to all grow old and have 
grandchildren no matter what we do. But now that one of us has been killed... 
well, no more illusion of immortality." 

Wufei gave a quiet nod. "I feel the same. But we cannot just give up now, damnit. 
We can't let Duo's death be for nothing. There's no justice in that! I won't 
permit Duo's death to be cheapened that way."

Heero sank to his knees. "Forgive me, Duo." he whispered. "They won't let me be 
with you right now."

-----part 4-----

Quatre and the others led Heero away from the ocean/grave. The four surviving 
pilots had tears in their eyes as they departed. 

"Heero," Quatre said, gently, "do you want anything to help you sleep tonight?" 
he knew it would be difficult for Heero. It would be the first night in a long 
time that the Perfect Soldier would be sleeping alone, without Duo in his arms.

Heero shook his head. "I'll be fine." he told the blonde pilot. "Thanks for your 
concern, however." 

They returned to the safehouse in a silence that reminded them all too much of 
Duo's absence.

"Heero!!!!"

Heero groaned. //Please, not her.// he thought. //Not now.//

Relena ran up to Heero. "Heero," she tried to reason with him, "don't you 
understand. That boy is a bad influence on you. What you feel for him is wrong. 
It's unhealthy."

"Omae o korosu." Heero grumbled as he turned and started to walk away.

Relena followed. She had to make Heero understand. If she could do that, if she 
could save him from what she thought of as his sickness...

Quatre put a hand on Relena's shoulder. "Don't." he said. "Relena..."

"I have to help him." Relena protested. "That... Duo... that boy is a terrible..."

"Give a rest, woman." Wufei grumbled, overhearing her as he passed. 

"I will not." Relena shot back. "If you were really Heero's friends, you'd want 
him to get better. You'd get rid of that braided..."

Heero suddenly stopped, whirled around, his face a mask of hate, and fired his 
gun.

Quatre threw himself into the bullet's path, screaming in pain as the projectile 
struck him.

"Quatre!" Trowa ran to his injured friend, glaring at Relena. "This is your 
fault." he accused her as he took Quatre in his arms and tried to comfort him. "Wufei. 
Call Rashid. Tell him we need Quate's medical team."

Wufei ran inside.

"What do you mean my fault?" Relena asked. "Heero's the one who shot him."

"He was trying to shoot *you*." Trowa pointed out. "Now please leave or I'll 
kill you myself."

"Give her to the Maganacs." Quatre said, delirious with pain. "They could use a 
little... relief."

//This is the pain talking.// Trowa reminded himself. //My Quatre isn't really a 
perverted sex fiend.//

He looked down and saw that Quatre had lost consciousness. "Hang in there, 
friend." he whispered. "Help is on the way." 

-----TBC-----