Short Untitled Fic 

"Duo?" Heero looked as Duo prepared to go out. "Where are you going?"

"I gotta get out of here for a bit." Duo sighed. "It's nice and all, but I'm 
starting to get cabin fever. I won't be long, I promise." He gave Heero a sweet 
little kiss on the tip of his nose, then left the safehouse.

"He's been acting weird lately." Heero grumbled.

"*Lately*?" Wufei was incredulous. "Duo's always been a little weird."

"Hn." Heero watched as Duo headed down the walk, then went into the living room 
to watch television until his koi came home.

*****

As Duo walked through the shopping plaza, intent on picking out the perfect gag-gift 
for Heero for absolutely no reason than he loved both practical jokes and the 
Perfect Soldier, he spoke to himself about how wonderful Heero was. At least, 
that's what he appeared to be doing since his loose clothing hid his pregnancy 
so effectively.

He felt the first signs of labor pain and slumped into a chair. He hadn't told 
the others about his condition, fearing they'd think he was too fragile to fight 
alongside them. Now he realized that had been a mistake. If he called them, they'd 
think it was a prank.

"Just have to get myself to the hospital." He decided.

He left the shopping plaza and walked to the nearest hospital. There was no time 
to get back to the safehouse and get Quatre's medical team. It was more than a 
two hour drive away and Duo's labor was progressing very rapidly. 

The doctor did not bother examining Duo. He was a busy man with paying customers 
who didn't enjoy having his time wasted by "street trash with stomach cramps." 
He gave Duo a few antacid tablets, muttered about how "goddamned generous." he 
was being and sent the Shinigami Pilot away.

Duo trudged along the highway, in too much pain to think straight, trying to get 
back to the safehouse. He was several miles from the hospital where he'd tried 
to get treatment when the pain became too much for him and he staggered over the 
embankment and into the tree-laden woods below, where he lay panting on his side, 
curled up in a fetal position, his screams unheard or unheeded as he gave birth, 
his body tearing open under the strain. 

*****

"He should've been back by now." Heero grumbled some hours later. He put his 
coat on and headed off to find Duo. 

He was driving along the highway, when he thought he spotted something in the 
woods. He pulled over, got out of his stolen ambulance, and raced back to where 
Duo's body lay, lifeless, on the ground, a newborn infant lying near him. 

"oh, Kami-sama." Heero drew Duo's lifeless body into his arms. "Duo, why didn't 
you tell me? Why?" 

Heero placed the baby atop Duo's body and went back into the ambulance to 
retrieve the stretcher. Then, he drove back to the safehouse as fast as he could. 
It was too late to save Duo, but he could at least save Duo's child.

"Have your medics meet me at the door." He radioed Quatre as he sped home as 
fast as he dared to drive with his precious cargo in the back.

*****

The medics were at the front of the mansion when Heero arrived with the 
ambulance. "In there." he nodded toward the back of the ambulance.

The medics were very stunned by what they saw, but they quickly composed 
themselves and raced Duo's body and the baby into the Winner Family's private 
medical facility.

*****

"What happened?" Quatre asked as Heero trudged into the safehouse, a combination 
of grief and worry on his usually stoic face.

"Duo's dead." Heero collapsed onto the sofa. "He... he..." and then he broke 
down. Being the Perfect Soldier didn't matter any more. Neither did his 
reputation. All that mattered was that he would never look into Duo's beautiful 
violet eyes again.

Quatre held and rocked Heero as though the Perfect Soldier were a mere child, 
tears coming to his own eyes at the heartbreaking news he'd just received. "What... 
what happened?"

"I found him lying near the highway." Heero heard himself tell Quatre. "His body 
was torn open. He..." he looked up at Quatre through tear-streaked eyes filled 
with wonder. "...he died in childbirth."

An hour later, after making sure the infant was in good health, the head of the 
medical team brought the baby to Heero.

"Here's your little girl." she told the stunned Wing Pilot.

"My...?"

"We ran some tests and you're the father."

"How...?"

The doctor explained to Heero about how Duo had volunteered for radical surgery 
that had altered his body, allowing him to conceive, bear, and ultimately 
deliver Heero's child. When she was finished, she waited for any questions Heero 
might have had. He was too shocked to ask them, however. 

After she'd gone, Heero stood there for a moment. looking down at his and Duo's 
daughter, then he rejoined Quatre, Wufei, and Trowa in the living room. 

-----Owari-----