Special thanks to Lyra Stormrider, co-writer of this sidestory with Quicksilver.

 
SHIN KIDOU SENKI GUNDAM WING

SAINAN NO KEKKA
Reunion: Heero and Duo
Part III: Commilito

 
After Duo paid for their food, the two wandered back outside, looking around the area. Heero watched to see where Duo wanted to go first.

"What do you want to do, Heero?" Duo asked, sighing as he watched the shorter boy shrug expressionlessly. Not again. “If I get my way, we’ll be going over the fence and to the nearest strip joint,” he said, ignoring the fact that there was no way off base since he’d promised Hilde he’d stay on.

Heero didn’t smile, and there was a stillness to him that suggested that he had a definite opinion. “I want to see the Gundams again,” he said finally, in a soft voice. “I didn’t get to say hello properly last time.”

Duo looked at his friend before nodding. “Yeah, you should. I’m sure Zero missed you… and you need to talk some sense into it. It almost drove Hilde nuts on the way back from L2. Not very good manners towards a lady.”

For the first time in Duo’s acquaintance with him, Heero almost tripped over his own feet. “You let Hilde fly Zero?” he said in sheer shock.

“It wasn’t by choice!”

Heero stared at Duo with cobalt eyes wide. "You mean she tricked you into it?"

Duo flushed, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his head. "Something like that. Hil is devious when she wants to be," he admitted quietly.

Heero finally looked away, glancing up at the stars. "She's a good match for you then. You need someone with a devious mind looking after you."

"Hey! Not nice, Heero!" Duo exclaimed.

“No one ever accused me of being nice.”

The two walked in silence towards the hangar, enjoying the night air. It was a clear out, and the air was a little bit too warm for comfort, but both of them knew it would soon be cooling down. Around them were the sounds of the occasional vehicle passing by, along with the pounding of footsteps of soldiers on patrol. The walk was lengthy, but Heero had been confined to rehab, and Duo had been in the hangar he was about to return to.

Actually, maybe going back wasn’t such a good idea. If Hilde found out, she would kill him.

Heero glanced over at Duo, surprised at how silent he was all of a sudden. "Having second thoughts?" he asked quietly.

"Nah, just pondering how badly Hilde is going to mangle me if she finds out I've gone back to the hangar." Duo chuckled a little, looking at Heero. "Ah, well, I won't tell if you won't."

Heero shrugged a little. "I doubt she'd listen to me."

"Maybe not." Duo admitted. "Anyhow...you haven't finished telling me about what's been going on in your life. What about that Atsuki you mentioned, hmm?"

“She’s dead,” Heero said briefly. He remembered promising to tell Duo about Atsuki, but he wasn’t ready to talk about Atsuki… at least not yet.

“We’ll talk about it inside of the hangar, with the Gundams, then. Maybe you’ll feel more comfortable after seeing Zero again.”

Duo nodded and raced ahead to the hangar, going by the guards after giving the appropriate passwords, and entering his pass code into the lock. The metallic door rose in front of them, and they entered together, once again standing before the great machines that had shaped their lives.

Heero followed Duo a bit more sedately, hands once again shoved into his pockets. It seemed to him that everything in his life revolved around the giant machine he was about to see again. It always had, and probably always would.

It was as thought the Gundam had been waiting for him. The unpowered eyes reflected the dim lightening in the hangar, but Heero could feel the life within the machine. "Hello, Zero..." he whispered. "I'm sorry I've ignored you for so long..." He reached out at caressed the gundium leg, and wondered why he had ever left.

It was his life; he was Heero Yuy, and he had finally accepted it.

Duo leaned back against Deathsycthe's leg, arms folded behind his head as he watched Heero interact with his Gundam. He knew what it was like, returning after so long, and he knew that he should give Heero a little time by himself.

When Heero finally turned to look at him, Duo grinned and stretched. "Feel better now that you've seen him?"

"It's like a part of myself is back." Heero's eyes grew distant.

Duo tugged on his braid as he thought of something that wouldn't incite his friend. "You wanna go up? Run a systems check? I have everything in pretty good order, but there's some personal tweaks you'll have to make. When Hil went in, she shut some systems down cause of the damage Zero got during the Eve Wars, and you'll need to personalize him again."

Heero looked thoughtful before shaking his head sharply. "I'll...do that in a little while." he replied, looking up at Zero once more. He wanted to be alone when he did the repairs and 'tweaks' that Duo spoke of.

The long-haired boy nodded, not surprised by Heero's response. After he watched him for a few minutes longer, he gestured to the scar on Heero's face. "You ever going to tell me where you got that?"

“I... it was a gift. I thought I wanted it, so I didn't get medical attention..." Heero replied. His hand crept up to the scar and touched the puckered skin, wondering why he had believed that.

"You said it was from a friend," Duo returned, eyes flashing with barely concealed anger. "You wouldn't have let just anyone take a swing at you... was it Darkflight? Because if it was, I'm giving him a matching one..."

"No, it wasn't Darkflight. I had this long before I ever met him." Heero murmured, dropping his hand from his face. He was unsure how Duo would react when he told him who it was, especially considering how volatile the other boy was when angered. "It was...Zechs." He watched Duo carefully to see his reaction, in case he had to stop him from doing something rash.

Duo's list of explanatives would have been cherished by most delinquents. He ranted for a full minute on Heero's stupidity before taking a deep breath, shutting his eyes, and counting backwards from ten to one. After he finished, he looked at his friend with a bloodthirsty smile. "So much for Zen. I'm still ready to smash you into a wall for being such a fucking idiot," he said. "What the HELL were you doing with Zechs, and why would you consider a scar like that a gift?"

“It was chance... we ran into each other after the war. We both were pretending to be no one, or just refugees. He saw that I was trapped by all the expectations of the world before I could... and he did me a favor. He killed me... or so I thought." Heero climbed on top of Zero's right foot, offering a hand to help Duo up as well.

Duo took it without hesitation. "I think you're nuts," he said, settling himself back. "Then again, insanity does seem to be a job requirement for piloting."

Heero gave a lithe shrug, glancing at Duo from the corner of his eye. "You're probably right about that." he replied. "We all have our moments, don't we?" He sighed a little. "I thought being dead was what I wanted."

"There's enough people who die around us, Heero. We carry death wherever we go- none of us are gonna die of old age in bed- but don't go seeking the reaper. Cause if you do, I'll maim you."

“Your Ilene... Atsuki... maybe it'd be better if we'd die," Heero said, starting to become even more melancholy.

"Heero?"

“Huh?" Heero was taken aback by the utter seriousness in Duo's voice.

"Shut the fuck up about dying. Concentrate on living now. And remember those who died... what happened to your Atsuki?"

"I...killed her." Heero's eyes became more shadowed as he spoke, looking away from Duo.

"Huh?"

"She died in the attack on the base. It was my fault...if...if I hadn't called her name, she would still be alive." A slim hand came up to massage his temple. "I called her name, and she stopped to look at me...and they shot her. I watched her fall." Heero gave a very quiet sigh. "Another person who died because of me."

"You didn't kill her... everyone makes their own choices in life. She chose to be here, chose to take that chance. She was Quatre's sister; chances are even without you, she would have been involved." Duo paused and looked at the mourning Zero pilot. "You need to remember her, but don't carry any guilt for her. If she loved you, and I think she did, she wouldn't want you to. We have enough guilt for things that are really our fault."

Heero was quiet for several long moments before he turned to look at the other pilot again. "When did you get to be so smart, Duo?" he finally asked, with a very small hint of a smile drifting across his lips. "Sometimes...it seems like you're the only one that knows the correct thing to say. When I need to hear something...it almost always comes from you." Heero watched Duo, his tone that of wistful musing.

That's because I talk so often that occasionally the right words are bound to come out," Duo said, smiling sadly. "Truth is, I've grown up. We all have... or I assume the others have. I've only seen Trowa, since the war. Quatre was tied up with his legal battle, and Wufei was in the hospital... not where I wanted to meet him again. And then there was the attack..."

"Wufei brought us, Darkflight and I, to the base." Heero replied, glancing away again. "We...we were hired to kill him...actually." The Japanese boy stared at the far wall, not wanting to see the expression on Duo's face at this revelation. "I haven't seen the others yet."

"Kill him?" Duo said. "Why?"

"There was a contract out on him, from L1..." Heero answered.

"I wonder if anyone else took it... but I'm even more curious who had the contacts to pay to have assassins from L1 shipped in... and why Wufei," Duo mused.

Heero shrugged, a slight tension still in his posture. "I don't know. Assassins aren't hired to ask questions of their employers. All I know is someone on L1 wanted Wufei dead." He took another deep breath. "Even if someone else took the contract, they'll have a difficult time getting on base right now. What about those legal troubles you mentioned Quatre was dealing with? What's going on? I'm still...out of the loop with everything."

Duo accepted the subject changed, grating his teeth. "The world's hosting a Gundam Pilot Roast, and trying to serve everyone. Quatre's the first up, and if he fails, we're all heading to the frying pan. The trial... it's in three days, and..."

“Three days? I thought the attack had postponed it..." Heero said.

"They did. What day do you think is it?" Duo asked curiously.

Heero sighed, running his fingers along Zero's new paint job. It seemed odd that the Gundam looked so perfect; he was used to seeing his friend battle scarred. "I lost track of time... mid-July, I guess."

"That's about right."

Heero gently ran his fingers over his scar, mind far away as he thought over the implications of what Duo had told him. They, all of the pilots, were in for a rough time now that their identities were out. It was just Quatre's luck that he was the first one they decided to sacrifice. "It never ends, does it?"

Duo watched him. "It's odd, seeing you with that..."

Heero smiled at his friend. "It really bugs you that Zechs was the one who gave it to me, doesn't it?"

"Damn right!" Duo agreed.

Heero chuckled lightly, running his hand through his hair. "It's not like I could have tracked you down and asked for a scar, now is it?" He knew that Duo was still trying to understand why he had kept such a scar, instead of getting it tended to.

Duo smiled wickedly. "Have that knife still?"

Heero felt a sensation he'd almost forgotten; it was the feeling that Duo was about to suggest something really crazy that he's get dragged into. "Yes... and no, I don't need the other side of my face slashed open or you to reopen my scar, thank you," he said drolly. He'd forgotten that he could have fun teasing Duo.

It was about being human- that was the key to his friendship with Duo. Duo didn’t treat him like an idol or a weapon, but a person with feelings and opinions.

"You really think I'd do that?" Duo asked, giving his best puppy eyes.

I never know with you." Heero remarked, blinking at Duo. "Why do you want the knife anyhow? Suddenly decide that you do want to chop off your braid after all?" The cobalt-eyed pilot smiled again.

"No way!" Duo exclaimed, clapping his hand over his braid and staring at Heero with wide eyes. "I would never cut my braid off!"

"I was teasing," Heero said.

"I wasn't!"

Heero smiled at him, starting to feel alive for the first time in eighteen months. "Then what do you want it for?" he asked.

Duo lost his smile, and he became intense. Heero had forgotten how volatile Duo's moods could be. "I... I remember something from the street." His voice was low and level, but the intensity warned Heero that this was of paramount importance to the Deathscythe pilot.

Heero arched his eyebrow and waited for Duo to continue. If he was bringing up something from his time living in the streets, Heero was fairly sure that it was a serious matter. Especially considering how solemn and serious the typically genki boy was acting. "Oh?"

"None of us had family... so occasionally people who were very close would take family... blood brother. Mingle your blood with someone else's, and leave the scar." Duo seemed to grow almost shy. "I never had a brother before, and you're the closest thing I have."

Eyes widening, Heero took in the implications of what Duo was saying. “You- want to be brothers with me?”

“You’re the person who knows me best, except for Hilde. And frankly, I can think of other things to do with her!” Duo said, but there was a caution in his eyes, a fear that he was opening himself up to a world of hurt and rejection.

“Isn’t it unsanitary? Can’t you catch diseases from it?” Heero asked. The Breaks had other oaths, but he’d never heard of a blood oath being one of brotherhood.

“Sure,” Duo said. “But it’s about trust. I have a clean bill of health… you won’t catch anything from me.”

“I think you should be more worried about me… I’ve been an IV drug used for about a year.”

“I’ll take that chance… will you take that chance on me?

It was an interesting thought- you’d have to trust the other person utterly to take such a chance with your health. "Aa." he muttered, pulling his knife out and flipping it to offer the handle to the other pilot. "I trust you." He gave Duo a shy, hesitant smile full of sincerity and understanding.

Duo seemed like a little kid as he held the knife out. "Ever see one of these done?"

Heero mutely shook his head.

"I cut the pad of your thumb, then you cut mine. We let out blood mix and swear and oath of fraternity- and make sure you cut deep enough to leave a scar!" Duo warned.

"What happens if I don't?" Heero asked.

"You mean no scar? It means the ritual isn't binding, and you only get one chance to do it right."

Heero made a soft sound in the back of his throat, then nodded his head. "All right." He held his hand out to Duo, to show that he trusted the other boy.

The Wing pilot gave no indication of discomfort as Duo sliced deeply into his thumb, just took the knife from him and did the same to Duo's thumb.

Friends and brothers, to the very end of life," Duo said, pressing the wounds together, as the deep cuts bled together, commingling their blood.

"And beyond," Heero added.

"Definitely beyond," Duo agreed.

Heero looked down at his thumb, and noted that it was still bleeding. "We need to bandage these before they get infected." he said, glancing over at Duo.

"Yeah. We bandage each other, as a way of closing the ritual." Duo responded, fishing in his pocket for the bandages he always carried with him. More often than not, he managed to hurt himself while working with mechanics, so it had become habit.

They applied the medical supplies with the ease of much practice, and Duo looked at Heero’s thumb in satisfaction. “This time, you’ll have a scar you can be proud of, ototochan!”

Heero blinked. “Ototochan?”

“Well, neither of us knows our real birthdays, so I claim niisan!”

Heero leveled a look. “You’re kidding.”

"Am not!" Duo teased.

"I celebrated my birthday as September 14, AC 179. What about you?"

Duo pouted and muttered.

"Couldn't hear you," Heero said levelly.

"February 29, AC 180. But I could be a lot older- I just wanted a leap year birthday!" Duo insisted.

"And you call me weird."

Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero, still grinning madly. "I still think I should be niisan."

Heero laughed softly, shaking his head. Standing, he reached over and hesitantly ruffled Duo's hair. "Go back to Hilde, Duo."

"Eh?"

"Go spend some time with Hilde. I want to work on Zero, re-bond with him, so to speak. I'll see you tomorrow, I promise."

Duo looked at him before touching his wounded thumb. “Ah… gonna have to explain this one to her.”

“It was your idea, remember!” Heero said, staring at the hoist that would help him ascend to Zero again.

“It was.” Duo prepared to jump off the Gundam, but hesitated. “Heero?”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad you’re back.”

Heero quietly shocked himself when he answered honestly, “You know what, Duo? I am, too.”

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