Static
They went to a well appointed ante room where they were served the tea. Heero sat stiffly in a chair beside Duo's wheelchair, one hand on the arm. Quatre sat opposite him, sipping at his tea. Heero ignored his. The server left the room and Quatre sighed as he lowered his tea cup.
"Duo seemed happy and well adjusted to his new life," Quatre began. "When we spoke, he was optimistic about his future, eager to prove himself. I mentioned once or twice that he seemed to be doing too much, trying too hard and that he deserved to take it easy. He only laughed at me and pointed out that my position was ten times more strenuous than his. I replied that he didn't have hundreds of assistants to help him."
Quatre sipped his tea again and then put his tea cup aside on a table. His eyes went to Duo and looked very sad. "I don't know what caused this, but when I talked to him last, he did seem... nervous and unbalanced. Afterwards, I called Hilde to speak to her about him, but she was... evasive, confrontational almost. She said that she was his best friend and that she would take care of him. When I offered the services of my staff, she was scornful. When Duo didn't return my calls after that, I tried speaking to her again, but she only promised to pass along my messages and refused to give me any information. It was by pure chance that I was informed of his admittance in the health institute. Duo was asked to fill out some paperwork and for some reason, he gave my address instead of his address at Hilde's. My guess is that he was that confused already. I was sent some of his mental health reports, something that Hilde had obviously requested. I tried to demand admittance to see Duo, but I was refused. Hilde corrected the mistake and I was shut out completely. The rest, you know. He disappeared and Hilde called me trying to find him."
Heero frowned. "This institute, do you know anything about it?"
"It's legitimate," Quatre replied, but then looked irritated, "It's a community center though, and their staffing is limited. I could have given Duo so much more in the way of better doctors and nurses. Why Hilde would refuse my help and put him in a center with minimal care, is a puzzle."
"Control," Heero grunted. When Quatre raised an eyebrow he explained. "She didn't want to give up control of Duo. She appeared to be possessive to me and resentful of asking for my help in finding him."
Quatre frowned, but then he shook his head and stood up. "I won't try to psychoanalyze Hilde now. It's Duo who needs our help."
Heero nodded. "Agreed. I will need to investigate the health institute further and try to obtain Duo's records."
Quatre studied Heero for a moment and then said, "You know that I have the best doctors, Heero. You don't have to do anything more."
Heero felt a part of his mind leap at the 'out' that Quatre was offering him. He needed to return to his business. He had deals to make, employees to oversee, and a life to get back to. He looked down at Duo, slumped in his wheelchair, tangled, cinnamon bangs hanging in his face. He unconsciously reached out and brushed them clear. They were soft, tickling his fingers.
Duo stirred at the touch, though the drugs wouldn't allow him to wake fully. "Mmm, Heero? We at the mission site yet?"
Quatre was startled. Heero wasn't. "Not yet," he told Duo, "A few hours more. Try to get some sleep. I'll keep watch."
"Kay," Duo murmured and went deeper into sleep.
Duo trusted him. Would he trust strange doctors and nurses? Could they calm him by saying the rights words? He had run from one facility. The answer to those questions there had been no.
"You are welcome to stay in my home, Heero," Quatre said, as if sensing Heero's concerns, "I do have offices equipped with all the advanced technologies. You could run any business from them and be connected to any part of the world."
Heero found it impossible to look at Quatre as he said, "I think that I will accept that offer." He knew that he was showing his weakness, something that a soldier, or a business man, never did if he hoped to survive and become successful. He could feel his insides cringe and he could hear a derisive voice that sounded like Dr. J talking about retraining and how he was sacrificing everything for- Heero stopped those thoughts cold. He couldn't say the word. Didn't want to think it. Duo had never given him anything but a distant friendship. Heero made himself look hard at that. What he was about to do, what he was risking, was for that simple friendship and not for the buried emotions deep in his heart; emotions that were never going to be returned and were best forgotten.
"We were partners during the war," Heero said, feeling that he needed to explain, feeling that he needed to spell it out even to himself. "I feel obligated to make certain that he is being taken care of."
Quatre smiled and it was a too knowing smile. "Of course. I understand and feel the same way. Now, if you are satisfied with my answers, we should get Duo settled with his doctors."
"Yes," Heero agreed and pushed Duo's wheelchair as Quatre showed him the way to where the one time pilot of Deathscythe would be staying.
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Heero set up his equipment in his room and he spent a good two hours catching up on business. His employees were happy to hear from him and get directions and his clients were used to doing deals on the phone. It was calming, as always, and it gave Heero a firm sense of place. He lost himself in the numbers and the transactions, gave himself up to the rhythm of business. When he came out of it, when the last phone call had been made, he sat back and felt an emptiness that was unexpected.
Heero stared at all the equipment, all the links, all the things that he had filled his life with to try and replace the one thing that he had convinced himself that he could never have. It had been a way to avoid the pain, avoid the loneliness. It had been his drink, his drug, his computerized attempt to lose himself.
He thought about Duo being put in a bed with pristine white sheets. A nurse had hovered, making certain he was comfortable. Two competent doctors had been there as well, already pouring over Duo's records, what they had, and discussing treatments and tests. Quatre had been there, overseeing it all, and Heero had left, feeling that Duo was safe. Wanting to go back and make sure was ridiculous, Heero thought, but he couldn't stop the desire.
After three hours, Heero lost the fight. He went back to Duo's room, almost guiltily, thinking up likely excuses to tell the nurse to explain his presence there. Excuses died on his tongue when he saw the door to Duo's room wide open and the bed empty. The nurse appeared at that moment from the opposite end of the hallway. Heero strode to her and she squeaked in fright a she grabbed her arm hard and snarled. "Where is he?!"
Her eyes went wide. She held several towels and alcohol packs, the reason for her absence. She stammered fearfully, "H-He's gone? But... but he was secured, the door locked, how could he..."
Heero was striding passed her then, eyes raking every shadow, every corner, every possible place an ex Gundam pilot out of his mind might think to hide. Remembering Duo's affinity for small, dark places, he crouched low and checked the shadows under the furniture in a study that smelled of old books. He found Duo under a couch.
Duo cringed and moved back as far as he could in the tight space. It was Wild Duo, an animal looking for security in a confusing world. Heero kept his voice low and soothing. "Duo, you're safe. I'm here to take watch."
Duo was only an indistinct figure in the darkness. Heero heard him move before he saw the slim figure slowly emerge. Duo's face was moving from expression to expression, body tense and trembling. His eyes searched Heero's, needing something, begging him for it with that look.
"You're wounded," Heero told him. "I'll guard you while you recover. You have to go back and have the medics take care of you."
Heero watched Duo's face register understanding and it was visible when his mind grasped for and found a time and place. He was War Duo from one second to the next. "Yeah, I don't feel too good, Heero. I need some down time, I think. You sure you can stay long enough to keep watch?"
It was almost emotionally painful to see Duo's older face suddenly become younger, a fifteen year old with an edge and a humor that was out of place considering what they had been. It was the face that Heero had lost his heart to, the one that had been oblivious to that fact, the one that had rightly decided on friendship and partnership and left Heero wanting and devastated because it.
"I don't have any missions," Heero told him, "I'll stay as long as you need me."
Duo was relieved. He grinned and reached out to grip Heero's arm. "I know you're a tough guy and all that, Heero, but you're a great friend, you know that?" He chuckled in the next moment. "I know! I know! You're thinking I'm an idiot and we're soldiers, not friends, but I can't help thinking of you that way."
Heero had trouble getting control of his tongue. Finally, he said, "It's... It's okay."
Duo looked weary, but very happy then. "Thanks, man! Now, I need a bed and some down time. Lead on!"
Heero nodded and led Duo back to his room. The nurse wasn't there and had probably gone to tell Quatre and the staff that Duo was missing. Heero was glad, he didn't want Duo to panic and to change personalities.
Duo climbed into the bed and pulled the bedclothes up under his chin. Still dressed in his cotton pajamas, he didn't need to undress. "This feels good. Rich people's sheets. This place must be rolling in credits."
Heero said absently, as he checked to see how Duo had escaped the first time, "How do you know they belong to rich people?"
"They're soft," Duo said, nuzzling a white sheet. "Like Quatre's place. He always had the softest sheets."
"This is Quatre's place," Heero told him as he found the jimmied lock. He frowned when he found the bent buckles to Duo's restraints. Duo was stronger than he had thought. Duo had simply stressed them until he could slip out.
"I stayed with him a bit after the war," Duo told him thoughtfully.
Heero blinked. Duo had changed to Present Time Duo that quickly. "So did I," Heero replied.
"I wanted to make my own way..." Heero turned and saw Duo looking embarrassed as the ex pilot of Deathsycthe wondered, "So, did Hilde tell you I was here at the institute? I... She seemed to think that I shouldn't tell anyone. Guess she didn't realize that I was that nuts. Is my dog doing okay? I was walking him you know... when..." Duo paused and then his face simply went blank, as if a light switch had been turned off.
"Duo?" Heero went to Duo's bedside and reached out to touch him. Duo's skin felt cold. Duo was staring , his pupils almost dilated. Heero eased him back into his pillows just as the nurse, a doctor, and Quatre came rushing in. Heero held up a hand and they all stopped just inside the doorway. Heero made a silencing motion and then pointed outside. They followed him anxiously, darting glances back at the unresponsive Duo.
"What happened, Heero?" Quatre demanded.
"Duo escaped his room," Heero explained. "I found him. He needs a guard." He looked at the doctor and said, "He was speaking as if he were fine and then he went catatonic."
The doctor nodded and then went in more quietly to check Duo's vitals.
"I'm staying with him," Heero told Quatre. "Can you move another bed in here?"
Quatre nodded. "I'll have it done at once. Did he say anything to you?"
"He asked about his dog and then he became like he is now," Heero told him. "I think there is a connection. I think Hilde knows what that connection is. We need to talk to her."
"She has legal guardianship," Quatre reminded Heero. "She can have him returned to her care."
Heero paused at that, but then said, "She knows what kind of people we are, Quatre. I doubt that she will tempt us to act against her."
Quatre smiled grimly. "I think you are right. Should I call her or will you?"
"I think that I can be more... intimidating," Heero replied.
"That you can," Quatre agreed as he looked passed Heero into the room. "What does a dog have to do with all of this, I wonder?"
"He said that he was walking his dog and then... something happened which he hasn't been able to relate to me yet," Heero replied. "It's possible that he was attacked somehow, or..." he shrugged. "I suppose that we should ask the woman who does know rather than conjecture."
Heero frowned. Quatre saw it out of the corner of his eye and then looked at Heero curiously. "Is something wrong?"
"He sometimes pretends that he is playing with... something," Heero admitted. "The dog, perhaps?"
Quatre thought about that. "If he is mentally as stressed as he appears, playing with his dog might be a way for him to release that stress, whether in reality or in his imagination," Quatre suggested.
"Possible," Heero grunted, "But Hilde mentioned the dog as well... whatever happened, that dog was part of it, I believe."
Quatre was looking at Heero intently and there was a small smile on his face.
Heero grunted in question.
Quatre said, "I always thought, during the war, that you and Duo..."
Heero turned his shoulder to that thought. "You were wrong," Heero replied gruffly and went back into the room, worried that Duo would wake and find himself with the strange doctor. Quatre watched Heero sit in a chair by the bed and then his smile fairly glowed as he went to find servants to transfer Heero's things to Duo's room.
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