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Previously posted HERE or check the 'don't lie' tag
Guys, this is not a chapter-ed story so this is the next section of the one shot. This picks up right where the previous section left off. It is STRONGLY recommended that you read the first section or this won't make much sense.
Here we go. This section is an additional 11,000+ words
And then Duo jumped off of the bed, tracked Heero down and made him explain him self—
—Is exactly what Duo very much wished had happened.
What actually happened:
He didn't even bother to look for Heero, Duo knew he was long gone. He did go check on G though, the aggravating old bastard was face down and spread eagle on top of his bed, snoring like a buzz saw. He wasn't even dressed for bed, which Duo was kinda thankful for (he definitely did not want a peak at G's Pajamas, whatever they might look like.) Duo got the feeling Heero has something to do with G's current state; he had never known the old man to sleep so heavily. In any case, Duo wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, he went back to the kitchen and made himself a sandwich.
While making and eating his sandwich to took particular care to think about his class work and only his class work. But of course school led to Hilde and that was one of the problems. Duo put his half eaten sandwich in the trash and went to bed; hoping Heero would be right.
***
Duo doesn't dream often.
Often he has visions while he sleeps.
He usually only remembers the most significant of either, but there are exceptions.
So in the morning, when all Duo can remember is the color of his own eyes, he disregards it as being unimportant.
After all, what could possibly be significant about Duo's eyes.
Interesting, right.
***
Duo had a lot to think about and he had absolutely no intention of going anywhere until he sorted out the jumble of his thoughts. Duo sent Hilde and Quatre a quick message telling them he was fine, that he was just taking the morning off, and that he would see them after lunch. Then he sent a second text just after that to say: no really he was fine; he just needed some time to think and don't freak out (because he knew just the first message was going to make them come looking for him). Duo didn't bother sending anything to the school; he'd deal with the fallout from that later.
Right then his job was to figure out what the hell was going on. Well, actually he knew the only way he was going to figure it out and understand it was to talk it over with Hilde and Quatre. He may have been able to put the pieces together, but they were going to help him actually figure it out. Even so, he was going to have to come up with the pieces to give them and that's what he was going to do.
So first off: Heero wasn't a vampire.
Duo didn't see any other way of taking Heero's words, 'I don't know any Vampires.' He felt like rolling his eyes, instead he went to dig something out of his backpack. Heero was still so damn enigmatic; Duo was certain Heero hadn't been lying with his last comment but why had he let Duo's misapprehension last so long. He pulled out the sheet of paper he had been looking for and took it over to his desk.
It was the list that Quatre had written up that second night. Duo look down all the points: fangs, eye effects, blood sucking... among other things. What does that other than a vampire? He considered trying to do another search on his computer but decided not to; that's what he had been doing last night when he'd fallen asleep on his keyboard, it hadn't been any use. In retrospect he didn't really know why he had expected to find something useful, everything had been movies and comic books and fiction fiction fiction.
Duo turned away, no that was not why he was still in his room, not when his two best friends were like experts of “freaky shit.” He was going to work out whatever the hell Heero was as soon as he told Hilde and Quatre the story; but first he had to figure out what the hell to tell them.
There was no way around it, Duo had kissed Heero last night; it had been completely Duo's doing and Duo was one hundred percent willing to take the blame. Logically he knew that he'd been unable to tell that Heero had rolled him the first time and it was possible that Heero had done it again but he just wanted to believe Heero when he'd said he wouldn't do it again.
Hilde was gonna have a field day; he really did like Heero. God, what a mess. Heero was sneaky and subversive and dangerous but that really didn't change how Duo felt about him in the slightest, he was still crazily attracted. Realistically, Duo knew some of it had to do with Heero's supernatural abilities but he just wasn't sure how much of it was the “magic” and how much was the man. It just seemed so ridiculous and impossible but every time Heero touched him it felt hot like fire. How could he be feeling something so intense? How could that not be completely fictional?
Duo genuinely did not have answer to his own question because he had no way of knowing, but there was one thing that Duo was one hundred percent sure of: regardless of whether his feelings for Heero were real or manufactured, Duo was going to be leaving with him.
Duo planted his elbows on his desk and put his head in his hands, shaken once again. It was scary, almost more than Duo could accept; he was going to leave and he didn't think he would ever come back. It was true and it was going happen soon.
What the Hell? Duo didn't even trust Heero, not really. What could Heero possibly say to him that would make him leave willingly? Well, he would take practically any excuse to get away from G, but what about Hilde and Quatre? Those two were his friends, they were his real family and he didn't know what in the world could make him want to leave them. He had been planning to go away for college but he had never intended to lose touch with them, but this thing with Heero... it felt... final.
There was a noise outside of his room, Duo picked his head up and listened for a moment. It was G, coming down the stairs, shuffling more accurately. Duo got a sudden flash, G was in a right foul mood and if he wasn't out of the room in the next five minutes G was going to come in and they were going to have an epic screaming match; Duo was moving before the vision had completely finished. He snatched the paper off of his desk and shoved it in his backpack while grabbing his jacket off of the floor in one smooth movement. He was relieved that G was unharmed as Heero had said but that didn't mean he wanted to be around the old man any more than necessary.
Two and a half minutes later Duo was out of the window. He would have gotten out sooner but he hand to make sure his computer was locked down. He knew G tried to break his passwords, not that he had any luck with that but Duo wasn't going to make it any easier; he took his hard drive with him.
Duo took off in the direction of his school, he was going to get there a little earlier than he wanted but there wasn't any reason to put it off anymore. He wasn't going to be able to avoid Hilde forever; he might as well face the music. If she didn't already suspect his motives for skipping classes this morning, it would only take one look at Duo and Hilde would be all over him to find out what happened. She was going to ferret the story out of him, the best he could hope for was to just postpone it so he wouldn't be spilling all his dirty secrets in 3rd period or in the middle of a hallway where the rumor mill could get hold of it.
School that day basically consisted of stalling the inquisition. Well, it was stalling his friends' questions, ducking the teachers' and ignoring everybody else. He was usually a little more diplomatic
with his peers but they were really nosy and kind of rude. Yesterday when they'd been fawning all over him and asking impertinent questions he'd felt kind of flattered, today it just felt irritatingly invasive and Duo wasn't in the mood. At least Quatre was there to run interference; they shared 4th, Lunch, 5th and 6th period (1st period too, but of course Duo missed that) and Quatre, picking up on Duo's increasingly bad attitude, spent most of those classes keeping people out of Duo's face. Hilde, for her part (they shared Homeroom, 3rd 4th Lunch and 6th), tried to break Duo's mood, spending most of the time giving Duo very arch looks as she walked by, which had them both snickering seconds later more often then not.
The day could not end fast enough for Duo's taste; as he suspected, his school day was riddled with interrupting thoughts of Heero. There was a particular time in fifth period where only a flash of the teacher telling him off for his inattention saved him from detention; he's not sure if Quatre noticed, but he probably had; Quatre was surprisingly observant.
“So...” Hilde said sidling up to Duo's locker at the end of the day.
Duo couldn't help the little smile that crossed his face as he turned to face her, “You're being persistent.”
“You're stalling, that means there's a story behind it, and I can't wait to hear it.” Hilde's grin was growing by the second.
“Point, but-”
“Oh no you don't,” Hilde said crossing her arms, “You said after class and school is over.”
“Yeah, but this isn't exactly the place a private conversation is it.” Duo diverted his attention to stare at the girl a couple of feet away. He thought her name might be Mary or something (he was pretty sure she had been in his Lit. class last year) she was eavesdropping, and probably thought she being subtle.''
Hilde rolled her eyes, “Whatever,” she got the girls attention and gave her a head jerk that clearly said 'get lost.'
“Have you seen Quatre?” Duo asked as the girl took the hint.
“Yeah, he took off right after the bell, said he had to check on something and he'd catch up with us on the way to his house, that's where we're planning to meet, right?”
“Where else do we ever meet?” Duo closed his locker. “Are you ready to go?”
“But of course.”
Duo stuck out the crook of his arm for Hilde to stick her arm through and he led her down the hall. They walked in silence for a while, mostly because Duo knew that Hilde would not let him change the subject for even a minute. For his part, Duo wasn't actually trying to avoid talking to her, he was trying to avoid being overheard, there were already enough rumors going around about him, didn't want to add to it.
Half a block away from the school Hilde finally said, “You saw him last night?”
“Yep,” Duo agreed.
“And something happened...”
“Of course, something happened.”
Hilde tightened the grip on his arm, “Something you don't want to tell me about?”
Duo sighed, fondly exasperated. “I'm going to tell you what happened. Chill out, Hil.”
“Oh I know you’re going to tell me, but you’re stalling because you don't want to.”
“No, I'm stalling because I don't want to admit you were right.”
Hilde, wide-eyed, stopped suddenly, letting go of his arm to shove his shoulder. “I knew it! Tell me everything right now.”
“I kissed him.”
“You made out!” Hilde said with glee.
“No,” Duo took her arm and started walking again, “I kissed him. One kiss, I stopped it after that and he left. That's all.”
“That is so not all.”
“We talked some before that, I'm waiting for Quatre for that stuff. Look I'm willing to admit that I like him but--”
“He's gonna be your boyfriend,” Hilde teased in a sing-song tone.
“No he's not. Hilde, he tried to kill me! We will not be dating.”
“Oh you said the same thing about me.”
Duo actually burst out laughing, “Accidental assault does not equal attempted murder, I can not believe we are having this conversation.”
“I can not believe you are standing here and trying to tell me that you are not totally enamored.”
“Hey!” Quatre called out, jogging behind them to catch up.
Duo smiled, turning around to look at Quatre, but his smile slowly slipped a bit; there was something... not quite right.
“Hey, Quatre!” Hilde called out, not letting go of Duo's arm. She hadn't noticed Duo's slight shift of mood.
“What did I miss?” Quatre asked as he made it to them.
“What's wrong?” Duo asked, still getting that niggling feeling.
Quatre quirked a smile at Duo and shrugged a bit, “I got a call from Lucie, my dad's home and he brought company. It's not going to be a good idea to go to my house.”
Hilde finally let go of Duo to face Quatre fully, “Really? Your house is like huge, your room is like huge; we will totally not be in the way.”
Quatre was already shaking his head before she finished her sentence, “I am going to avoid my house for as long as possible and I would love it if my two best friends decided to keep me company.”
Duo shrugged, he didn’t have a problem with going somewhere else. He knew Quatre had some sort of weird relationship with his Father, something about being the only son and familial responsibilities. Duo could totally understand the weird relationship angle, if not the familial part, so he figured that was what had set off his senses and dismissed the feeling.
“Fine,” Hilde conceded, “Where are we gonna go?”
“How about the library?” Duo suggested.
Hilde elbowed him, “No way are we going someplace where I will have to be quite, and thus cannot properly brow beat you into submission.”
“Now I really need to ask again, what did I miss?” Quatre said, looking back and forth between them.
“Let's figure this out first--” Duo started to say.
At the same time Hilde said, “Duo's gonna have a Vampire Boyfriend,” smug smile firmly back in place.
Quatre gave Duo a concerned look.
Duo covered his face and shook his head, “Ignore her, please. Hilde, focus, please. Where are we going, we're wasting daylight.”
“Is he coming tonight?”
Duo noticed Quatre seemed very alarmed suddenly. He dropped his hand and stared at Quatre who didn't look anywhere near as concerned as he had sounded. “Did I miss something?” Duo asked carefully.
Quatre blinked at him, “Is daylight going to be an issue?”
There was a pause. Hilde looked between the two of them catching the undertone. She didn't interrupt.
Finally, Duo said, “It's an expression. I don't know if he's coming...”
Quatre started nodding.
“And I'm not sure that daylight was ever an issue,” Duo concluded.
Quatre stopped nodding and stared at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Wait. When are you ever not sure? And what is that supposed to mean?” Hilde said, glaring at Duo.
Duo made a gesture of frustration, “That's what I mean. I've got stuff to tell you guys, can we figure out where we're going so we can get there?”
Hilde crossed her arms, “Well, Quatre's place is out of the question, and your's--”
Duo snorted, “Definitely not.”
“--is always out of the question. We could go to mine, but that's a tight fit and not very private.”
“We could head to the park?” Quatre suggested, “Unless that's a problem?” He looked to Duo.
Duo shrugged, “It's not a problem.”
“Let's go to my place anyway. I think I'm gonna want the ability to throw one or both of you out.”
Both Quatre and Duo stuck their tongues out at her, and then they all burst out laughing.
They had gotten a fair distance away from the school before Quatre caught up to them so they were relatively isolated. (Quatre lived on the swankier side of town, not many of the high school students had reason to go in that direction.) But both Hilde and Duo lived on in the city's suburbs where most of the other students were. To get to Hilde's house they had to pass the school again and head in the direction of the heavy foot traffic, which effectively killed the conversation. They mostly joked around for the 20 minute walk to Hilde's which ended in Hilde chasing Duo for the last block or so, Quatre stayed close enough to keep them in sight but not join in.
“Da!” Hilde called out as she opened the door. She waited as she let Duo and Quatre in behind her but there was no answer. “Hey stay here.” Hilde said as she hopped over some stuff in the floor and went to check further in the apartment. “Huh,” she said coming back to the door without her backpack. “He's not here. Maybe he had to go to work or something, I dunno.” She gave them thumbs up, “It's cool, we'll have some privacy after all and we won't have to cram into my room, at least until my Dad comes back. Grab a seat. You guys want something to drink?” She headed into the kitchen.
Duo asked for a soda and Quatre a water as they dropped their backpacks and sat down on the loveseat.
Hilde came back and handed them their drinks. She said “Aww,” but didn't make further comment as sat in her father's recliner. Duo blew a raspberry at her; he and Quatre were so used to her making fun of them on the loveseat together they rarely reacted, but Duo felt like making a fuss.
“Ohh, saucy,” Hilde quipped.
“All right. What is going on?” Quatre said, turning in his seat to get a better look at Duo's face.
“I saw Heero last night. We had an interesting conversation.”
“And you made out.”
“Really?” Quatre asked.
“Would you let me finish the story?” Duo glared at both of them. They sat back and Duo continued, “He triggered like a... memory vision or like a flash that went forwards and backwards. I'm not really sure how to explain it.”
“What did you see?” Quatre asked.
“'Heero's coming. Gonna Take, Gonna Save, Gotta Save, Gotta Take.' I found out what that meant, or at least the first part. Heero's come for me and he's going to take me... away from here. I don't know when it's going to happen but it's going to be soon.”
“What?” Hilde said, stunned.
Duo looked at her and he couldn't help the frown, he knew the more he explained the worse it was going to get. “I know you told me what I said at the hospital but it was like I didn't even remember it until that second. What he said triggered the memory and it triggered the vision; I could see myself leaving with him. I don't know when it's going to happen, I can't even say why, but I know it's going to be of my free will and it's going to be... before the weather changes.”
“Duo...” Hilde didn't know what to say. Duo didn't answer.
“What did he say?” Quatre asked into the silent room.
It took Duo a moment to drag his attention away Hilde before could answer, “He... I asked him why he wasn't being completely honest with me and he told me that he would but when he did, when I knew everything, he was leaving and taking me with him.”
Quatre frowned and looked away.
“There's something else.” They both looked miserable but Duo knew he had to continue, “I don't know what he is, but Heero isn't a vampire.”
“What?” Hilde asked again, looking that much closer to being overloaded.
“It’s just a hunch a got from something else he said; right before he left last night he admitted that he didn't know any vampires, and he wasn't lying. He left before I could question him. I was hoping you guys could help me figure out what the hell he is.”
Hilde scoffed and glared.
Duo tried to quirk a smile, “I know this sucks. I probably should have told you guys a different way.”
Hilde's glare intensified.
“But look guys, I know shit about what's going on here. I need help.”
“Why don't you ask him?” Hilde asked slowly like he was simpleminded which, fair enough, she probably did think he was.
“Oh I will. I just don't know when the next time I'll see him will be.”
“What is with you?” Hilde exploded, standing out of the chair with her fist clinched at her side. “I've never heard you say 'I don't know' so many times! When have you EVER said it? Can you even hear yourself?”
Quatre immediately stood and tried to calm her down. She shrugged him off and continued to glaring.
Duo paused, taken aback. He'd seen Hilde frustrated before, been the cause of it quite a few times, but he had hardly seen her as mad as she was. “This isn't...”
“What is it then?” Hilde pushed.
“I've never said I know everything, Hilde. I'm not omnipotent.”
“Oh don't even!” She stalked forward until she was standing over Duo, “You always know. You know when it's important. You know when it's matters. You Know When You WANT To Know. What is going on with you?”
Duo was shaking his head, unsure of how to answer her question.
“She has a point,” Quatre said tentatively from behind her.
“What?” Duo tilted his head towards Quatre but didn't take his eyes off of Hilde, she still looked dangerously close to throttling him.
“Duo, she's right. Ever sense Halloween, getting attacked like that without stopping it; Heero's arrivals constantly surprising you; even this conversation seems to be catching you off guard--”
“All right look,” Duo said putting his hands up and standing up slowly so as not to incite his girlfriend. He put his hands on her shoulders and said, slowly, “I think you are making a big deal out of nothing.”
She jerked out of Duo's grasped and crossed her arms. She said, “I'm serious, Duo. I need you to be serious about this too.”
Duo dropped his hands and looked between her and Quatre. “I don't even understand what you guys are talking about right now. I know a lot of things before they happen, and both of you have definitely helped me with that, but I've never been as good as you guys seem to be insisting. It's not like I see the details of a conversation before it happens, it's that I can sometime get the tone of a conversation if it's going to be stressful.”
“What do you call this?” Quatre asked.
Duo gave Quatre an exasperated look, “Of course this conversation was going to be stressful! I just told you guys I am leaving town with some guy I just met and know nothing about other than He Kills People including possibly me. I didn't think I needed to be more forewarned than that.”
“And what about Heero?” Hilde said, she sneered his name but didn’t put as much vitriol into it as she could have.
“That's what I've been trying to do, talk about Heero.”
“That's not what we mean,” Quatre restated. “Why didn't you know about him? Why don't you know when he's coming? What's going on with you?”
Rolling his eyes, Duo sat down with a greatly over blown sigh, “It's not me.”
“But--” Hilde started.
“No listen,” Duo said, reaching out to try and pull Hilde closer to him, to sit on the couch next to him in Quatre's former seat. She was still being intractable so he had to get up and bring her back to the couch; Quatre took a seat on the floor in front of them. Duo continued, “It’s not me, I haven't lost anything, I’m still having flashes, now more than ever in fact. I still avoided that fight with G this morning and getting in trouble with Ms. Cooley. Heero is the only thing that I've consistently been surprised by. It's not just that I can't tell when he's going to appear, it's that I can't even tell he's lying with any certainty. I've never known anything like that, anything I have the same kind of reaction to. So I'm asking you guys again, if he's not a vampire what the fuck is he?”
Hilde shook her head and looked away but Quatre appeared to be really thinking of it after a moment he said, “I just don't know.”
Duo frowned.
Hilde scoffed, “Oh come on. Vampires aren't even supposed to be real how the hell would we know some other mythical creature?”
“There are so many things that could be mistaken for a vampire... it's...” Quatre's apologetic tone trailed off.
“He could be a werewolf, a fairy, a selkie, a fricken ghost? How should we know, Duo? All this stuff is supposed to be mythical or fantasy. Why would you leave?” Hilde said, finally letting the source of her frustration show.
Well, Duo had already known the source but he still didn't have an answer even for himself. “You know I love you guys; there's nothing in the world I wouldn't do for you, practically nothing anyway. The more I think about this the more it's been scaring me because that only leaves really scary options.”
“Are you sure you're not being forced?” Quatre asked quietly.
“Man, it's possible, but...” Duo shook his head, “I know he was able to roll me, suggest me whatever, the first time but I knew when I was doing something that wasn't fully my idea. In the vision it had felt like I was... satisfied, like things were finally as they were supposed to be. I don't really want to think about what could make me feel like that.”
“Do you love him?”
Duo looked over at Hilde, she wasn't looking at Duo she was staring down at her hands, palms up in her lap. “No. I don't love him, I don't even know him, but Hilde...” Duo paused for a moment for her reaction but she didn't move. Duo continued, “But I will know him when I leave. I don't know if I will love him then but it’s possible.”
Hilde still didn't look up, she nodded slightly.
“I don't know what to say. I don't want to leave but I'm going to.”
“Duo,” Quatre asked, “why aren't you trying to see more?”
“Because...” Duo said, suddenly choked up, “the only thing I can think of that would pull me away is... unthinkable.”
“What?” Hilde snapped.
“If you guys were dead--”
Hilde flinched.
“Wait,” Quatre interrupted, “That doesn't make any sense.”
“It's the only--”
“Stop it.” Quatre said firmly. “Think about this logically. If both of us, if either one of us dropped dead this very second do you think you'd be unaffected?”
Duo felt horrified, “Fuck no. I'd be devastated.”
“Exactly. Do you think you'd be able to get over that in a few weeks? I mean enough to leave without any regrets?”
“No.”
“Ok then, it was your vision, man. Is that what you saw?”
Duo shook his head. He had maybe felt a little bit regretful but it had seemed more like justification, satisfaction; he had not been grieving.
“Alright then, so that's obviously not it. You have to try to see.”
Duo shook his head more fervently, “I don't want to.”
“Why?” Quatre asked, now his frustration was building.
“I'm scared, Quatre!”
“You're too scared to even try to see the problem?”
“Yes!”
“Give me a break, Duo. You have never... If you keep avoiding this you're going to miss the opportunity to change the outcome you’re so scared of.”
“Quatre...” Duo sighed and hoped he could explain, “That is the problem, this Can Not Be Changed. I don't want to see how it happens, I don't want to know. The more I know, the closer I am to knowing everything and the sooner I know everything, the faster I will LEAVE. Hell yeah I'm scared.”
“I don't believe you. 'Anything that hasn't happened yet can be changed.' When did you stop believe that? You don't even want to try--”
“This is different. This is real, it's going to happen and I'm not ready for it. Heero understands that, that's why he wouldn't tell me anything!”
Quatre reeled, visibly shocked. He said, “You trust him now?”
The next words Duo was about to say died on his lips, stunned into silence.
Quatre continued, “You don't even know who he is, what he is. He tried to kill you and all of sudden you’re taking his advice? You won't listen to me or Hilde but--”
Hilde stood up suddenly. “Stop it, Quatre. He's not going to see anything he doesn't want to, you know that as well as I do,” she said, moving to stand in front of Duo again, “It doesn't matter, when it does matter Duo will know. You will know when it's important, you always do.”
“Except if it involves Heero,” Quatre said a little vindictively.
Hilde threw him a poisonous look over her shoulder.
Duo stood up, “I gotta go,” he said, clearly troubled.
Hilde turned to face him again, “No, Duo. Ignore him.”
“It's alright, I mean it's not, but Quatre's right. I just... I have to leave,” he said as he moved around to the side of the couch where he had dropped his backpack.
“Stay?”
“Naw, your dad is gonna be here in a few minutes, we would have had to break it up anyway. I'm gonna go home.”
“Room for me?” Quatre asked Hilde. “I really meant it about not going home.”
Hilde frowned, “You will be staying on the floor, out here. My dad has the couch, good luck with his snoring.”
“Aw, go easy on him Hil. There are no hard feelings.”
Hilde hugged Duo tightly instead of responding. She said, “Just be careful. Watch out for yourself.”
“Hey,” he said with slight chuckle, “don't I always?”
Her grip tightened nearly to the point of choking, but really just holding him closer. Hilde said, “Now you really need to.”
Duo wrapped his arms around her and held on; he really did love her.
After a long moment Hilde loosened her hold. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and then pushed him away, “Go ahead, go home before I decide to tie you up and hide you in my closet.”
He actually laughed, a little of the distress clearing from his, “Oh kinky.”
“Pfft, you wish.”
Quatre stood up behind them but didn't make any attempt to come any closer.
Duo looked over Hilde's shoulder to Quatre and said, “Look man, I heard what you were saying.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I can't make any promises but I'll think about it some more.”
Quatre frowned slightly but nodded and sat down on the couch, putting his back to Duo. “See you later.”
“Yeah man, I'll be at school tomorrow,” Duo said as he reached down to pick up his backpack. As he grabbed it he got quick flash. “Whoa,” he said as he slung the pack over his shoulder, “I do not need a babysitter.”
Quatre's shoulder stiffened slightly.
“Yeah, I'm talking to you. You are not following me home like a chaperone.”
He turned around in his seat to glare at Duo.
“And don't you dare think about dragging Hilde into this.”
Hilde put up her hands in surrender and took a step back, “Whoa, I don't want to tango with a... whatever Heero is”
“Neither of you are,” Duo said.
“I just want to keep you safe!”
“I'm not the one in danger! He's not going to hurt me, what do you think you would do about it anyway?”
Quatre turned his glare at the wall, but wasn't actually backing down.
Duo snorted, “This is going one of two ways, either you're staying here or I'm frog marching you across town straight into your family’s loving embrace. I'm sure your sisters are already wondering where you are.”
All the fight dropped out of Quatre and he turned back to Duo, glare now sullen. “You need to stay away from him.”
“Oh, I completely agree with you except I think I've pretty much explained that I can't do that. You need to promise me you are not going to follow me tonight.”
“Where are you going?” Hilde asked.
“I'm going home, to G's house, whatever.”
“Then what does it matter if he follows you?” Hilde asked logically; she wasn't trying to get into the fight but it was really starting to seem like Duo was protesting too much.
“Because then he would come back here or all the way back home by himself and I don't want anything to happen to him!”
“So you see something happening?” Quatre said, jumping back into it.
“Nothing’s going to happen if you Stay Here.”
“But you saw something.”
Duo's eyes narrowed, “Oh yeah, I saw us getting into this fight only out there in the middle of the street when I catch you at it, and I will catch you.”
“You don't know everything, Duo.”
“True. But I do know you. Promise me, Quatre.”
Quatre sighed, “Just tell me where you see yourself tonight.”
Duo rolled his eyes but he actually thought about it before answering, “I'll be in my room.”
“Alone?” Quatre asked.
“I don't see Heero, if that's what you mean.”
“But you don't not see him.”
Duo quirked a smile at that, “You know very well that's not how it works. I'm not going to see the whole night unless something interesting happens. But if that doesn't soothe your nerves I'll definitely see you in the morning and we will be talking about this more tomorrow. I'll try not to harass you too much about your hysterics.”
Quatre rolled his eyes.
“Promise me you're staying here before I go.”
Quatre sighed again, looked Duo straight in the eyes and said, “Fine Duo, I promise I won't follow you. You come here in the morning and we'll all walk to school together.”
Duo blinked a few times then he said, “OK, but your Dad is going to drive us.”
Quatre looked away again, “Never mind, I gotta go home in the morning before I go to school. I'll see you guys before 1st period.”
“Why do we have to walk everywhere?” Hilde said, turning around to face Quatre and crossing her arms. “You're Dad's got a cool car, a bunch of cool car. Why can't we catch a ride?”
“Because I don't want to have the next conversation I have with my father in front of you guys,” Quatre said, turning an easy smile on her. “Get out of here, Duo. We'll see you in the morning.”
Duo shrugged, he turned Hilde back around so he could kiss her.
She pushed him away after a second. “Get out of here before I change my mind about the closet,” she said smirking.
Duo gave her a mock bow, “Another time, My Lady.” He threw a hasty salute at Quatre, “See you tomorrow.” Then he left.
***
Later, when Duo looks back at that afternoon, his blind spot will become very obvious.
***
“You've been thinking about me all day.” Heero said after falling in step with Duo.
Duo lived only a couple blocks away from Hilde's place. He wasn't in any sort of rush to get home so he was taking his time to make sure he could listen to his surroundings intently. He was about half way to his destination when Heero had spoken and Duo hadn't heard his approach at all; he'd had just been there between one step and the next. He still hadn't seen Heero arrive even though he was awake and ready for it this time; Heero could have flown and touched down beside him or materialized out of nowhere. At least Duo hadn't been startled or shown surprise at Heero's sudden appearance, he felt better about that, “So you read minds now?”
“Your thoughts are particularly loud when they are of me, they are very compelling. I'm not sure I would be able to resist if you called for me.”
“Why are you even telling me this?” Duo asked. He was so used to Heero being taciturn but now, when he really didn't want to know, Heero was volunteering information.
“You asked me not to lie to you; I am honoring your wish.”
Duo snorted.
“Also, I feel you should know that I will not be far away if you need me.”
Duo stopped and turned to face Heero. He said, “Why--” then he cut his own question off, biting his lip. Asking questions increased the chance of answers and too many answers was... not desirable.
“I won't tell you anything you're not ready to hear, I already told you that.” Heero was watching Duo closely.
“You don't know what I'm ready to hear, Heero. You don't know me at all, otherwise you would have skipped town without me.”
Heero's lips quirked up, not enough for Duo to see his fangs, “Perhaps I know you better than you think.”
“OK stop.” Duo said, but resisted the urge to hold out a hand because of Heero's habit of grabbing it. “I will admit that I spent a lot of time thinking about you today, but that is because something very intense happened last night and I'm still processing it. You are making that very difficult, in fact you are complicating my life in ways that I don't appreciate and I really don't want you around me right now.”
“And yet, I am still here.”
Duo glared at him, turned and started walking again. “You can leave any time now.”
“You wish to be mad at me,” Heero said as he fell in step beside him once more.
Duo opened his mouth and then closed it again, that was uncomfortably close to true.
“I understand your reluctance to trust me; I deserve that. I'm only asking for the opportunity to change that.”
“You're asking for a lot more than my trust.”
Heero didn’t respond to that. Duo tried to look at him out of the corner of his eye but Heero’s face seemed shadowed again, he couldn’t get a good look at his expression. Duo sighed, it was so frustrating to be this unsure about everything, every action he could take leading him into a blind spot. How could he possibly avoid the undesirable outcome if he couldn’t see the decisions that lead him there? This was all Heero’s fault, every time he was around Duo’s sense of certainty went right out the window; he was like a walking obfuscation. Maybe if he could get away from Heero –
“Duo.”
Duo didn’t exactly jump at Heero’s voice, but it was a near thing. He did wince though, how had he forgotten so quickly that Heero could hear his thoughts? “Could you not do that? I mean that’s like a huge violation of privacy. I don’t want you in my head.”
“You have misunderstood. I am only here because of you, because you wanted me to be here. And if you try to send me away now, you will surely call me back to you before the night’s end.” Duo opened his mouth to protest but Heero continued, “You have so many questions and yet you refuse to ask them; it’s causing a conflict within you that is very distracting to me. By being here I can offer some relief to us both.”
They were around the corner from G’s house now and Duo definitely didn’t want Heero anywhere near his bedroom again. He stopped and backed up a few steps to lean against a low brick wall. “I really don’t--”
“I am not in your head, Duo, you are in mine.”
“What?” Duo asked, although he was perfectly sure he had heard Heero correctly.
Heero had backed up to stand at Duo’s shoulder, turned slightly towards him so that he could look Duo in the eyes when he spoke. Duo quickly dipped his head and focused his eyes on Heero’s chest, still weary of the effect Heero’s eyes had on him. Heero said, “I am not reading your mind; you are projecting thoughts at me. I hear them as whispers, feelings and impressions; not complete, but enough to understand intent, particularly when you think directly of me which has been frequently today. Every time you think of me I feel the pull of it, even when it is to curse my name. I know some of this is because of your confusion, I wish to ease that burden. Ask your questions Duo, I will answer what I can.”
“I’m not…” Duo rubbed his face, “How is this even possible? I’m not trying to project thoughts at you. I don’t even want to. What did you do? This has got to be your fault.”
Duo could hear the amusement in Heero’s voice. “I have done many things. However, this particular one is not my doing.”
He glared at the center of Heero’s chest, “Oh Bullshit. I’m not projecting thoughts at anyone else. It’s gotta be something you did.”
“I think it more likely that you have been projecting your thoughts for some time and that I am simply the first person you have met with the capacity to hear them.”
“Oh great,” Duo said, leaning back to stare out at the street, “Can't you just... stop listening or something?” Duo said, knowing it was a useless request even as he made it.
“Can you turn off your ability to hear?”
Duo rolled his eyes; of course that was his response.
“I do not wish to stop it. I want you to be able to reach me.”
It was on the tip of Duo’s tongue to ask why; for what reason would Heero even think Duo would want to call him… but of course any answer to that question was undesirable as well.
The situation was maddening; he didn’t want to ask any questions because he didn’t want to hasten his departure, his departure which was inevitable especially because he didn’t want to look for a way to stop it, because that would just make it happened sooner. There was nothing right about this situation, his thoughts circled back to the argument he had just had with his friends; Hilde’s frustration with his unwillingness to look for a way to stop this, the look on Quatre’s face when he’s said Heero understood him.
Quatre’s words came back to him just then, ‘You trust him now? ...you’re taking his advice?’ Quatre’s shock and anger, how Hilde had seemed mad to the point of tears. God they were right! They were both right, what the hell was wrong with him?
Any time he thought about the cause of the problem everything came back to Heero. All the answers, Heero had them; Heero was controlling the information; Heero had all the cards and Duo was letting him get away with it! This murderous stranger he did even know yet he was trusting with all of this power over him how could he have let this happened!
“Who Are You?” the question burst out of him in a furious rush, he hadn’t even intended to say it.
Heero, who had stood there patiently as Duo worked through his inner turmoil, answered simply, “I am Heero Yuy.”
Duo actually growled at that, “That is so not helpful. You are such an asshole. You know that’s not what I meant; I already know your name. Is that supposed to mean something to me, is there some other meaning I’m missing?”
“No,” Heero said, “I suppose not. But that remains the answer to your question.”
Duo rolled his eyes, “Are you trying to tell me I'm asking the wrong questions?”
“No, it means I am Heero Yuy. It is who I've always been and that has never changed.”
“Changed...” Duo mulled on that word for a moment, and then he said, “You mean you changed from what you were?”
“Certainly I've changed, all living things do.”
Duo jumped on that, “So you're alive, living I mean.”
“Obviously,” Heero said, Duo could hear the amusement in his voice again.
That soured Duo's mood a bit, “Yesterday when you left you said you didn't know any Vampires, I thought you were including yourself in the statement, I guess I was right.”
“Well, I may have wanted you to have that impression,” Heero admitted.
“Why?”
“It seemed easier.”
“Easier?” Duo said incredulously, “Easier than what?”
“Easier than telling the truth.”
Duo’s eyes narrowed at that, “I don’t like being lied to.”
“And now that I know it is important to you I have stopped doing so.”
Duo rolled his eyes, “No one likes being lied to, that’s a pretty solid assumption.”
“I… don’t think that is accurate.” Heero hesitated, weighing his words, “Most people seem to prefer a lie, if the truth is undesirable.”
Duo wasn’t quite sure if Heero had meant to direct that at him but he sure enough felt the sting of the comment; after all, Duo had been pretty quick to back off of this 'truth' fascination once he figured out he had something to lose. “Well, was it undesirable? The truth you've been avoiding telling me?”
“It's...complicated.” Heero answered clear hesitation in his tone.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I am reluctant to get into the details because it has something to do with why I came here.”
“I thought you came here for me,” Duo said, risking a glance at Heero's face.
“No,” Heero answered, watching Duo intently.
That surprised Duo, he looked away quickly. Heero and he had been supposed to meet, he was sure of that. Their meeting on Halloween had that same sort of fixed-in-time feeling as their leaving together, maybe not as strong, but it was there. Duo had just assumed that since they were supposed meet, Heero had come to meet him.
“I did not come here for you, I’m staying because of you,” Heero elaborated.
“But you’re not staying. You’re planning on leaving and you want me to go with you.”
“We will both need to leave,” Heero confirmed. “What I am… It has something to do with why I came here and why we will leave. Let it rest for now, we will discuss it at another time.”
Duo shivered slightly. It was early November, the weather was still temperate but it was night and the temperature had been dropping slowly the entire time they'd been talking.
“You should be inside. I-- ”
Duo shook his head and interrupted, “No way are you getting out of this conversation you didn't even answer any questions.”
“That was not my intention. I simply meant it is getting colder and it would be more comfortable indoors. I am not attempting to avoid the topic, I will continue this conversation with you however I was under the distinct impression you did not want me to follow you home.--”
“Ya think?”
Heero continued as if Duo hadn't spoken, “However, if you prefer we can instead go where I have taken shelter.”
Duo burst out laughing, “No way in hell am I spending the night with you.”
“What?”
“Oh please, you wanna take me back to your place? Really? Nice try.”
“Ah, no.” Heero said, catching onto Duo's meaning. “It's just a place to take shelter from the elements. It has no real amenities to speak of, not even a bed. It is certainly not a place I would take you for intimacy.”
“It's really more of being alone with you.”
“Duo,” Heero said, smoothly turning to step in front of him and tilted his chin up to lock eyes, “We are alone right now.”
Duo gasped, heart racing suddenly; Heero was so close and beautiful and not even inches away and all he wanted was for Heero to kiss him, kiss him 'Kiss Me!'
But Heero didn't. He twitched at that last thought but made no further move. As that moment stretched out Duo realized Heero was going to wait it out. It was going to be up to Duo to either close that final distance or push him away.
“Stop,” Duo said quietly, whispered.
Instantly Heero was away from him; a perfect three feet of personal space like Heero almost kissing him had been a figment of his imagination.
Duo shuddered, took a deep steadying breath to try to calm down, then looked at Heero, “What was that?” He said, carefully keeping the accusation out of his tone.
“You wanted me to kiss you,” Heero answered calmly, he looked unruffled but there was something about his posture that was untruthful. Duo could see the lie but he didn't understand what the lie was.
“You wanted to kiss me,” Duo argued, mentally scrambling to get a hold of himself and an understanding of the situation.
“I did,” Heero agreed.
“Then what--”
“You wanted me to kiss you but I wanted you to kiss me more.”
“Ok? So why didn't we kiss just now?” Duo asked, feeling more and more weird-ed out that he could see truth in posture which... what? Since when had he been able to do that?
Heero smiled, it was self-depreciating and totally honest; Duo had to look away from him. Heero said, “You're still under the impression that I can make you do something you don't want to, that has never been true. The reverse however, is very evident.”
“What? Are you trying to tell me I can make you do things?”
“We should continue this conversation inside,” Heero said instead of answering.
“Oh my God! Stop avoiding answers!” Duo glared at Heero's chest again, “I don't care about the weather; it's not bothering me and I've never so much as had a runny nose. Just answer the question! Did you just say I have control over you?”
“Yes; in a way.”
“In what way? I can't... I've never... I don't even know how to cast a Suggestion, or any spell for that matter.”
“Not a Suggestion, you have me Charmed,” Heero corrected.
Duo could hear the capital letter and realized that Heero wasn't calling him charming but actually naming something Duo had done to him. But he still didn't understand, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you have me at a disadvantage, but its fine. I believe it will make things easier, except in situations like we were just in.”
“Ok, no. That's totally not an answer. Go back to the part where I can make You do things?”
“You have me Charmed,” Heero repeated, “It means I am susceptible to your will and your desires, I can not harm you unless it is to defend my life. You can order me to action and I will obey.”
“I...” Duo said, momentarily struck speechless, “How...?”
“It was the result of taking your blood.”
“Riiiight. Well, assuming I believe any of this,” he said, tone heavily implying he did not, “If I wanted you to kiss me and you have to follow my orders or whatever, why didn't you kiss me?”
“You did not give me an order. I am susceptible to your will but I can disobey even a direct order if I believe it harmful or against my best interest.”
That stung a bit in a way he couldn't define, hearing Heero imply kissing him would be against his best interest. “But you did want to kiss me, right?” And then wanted to kick himself for how insecure and needy that had sounded, he wasn't even supposed to want to kiss Heero in the first place.
“If I had kissed you, then what would have happened?”
The question startled Duo out of his self-recriminations. “Ah, we would have kissed?” he answered logically.
“After that?”
“Uh, I wasn't thinking that far ahead,” Duo admitted.
“I was. Or more specifically I was thinking back to the last time we kissed. Do you remember what you said after that?” Heero asked patiently.
“I-,” Duo thought about it for a moment, “I apologized. Heero, I kissed you yesterday too.”
“You did,” Heero agreed, “And you said it was a mistake and you had a girlfriend. If I had kissed you after you told me that you would have correctly assumed I am forcing you into these situations and taking advantage of you.”
“How could that be true if I’m the one making you do things?”
“You are not forcing us into these situations, I am. It's not intentional but it will continue happening incidentally simply by being close to you. If it were just a matter of my attraction to you, I might have the strength of character to honor your wish to be left alone, but there is more than that at stake. And I would be taking advantage of you if I used these situations to disregard your wishes and force myself on you.
“Oh,” was all Duo could say to that.
“I do want you, but not at the cost of your trust, which I have already damaged. So if anything is to happen between us it will be your doing and not by an accident or misunderstanding.”
“I wouldn't hold my breath for that if I were you.” Duo said, crossing his arms. “My life is not some cheap Romance novel; I'm not going to throw myself at you just because you're cute. In fact I'm still kinda sore about you ripping my throat out. I will admit that I am very attracted to you, but that's about your least important quality right now.”
“If that's the way you truly feel about it I will accept that. But I am willing to bet you will change your mind, you are the one projecting thoughts at me after all. And,” Heero paused then, Duo look up to see the small sly looking smile cross his face, “there is the fact our very natures draw us together, I need only to wait.”
“Gah,” Duo said, disgusted, “You're such an asshole, you know that?”
Heero nodded solemnly, “So you've said. I never said I was a good guy, but I did tell you this would be unfair to you.”
Duo sighed, “You did say that.”
“I promise I'm not putting you through this for my amusement.”
“Really? Why are you putting me through this then? What's your reason?” Duo gave Heero an expectant look.
Heero stared back at him for a long moment, clear evaluative look in his expression. Just when Duo thought Heero was going to blow off the question, Heero said, “To save you.”
Again, Duo was struck by that same sense of vertigo; That dizzying sensation of overwhelming Truth and how it again synced into the prophecy. Again it triggered a vision, but this time it instead of clarity it was blank. Gray space, gray time, most troubling of all was that he could not even get a sense of himself within the vision. He could always tell how his vision affected him before, even if he was not in the vision itself, this time there was nothing.
“What the Hell?” Duo said as he fell back into himself.
“Are you alright?” Heero said taking a step closer since he had jumped back from their near kiss, concern written all over him.
“No, I'm not alright.” Duo said, bewildered and outraged. “What the Hell? What are you supposed to save me from?”
Heero stopped his advance and shook his head. “No. It's not time for you to know that yet.”
That only increased Duo's outrage. He took a step forward, and in his sternest tone said, “Heero--”
“DO NOT!” Heero roared, made all the more frightening by his bared fangs and glowing eyes as all the times he had bitten Duo before.
Duo shrank back from him; retreat hampered by the low brick wall a step away.
Heero took a deep shuddering breath and the glow faded from his eyes, but his fangs remained. He said, “Do not order me to tell you this thing now. To inform you of the source will bring the danger down on you all the more quickly and you are not ready. I believe you are in no danger now, I will tell you when it is time if you have not figured it out on your own by then. Let it go.”
Duo didn't react, just continued to stare at Heero wide-eyed and pressed back as far as he could.
Heero sighed. He stepped back to his previous distance, sat down on the ground, folded his legs and rolled his shoulder to appear as small as possible, stared at the ground and waited.
After about a minute of neither of them moving, finally Duo blinked and said, “What are you doing?”
Heero sat up straight and looked at him, “I... Feared you. I apologize; that had not been my intention.”
“Ok,” Duo said unsteadily as he felt all his muscles unclench. This conversation was really taking a toll on him; he was unused to experiencing so many emotions like this. Usually his ability let him pick up on beats of conversations to the point he was able to steer discussions, even as far as ending them early because he'd already known the outcomes. All the uncertainty that Heero caused made every aspect of speaking with him a revelation; it was exhausting.
“Did you at least hear what I said?” Heero asked.
“Uh, don't ask about the thing?” He said yawning hugely.
Heero nodded and stood up. “You should...” he paused, noticeably changing tact and said, “You should go home and rest. We can continue this conversation tomorrow.”
Duo's eyes narrowed in suspicion, “That...wasn't what you were about to say.”
Heero's lips quirked to what looked very much like a self-depreciating smile before smoothing out back to his more usual expression. He said, “It was impertinent, I thought it best not to say.”
“Right, and I suppose there's no point in asking you to say it anyway.”
“It would defeat the purpose of avoiding it in the first place,” Heero agreed.
Duo sighed dramatically, weary beyond the telling of it, “Can I ask about something else instead?”
“Ask whatever you want, Duo. I will answer everything I can, within the bounds of what you can know. Just, remember there are some questions I will not answer.”
“Right. Well... you said you aren't a Vampire but um... what's up with the fangs and eyes and blood lust you got going on?”
“I do not have a blood lust.”
“Ok? I mean, I kind of figured it was part of your... cover? when you were totally lying about being a vampire, but you totally just did it again. If that wasn't a blood lust then what was whatever-you-want-to-call-it?”
“Sometimes I manifest involuntarily. It’s… I never actually drank your blood.” Heero said eventually, again noticeably changing what he had been about to say.
Duo had been ready to trying to make Heero explain what he had meant about ‘involuntarily’ but was sidetracked by the change in topic, “What? Excuse you; I was there all three times.”
“I only bit you twice.”
“Heero,” Duo said each word slowly and distinctly to demonstrate just little he cared about the semantics, “you cut my stitches with your teeth.”
Heero nodded his head in concession, “It was an ostentatious display. In my defense, I was still maintaining the rouse at the time.”
“And why was that?” Duo asked crossing his arms. “You don't want to tell me why you came, fine, but can you at least tell me what made you pick a vampire of all things?”
“I never said I was a vampire; that was something you decided.”
Duo groaned,”Oh, I did do that didn't I? Well, what was I supposed to think with the fangs and the blood sucking”
Heero looked at Duo curiously, he said “You weren't supposed to think anything.”
“You know,” Duo said, totally unamused, “You should probably stop reminding me you nearly killed me at every turn. Not that I'll forget, but it's almost like you're rubbing it in at this point.”
“No lies between us,” Heero reminded him calmly,
“Oh yeah? Lying by omission? Ring any bells?”
“I want to tell you everything and I will, but--”
“'Not until you're ready,'” Duo mocked Heero with a roll of his eyes.
“You know why I'm doing this.”
“What? To 'save' me? The only thing around here threatening to my life is you,” Duo pushed away from the from the low brick wall and started walking away.
Even as Duo walked away, Heero made no move to stop him. Instead, in a conversational tone he said, “I sought you out with every intention of killing you, but from the moment I laid eyes on you my instinct was to stay my hand. Ignored it; I was on a mission and no sudden reluctance would sway me from my course.”
Duo sighed at himself, exasperated by how Heero always managed to get him to come back. He wasn't quite ready to turn back, but he stopped to listen to the rest.
Heero continued, “It wasn't until I bit you that I realized my mistake and by then it was almost too late I tried to heal you, I did what I could and when it wasn't enough I took carried you back to the party and arranged for that girl to find you, but I tried to kill you, Duo. I'm not trying to hide that fact, I want there to be understanding between us, trust. If that means you need the truth from me then you will have it all.” Heero moved closer Duo then, placing a careful hand on Duo's shoulder, “I'm not going to tell you everything now, I think it's too dangerous and there is still more that I need discover about the full situation. I'm not going to harm you again, I'm going to do everything that I can to keep you safe.”
Duo had jumped slightly when Heero had touched him, startled because he hadn't heard Heero move and still thought he was several feet away. He'd turned slightly to glare at Heero so he happened to be looking right at him and could see exact how earnest Heero was been at the moment, or at least that's how it seemed. Duo turned to fully face him, crossing his arms across his chest to maintain the distance. “Don't you think,” he said a little frostily, “It would be easier for me to avoid danger if I knew what the supposed “danger” was in the first place?”
“I do not.”
Duo's sigh clearly telegraphed his disgust with that answer, ”No, of course you don't.”
“I want your trust, I'm willing to earn it. Right now, I ask for patience. Pa-”
Duo started laughing and Heero fell silent. Duo laughed until he was almost gasping for breath before calming enough to say, “In the spirit of this “truth and honesty” we're supposed to be fostering, I think you should know that I can sense the future.”
Heero blinked at him, apparently startled.
“I can believe I'm going to leave with you because I've seen it, I can even believe you'll manage to earn some measure of my trust, but believe me patience is not something I'm all that familiar with. And Heero,” he said, still amused but bitter and mean about it, “you might as well tell me everything right now. We don't have time for your games of intrigue, the danger will occur much sooner than you think.”
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
I can't believe I did it again, ended it right in the middle of the scene.
Anyway, expect this to be edited and reposted. I will not be posing this on AO3 until the whole fic is finished and we still have a long way to go. I expect to work on this before another 5 years passes, so hopefully I will get back to this before next October.
