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Kyuuketsuki Duo
Demons -- Epilogue
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	Duo woke as he always, unfortunately, did, with no slow 
transition from slumber to consciousness, just an instant change of 
states, like the flipping of a switch.  Just once, he thought, he'd like 
to be able to enjoy those first few moments of fuzziness, and have the 
chance to decide whether to sleep in or not.

	::Good.  You're awake.::

	Not that his companion would ever let him sleep in.  He sat up 
to see Heero glide in, holding his pants, black and clean.  Duo's lips 
twitched at the thought of the mighty warrior doing laundry, but he 
accepted the pants nevertheless.

	"What?"  Heero seemed to be waiting expectantly at his bedside.

	::Well?::

	"Well what?"

	::You said we'd talk in the morning.  It's morning.::  (1)

	Duo blinked, trying to remember when he had ever said such a 
thing.  "Heero, that was some mornings ago."

	::And we never spoke.::

	"I thought we covered everything already.  We established that 
I'm insanely insecure, you're my walking security blanket, you're 
staying with me," -- wow, that made him all warm and fuzzy thinking that 
-- "and that I really really don't like Dorothy.  Or any of the demons 
I've ever met.  What did I miss?"

	::Why did you kill that man?::

	Duo flinched minutely.  "He was possessed by a demon and trying 
to kill me!  It seemed reasonable at the time."

	::Not that one.  The other.::

	He sighed, feeling that he wouldn't be able to avoid this one.  
Heero was a hunter, through and through, and when he hunted for the 
answers, he rarely gave up until he was satisfied.  "Fine.  But if we're 
gonna talk, we're gonna talk."

	Heero sat down on the edge of the bed, facing Duo, so that Duo 
wouldn't have to crane his head up to speak with him.  ::We're 
talking.::

	Duo drew his feet in and rested his chin on his knees, arms 
wrapped loosely around his legs.  "No, I'm talking.  You're thinking."

	Heero gave him a look that clearly said, 'So?'

	Duo sighed in exasperation.  "Look, you've got a perfectly good 
voice.  Why not use it?"

	Heero gave him another look, similar to the first, meant to 
convey, 'Give me a good reason why I should.'

	Great, now he wasn't even bothering to use his mindvoice.  "Come 
on, please?  I like the sound of your voice."  He appended puppy-dog 
eyes to the statement, and was finally rewarded with a sigh of defeat.

	"F--"  Heero took a moment to clear his throat.  "Fine."  His 
vocal cords were long unused, and his voice came out very rusty, but Duo 
clapped his hands in delight anyway.

	"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" he smirked.

	Heero seemed a little discomfited at having to speak aloud, 
having to remind himself to, but he forged ahead, refusing to let Duo 
distract his way out of this one.  "So talk."

	Duo pursed his lips in thought.  "I don't really know why I 
killed that guy.  It was just a spur of the moment thing, I guess.  I 
mean, when I first encountered him he was a filthy, slimy, sadistic, 
masochistic pedophile, and then after I returned the stray, he was still 
a filthy, slimy, sadistic, masochistic pedophile.  It's like, what is it 
all for?  Nothing ever changes.  The number of strays decreases 
negligibly.  The Shinma don't really care.  They just want it done 
because that's the way it should be.  Humanity as a whole never notices.  
That one human didn't even notice.  And it's not the first time that's 
happened.  I guess this guy just pushed me a little too hard."  He 
looked to Heero as if for approval.  "I just hate feeling like 
everything I do is just an exercise in futility, you know?  Makes me 
feel completely useless and helpless."

	::I know what --::  He caught himself before Duo could shoot him 
a disapproving look.  "Ahem.  I know what it's like to feel helpless.  
The feeling of futility.  Feeling as if nothing will ever change."

	Duo gave him an inquisitive, but not demanding, look.

	"My days with the Shinma were like that," Heero answered in an 
introspective, distant tone.  "I only really existed when my masters 
sent me on a mission.  I can't really say what I did, where I was, when 
I wasn't doing as they commanded.  They ordered, I went, I performed, I 
returned.  Each day, blending into the next.  Each day, the same as the 
last."  His eyes focused on Duo, and he tried not to squirm under the 
intense, deep blue gaze.  "Until I met you.  You changed everything.  
Time started moving again, once I met you."

	Duo swallowed.  "So how would you suggest I rid myself of this 
feeling?"  He exhaled the question in a single, soft breath.

	Heero just looked at him for a long, long moment, before 
offering a quiet reply.  "I would suggest you believe in someone, 
something.... That you just have ... faith ... that things will change 
one day."  He stood silently, without the rustle of cloth, without 
warning, and exited the room.

	Duo's eyes followed him.  "Faith, huh?"  His hand reached up to 
his cross, where it dangled from its chain around his neck, so often 
forgotten.  As he looked at it, it seemed dull and worn in the non-light 
of their abode.  He dropped the cross and returned his gaze towards his 
silent friend's exit.  A small, lopsided smile appeared on his lips.  
"Hn.  Faith."

				 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
				 some time later
				 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	"There's a stray.  I'm going to go check it out."

	"I'll be there if you need me."

	Duo stopped on the threshold and turned back, a thought just 
having occurred to him.  "Why?"

	"Duo, we've covered this.  I've chosen to --"

	"No.  I mean, why don't you come with me?"

	Heero raised his eyebrow with his usual eloquence.  "You don't 
need me to come with you."

	"Well, yeah, but...."  Duo shrugged carelessly.  "What if I 
just... what if I just want you with me?"

	Heero paused.  That was an interesting scenario, and he gave it 
some thought while Duo waited, patiently nervous.

	Heero shrugged his assent, and his partner's face lit up with a 
joyous enthusiasm.  Duo took his hand, and dragged him out the door.  
"Great.  Come on."

	They slipped through the shadows as one, arriving in a quiet 
alley of a non-descript town.  Duo looked around and sighed.  "Same old, 
same old."  As he had done countless times before, he tracked down his 
prey with his mind, and turned to his companion for confirmation.

	"Heero."

	:: ? ::

	"Why are you wearing that mask again?"

	Indeed, at some point, Heero had once more donned the mask of 
his punishment, although his power had remained free.  He shrugged 
uncomfortably, as if he weren't too sure of the answer himself.  ::It 
just seemed appropriate?::

	Duo put his hands on his hips.  "Would you care to clarify?"

	He shrugged once more.  ::It's as if... the mask belongs to this 
persona.  To this person that helps you in your duty.::

	Duo pursed his lips in thought.  He thought there was maybe more 
to it than Heero knew.  The mask was a convenient method of blocking out 
the world.  To be completely fair, they might also have an edge if 
creatures they would be up against didn't immediately know that the 
punishment had been lifted.

	"Fine.  You can wear the mask.  When we're working.  But when 
you're home, when you're with me, you take that mask off, and you use 
those vocal cords that the gods gave you, okay?  I get to see your face 
and hear your voice.  You gotta promise.  It's gotta just be part of the 
work clothes, okay?"

	Heero nodded once.  ::Promise.::

	"Good."  There's no way you're going to keep hiding from me, 
Heero.  "Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) Strictly speaking, there is no morning or night in the place between 
places.  When they say morning, they mean, the time after they rest, and 
night is the time before they rest.  And I say rest, because, strictly 
speaking, they don't need to sleep.  They need to rest periodically, but 
actual sleep, with its REM state and all that, is not necessary.  Duo, 
however, likes to sleep, so he chooses to rest by sleeping.  Heero 
chooses to rest by entering a light meditative trance, or just sitting 
there not really doing anything besides watching Duo sleep, but that 
will probably be at some other point in time.

(2) This isn't really an epilogue.  It's more like things that needed to 
be said and done that directly resulted from the preceding chapters, 
regardless of whether or not it actually fit well.  They would be 
interludes, but these follow directly upon what precedes them.

_________________________________________
This piece of fiction is the intellectual 
property of the little turnip that could.  
The basis for this fic, i.e. Gundam Wing, 
Kyuuketsuki Miyu, et al., is the property 
of someone else.  The author can be con-
tacted at jchew@myrealbox.com.  This has 
been an entirely automated message.
http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~jchew/misc/gw.html

last modified : 12/26/2000 02:00:44 PST