-----------------------
Okay, Now It's Personal
 ~ A Moment of Haven ~
-----------------------
	"Target sighted," Duo said softly into the microphone of his 
comm.  "Confirm Danforth, VJ, and two henchmen.  Office on the second 
floor."

	"Audio confirmed."  Heero's voice was just as quiet on the other 
end of the line, where he had staked out a different position with his 
electronic surveillance devices.  Duo was glad he didn't have to haul 
the equipment around with him in the tight alley where he was currently 
camped.

	There was a slight rustling sound as someone's comm got jostled, 
and thereafter followed the sound of Lt. Col. McFarlane's voice.  
"Confirm activity."

	Duo impatiently muttered to himself in his head, silently urging 
the men he was watching to finish making small talk and get on with 
business.  At last, money was brought to the table.  "Confirmed," he 
whispered triumphantly.  "Transaction in progress."

	"Confirmed," Heero echoed again.  Both audio and visual were 
required to make sure the activity taking place was really what it 
seemed.  During the night, confirmation had already been made that the 
warehouse was home to a drug lab and storage facility.  Rows and rows of 
tables bearing stacks of kilos had been sighted, enough to account for 
both the stash of this location and that which had been removed from the 
Atkins site, on which a similar raid had been attempted the previous 
week.  Somehow, the information on the raid by Atkins' team had been 
leaked, and by the time the team had arrived, the entire site had been 
cleaned out.  The McFarlane team had kept this property under 
surveillance once verification had been completed, and come back to 
finish the job when the major players were on the scene.

	"Incoming," another voice said.  "Two trucks, south road."

	"Maxwell, report," McFarlane snapped out.

	Duo might have been offended by his CO's tone if he didn't know 
that McFarlane snapped everything out.  "Four men visible upstairs," he 
recounted as he peered through a cracked window of the warehouse.  "Two 
men by the doors downstairs.  Three guys working the stacks.  Blue shirt 
by the door is armed, maybe a forty-four.  Shotgun leaning against the 
wall by the southwest entrance."

	"One man working in the lab," Heero chimed in without being 
prompted.  His current occupation extended to visual surveillance of the 
lab, which was a separate building on the far side of Duo's position.  
The two inconspicuous buildings on the outskirts of the quiet industrial 
sector of the town comprised a hub of what would be one of the largest 
drug outfits in the region if the Preventers didn't manage to stop them.  
"Two doors to the back.  Uncertain where they lead.  Somewhere small."  
He paused briefly to listen a little more closely to the conversation 
playing out in his other ear.  "VJ stash, confirmed.  After shipment, 
they plan to hit the streets on Wednesday."

	"Damn," the Lt. Col. muttered.  "Alright, men.  Recon, pull 
back.  Red and blue teams, into position."

	Duo hopped silently off the crate he had been standing on and 
retreated from the alley and to the perimeter, maintaining his cover 
without even thinking about it.  He knew Heero would be doing the same 
on the other side.  It was a tossup on how Duo felt about the matter.  
He had not been amused when he heard that the other team had been 
compromised.  They hadn't done all the final legwork on the case, but 
the investigation into the Veranti drug ring had been started by 
information he and Heero had unearthed, and he took it personally that 
some blithering idiot managed to make it all go to waste.  In the 
process of attempting to talk Duo down from the dark, quiet anger he had 
sunken into, Heero decided to stop being calm about it, and the two of 
them had strongly requested of their commanding officer that they be 
cleared for active duty and placed on the McFarlane team, which was 
following a promising alternative lead.  When faced with the righteous 
stubbornness only roused Gundam pilots possessed, the colonel chose 
wisely and relented.

	Colonel Shoenberg in no way rolled over for them, however.  
Although they had been cleared for field duty, their task was, as 
always, information retrieval, and hence their assignment to 
reconnaissance.  At this point, McFarlane expected them to pull back and 
sit quietly while the rest of the team went in to subdue the criminals.  
Duo didn't like being left out of the loop, shelved once he had served 
what purpose the administration deemed fit, but he couldn't be very put 
out by the situation, either.

	It was a fine balance of action and inaction.  They had their 
urges satisfied by being allowed to sneak their way undetected onto 
enemy property, and they were close enough to the action to personally 
monitor the situation and in particular make sure operational security 
was maintained, but they didn't have to deal with a situation that could 
possibly involve a shootout.  Heero wasn't the only one that brooded 
over the familiarity of a gun in his hand, or the ease and instinct with 
which he could aim and shoot that gun.

	Duo twiddled his thumbs as the operation was carried out, 
listening intently to all the traffic carrying over the comm system.  It 
was a Preventers operation, but it was carried out with the cooperation 
of local law enforcement, whose representation made up a majority of the 
team.  Duo found himself drifting closer to where the action was, though 
he stayed far enough away to continue his watch of the exterior.  After 
all of this, and on the second time around, he had no desire to allow 
anyone to get away again.

	The roundup was accomplished with a minimum of fuss, begun as 
soon as the trucks had rolled to a stop and everyone had gotten out into 
the open for the transfer of goods.  No warning had been given this 
time, and the criminals were caught unprepared for their arrival.  Duo 
felt a small surge of satisfaction in noting that the information he had 
provided had led the troops to subduing the armed man in the blue shirt 
first, and that a man had been sent to secure the shotgun resting 
against the wall before someone could retrieve it and use it against 
their men.

	When the men were performing a sweep of the warehouse to secure 
every last room, Duo joined the crowd.  The members of the ring had been 
gathered into the front lot of the warehouse, restrained and searched 
one final, precautionary time while the police waited for their own 
transports to arrive and take the criminals into custody.

	Duo spied his partner on the other side of the ruckus, and cast 
him a pleased smile before he turned to inspect the motley crew that had 
been hauled outside.  The first thing he did was count them to make sure 
they added up to the total he had observed inside the warehouse.  There 
was one extra.  He matched their faces to the ones he had seen through 
the windows.  There were the thugs, plus the one thug that looked 
strangely like the manager of the deli across the street from HQ.  Duo 
had always thought the guy was rather shifty.  Danforth was every inch 
the immaculate business man.  With his expensive suit and salon-styled 
hair, he was either the kind a person would never suspect since he was 
obviously such an upstanding citizen, or the kind a person would always 
suspect since anyone that looked that suave had to be untrustworthy.

	His business partner, VJ, was not nearly so tailored, and yet 
Duo thought he seemed less of a threat.  The man had a practical, earthy 
air to him.  Then again, VJ was rumored to be a member of the Veranti 
family, an illegitimate son of the patriarch.  Popular opinion held that 
VJ actually stood for Veranti Jr.  Perhaps he would be willing to 
provide information on the rest of the family.

	There was an extra face among the detainees.  Duo assumed he was 
the man Heero had spotted in the laboratory.  The thin, scruffy-looking 
man had an air about him, as if he had sampled his product a few too 
many times.  His eyes darted nervously from place to place, but Duo 
noticed that they always returned to his lab.  Studying the man's body 
language further, Duo got an impression he thought worth checking out.

	"Lt. Harris," he called to the officer closest to his position.  
Once Harris turned his way and cast him an inquiring glance, Duo 
continued.  "Has the lab been secured yet?"

	"The initial pass," the officer confirmed after a distinct 
pause, still a little leery of giving information to the unknown 
youngster.  "We'll make a final sweep once we're done with the 
warehouse."

	"Mind if I check it out?"  He headed in that direction without 
waiting for an answer.

	Lt. Harris stepped in his path.  He had dealt with dozens of 
young, cocky punks in his day.  This one was scarcely different, though 
worse, he sported a badge.  His grudging acceptance had been given when 
barely reassured that the two teenagers were assigned to recon only.  
The side arms they carried did not make them full-fledged members of the 
unit, although the police had been once again reassured that the two 
knew how to handle themselves in a fight.  Like many members of the 
squad, he questioned their presence, but tolerated it as a one-time 
deal.  The boys had served their purpose without causing any problems.  
Doing a security sweep was not a part of their purpose.  "Actually, yes.  
Your job here is finished.  Our men will complete the sweep."

	There was a subtle, but definite emphasis on 'men' that Duo did 
not fail to catch.  He quirked an easy grin at the older man, not 
letting it show how urgently he wanted to be about his business.  "You 
can come with me, if you like," he said, sidestepping the officer.

	The lieutenant caught up with him in a few strides and 
restrained him with a hand to his arm.  "What do you think you're 
doing?"

	Duo grit his teeth impatiently behind his lips before deciding 
that explaining himself would probably be the best course of action.  
"Look.  See the guy they pulled out of the lab?  His eyes keep flicking 
back there."

	"So he's worried about his setup.  Big deal."

	"More than that," he answered flatly.  "He looks like he's 
hiding something, like there's something back there he doesn't want us 
to find, or some surprise he left for us.  Don't you think we should 
find out if the whole building is about to go up in a giant fireball?"

	"What, don't tell me you're a member of the bloody bomb squad 
now, too," Harris scoffed.  "We already checked the place out.  There's 
nothing there."

	Well, he probably did know more about explosives than anyone 
else on this team, maybe even more than Heero, but that wasn't a point 
he was about to quibble just now.  "We can call someone over if we find 
something, okay?" he said impatiently.  He wasted a second to look 
expectantly at Lt. Harris before he moved around the man and proceeded 
towards the laboratory.  A few seconds later, Harris caught up with him, 
this time following by his side and muttering under his breath about 
arrogant, impetuous upstarts.  That was fine with Duo so long as they 
got the job done.  He'd been called many worse things in his time.

	He got to the door of the lab, took a breath to settle himself, 
then turned the knob.  With the peculiar skill born of long practice, he 
swung the door open soundlessly and took in all the relevant details of 
the room in a single glance.  The main part of the room consisted of 
nine long tables set into three rows spanning nearly the entire width of 
the room.  Lab equipment lay scattered on their surfaces.  Something had 
been in the process of brewing when the raid went down.  Duo was 
thankful someone had had the presence of mind to shut it down before 
leaving it unattended, but that didn't mean it couldn't still be doing 
something quietly dangerous.

	Chemicals he didn't want to comprehend lined the walls by the 
barrel.  He made a mental note to make sure someone called a hazmat team 
out to deal with the mess, but more important to their present 
situation, he catalogued the tables as insufficient for cover.  The 
glassware would make for a good distraction or a potential danger, if 
only he could be certain that it was a wise idea to use a gun in the 
midst of so many chemicals.  He also noted the presence of three doors.  
One had a window in it; it appeared to be a storage closet for 
additional chemicals and equipment.  Comparing the other two to his 
mental layout of the building, he concluded they must lead to small 
rooms as well.  More storage?  A bathroom, perhaps.  He would check 
those out first, and then come back and deal with the lab experiments 
later.

	He entered the lab, mindful of Harris trailing him, and 
painfully aware of the noise the lieutenant's shoes made against the 
dusty concrete floor.  Every grating sound sent a shiver up his spine.  
Perhaps if he had made it more obvious that he was stealthing, Harris 
would have followed suit.  Duo did not make it a habit of skulking and 
slinking with overt criminal intent, however, and he wasn't about to 
start.  At least the officer wasn't trying to speak to him.  He may have 
been wary of this long-haired punk, but at least he wasn't a complete 
idiot.

	Duo paused when he heard Harris loosen his side arm.  He turned, 
pointed his chin at the holstered gun, then gestured at the label on the 
canister beside them.  He may not have recognized the chemical name, but 
he could figure out what the flame-shaped warning meant just fine.  
Harris blinked at him, and then the label, before nodding.

	Sensing that it would make the lieutenant more comfortable with 
the situation, Duo allowed Harris the honor of flinging open the first 
door.  He shook his head mentally when he saw how vulnerable a position 
the officer took upon initial inspection of the storage space, but let 
it go.  Even believing that the lab was safe, Harris had done a decent 
job of protecting himself, but a good marksman would have been able to 
take him out.

	After the room had been cleared, Harris announced it to Duo with 
a somewhat disdainful, 'I told you so' tone.  "See?  Nothing here."  
Harris still wasn't convinced by Duo's need for urgency, but the lab was 
going to be cleared eventually anyway, so he had agreed to indulge the 
youngster.  He still intended to teach the kid his place while he was at 
it, though.

	Duo ignored it, certain that there was something to be found in 
this lab.  The chemist's behavior was suspect.  Even if it turned out 
that the man's pet poodle had simply been left leashed out back, Duo was 
sure something would turn up.  "There," he said, pointing at the last 
door.

	Harris glanced at it, then shook his head.  "It's locked."

	Locked doors could be picked.  Duo was about to propose he do 
just that when he realized the door had no visible keyhole.  Locked from 
the inside, perhaps?  But then that would mean--

	The door burst open, giving Duo a glimpse of a rundown bathroom 
as a man bolted from the room and across the lab.  Duo gave chase first, 
followed shortly by Harris, but they did not have to pursue the suspect 
far.  He came to a sudden halt in front of a shelf of chemicals and 
behind the recently used apparatus, snatching up a beaker of some minty 
green liquid before they got to him.

	On the other side of the table, Harris pulled a gun on him, and 
the man laughed.  "Wouldn't do that if I was you, cop.  Wouldn't be a 
smart idea with all these flammable chemicals around."

	Harris didn't put his gun down, and Duo gave him credit for 
that.  "You're bluffing," the officer rebutted.

	Duo thought he just might take that credit back for that 
statement.  He hoped Harris was the one bluffing.

	"Try me," the chemist said.

	Duo decided to do a little creative bluffing of his own.  "Those 
barrels of flammable chemicals behind you only matter if we miss.  We 
won't miss."  He flexed his grip on his gun suggestively.  He had drawn 
his weapon automatically when the threat had presented itself, but he 
hadn't put it up.

	"Nice try, rookie," the man sneered.  "Even if you are idiots, 
you don't want to shoot me.  This," he shook the beaker in his hand, 
"reacts quite negatively to that."  With his free hand, he pointed at 
the rack of test tubes he held the beaker over.  "I go, we all go."

	As far as Duo was concerned, the man was allowed to blow himself 
up if he wanted to, but he was not allowed to blow up evidence along 
with him.  They had worked too hard for this.  The man's hand was 
shaking, however, and there was a nervous quiver to his voice as well.  
Duo didn't quite believe him.  This wasn't a weapons lab, but a drug 
lab.  It was possible the two chemicals could react explosively enough 
to take the entire lab down, but Duo believed with a reasonable degree 
of certainty that it wouldn't.  Then again, the man had said nothing 
about an explosion.  Maybe the combination would produce some noxious 
gas?

	Harris took no chances.  "Where do you think you'll run to?  
We've got this whole place surrounded, and we've got the rest of your 
gang."

	The man had no response.  Moving slowly, he picked up the rack 
of test tubes, and then holding the two chemicals close together, he 
backed away cautiously.  Harris and Maxwell tracked him with their 
weapons, but made no move to follow immediately.  Once the chemist 
judged he had covered enough distance, he broke into a run, dropping the 
two sets of chemicals as he did.  The combination hissed and boiled, but 
produced no visible byproduct.

	Duo was past it before he could care.  They were still 
surrounded by chemicals, so they were restricted in their use of 
firearms, but they could still chase the bastard down, and so commenced 
a short game of tag around the tables.  The chemist picked glassware up 
at random and hurled it at them, a tactic especially dangerous since 
many of the projectiles were open and filled with unidentified liquids.  
Harris swore and Duo dodged, and finally the man ran for the front door 
when Duo picked up a beaker and returned the favor.

	Most of the team was milling around in the front of the 
warehouse, watching over the prisoners and waiting for the backup to 
arrive, while several others were upstairs in the warehouse office, 
leaving the way clear for the chemist to reach the warehouse through the 
back door with little difficulty.  He swung the door slammingly shut 
behind him, slowing the pursuing men down for a second, but it wasn't 
that important.  There was nowhere for him to run.

	They made it inside and were greeted with more flying objects, 
this time bricks of narcotic substances.  Duo batted the first one away 
with his forearm, reminding himself that that was not a good tactic for 
the future as he continued to give chase.  Harris kept up decently well.

	As Duo made a tight turn around the edge of a table, a cleverly 
hidden box lying innocently in the aisle nearly fouled him up, but a 
wild leap took care of the problem.  He landed awkwardly on one foot, 
but felt the twinge minor enough that it would be fleeting.  Out of the 
corner of his eye, he saw Harris had taken an alternate route through 
the maze of tables, thinking to cut off their quarry's path.  The 
lieutenant also had the wisdom to call in their pursuit to the rest of 
the team.  Agents would be waiting outside.  Duo quickly returned his 
attention to his flight when he caught sight of another brick flying in 
his direction, but the drug bomb was off by a meter.

	Harris' shortcut did not gain him much ground after their 
weaving through the tables, and the two temporary partners met up again, 
Harris slightly in the lead, when they felt the chase coming to an end.  
Their chemist was running out of warehouse.  In one final burst, he 
seized two more bags of drugs and threw them haphazardly over his 
shoulder as he ran towards his freedom.  One flew wide, and Harris hit 
the other aside, and then they were in the sunlight.  Catching sight of 
the team waiting for him outside, the chemist veered off towards the 
side of the warehouse, but within fifty meters he was tackled to the 
ground, not close enough to the van he had been trying to reach.

	Heero took his attention off the minor skirmish after the man 
had been subdued and surveyed the crowd.  Not finding what he was 
looking for, he went instead to Lt. Harris, who was currently engaged in 
accepting the praise of his co-workers for a job well done.  "Harris.  
Where's Maxwell?"

	Harris shrugged, waving over his shoulder nonchalantly towards 
the warehouse.  "Got me.  He was right behind me."

	Heero didn't like the sound of that.  He put a hand to his comm 
and depressed the activation button.  "Maxwell, report."

	No answer.

	He tried again even as he headed towards the warehouse.  "Agent 
Maxwell.  Acknowledge."

	A buzz of rustling sounded, then a weak cough.  "Maxwell... 
here."

	That was only vaguely reassuring.  Heero jogged the rest of the 
way, outright running the last few steps when he saw Duo stumbling 
towards the light just inside the warehouse doors.

	"Duo?"  He quickly slipped an arm around his faltering partner's 
waist, caution warning him not to do so, or at least to be very, very 
careful.  He could see Duo was covered in a light dusting of white 
powder, starting from the crown of his head and down over his shoulders.  
"Tell me that's not what it looks like, Duo."

	"Fuckin' bastard," Duo muttered shallowly.  His eyes were 
squeezed shut, whether because his world was starting to spin 
alarmingly, or because he didn't want to risk absorption of the drug 
through his eyes.  Heero mentally ran through the contents of his 
pockets.  Cursing himself for not having tissues or something on his 
person, he hastily shrugged his free arm out of his regulation jacket 
with its nylon exterior and used the long cotton sleeve of the shirt 
beneath it to wipe carefully at Duo's face.  Duo continued to mutter 
around the attention.  "Tossin' broken bricks at us.  Think I managed 
not to inhale so much of it, but...."

	He broke off and coughed again.  His second cough caught in his 
throat, and his entire body convulsed in the choke.  Then his knees gave 
way until all that was holding him up was Heero's tight grip around his 
waist.  "Oh, shit," he breathed out, his last truly coherent thought 
before a tremor started in his limbs that he couldn't control.  
Everything after that just faded out into a haze of sparkles.

                              ************

	Heero hated feeling helpless, and he hated feeling useless.  He 
was both of those things right now.  It was, needless to say, a very, 
very unpleasant situation for him.

	Duo had collapsed, and Heero could do nothing besides put in an 
urgent call for medical assistance.  Fortunately for everyone concerned, 
a medical transport was already en route with the rest of the law 
enforcement vehicles to take care of any injuries that might have 
occurred during the operation.  But that interminable waiting period 
between his partner's collapse and their arrival was just that -- 
waiting.  There was no wound to which he could apply pressure, no broken 
bones for him to set, not even words of comfort he could utter that Duo 
might hear, although he tried.  He murmured with near anger as he 
procured a handkerchief and wiped off what he could to try and keep 
things from getting worse, and after that all he could do was cushion 
Duo's head and squeeze his hand, hoping that the tight return grip was a 
sign that Duo needed that touch to try and ground himself, and not that 
his muscles were seizing up.

	When the ambulance arrived, Heero refused to let go.  He glared 
at the paramedics and strongly implied that it was Duo that couldn't or 
wouldn't let go.  Without waiting for something so trivial as 
permission, he climbed into the back of the bus with them, closed the 
door behind him, and thumped on the partition separating the front of 
the ambulance from the back, and the driver took off without really 
realizing they had an unauthorized passenger.  After that, it just 
didn't seem reasonable to stop just so they could kick him out, 
especially after Heero ran roughshod all over their discussion and 
started briefing them on what he knew of the drug that was being 
manufactured by the Veranti ring.

	By the time they reached the hospital, the situation had changed 
enough that Heero was forced to release his partner into the custody of 
the doctors, and so he was reduced to waiting again.  When the emergency 
room was through with Duo, he had been transferred to the intensive care 
unit, and Heero transferred himself to another bland, completely 
unreassuring, and miserably lonely waiting room.  The place made him 
feel cold and drained.

	Heero's eyes were fixed on the doors to the ICU, as if by 
staring hard enough, he could see straight through the walls and know 
what was going on back there.  He stared so hard his eyes were beginning 
to burn from the lack of blinking.  So focused was he on his task that 
it took a while for him to register that the distant ringing of a cell 
phone was in fact coming from his own belt clip.

	Finally he blinked, winced a little at the almost painful 
sensation, and uncrossed the arms he had folded protectively across his 
chest to fumble with his phone until he got it free and up to his ear.  
"Yuy."

	"Chang here.  I heard something may have happened on your 
mission.  What's going on there?"

	It took Heero a moment to process the question.  "You heard?" 
was the first thing he could think of to ask.  Wufei was stationed at 
the main headquarters on the other side of the world.  How had he heard, 
and why would he be calling?

	"Certain news travels fast through certain channels," Wufei 
answered unhelpfully.  "Has something happened?"

	"Duo... he, uh..."

	"Is he alright?  What happened?"

	Heero took a deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts 
enough to address the edge in his friend's voice.  He concentrated on 
the facts, pared them down to what he needed to inform Wufei of the 
situation without being misleading, and recited them as well as he 
could.  "It was a drug bust.  Duo was in pursuit of one of the men, who 
was lobbing kilos at him.  He got a faceful of drugs.  He's in the ICU 
now.  They've got him stabilized.  The doctor hasn't come back to brief 
me yet."

	"How was he doing?"

	He didn't really want to think about how Duo had been doing when 
they arrived, but he suppressed his shudder and forced himself to tell 
it as calmly as he could.  Wufei was their friend, and entitled to the 
tale.  He would, no doubt, get it eventually.  Might as well make it 
now.  "He started having a bad trip before the OD got to him.  Doctors 
didn't know enough about the drug to detox him properly, so they dealt 
with what they could.  They say he's stabilized, in no further danger, 
but... they're running tests now."

	Stable, yes, and in no further danger... but that didn't mean 
Duo hadn't been so pale and worn when Heero had been firmly dismissed to 
the waiting room.  That didn't mean his vitals had been strong, or that 
the effects had passed, or that he was conscious.  It didn't even mean 
that the worst was over.  "Duo is going to be so pissed when he wakes 
up," he murmured, dipping his head to run a tired hand through his 
bangs.  He was a little startled to see himself wearing a shirt from a 
set of scrubs beneath his jacket.  It took him a moment to remember that 
a nurse had given him something to change into once they had realized he 
had gotten the white powder all over his shirt.

	Wufei's voice softened a little, now that he had the details he 
needed to understand the situation.  Perhaps he also picked up on the 
subdued tone in Heero's voice.  "Are you alright, Yuy?"

	"Yes," he answered automatically.  He was always alright, wasn't 
he?  "I wasn't there when it happened."  It hurt to say that aloud.  He 
had stated it as a fact, to say he hadn't been in a similarly dangerous 
situation, but it ended up almost as a confession, an admission of 
guilt.

	"You should have called," Wufei chided.

	That hadn't quite occurred to him in the middle of this mess.  
"...Sorry.  I guess... it just slipped my mind."

	"Do you need one of us to come out?"

	Irrationality kicked in, asking if he alone was insufficient.  
Was he not enough to take care of this?  Had he proved that in allowing 
Duo to get hurt?  Reason reasserted itself a second later, and attempted 
to analyze the question objectively.  It had been an expression of 
concern, nothing more.  "No," he answered finally.  "That's alright.  
Duo's going to be fine."  Even though the doctors hadn't come out to 
tell him that yet.  "He's going to be fine.  He wouldn't let himself 
lose to something like this."

	"Call us if you need something."

	"I'll keep you updated," Heero promised instead.  "Could you... 
inform the others?"  He didn't feel like talking to them.  Already he 
felt like this conversation was taking his attention away from the more 
important matters.  He needed to go back to staring at the door in an 
attempt to force the doctors to emerge and tell him what the hell was 
going on back there.

	"I will.  ...I'll be expecting your call.  Chang out."

	Heero ended the call with a weary sigh.  Maybe some support 
would have been nice, but the only person he really wanted was lying in 
a hospital bed right then, and there was nothing to be done about that, 
except stare at the door separating them and will it to open, so that 
was what he did.  He crossed his arms back over his chest, hunched down 
in his seat a little, and continued his blank, silent vigil.

	Apparently it paid off.  Within minutes, although it could have 
been much longer for all Heero was keeping track of time, a doctor 
finally came out to fetch him.  "Mr. Yuy?"

	Heero uncurled himself from his seat and came to his feet, 
waiting in expectant silence.

	"I'm Dr. Verenkoff.  I'm in charge of Mr. Maxwell's case.  We've 
finished running tests on him for now.  He seems to be in a stable 
condition.  Your friend's going to be fine.  We're keeping a close eye 
on him, however, and we expect to be keeping him here for observation 
over the next couple of days.  Since there's never been a documented 
case of a patient suffering the aftereffects of an overdose from this 
particular drug, we're not one hundred percent certain what might 
happen, but we are familiar with this family of drugs, and we're 
prepared.  The case files you had sent over have been particularly 
useful in determining the course of treatment."

	He wished the doctor could find some way of discussing the case 
without making it sound like Duo was some sort of addict that had 
misjudged his fix.  If they kept it up, Duo was going to more than just 
pissed.  "He's not awake right now, is he?"

	The doctor shook his head.  "No, he's not.  The drugs have 
exhausted his system.  He is neither comatose nor sedated, but we don't 
expect him to wake for some time yet."

	"Can I see him?"

	"Of course.  If you'll follow me?"

                              ************

	Visiting hours were a concept beyond Heero's comprehension.  He 
wasn't certain of their necessity, but he did recognize them as quite 
the hindrance.  Duo's case wasn't severe enough that he could convince 
the staff members on duty to bend the rules for him, so he was forced to 
abide by them.  Nothing stopped him from haunting the waiting rooms, 
however, so while he was unable to be there when Duo finally woke up, he 
did manage to be there as soon as he was informed.

	He waited for the nurse to close the door behind him before he 
sidled up to Duo's bedside and laid a gentle hand across the pale 
forehead and brushed back the bangs.  "Hey," he whispered.

	Duo smiled wanly back.  "Hey."  He felt physically exhausted, 
but mentally overactive, especially after all the poking and prodding he 
had tolerated at the hands of the doctors.  The psychotropic drugs still 
lingered in his system.

	Heero was at a loss for words after that.  He didn't have much 
he needed to express.  Only that he was unspeakably glad that Duo was 
alright, and all that could be expressed with a single long look.  He 
Looked, and Duo understood, and they indulged for a while, but then 
Heero got the unpleasantly nagging feeling that this was an inefficient 
use of his time, so he found something to say.  "They told you what 
happened?"

	It was a simple question, but Duo's face fell into an angry, 
depressed mask.  "Yeah.  Goddammit, Heero.  Of all the things.  I swore 
I'd stay clean.  And now--"

	"Ssh."  It was inadequate, but necessary.  "It's not your fault, 
Duo.  You're still clean.  You didn't choose to take any drugs.  You're 
not... you're not one of those people, Duo."

	"I don't feel clean," Duo breathed, avoiding his gaze.

	"But that's just being illogical, and you know it," he answered 
gently.  "Same way we know all those other things we get illogical and 
silly about, all those things we feel guilty about but shouldn't.  You 
know it's not the same."

	"We know it, but it never changes anything.  We still feel the 
way we do."

	"I know."  He soothed away tears that would never form with a 
caring squeeze to his partner's arm.  "I guess we just have to deal with 
feeling that way.  Just don't believe it, not for a second, Duo.  We are 
not the people we feel we are sometimes."

	"Not that easy, ya know."

	"Then I'll believe it for you.  We'll believe it for each other.  
We've been doing that all this time, haven't we?  That's how we always 
end up... doing this."

	There was something terrifically amusing about that statement, 
and Duo laughed like a quiet loon until he ran out of energy to laugh 
any more.  They did end up doing this a lot, didn't they?  And they 
would probably continue to do so.  God, they were so messed up 
sometimes.  He sighed ruefully and resigned himself to the truth of it 
all.  He could angst some more about this later.  Right now, he just 
tossed the baggage over his shoulder and onto the rest of the stack.  He 
was sure it would come back to bother him in a bit, but for right now, 
he would put it off.  "It's too damn early in the morning for this, 
babe.  I don't have the power to resist your brand of sap right now."

	"Sorry."  Heero brushed his hand down Duo's arm, then pulled 
back.  "I should probably let you get some rest.  And it's actually 
early evening right now."

	"No."  He tried to reach out and catch Heero's wrist, but he 
missed.  The proper sentiment was expressed anyway.  "Don't go.  I'm 
not... I guess I am tired, but I'm still way too edgy to rest, anyway.  
You know.  Like if it was worse, I'd feel like my skin was crawling.  
I'm feeling kinda manic and depressive, all at once, as it is.  Stay.  
Talk to me.  It'll help me settle down."

	Heero blinked at him in incomprehension, but stay put, taking 
Duo's errant hand and placing it back on the bed where it belonged.  
Then he put his own hand next to it, their fingers mingling in quiet 
companionship.

	"You stayed," Duo said into the subsequent silence.  He was not 
referring to the present.  "For a while."

	"You remember?"  Heero found himself strangely pleased by the 
idea.

	"Sort of.  It was like Zero all over again.  Only there was this 
one point of reality I could be sure of."  Duo knotted their hands 
together for a moment, an echo of the past.  "For as much as I remember, 
anyway."

	"I had to let go," Heero informed him solemnly.  "Your heart 
stopped, and they pulled out the paddles... so I had to let go."

	There was a fuzzy-minded moment wherein Duo was consumed by how 
warm it made him feel that Heero had held on for as long as he was 
allowed to, but then the facts set in.  Someone had failed to inform him 
of something rather important.  "My heart...?" he choked out.

	Heero nodded reluctantly, as if confirming it would make it 
happen again.

	"...Oh."

	"Twice."

	"...Not helping."

	"Sorry."

	"Heh, you know, normally I'd think the paddles were cool, but... 
wow.  I didn't even notice.  Of course, I was probably unconscious at 
the time.  Twice.  But..."  He clamped down on it before he could babble 
any further and boiled it down to a single word that adequately conveyed 
his state of mind.  "Damn."

	"Damn," Heero agreed, pushing away the memory of EMTs working 
hurriedly to restart his partner's heart.  His own heart had practically 
stopped with Duo's.  He took up Duo's hand again and gripped it tightly.

	Duo squeezed back with what energy he could muster.  "It... 
probably hasn't been a good day or two for you, has it?"

	Heero smiled faintly.  It was the sort of humor that had a 
hidden edge of hysteria to it.  "I've had better."

	"Did you sleep last night?"

	"...Sort of."

	"Sorry."

	Heero snorted.  "It's not your fault, Duo.  This isn't your 
fault at all."

	Duo may have been a little worn out, and he may have felt a 
little trippy, but it wasn't nearly enough to stop him from being able 
to read Heero's expressions.  "Oh god, Yuy.  What are you beating 
yourself up over now?"

	"Nothing."  The response was immediate and firm.

	He rolled his eyes in exasperation.  "I'm already on to you, 
Yuy.  No use in trying to spare me now.  'Fess up."  No response.  "You 
know you're just going to worry me unnecessarily if you don't tell me.  
Now come on."

	A few long seconds of patient waiting wrung the soft admission 
out of Heero.  "...I wasn't there."

	"Figured it was something like that.  That it?"

	"And the guy that got you...," Heero added, staring at a point 
on the wall.  "He was suffering from diarrhea in the bathroom.  That's 
why I didn't see him.  Why he wasn't included in the head count."

	Duo chuckled harshly.  "Aw, man, someone is really out to get 
me.  It really is always some stupid guy on the way to the john that 
messes you up, isn't it?"  He shook his head.  "Anyway.  You gonna cut 
me off before I can spit your words back at you?"

	"Will it make you feel better if I don't?"

	"...Normally, yes.  But honestly, I'm just not in the proper 
state to take advantage of the opening.  But thank you for asking."  He 
laughed again.  It almost hurt.  "You ever notice how we can be so wise 
for each other, and yet so stupid for ourselves?"

	Heero met his eyes again with a lopsided grin.  "Guess we should 
be glad we're together, then."  Like Duo, he simply accepted living a 
life filled with guilt, justified and otherwise, and somehow the two of 
them living such lives together made it better and not worse.  He 
thought about what else he could say to keep the conversation going, 
since that was what Duo wanted.  "I never did get your side of the 
story."

	"How do you mean?"

	"Harris said something about you spotting something suspicious 
among the suspects.  You went in, the guy came out...  What I'd like to 
know is how you ever got hit in the first place.  You're sharper than 
that."

	"Oh.  That."  Duo exhaled gustily, somewhat amazed that he 
actually retained all of his memories up to the point he passed out.  
"Hmm... thinking about getting angry... Aw, why bother?  It's not worth 
the effort.  You should be proud of me, babe."

	"What cause have you to be angry?" Heero asked carefully.

	"No cause for you to be angry.  Shit happens.  It's no one's 
fault it likes happening to me."  He chuckled weakly.  "Not even yours."

	"Duo."

	He sighed and gave in to the inevitable.  "Fine.  Harris was in 
front of me, and he deflected one of the pot shots right at me while I 
was busy dodging another one, okay?  I dunno if the bag was broken 
before or what, but then it tore and, well, bam.  Total accident, okay?  
No reason to get your feathers ruffled."

	Heero chewed on the matter for a few moments.  "Just because it 
was an accident, doesn't mean it wasn't his fault."

	"Ugh, Heero!  Come on.  We don't even work in the same city as 
the guy.  You'd have to go totally out of your way to harass him.  So 
don't."

	"...Fine.  I won't harass him.  Unless I happen to see him."

	"Augh!  Whatever.  Sometimes you exhaust me, Heero."

	That succeeded in redirecting Heero's protective hackles.  "Are 
you sure you don't want to get some rest?  You'll need it.  You're going 
to have a rough couple of days."

	Indigo eyes narrowed in suspicion.  "They said they'd keep me a 
couple of days for observation, but... god, don't tell me: withdrawal?  
You've gotta be f--  You've gotta be kidding me.  Ain't that just the 
icing on the cake?"  Just why the hell did he have to get stuck being 
hit by one of those drugs that addicted with a single dosage?  Then 
again, if the drug hadn't been so powerful and dangerous, they probably 
would never have been pursuing the case in the first place.

	"Withdrawal?"  Heero made a disdainful noise in good humor.  
"Been there, done that.  You'll get through it just fine."

	"What, fine like you?  Didn't you have the shakes for a week or 
more?  Weren't you down and out of commission with all those headaches 
of yours?  ...Why the hell am I so lucid if I'm going through withdrawal 
right now?  Has it not kicked in yet?  Or..."  A glance at Heero's 
closed and wary expression kicked his already wired brain into 
overdrive.  His eyes widened as he stared in horror at the IV line in 
his hand.

	"Tell me they're not, Heero," he begged.  "Tell me they're not 
dosing me with that shit.  God, they are, aren't they?"  No wonder he 
felt so weird.  He freed his hand from Heero's lax grip and started 
scratching at the needle in his opposite hand, but Heero quickly grabbed 
him by the wrist and kept him from it.  "No, get it out.  Get it out 
now!"

	"Duo, stop it.  You'll hurt yourself."  He struggled with a 
strength that sprang from nowhere, but it was still no match for Heero.  
Both his arms were pinned to the mattress, and Heero leaned over him to 
speak close to his face.  "Duo, please."

	"No," he whispered intensely.  He couldn't take this.  He 
squeezed his eyes shut against the reality of it.  "No, they will not 
turn me into a fucking junkie!"

	Heero exhaled, and he could feel the air crawl over his skin and 
down his neck, where it turned into a shudder that could have started a 
sob.  "Duo, listen to me.  You are not a junkie.  You are not being 
addicted to this drug.  In a few days, you will be completely clean of 
it.  They know what they're doing.  They'll wean you off it, and then 
you'll be clean."

	Duo twisted beneath him.  "I don't need to be taken down slow!" 
he hissed, eyes opening wide with vehemence.  "I need to be off it now!"

	"It's too dangerous, Duo.  No one's ever been in withdrawal from 
this before.  They aren't certain what quitting cold turkey will do to a 
person, and they don't want to take the risk."

	"Then I'll be the first," Duo pleaded.  "I can handle it.  
Dammit, Heero, you know how... How could you let them do this to me?"

	"Duo... the only information we have on the effects of this drug 
we pulled from-- we pulled from the coroner's files."  He practically 
choked on the words.  "Do you understand, Duo?  You could have been one 
of them.  You could have been just another coroner's file!"

	"Heero!" Duo wailed softly.  "Heero, I can't--  you can't--  
Don't do this to me!"

	He understood Duo's aversion to drugs, but this was the safest 
course of action.  Couldn't Duo see that?  A glance at the desperate 
look on his partner's face told him 'no'.  He let his head drop until 
they were almost touching forehead to forehead.  "I'll talk to them," he 
whispered in defeat.  "I'll ask them to do it as fast as they dare.  But 
I won't ask them to stop altogether."

	"Heero...!"

	"No," he reiterated, his resolve firming.  "Please, Duo.  Don't 
put your life in danger over this.  I know you.  You've always said you 
would never let something so stupid as drugs defeat you.  Then don't.  
You will not be brought down by them.  Don't let them sway you into 
making bad decisions.  Don't let them make you reckless.  Don't... don't 
let them have a second shot at you."

	He pulled back, far enough to look Duo in the eye.  Duo still 
squirmed within his grasp, but slowly the struggling ceased, and Duo 
folded miserably, unable to fight against the weight of Heero's concern 
any longer.  "Fine," he bit out.  "Just-- fine."

	With the way Duo seemed to collapse into himself, Heero could 
not find it in himself to feel victorious.  He slowly relaxed his grip 
on Duo's wrists, and when it seemed Duo was not going to do anything 
hasty, he released them altogether and sat back in his seat.  A couple 
of seconds later, he placed a tentative hand on Duo's once more.  "I'm 
sorry, Duo."

	"Whatever."  Duo turned his head away from him and shut his 
eyes.

	"Duo..."

	"I think I'll take that rest now."

	Heero sighed, making a note to himself to steel himself against 
the betrayed look in Duo's eyes that was sure to surface the next time 
they spoke.  He got up long enough to lean down and place a lingering 
kiss on Duo's temple, then exited the room in search of a doctor.



_________________________________________
This piece of fiction is the intellectual 
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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 : 3/6/2004 17:36:45 PST