Death
~By K.T.~

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing nor any thing pertaining to its
originality.  The story-line, however, I do own.  Wanna write me, e-mail's
sabrielaerran@yahoo.com

Words surrounded in * are in italics

Rain poured down on the night-darkened streets, washing away the week's
pollution and drumming tatoos on rooftops.  The gutters overflowed onto the
ground and the streets were flooded pools.
      A lone figure trudged through the ankle deep water and stopped before
a small apartment building.  Shivering the figure staggered towards the
door.   He leaned up against the building before gathering the last of his
strength to enter it.
Once inside, the figure cast a swift glance around before heading toward
the nearby stairway.
     "Can I help you?"  A lilting voice asked.
        The figure turned, body taught as wire, and stared at the buxom
woman.  At the sight of the dis-alarming land lady, the figure relaxed and,
with a crooked smile, shook his tired head.
     "'ere now," the woman said. "You look plumb tuckered out."  She gave
him a crooked smile of her own. "Best you get some sleep...it'll fix you up
quick."
       "Thank you." the husky voice responded. "I think I'll do that."
    The figure turned from the woman and started up the stairs, missing the
kind shake of the woman's head.  She walked away muttering about young bucks
losing their spirit far too quickly.
------------------------------------------
"You mean you don't know where he is, either?!"  An astonished Quatre asked
a uninterested Hilde.
    "Well...he's been gone for over two months, and... I haven't heard from
him since."
"That doesn't sound like Duo..." Quatre said to himself.  Then he looked
at Hilde.  She bit her lower lip in a pose that Quatre found charming.
       "Did he say anything before he left?"  Quatre asked hesitantly.
   Hilde refused to meet his eyes.
      "Did you have another fight?."  Quatre asked gently.
    "So what else would be new."  Heero's monotone came from behind.
        Hilde's head snapped up.
    "Hilde, he didn't mean it."  Quatre soothed, quick to cut in before
Heero and Hilde had it out, AGAIN.  It seemed Hilde was the only one who
actually GET a rise out of Heero, even if it wasn't a big one.  Quatre
almost hated to stop her, hoping that she'd kick his butt...er, verbally.
      "What did you fight about this time?"  Heero asked, his voice border
line sarcasm. "What Saturday morning cartoons to watch?"
      Quatre gave Heero a meaningful glance but Heero went on.
"Or do you think he shouldn't date anyone else anymore?  Maybe he should
build himself a dog house so you can kick him out when he's bad, AND he
could always wear a collar with YOUR name on it."
       Hilde stared at the passive faced young man, MURDER written in red in
her deep, blue eyes.
   "You KNOW we've only ever been friends, Heero Yuy!"
        Heero shrugged.
     "Then quite spazzin out every time he goes somewhere without you."
      Hilde blushed and Heero smirked.  Quatre slapped a hand to his face
and shook his head, moaning.
      "Will you two stop!  We're NEVER going to fi.."
     "At least I don't skulk around like a coward!"  Hilde shouted at the
perfect soldier righteously.  Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"At least I know enough to stay out when I'm NOT WANTED!"
Hilde's eyes flashed blue fire.
"At least I know how to LOVE somebody!"
Heero's face went stone cold.
      "At least I know enough not to hound people all the time and drive
them AWAY!"
        Hilde's eyes widened in hurt and Heero turned his gaze away from the
com picture.
              Quatre interrupted, hoping that they were finished.
         "Look, Hilde, I'm sure Duo will be back soon.  He always does come
back..."
        Hilde cut him off.
    "I couldn't care less what happens to that...THAT...!"
          Heero snorted.
    "Yeah, it really shows, Hilde."
        "That's it, Heero Yuy.  You shut the hell up or I'm going to come
over there and use you for target practice."
      "Bite me."
    "Will you two KNOCK IT OFF!"  Quatre yelled.  The other two stared at
him, shock etched on their features.  Quatre cleared his throat and smoothed
back his blond hair.  "The important thing now is to find Duo."
      Heero still looked at Quatre with a fearful look, but Hilde stared off
into space, a strange, guilty look on her pixie face.
        "And we've gotta hurry."
      -----------------------------------
*You must fulfill your mission.  The target must be eliminated so he will
live long enough to make those fatal mistakes!  Should you fail, all hope
for the future will be lost.

I will not fail.

Just make sure that you don't...*
------------------------------------------------------------------
  Duo lay on top of the clean sheets on his bed.  He shivered, having shed
all his wet clothes but his, still soggy, boxers and socks.  He felt chilled
to the bone, but couldn't make himself get up.  The scene he had so recently
witnessed kept repeating in his mind.

* He walked into the post office, his letter to Hilde in his hand.  Someone
bumped into him, jostling his arm.  The note dropped.  He stooped to pick it
up and hit heads with someone else.  Crouched down, he looked across at the
kneeling person holding his own head.  Then the head looked up and large,
indigo eyes, fringed with impossibly long lashes, met his own.  Dark, brown
hair peeked out from beneath a baseball cap, and a long, dark braid fell
forward, flipped over one shoulder.
Duo felt himself start.  He was looking at himself!  Then the figure stood
hastily to his feet and pushed his way hurriedly through the crowded room,
out to the street.  Duo felt numb as well as shocked.  He forgot about the
letter and stumbled home only to find the rest of his orders. Unable to
dwell on the strange encounter, it had taken him days to finish his
hush-hush mission.*

"Who are you?"  Duo mumbled out into the darkness, not really expecting an
answer.  Thunder rumbled, like a giant waking from a long sleep.  It shook
the small apartment building as small earthquake would.  Duo brought his
arms up, interlocking his fingers, and  laid his wet head back on his hands.

*He was driving back to the place he had been staying at when he saw a
glint out of the corner of his eye.  A man, with a long, brown braid,
sunglasses, and a baseball cap drove beside him on a motorcycle.  He was
also pointing a gun straight at Duo!   Duo swerved the van and hit the rail
along the freeway.  His overly large van, lurched and then spun out of
control as another car hit it full force.  The van rolled.  Duo ached
everywhere as he climbed out of the van's wreckage.  He shaded his eyes
against the morning's sun's glare and stared after the disappearing
motorcycle...*

"Who are you?"  He said again, his genius mind turning, weighing the
possibilities.  His eye lids began to feel heavy, drooping.  They were
nearly shut when he felt a chilling breeze.  They snapped open and he rolled
from the bed just as bullet took the place where his head had lain.
"Do you really want to know, Maxwell?"  A voice snarled.
Duo pushed himself onto his hands and knees and slid under the high bed.
He rolled into his attackers legs and the man fell on top of him.  They
struggled, kicking and fighting until Duo finally pinned the other man down.
     "Look!"  Duo panted. "I'm not going to kill you.  I just want some
answers."
"Funny, so do I."  The man said.
     Duo's grip slackened as he recognized his own voice.  That was all his
attacker needed.  He flipped Duo over onto his back and then straddled the
groaning man.  Duo tried to get a grip on the man's shirt and they ended up
grappling for each other once again. Duo rolled his assailant over and
rested his weight on the body beneath...
  The door flew open and the land-lady stood, legs wide-spread, shot-gun in
hand.
      Duo and his assailant stared at her shocked and then squinted when she
flipped on the light.
    "Oh."  She said as she looked at the two young men, with choke holds on
each other, lying on the floor.  "Well, I thought someone was breaking in."
      She sniffed daintily and then jerked the door shut behind her.
   Duo stared at the closed door open mouthed before shouting.
     "B-b-but! This guy DID BREAK IN!"
    "Get over it."  His voice retorted.
     Duo stared down at the man beneath him and felt the blood siphon from
his face.
     "Oh my..."  Duo flew off the other man so fast, his knees gave way when
he tried to stand.
  The man sat up and the two Duos stared at each other.
"Kind of freaky, ain't it."  Duo asked the white faced Duo.
     Duo only stared at himself mutely.  Then he leaned forward a bit.  When
had he gotten that scar on his forehead?  And those wrinkles around his
eyes?   A triumphant smile lit his handsome face.
       "Ha!"  He crowed. "You're NOT me!  I didn't think it could be
possible..."
     "Wrong, buddy."  The other Duo leaned forward and put the still
grinning Duo in a headlock.  Then he gave him a hard nooky.
        "Hey, man!  STOP IT!"  Duo wrenched his head from the other man's
strong grasp and glared at himself.
       Duo held up his hands in mock surrender and couldn't keep the grin
that curved his sexy lips.
     "Peace."  He said before running a hand wearily through his long, dark
bangs.
    Duo eyed him dubiously.
     "I just...I just don't get it."  He said in exasperation. "How can you
be here while I'M here?"
     The other Duo looked at him and then smiled once again, that same cocky
smile.
        "Hey, man.  I just work here."
     -------------------------------
Hilde threw herself down on her bed in the little house she and Duo had
shared...that is...whenever he'd been home.  She grabbed a pillow and hugged
it to her chest, rolling over on her side and staring at the white, cotton
bed-spread.
"Gosh, Duo...I'm sorry." she whispered.  "I'm so very sorry."
Hilde squeezed her eyes shut and tried to will herself to sleep but the
scene of their fight just kept replaying in her mind.

*"What is WRONG with you, Hilde?!"  A confused, wide-eyed Duo asked the
blue-haired tigress.  She had just thrown her steel-toed boot at his head
and narrowly missed by millimeters.
     "I want to know where you've been!"  She growled.
   "Out."  He shrugged and then glanced at the new dent in the wall. "Sheesh."
"Duo! It's been over THREE WEEKS!!!" Hilde said in a warning voice.
     "Look, kiddo, what does it matter where I've been?"  Duo turned toward
the t.v. by the couch and clicked on the remote. "I'm here now, aren't I?"
     His whole body shook as Hilde wacked him upside the head with a couch
pillow.  Duo rubbed his head where the zipper hit and then glared at her.
     "What was THAT for?!"
    Hilde glared right back.
         "You're never around, Duo!  You're never here to help pay for
bills, or help me with repairs, like when the kitchen sink plugged up for
two weeks and I had to wash everything in that brook near the park!  Like
when I had to go to that organizational meeting for my new job and had to
sit ALONE!"  Hilde sighed at the clueless expression on Duo's face and the
fire left her as quickly as it had come. "Oh, never mind..."  She turned
away, thought better of it, and turned back. "You know, Duo...if you don't
want to stay here anymore, that's fine with me...I mean...I thought we were
friends and I thought you WANTED to stay here and build a better life for
yourself...but...I..."
        Hilde trailed off, the words of love she so wanted to say, sticking
in her throat.  She looked at him, watching her.  And she saw it...the
glazed, bored, confused look in his eyes that came over them when ever he
truly had no clue...when ever he was just waiting out the storm and allowing
it to pass over... Hilde swallowed her love...swallowed her patience for his
childish and blind attitude...and said what was best for them both.
       "I don't think you should stay here anymore, Duo."
Duo's jaw fell.  Then he stood, dropping the remote at his feet.
   "Come on, Hilde, I know you don't mean that..."  His inviting lips curve
up in one corner as he placed his hands on his hips knowingly.  "I know
you're just upset now, but it will be better tomorrow..."  He winked at her
and held up one finger patronizingly. "You know you're always rash when
you're angry..."
      "I'm not angry, Duo."  Hilde said softly, yet evenly.
    Duo frowned slightly.  Then he yawned, stretching his arms out wide.
   "Well, then..."  He scratched his side. "What do you want me to do for
tonight?"
      "You can stay in your room."  She said, in that same soft, even voice.
"I'll be gone early tomorrow, I have a press conference a seven, and I
expect you to be gone by the time I come home."
         "Sure thing."  Duo said laughingly.
     Hilde watched him and then moved to stand before him, his breath warm
on her forehead.
       "I don't care what you do, Duo.  I don't care if I never see you
again..."  His eyes blinked open wide as he looked at her with a strange
expression.  She dismissed it and went on. "If I find you here when I get
back, I'm going to call the police."
"Look, Hilde..." Duo placed a hand lightly on her shoulder.  "I know I
haven't been that great of a friend lately...and I am a little behind on my
payments."  He admitted grudgingly. "It's just..."  He sighed and ran a hand
through his dark hair. "I don't know..."  His arms flailed out in a hopeless
gesture.
       "It doesn't matter any more, Duo.  What ever you want to do...do it,
just leave me out of it."       Something flared and then died in his eyes.
It was so quick, Hilde wasn't even sure it was real, but she ignored any
feelings of hope.  Instead she turned away and walked calmly to her room,
tightly clamping down on the emotions threatening to explode.*
----------------------------------
Duo stared at his other self incredulously.  This couldn't be happening!
How could this be happening?!
       "What do you mean, 'Someone's gonna kill Hilde!'?"
Duo watched himself pace the length of the room and then back again. He
stopped and turned towards Duo.
  "She's going to be shot at the peace lecture Relena Peacecraft will be
giving in four days.
Relena, Heero, and Noin will also be shot.  Relena will live, barely."
      "Heero and Noin?"  Duo questioned, fearing the answer.
           "Noin will live two days after and die in the night.  Hilde will
die instantly, the shot going through her throat, and Heero will bleed to
death on the platform as he tries to protect Relena Peacecraft."
       "My, God."  Duo choked.  He put his hands up to his head and ran both
hands through his tousled hair.  He looked up at his other self, his eyes
pleading for him to deny it.
     "What do I have to do?"  He asked hoarsely.
His future self smiled wryly.
     "We have to go to the lecture.  We must protect Relena and Heero at all
costs.  Hilde as well, but those other two will be the most influential in
the future."  He dropped his deep violet gaze and studied his hands in an
unusual display of seriousness. "In the future...Earth is gone, Duo."
        Duo studied his future self blankly for a moment before the words
registered.
    "What do you mean...gone?"  He asked, a sick feeling churning in his gut.
           Duo looked up from his hands and at his younger self, HIS mind
whirling with the memories between that younger version and the person he
was now.
       "We can't let it happen, Duo.  I was sent back to kill you...to kill
me."
      Duo shook his head and stood to his feet, pacing the room worriedly.
        "Why?"  He stopped, facing the older man.
    His future self looked away, studying the ceiling, then the window.
        "Because you...I...helped to blow the Earth to pieces."
             Calm indigo met incredulous indigo.
--------------------------------------------------
Duo typed the message quickly and then pressed the send button.
    "It's done."  He said quietly.
         "Hn."  His future self grunted, lying on his back, hands behind his
head, on Duo's damp bed.
        "So...what now?  If you don't finish what you came here to do...will
someone else come?  Should I always be looking over my shoulder to see if a
future self...or..." Duo shuddered. "A future Heero, Quatre, Trowa,
Wufei...might come after me...?"
        Duo sat up on his elbows and looked at the young man.  It was
him...and it wasn't.  This was what he had been...
         "No. If this works, the future should change, and you'll be around
when the time-machine is built...if it even is built." he frowned thoughtfully.
          Duo sighed and sat back in his seat.  He couldn't believe some of
the things...his future self had told to him.  In the future, he joined a
group of peace "defenders" and fought against terrorist groups...They also
began to slowly grow into a large organization of their own.   Then they
took over the old military facilities, making weapons...nuclear weapons.
Duo was a cargo pilot, unwittingly carrying the bombs to their destinations.
Then, Relena Darlian was kidnapped.   Two months later, a film was shown on
every channel all over the world.  On both the Earth sphere and the
colonies, time stood still as they watched Relena Darlian slowly tortured to
death.
Duo was overcome with sickness and hatred for it all and he lept at the
chance to take out the monsters who would do such a thing.   He'd helped all
right, helped those same people blow the Earth to a billion tiny chunks of
rock and dust.
Duo looked over at himself on the bed and shook his head in wonder.
     "Do you...regret it?"  He asked himself, curious as to how HE felt over
something like that.
   The eyes that turned to him were haunted with horrors Duo couldn't even
imagine.  He shuddered slightly. "Never mind."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before the older Duo broke it.
"Duo, I have to know. Do you love Hilde?"
      Duo looked at him wide-eyed, a heated denial rising to his lips...then
he closed his mouth and thought about the blue-eyed girl he missed.
       *"I don't care what you do, Duo.  I don't care if I never see you
again..." *
He frowned at his thoughts and rubbed the spot on his chest that ached. The
spot just above his heart.
         He heard his future self sigh and then say.
     "Get some sleep, Duo.  We have to get everything ready and make sure
there are no loose ends for the lecture."
          Duo nodded and stood, stretching.  Then he rubbed his back and
stumbled to the bed.  Stopping before it he looked down at his grinning
reflection.
        "What do you think you're doing?"
    "I'm getting a good night's sleep."   The older man answered with an
impish glint in his purple eyes.
         Duo's eyes narrowed.
     "I don't think so..."
        "Oh, yeah?  Whatya gonna do about it?"
      A devilish smiled curved the tips of Duo's mouth as he glanced at the
scissors lying on the old desk.
------------------------------------------
Hilde paced the hotel lobby until she spotted him.
   "Duo!"  She said under her breath.  Relief flooded her in a great wave
and she embraced the trench coated young man.
      "Hilde."  He breathed into her shoulder length, blue hair.  They drew
apart slightly, bodies still touching.
"You got my message."
       The girl nodded hurriedly and then drew in a deep breath.
     "I'm sorry."
      "Sorry."
     They stared at each other and then laughed, a remedy for broken
friendships.  Duo hugged her to him once again, and then drew her out of the
hotel, a possessive arm around her shoulder.  They got into a cab and Duo
gave the driver instructions to Relena's mansion.
     "Duo?"  Hilde questioned him, her voice confused.
    He turned to her, his eyes filled with far more warmth than they should
be.  Hilde drew back slightly, a little nervous at her friend's...friendlier
than normal, attitude.  He seemed oblivious of her discomfort though, as he
picked up her hand and held it in two of his own.
      "Hilde...I...I have to tell you something."
   Hilde tried to pry her hand from his but he held on tightly.
      "What?" she asked, her voice breathless.
     Duo opened his mouth and both Hilde and he flew forward, slamming into
the seats in front of them.
     "Sorry 'bout that."  The cab driver muttered.  Then he leaned half way
out the window and shouted. "HEY, WHAT'S THE HOLD UP?!"
Duo looked at Hilde who was craning her neck to see up ahead.  He sighed
and then settled back in his seat, prepared to enjoy the ride.
The cab moved on once again and Hilde sat back as well.
    "That was strange."  She mused aloud.  Duo watched her, marveling at the
way her skin looked so smooth and soft.  He longed to reach out and touch
her but knew he couldn't.  Not here...not now.
         Hilde suddenly turned to him, a look of wary confusion in her blue
gaze.
     "Duo, even if we stop by Relena's, she's not going to be there.  She's
going to be at her lecture and I promised her I'd be there."
       "It's been canceled."   Duo told Hilde knowingly.
     Hilde frowned slightly.  Something was wrong.  When did Duo become so
serious?
                               ---------------------------------
Duo glanced out over the crowd once more before spotting the man he was
looking for.
    "I don't know how you did it, Maxwell, but it was damn good work."
Heero said quietly as they walked back, into the lounge room where
politicians were lounging about, waiting for the event to commence.
       "Did you get them ALL?"  Duo demanded, his eyes never stopping as
they searched the room for anyone looking suspicious...anyone out of character.
          "I have to admit, your message startled me a bit, but, in the end,
there was nothing here I couldn't handle."
           Duo stopped and gazed at his friend, realizing that Heero spoke
nothing but the truth.  He WOULD be able to handle anything.  And he HAD. He
HAD saved Relena from dying today...just at the cost of his own life.  Duo
was suddenly shaking from head to foot.   He couldn't see this. He couldn't
see his friends get hurt.
        "Heero, I'm taking Relena outta here."
    Heero's eyes narrowed calculatingly.  Then, they softened, so slightly
Duo almost thought it was a trick of the light.
          "You're really worried, aren't you?"
     "Death recognizes his own scent, Heero."
         Heero nodded suddenly and turned on his heel, heading for the small
office containing the vice-foreign minister.
                     ------------------------------------------------
         Hilde yawned and then stretched slightly as the cab came to a halt.
She watched Duo as he paid the caddy and then walked up the large steps with
him, towards the Darlian Mansion.
        "Are you SURE that the lecture was canceled?"  Hilde asked suddenly,
still feeling out of sorts with her...friend.
      "Positive."  Duo dismissed absent mindedly.
     Hilde rolled her eyes at his unawareness and usual ignoring attitude,
and couldn't help but wonder if he thought that she was just going to forget
it all.   Hilde stiffened with resolve.  She wasn't going to give in THAT
easily.  After all, if she did, what had it all been for?
          "Would you care for some refreshments?"  Relena's butler offered
them.
     "No, thank you, Pagan.  Is Miss Relena home?"  Hilde asked, eager to
see her girl-friend and finally be rid of the uneasy feeling riding her
shoulders.
             "Why no, Miss Hilde.  She's at the lecture right at the moment."
  Hilde turned to Duo, accusation burning harshly in her bright eyes.  She
put her hands on her hips and glared daggers at the braided man.
       Duo, on the other hand, knew he couldn't let Hilde leave.  He studied
her for a moment and then quickly moved forward.  Hilde put up her hands,
mouth open to dismiss him, but Duo wasn't in the mood for talking.  He
merely grabbed her about the waist and leaned over slightly to hoist her
over his shoulder all in one smooth movement.
          Hilde recovered from her shock quickly enough and began kicking
and pounding her feet and fists on Duo's body.   His grip didn't loosen and
his pace didn't lessen.  That was when she realized there WAS a pace.  Duo
was taking her some where, but...where?
----------------------------
Duo stood in front of Heero and a bewildered Relena.  He led them swiftly
and efficiently through the back of the small building to the car he had
driven there.
        Opening the door for them, Duo ushered his two friends in and then
closed it, casting one last look around.
        He jumped into the driver's seat and then started the car, driving
away from the place of Death towards Relena's mansion.
  ---------------------------------------
Duo set Hilde down with little ceremony.  He leaned against the closed door
and folded his arms across his chest in a "Heero" stance.
      Hilde was hardly intimidated.
         "Duo, you let me out of this room right now or I'm going to...I'm
going to..."
    A corner of Duo's lips lifted in a humorless smile and he suddenly moved
forward, cupping Hilde's face in his hands.  She stilled beneath his touch,
her breath stopping.
     His hands were rough against her face and Hilde closed her eyes, sure
that she was dreaming.
       "Hilde."  His soft, hoarse voice brought her back and Hilde stared up
into Duo's deep, pain-filled gaze.  Her brows twitched together in sympathy
and she opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong when he brought his mouth
down on hers, seizing her lips in a body melting kiss.
      And that's exactly what Hilde did, melt right into Duo's hard, wiry
body.  She gave a slight moan when his lips ripped from her own and trailed
down her cheek to her chin.  From her chin to her throat.  From her throat
to her shoulder where he was pulling the sleeve of her shirt down.  He
pressed one last, hard kiss to the soft mound of her shoulder and then
rested his chin on it, pressing her to him in a firm embrace.
Hilde couldn't control her erratic heart beat and was having a severe
memory lapse in "Basic Breathing 101."   She finally managed to wriggle her
arms up and press her hands, palm flat, against Duo's chest.
     "Duo..."  She choked, her voice strangely husky.
         "I'm sorry, Hilde."
----------------------------------------
Duo pulled into the drive and then stared up at the Darlian mansion. He had
spilled out everything that had happened.  He told them of the future and of
the impending assassinations.   He turned back to his friends and sighed at
their disbelieving stares.
"Well, if you want to commit me, fine! But do it AFTER tonight."
    He jerked on the car door handle and darted out of the car, racing up
towards the mansion front door.
---------------------------------
     Hilde pushed farther back and stared up at him.  She studied him
carefully for a minute, absently wondering when he'd gotten that scar on his
forehead, and then smiled carefully.
      "Actually, I...I didn't mind at all."
    Duo shook his head.
        "No."  He said, his gaze dripping with sadness. "I'm sorry for..."
He shoved her away from him and she landed roughly on the ground, sliding
towards the door. "This."  He pulled out a gun, trailing it on her figure
and taking aim.
                  -----------------------------------
Duo reached the room Pagan had directed him to and then heard a loud thud.
He drew back in surprise and then his body tightened in protectiveness. Duo
took a breath and then kicked open the door, pointing his gun at the only
figure standing.  Then he relaxed when he saw himself.
        "Whew!"  He grinned, beginning to lower his gun. "I thought that..."
     He saw Hilde on the floor staring back and forth between the two.  Then
his gaze locked with a guilty, indigo one, and his future self aiming a gun
at Hilde's head.
        Duo had no time to think, he merely reacted on instinct, diving
towards the blue haired girl as his future self squeezed the trigger.   The
shot boomed through the room, and echoed down the hall.
Duo stared down at himself and the blue haired girl beneath his past-self's
prone body.  He pointed the gun down at her wide-eyed face and then jerked
back when anther shot erupted into the stillness of Death's dance.
Duo looked up at Heero, who's arms were outstretched as he pointed his gun
at the braided man.  Then his gaze alighted on Relena behind the perfect
soldier.  Duo's gun slipped through his fingers and he staggered back,
clutching at his red-blooming chest.
      Hilde struggled to sit up and rolled Duo over, staring down in horror
at him.  His forehead was smeared with blood, the angry, red line stretching
diagonally across the smooth skin of his brow.  Hilde looked up at Heero and
then to the other...Duo, tears blurring her vision.
        Duo slid to the ground, his mouth gaping open and closed like a
fish's before he took in a strangled breath through his nose.
        "WHY?!"  Hilde screamed, scrambling over to the lying gun and
gripping it tightly.  She brought it up and trained it on the other Duo.
"Who the hell are you?!"  She demanded, her voice rough with anger.
       Duo smiled wryly and then glanced at his younger self, lying
unconscious on the floor.  His body was guarded by a blue haired demon...or
angel...who spit her wrath at him.
         "It was my mission.  I had to kill you.  Duo had to despair in
order for me to exist. And I had to exist in order to destroy the Earth and
fulfill my calling."
        Hilde shook her head, her tears flying from her eyes like sparkling
diamond drops.  Her hands were shaking as she tightened her grip on the gun.
        "Your calling...?"
     "Destroy Earth?!"  Relena breathed in horror.
        Duo gave a wheezy chuckle.
    "I am Death!  I had to prove it some how. I had to choose, Life or
Death, and I chose when I destroyed Earth. I had to show them all...to show
Relena, and Heero, And Noin, And....and...." his gaze stared through Hilde,
tears sliding out of his full eyes. "My sweet Hilde. I never saw her again.
I never got to tell her....I..."  He choked as blood bubbled on his pasty
lips.  Hilde glanced over her shoulder at HER Duo and then back to the
broken, sobbing, dying, man.
       She dropped her arms, the gun sliding from her fingers as she ran to
embrace him.
     Relena drew in a sharp breath, clutching at Heero's shirt as she feared
for her friend's safety.  Heero dropped his arms as well, gripping one of
Relena's hands with one of his free ones.
         "You aren't Death, Duo.  You're just Duo.  Duo Maxwell.  The man I
love."  Hilde cried into the dying man's ears.  She drew back and kissed his
scarred forehead.  Then she stared into his indigo eyes and leaned forward,
kissing his blood covered lips.
         His eyes widened and then the lids drooped, dimming the inner light
that was fading from them.   He breathed out a sigh, touching a finger to
Hilde's cheek before smiling.  Hilde felt his arm fall limply by her side
but couldn't bring herself to look away from his smiling mouth and eyes.  No
breath escaped his lips and, yet, Hilde watched him.  Then she pulled away,
standing to her feet, wiping the back of her hand to her mouth.
         "Hilde?"  Relena came forward, reaching out a hand to her friend.
Heero knelt down beside THEIR Duo and frowned slightly at the gash in the
young man's forehead.
       "Hilde?"  He heard Relena ask again.   He looked up at them and then
his gaze froze on Hilde's face.
"Hilde what is it?"  Relena went on.
          Hilde's wide eyes met Relena's concerned ones and then she gave a
slight shiver.
      "Death."  She whispered, the name lingering in the room like a humid
gust of air.
-------------------------------
Duo fingered the puckered scar, tenderly probing the white skin.  He
shrugged it off and then pulled his shirt over his head, dropping it on the
bathroom floor.  Padding through his room and into the hallway, he looked
around, hoping to spot a familiar sandy-blond.   She didn't disappoint him.
       "Hey, Relena?"
   The Earth angel stopped and looked at him expectantly.
        "Do you think I could have another shirt.  That one's kind of..."
      Relena held back a giggle of amusement and settled for a kind smile
instead.
   "When will Hilde be here to get you?"
        Duo scratched his head, blushing slightly.  Relena had to clench her
jaw to keep it from dropping.  Duo, blushing?!
       "In about fifteen minutes."
     "You guys going back to space?"
    "Nah."  Duo jammed his hands into his pockets and grinned at the
sandy-blond. "Hilde said she found a nice place somewhere near here."
       Relena smiled again, knowing full well the house Duo was speaking of.
She'd been the one to suggest it to Hilde when the blue-haired pixie said
she wanted to stay on Earth and that she was asking Duo to stay with her
again.
"I think that will be lovely."
    Duo looked at the floor again, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Relena saw movement at the end of the hall and locked gazes with Hilde.  She
smiled at the smaller girl and moved along, letting her and Duo talk alone.
       "Oh!"  Duo noticed her. A full grin stretched across his face. "Hey,
Hilde."
   Hilde gave him a friendly hug, hoping he wouldn't notice the faster than
normal pace of her heart that the sight of him gave her.
       "Hey, Duo."  She pulled back and smiled up at him.  He sobered and
stepped away, absently stroking the scar on his forehead.
       "Uh, Hilde?"
     "Hm?"  She was afraid about what he was going to say.  HE may not love
her...or, he may not know it yet, but...SHE wasn't about to let him get away
again.  She was going to protect him from what he could become.  She wasn't
going to let Death win.  Never...
        "Thanks."
     Hilde blinked and then smiled back.   Then she motioned for him to
follow her out to her car.
                                          ------------------------
"This is it."  Hilde gestured to the Victorian-styled house.  It looked
like it came out of some story book, the flower gardens surrounding it, the
gabled roof...
Duo watched Hilde as her eyes hungrily drank in the simple beauty before
them.  He felt a funny sensation in his chest and absently rubbed his sternum.
"You okay?"  Hilde looked at him, concern brimming in her deep blue eyes.
    Her beautiful, beautiful eyes.  Why hadn't he ever noticed before just
how beautiful Hilde was?  She was his friend, confident, accountability, and
stability.  She was everything to him...
"Are you sure, Hilde?"  Duo asked as he shifted his troubled gaze to the
house.  He felt a strange, sharp pain of guilt about what happened before
and didn't know if he could stand hurting Hilde again...  "I mean, we tried
this before and...and I don't think it will work again...I don't think it
will be quite the same..."  He always brought pain to people...to the ones
he loved.
Duo nearly stopped breathing with this mental admission.  He loved
Hilde....He LOVED Hilde! But he couldn't allow it...he would only end up
destroying her...
Hilde smiled calmly, seemingly oblivious to his inner discoveries.
      "I'm willing to give it another try if you are."
    Duo grinned, ducking his head a bit in a show of uncharacteristic
shyness.  He stared at his feet, scuffing his toe along the floor before
saying...
        "You know, Hilde...um....about...about before, when you said I
didn't....that you didn't care what I did and that..."
       "Sh."  Hilde laid a soft, quieting finger on his lips. "I do care,
Duo."
     His eyes widened as they met hers.  Somehow he hadn't thought it would
be this...simple.  No one had ever really cared for him before, well, not in
a long time...and he hadn't ever really cared for any one else.
But...something in Hilde's gaze pulled at him and made him WANT to care.
Made him WANT to try...
      "You...you do?"
    "Very much."  Hilde said, moving closer, so that her soft breath
caressed his chin.
    "Ah...that's that's great because...well...I...I...I...I..."
            Hilde grasped his face in her hands and brought his mouth down
on hers.  She felt him stiffen and she kissed him with all the passion she
could muster..
He remained as still as stone...until his hand came up, and for just a
moment, brushed against her cheek.  Then it landed with a thud on her
shoulder and he pushed her away.
          She thought that he was looking at her like she was some kind of
foreign thing he'd never seen before and her heart sank to her feet.
"I...I can't!"  He blurted out.
   Hilde swallowed the lump growing in her throat.  She told herself she had
been going too fast...and now she had ruined it...
    He saw the sheen of tears glazing over her big blue eyes. Duo told
himself to turn away.  He was the God of Death...He WAS Death.
*"But I don't want to be Death any longer."*  A sad voice in his mind
whispered.
"I just want to be Duo."  He said quietly, not realizing he had spoken out
loud. Then he fixed his gaze on Hilde.
"I can't do this alone."
   Hilde's lips curved into a patient, loving smile.  She blinked rapidly,
the tears threatening to spill over their dam.  Duo reached up a hand
hesitantly and traced the curve of her cheek with the calloused pad of one
finger.  Then he darted his hand behind her head, entangling his fingers in
her dark hair, pulling her face close to his own.  He watched her as she
looked up at him, her eyes traversing his face in search of something he
could only pray she found.  He brought her so close he felt his breath echo
back to him from her chin.
He kissed the corner of her mouth, so softly she almost didn't feel it.
Hilde felt herself shiver, goose-bumps thriving along her skin.  He was
going so carefully, so slow...it was almost like torture.
  He kissed her lips, a hard, sudden, and oh, too brief kiss.  Hilde nearly
fell when he quickly
pulled back.  She gripped his shirt with her hands and then looked up at
him.  He was...SMILING?!  Not only that!  He was smiling that cocky smile of
his...that one that said,
*"Oh, yeah. I know you want me." *
Hilde opened her mouth to lecture him when he swooped down and kidnapped
all her protests.  He used her already open mouth to deepen their kiss and
Hilde responded like a stick caught in a raging river.  His hands moved up,
stroking her skin as they slid around her waist.  The large, strong hands,
hands that had been used to operate the most deadly of machinery, rubbed
into the skin at her back as he pressed and brought her closer...closer.
Hilde slid her arms around his neck and pulled herself up a little, trying
to bring herself even closer to him.  She could never be close enough...
They pulled their mouths away, Hilde's body held up and pressed against his
own.  She stared across at him, her breath coming fast, her mouth moving
slowly as if she wished to speak but had no words.
Duo gave a grin of amazed amusement.  Then his eyes twinkled with that
devil-like gleam she loved and he swept her up into his arms, carrying her
through the door way and into their home.


 AN: And we hear the booing in the back round about the cheesy ending...that
is, until I fire my cannon at them and blow them all to kingdom come
(maniacal laugh)...(quickly sobers).
                  Hoped you enjoyed.
                                         K. T.
DBP/MLP