Disclaimer: The G-boys and Gundam Wing don’t belong to me.
Warnings: Located in the first part. Be sure to look or you might be surprised.
FIGHTING THE DARKNESS – PART 10
It was a surprise to wake normally for the first time in days. That didn’t mean he woke slowly – there was an instant awareness of where he was and who lay beside him – but he didn’t experience the heart-stopping panic from his past sleeping attempts. He was just as shocked to realize he was no longer tired, the sleep helping rejuvenate him.
Completely revived, Trowa allowed himself a few minutes to remain on the bed, one long arm stretched across the other man’s waist and gripping the hand there as if to anchor Duo to him. Knowing he shouldn’t be reveling in the situation, he took guilty pleasure in breathing in the clean scent of Duo’s hair and skin.
Suddenly shamed, he opened his eyes, “I must be really sick,” he muttered as he searched Duo’s face for some sign of wakefulness. Finding none, he climbed from the bed, taking care to pull the blankets up around the man, remembering how much Duo hated to be cold. While he took care of his bathroom ritual, he realized he recalled more than he had thought about the former pilot of Deathscythe, wondering where and when he had stored the random information. He knew Duo abhorred the cold and lima beans, knew Duo preferred strawberries over any other fruit, even knew what shampoo the violet-eyed man liked to use.
Standing at the head of the bed, he gazed at the man he was trying to help, not daring to touch the pale skin with his mind running in such abstract directions. “Everyone always said pizza was your favorite food,” he mused. “It’s not. It’s what you ate most often because you can get it anywhere, but it’s not your favorite. You said your favorite food was corn. Plain, regular corn.” Trowa could remember Duo biting into an ear of corn, eyes laughing as juices ran down his chin. “How do I remember that?” he asked finally, more than a little panicked at the implications seeping into his brain.
Questioning his own sanity, he absently ran his fingers down Duo’s arm before covering it, resting his hand on Duo’s chest. “There has to be something wrong with me,” he stated firmly, eyes focusing on the window where the grey light of early morning was barely visible. “I couldn’t have felt something for you all this time without being aware of it, could I? If I had harbored some sort of attraction I would have known,” he insisted, wishing he really believed his own words.
Deciding it was best to think of something else – anything else – he collected his computer and sat on the edge of the bed. Opening the file Hilde had sent of Bo’s friends, he used the Preventers database to do a search on each name, shaking his head when he found most had records with the local office, ranging from breaking and entering to assault with a deadly weapon. Most of the names were deleted from the list as Trowa used the images in his own mind, received from Duo during their dream-discussion. “There’s a weird thought,” he mumbled as he opened the next file. “Must be my day for weird and disturbing.”
Disturbed was his next emotion as a face appeared on the screen, one Duo had remembered looming over him. “Jason Whitaker.” The man was a few years older than Duo and Trowa, hair shorn close to his ears in the booking photo, brown eyes staring into the camera. “There you are,” hissed Trowa, able to recognize the first of three men he was searching for.
Opening a new file, he saved the photo and all the other pertinent information he could find for Jason Whitaker. Eventually he found a list of the people Whitaker was known to associate with. Some of the names were on the lists Hilde had given him, but there were five more that were new, one of them very familiar. “What do we have here?” Trowa asked as he opened a file belonging to Bo Whitaker, Jason’s younger brother.
“Hilde said Bo wouldn’t hurt anyone. Either she’s very naïve or he hides his violent side very well. Assault, breaking and entering, possession of a deadly weapon, and grand theft auto are the main crimes he’s been charged with. I don’t have a problem with most of those – we’ve all done things we aren’t proud of – but the assault charge was filed because he beat up his girlfriend. Charges were eventually dropped when the woman disappeared. I don’t know about you, but that seems convenient, doesn’t it?”
Reading more of the man Hilde had replaced Duo with, Trowa discovered something far more worrying than the disappearance of one person. “Bo was suspected of armed robbery where at least a dozen people were killed. Hilde has no idea who she’s dealing with. He’s wanted for questioning in a case where a couple was mutilated and their teenage daughter decapitated. Damn,” he hissed, stunned at the level of brutality, “there was forensic evidence the girl was raped by more than one person, Duo. Three separate semen samples were collected during her autopsy.”
Feeling how tense Duo had grown, Trowa stroked the shining hair, setting the computer aside when that didn’t dispel the taut muscles. Understanding why the other man had become so rigid, Trowa put aside his own worries about his feelings and climbed onto the bed, pulling Duo close and whispering into his ear, “They’ll pay for their crimes, Duo. For every person they caused pain, I’ll make them wish they hadn’t.”
It took some time for Duo to relax in Trowa’s embrace, the stiff muscles loosening slowly until they were lax once more. Trowa continued to speak in soothing tones even after Duo had calmed. Seeing it was almost time for the morning nurse to check on Duo, he untangled himself and got up. “I don’t like Hilde much, but I can’t let her stay with Bo. He’s dangerous. Getting her to listen to me is going to be the main problem.” Frowning, he retrieved his computer and studied the file, searching for a way to help the annoying woman that was turning out to be a huge pain in the ass.
Although he couldn’t stand the woman, he admitted he couldn’t let anyone be hurt if he was aware of danger, and so he couldn’t let her be harmed because of her own foolishness and petty jealousy. As the morning nurse, Mari, came in to check on Duo, he paid closer attention to the file, finally finding what he needed.
Glancing up, he discovered the young woman’s eyes on him. Reaching for his newly found conversation skills, he nodded in greeting, “Good morning, Mari.”
“Good morning, Mr. Barton,” she replied with a smile. “You look much better than you did yesterday. You were able to sleep better last night?”
He could feel his face warm under her watchful eyes. “I did. It was more restful than before.”
“Would you like us to remove the cot? There would be more free space in the room, and you don’t seem to be using it.”
His face went from a low flame to searing heat, thinking of the staff seeing him as he slept curled around Duo. “I think that’s a good idea, as long as no one minds,” he agreed quietly, knowing he would sleep in the same bed as Duo as long as he could use that as a way to help his…friend.
“No one minds,” Mari assured as she wrapped Duo’s arms. “We actually find it very sweet.”
The comment should have bothered him, and he should have asserted he and Duo were just friends. It seemed pointless in light of his own continued actions and the way he constantly hovered while the staff was in the room. “How are his arms?”
“Healing nicely. They should be completely healed in another week. If they aren’t, Dr G will put off the surgery until they are.”
“Is there anything I can do to help? He’s already lost so much weight,” he stated, shaking his head at how frail Duo seemed.
“We can’t do much. Mr. Maxwell – Duo – was incredibly underweight when he was brought in, but there are some exercises you can do to help him from losing more muscle mass. Also, at night you can turn him onto his side. As long as you support him, that is. It should prevent bed sores from forming, just be careful with his IV’s,” she indicated the array of tubes that entered Duo’s body, both providing him with the nutrients he needed to live and removing the waste from his body.
“Do you have time to show me the exercises?”
“I do. Our patients aren’t very demanding,” Mari joked, her smile sad.
She walked him through the steps to exercise Duo’s arms and legs, correcting him when he made an error. When they were done, he stepped back, “If you feel comfortable, you can massage his chest and back to help those muscles, too. It isn’t great, but it’s the best we can do under the circumstances. As long as he wakes fairly soon, there shouldn’t be any further loss. It’s going to take some physical therapy to get Duo back to where he should be.”
“Do you know how he got in such bad shape to begin with? It really has been a long time since I saw him before this. He’s always had a problem keeping weight on, and he ate several small meals a day to combat that. I assumed he had a high metabolism. He could never be still.”
“When he was brought into the emergency room, they pumped his stomach to make sure he hadn’t ingested anything dangerous. All they found was liquor, but not enough to make him drunk.” After a quick look at her tablet, Mari shook her head, “Duo was tested for a variety of diseases, both universal ones and ones regulated to L2. Other than the severe malnutrition, he was in perfect health. Dr. G said it looked like he simply stopped eating.”
Trowa turned this over in his mind, wishing he could feel reassured by it. Lowering his voice, he asked, “Do you know about the incident that happened last year?”
“He was treated here then, as well.”
“Are there any…side-effects, physical ones, I need to be aware of?” Casting his eyes at Duo, he saw the slight tensing and silently apologized.
“He healed well from the incident, on the outside. Physically, he doesn’t have any after effects other than the scars I’m sure you’ve already seen. It doesn’t seem that he healed too well mentally, though, does it?” She gazed at the sleeping man sadly.
“There were a number of things that led to this,” Trowa stated, hand covering Duo’s in support. “Do you think the police know anything?”
“You would have to ask them. Because of who he is, more than one sector was working the case. I need to finish my rounds now.”
“Thank you for the extra time. I need to go out for a little while today. I should be back before dinner.”
Moving toward the door, Mari nodded in understanding, “I’ll see if James is working today for you, then. That is who you prefer to watch over Duo, right?”
“Yes. Thanks again.”
“It’s no problem, Mr. Barton. Will you be staying for breakfast, or do you need to leave soon?”
Wanting to tell Duo of his plans, he nodded, “I’ll stay for breakfast. Is there a printer I can use anywhere?”