Crying to the Walls Part 7
Duo looked up from his monitor as he heard someone knock on his office door. He sighed.
"Come in!"
The door opened and in walked a young woman.
"Oh, hi Shelly." Duo forced on a smile, getting up to greet the girl. "Anything I can do for ya?"
"Well, I sure hope so." The girl sighed, closing the door behind her. She was carrying some thick folders with her. She handed them out to Duo. "See, I need to hand in these reports, but I can't seem to find A.D. Yuy anywhere."
Duo frowned. "Did you try upstairs?"
"I've been looking for him all day! I tried to page him, put he won't answer. He's nowhere to be found, sir."
"That's odd..." Duo mused, slowly sitting down. "Doesn't Edna know where he is?"
Shelly shook her head. "No. She says he didn't come in to work today. She has no idea where he could be."
"Hmm... pretty careless for a private secretary..." Duo sighed, deep in thought.
Shelly just nodded slightly and put the folders on the desk, pushing them slowly towards Duo. "I was wondering, if you could give it to him, at home."
Duo's eyes widened briefly, and he looked up at the girl, frowning.
Shelly blushed slightly. "I heard you once on the phone. I gather that you live together, right?"
"Not anymore." Duo let out, looking away.
"Oh." The girl answered quietly, bowing her head. "Well, um..."
"Tell ya what!" Duo suddenly called, looking up at her with his trademark grin. "Leave it here, and I'll give it to him if I see him. If not, you could always say that you gave them to me, ne?"
The girl forced herself to smile back. "All right. Tha-thank you." She mumbled, preparing to leave the room.
"No problem!" Duo answered, turning back to his computer. Once the door closed, his hands left the keyboard, and he turned to look at the documents. He stared at the abandoned folders, a worried frown on his features.
* * *
Much later that night, Duo had finished his work for the day. He had nothing waiting for him at home, so he took the opportunity to catch up on some reports. Now he was getting tired, so he logged off his computer, and shut down the desk lamp. He got up, putting his jacket on. He stopped to look down at his desk, seeing that the documents Shelly brought were still lying there, untouched.
He sighed, picking them up, and walked out of his office.
He locking his office door, shifting the folders from one side to another and humming to himself. He began walking towards the elevator, when a certain sound registered in his mind. The sound of a keyboard.
Slowly, Duo turned around. He scanned the dozens of office cubicles, narrowing his eyes to try and see in the dark. But there was no one there. Not one light was on. But the sound was still there.
Duo took a few steps forward, still looking around. He turned to look at the hall at the far end of the office floor, where the Assistant Director's office was located. Heero's office. And to his surprise, a soft light was coming from underneath the door.
Duo clutched the documents tightly and ran towards the office.
He stopped in front of the closed door, panting. He looked down at his feet, illuminated by the weak light that poured from within. He could tell that it wasn't the main light, for it was too dim. And it seemed a little suspicious that someone would be working in the dark, so secretive, like he wasn't meant to be in that office...
Senses alert, Duo slowly reached for the doorknob. He took a deep breath, and slowly, silently, twisted it open. He opened the door just slightly, enough to sneak a peek at the room.
He saw one figure, sitting behind the desk, working on the computer. He narrowed his eyes, trying to determine who the person was. But the figure's dark head was hidden behind the large screen, and the room was too dark.
Sighing, Duo finally gave in and decided to be blunt. He walked into the room.
The figure gasped and looked up, jumping in her chair.
Duo gasped as well, nearly dropping the folders he was holding. "Heero!?"
Heero didn't answer and hurried to hide his head behind the screen again. The tapping continued.
Duo sighed and approached the desk. "Heero, where were you? I've been looking for you ALL day!" He frowned as he noticed Heero shift in his chair, making sure to keep his face behind the screen even as Duo came to face him.
"Heero?"
The boy didn't answer, and just continued typing, his head bowed, his features hidden behind a messy mop of dark hair. He was looking down at the keyboard, refusing to look up.
But Duo didn't buy the act. He knew that Heero could type blindly.
"What are you doing here?" Duo finally asked, sitting down on the desk.
"I have work to do."
Duo raised an eyebrow. "At this time of night?"
"There are some things I need to catch up with." Heero replied quietly, still typing.
"And you couldn't do it in the morning, like everyone else?"
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"Why?"
This time, Heero didn't bother with an answer. He continued working, sending quick glances at the screen once in a while, but otherwise keeping his head down.
Duo sighed, looking down at the documents lying on his lap. "Shelly was looking for you."
"I know."
"You know?!"
"She paged me."
"But you didn't answer her."
"No."
"Why?"
Again no answer. He was getting sick of this. He jumped off the desk, and went to stand by Heero's chair. He looked down at the boy, watching the screen over his shoulder. He continued watching him for a while, until he got sick of the sight of his back. Sighing deeply, he rested a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Heero,"
Heero flinched slightly at the touch, but then returned to his work, ignoring Duo.
"Heero." He tried again, getting annoyed. "Heero, look at me."
"I'm busy."
"Chk! Don't give me that! What's up with you, huh!?" He burst, reaching down to whirl the chair around. "You've been acting so strange lately! I dunno what to think anymo--" Suddenly, Duo gasped, covering his mouth with his hand.
After he whirled the chair around, forcing Heero to face him, he saw it. Heero's features were not only pale, but also bruised. He had a black eye, forcing his right eye to remain shut.
"Hee-Heero..."
The Japanese boy sighed, bowing his head. He sat there quietly, staring down at his fidgeting hands.
"Wha--what happened? Who... who did this to you?"
"I..." Heero began, voice wavering. "I fell."
"Fell?! On what? How?!"
Heero took a deep breath, closing his hands into fists. "I... I just... I just fell. You know me... I get so clumsy sometimes..."
No. He didn't know him like that. The words 'clumsy' and 'Heero' did NOT go in the same sentence!
"Bullshit!" Duo burst, looking down at Heero. "Heero! Tell me the truth!"
"It is the truth..." The boy mumbled, shaking his bowed head. "I... I fell..."
"Heero..." Duo whispered compassionately, falling down to his knees. He looked up at the boy, and slowly reached up a hand to touch his cheek. Gently, he pushed Heero's head up a bit, forcing the boy to look at him. Both their eyes were shimmering with unshed tears, glistering under the pale light that poured out of the monitor.
"Heero," Duo began softly, caressing the tender cheek. "Is everything all right? Are you all right?"
For a moment, the boy did nothing but staring down at Duo. After a long while, he swallowed, looking away. "H-hai."
"Heero," Duo spoke, more demandingly this time. "Are you sure?"
Again Heero swallowed, still not looking down at Duo. "...hai."
Duo sighed, letting his head drop in defeat. "Heero, look at me and tell me that everything is all right." He begged, voice shaking a little.
Slowly, almost stiffly, Heero turned, looking down at Duo. "I'm... I'm a-all right..." He whispered, a tear trickling in the corner of his good eye.
Duo sniffled, and slowly raised his head up to look at Heero. He caressed the soft cheek gently, brushing the pad of his thumb over the pale and silky skin. He examined his ex-lover with tearful and longing eyes, his face a mixture of yearning, compassion and sorrow.
"Are you sure?" He finally asked, after finding his voice.
Heero forced himself to smile weakly. "...Aa. Thank you for asking."
At that finale reassurance, Duo sighed ant heavily got up. He looked down at Heero one more time, sending him a sad little smile of his own. "Take care of yourself, ya hear?"
"Aa." Heero nodded, following Duo with his gaze as the boy walked over to the door.
"Well, I'll... I'll see ya tomorrow then." Duo mumbled, opening the door. Heero didn't answer, so the two just looked at each other for a few long moments, before Heero broke eye contact.
Duo sighed and left the room.
The minute the door closed behind him, Duo sighed deeply, and leaned on it. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the wooden door, taking in deep breaths. He remained like that for a few minutes, standing in the darkness of the hall.
His eyes snapped open as he heard Heero's phone ring. He strained his ears and leaned deeper into the door, trying to hear what was being said.
"Hello?"
Heero's voice sounded so tired, Duo suddenly realized. He wondered if the boy was getting enough sleep.
"Oh... uh... J-Johnson... Why are you--"
At the mention of the name, Duo snorted softly. He sighed and closed his eyes sadly. So Heero was still seeing him, huh?
"What? Na-- no-- No! I'm at work." Heero sounded like he was actually afraid, judging from the way he was hurrying to assure Johnson where he was. Like that jerk didn't figure it already! After all, he was the one who called!
"Yes, I... I have some work to catch up on."
Duo's palms closed into fists. What was that guy's problem anyway!? Did he have to know where Heero was twenty-four hours a day?! Jesus! Couldn't he give the poor a guy a break? After all, Heero had SOOOOO much more work to do than a STUPID section six officer!
"No... no... I promise that I'll be home by mid-- huh?!"
Duo growled. The man wasn't even letting the boy speak!
"No! No! Really! I have some reports I need to-- It's true! J-Johnny, please..." Duo's knuckles were turning white. "I'll be done soon and then I'll--" Again Heero was cut out in the middle of his sentence, and Duo's jaw clenched with anger.
"A-aa." Heero continued, sighing deeply. "Aa. I'm alone. There's no one else here." Again the boy sighed. "No! There's no need for you to co--" And again he was stopped. Duo ground his teeth against each other, now very much angry! That guy was TOO much of the jealous type!
"...yeah. Okay." Heero replied with a defeated sigh. "I'll... I'll wait for you downstairs... All right. Yeah, okay. Goodby-- oh, I... I love you too. Bye."
He heard the phone being returned into place and sighed, closing his eyes sadly. "I love you too?" He whispered, voice sad. "...why?"
* * *
As time went by, Heero's function at work got worse. He continued to work late at night most of the time, only coming in the daytime when there was an important meeting. He had isolated himself from his co-workers, and whoever needed him, had to go through his secretary. Not even Duo could reach him. He didn't return any calls, he would only communicate by email, and even that was very infrequent.
It wasn't that he wasn't doing his job, he was still a good officer, but it seemed like he was showing disrespect and scornfulness to his job. Duo didn't know what to do anymore. He tried to speak with the boy, but even he COULD catch him, Heero always avoided the subject. It was frustrating! He found that he couldn't get his mind off of it, and it ruined his concentration on other important matters.
"Sir? Are you going to enter or not?"
"Huh?" Duo looked up at the doorman, who was standing before him, and blinked. He looked around and then up at the building he was about to enter. He sighed and turned to face the man again, blushing slightly. "Oh, um... sorry." He mumbled and walked through the door. He heard the man mutter something as he closed the door behind him, but he ignored it.
He crossed the lobby quickly, making his way to the elevator. He pressed the button to the top floor, and leaned against the wall, sighing.
Today he was going to see Hitomi, after six weeks of not seeing each other. The last month and a half they were having a phone-based relationship, and today Hitomi was finally back in town, and he could see her.
It's funny. He thought that he would be much more excited about it. After all, he had missed her, right? He missed the scent of her chocolate-brown hair, the touch of her ivory skin... the deep blue of her eyes... the ghostly touch of her fingers... he missed her very VERY much.
But why wasn't he excited?
Shaking his head, Duo forced himself to feel happy and walked out of the elevator. He quickly made his way to Hitomi's door, and prepared himself to meet his beauty. He knocked.
He waited breathlessly for the door to open, his body suddenly tickling with excitement. He couldn't wait to finally touch her... kiss her... feel her... He had craved such contact for sooooo long...
When he heard the lock finally being turned open, he ran a quick hand through his hair and turned to smile at the person behind the door.
The door opened.
Duo's smile faded.
He blinked, trying to force his vision to clear up.
But the image didn't change.
"Hii--Hitomi?!" He choked out, stunned.
The girl smiled back at him. "Yes. It's me. Come on in!"
"But... but... What did you do to your hair?!" He called, still too stunned to turn his gaze away. Away from one blonde and shorthaired Hitomi.
Hitomi just smiled and took Duo's hand in hers, leading him into her penthouse. "Do you like it? My agent said that it would be good for my image. Blonde is the color of the season."
"Yeah, but..." Duo mumbled, still unable to look away.
Hitomi turned to face him, a slight frown on her features. "What? You don't like it?"
"Oh no... no! That's not it! You're very beautiful, but..."
"But?" The girl asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh nothing. I guess I just got used to the older color... It looked more like..." He frowned, stopping himself.
"Looked more like what?" Duo's frown deepened. He had no idea.
"Oh, well, you'll get used to it!" Hitomi assured him, walking to the kitchen. "And wait till I'll get my new contacts! This is going to look so much better once I'll have green eyes."
"GREEN EYES?!"
"Mm hmm. Green, gold and yellow. These are the colors this season. My agent says they'll look great on me."
"But... but... wha-what's wrong with the color you have now? You have beautiful eyes, Hitomi." Duo protested, rushing to the kitchen.
"Nah, blue's old. Too plain." The girl dismissed him, pouring some lemonade into a glass. "Besides, blue isn't such a special color. A lot of people have it."
"Not... special..?" Duo mumbled, slowly sitting down on an elegant wooden chair. Blue eyes were too plain? Heero's eyes were too plain? Ordinary...
"Wait until you see the whole package! It's gonna be great!" The girl continued babbling in his head.
He ran away from 'ordinary'... He ran away from Heero... He ran and he came to Hitomi...
"Besides, I was walking around with that hair color for far too long!"
But that's what he liked... Her hair... it was like Heero's...
"And being blonde and blue eyed... that's like a bad cliché!"
But her eyes... they were deep Prussian blue... like Heero's...
Hitomi... she wasn't like Heero anymore. Was it really Heero he had been seeking in her? Was it her looks that drew him to her? There HAS to be something else, right? He didn't like her JUST because she reminded him of Heero, right?
"It's gonna be a total image change for me! My agent says that that's JUST what I need!" Hitomi smiled and handed him a glass of lemonade. "You're going to love it!"
Duo stared numbly at the glass offered to him, eyes dull. "Love... it..? He whispered, voice numb. "...why?" She was nothing like Heero.
* * *
"The problem is, that if we enter from beneath the building, it will take us too long to get to the hostages."
"Yeah, but if we don't neutralize the bombs first, than there won't be any hostages to save!"
"You're not making any sense! If we enter the basement first, the terrorists will KNOW that we are there LONG before we can get up there to rescue the hostages! Lives would be lost!" Duo shouted, punching the table. He was sitting in the middle of a mission briefing, up in one of the top floor's meeting rooms. There were about ten other agents around the table. Heero was seated at the far end of the table, listening to the discussion. He was the one who had to make the call, and right now there were two opinions and one big argument over which was the right way to go.
Unfortunately for Duo, Johnson was also part of the team, as always. Wherever Heero was, Johnson was.
"The hostages are at the top floor. If we go there first, we risk getting all of us killed in one big fancy explosion!" Johnson called angrily.
Duo turned to glare at him. "I didn't ask for your opinion, Fritz! If I wanted an answer from a section six officer, I would have asked you what shape is your boss's ass!" Duo roared, punching the table again.
"Watch it pal!" The man warned, getting up.
Duo got up, throwing his chair aside. "You wanna take it outside, pal? C'mon!"
"Hey, guys! Relax, okay?!" Some female agent called. "Leave your display of machoism for AFTER work! We got a hostage situation on our hands!"
Both enemies glared at each other, but sat down silently.
The female agent sighed and shook her head. She turned to face the man at the head of the table, who seemed to be pretty much out of it. "Sir, it's your call. I don't think we can settle it in any other way."
Heero looked up from the table, blinking. "My... call?"
"You are the A.D, aren't ya?" Someone snarled.
Duo turned to glare him down. When the man looked away, Duo turned to face Heero again. "Heero, think this through. If we send one team to the bottom floor, we risk getting caught. We have to send TWO teams to work simultaneously."
"You don't have the man power for that!" Someone shouted.
"If ONE team fails, we're all screwed!" Johnson added sharply. "We can't have TWO teams depending one each other like that!"
"You can't HAVE it any other way!" Duo shouted back.
"Shut up already! It's not your call!"
The argument continued, and Heero sighed, bowing his head. He knew that having Johnson here was a bad idea. Whenever the man was around, he felt insecure. It was hard for him to make decisions, even if the man wasn't in the room. But now that he was... it only made it ten times worse.
He looked up at the arguing agents, uncertainty in his eyes.
"Heero," Duo suddenly called, looking at him, his eyes dead serious. "Make the call."
"I..." Heero swallowed, unable to look at Duo in the eye. He could feel everyone's gaze on him, and it wasn't making things any easier. He looked down at the reports lying in front of him, running the data through his head one more time.
"You don't have any more time to waste!" Johnson yelled. "Make the call!"
"Don't pressure him!"
"Shut up!"
"Make me!"
"ENOUGH!!!" The female agent called again. "Get a hold of yourselves! You're acting like a bunch of three-year-olds!"
Both men settled back to their seats, looking at Heero.
Heero swallowed again, wiping his sweaty palm on his trousers. Why was it so hard to make the call? He used to be able to make split-second decisions that would regard THOUSANDS of lives... Why was it so hard?
He looked up slowly, feeling the weight of Johnson's gaze at him. He took a deep breath, trying to sound composed. "How many men do you need?"
"Heero, it's better to go in two teams!" Duo shouted.
Johnson just smirked, ignoring him. "No more than six. We'll be in and out of there in no time."
"Heero, don't listen to him. You'll be risking not only the team, but the hostages as well!"
"We can't afford to send many people, Duo." Heero informed him, voice quiet and hesitant.
"That's a bunch of horseshit and you know it!"
"It's my call, Duo. And I believe that one team, coming from underneath the building, is the best choice. They will neutralize the threat first, and then rescue the hostages."
"You're making a mistake, Heero." Duo warned him, gaze piercing. "We all know why you're REALLY making this decision!"
Heero flinched, ducking his head between his shoulders. "That's not true..."
Johnson smirked. "Just give us the green light and section six will be right on it!"
"Heero, no." Duo tried one last time.
Heero sighed, reaching for his pen. "It's my call." He whispered, signing the paper.
"YOU'RE MESSING WITH PEOPLE'S LIVES HERE HEERO! YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET THIS!" Duo roared, throwing his chair back as he got up. He stalked over to the door, and stormed out of the room.
The door slammed behind him, making Heero flinch.
Silence fell over the room.
Heero sighed and bowed his head, staring numbly at his signature.
Johnson continued smirking.
* * *
The mission was a failure. Nearly ten people died. They lost two of their best agents. The building blew up, injuring hundreds.
And the blame rested heavily on Heero's shoulders.
He looked down at the newspaper he was holding, his hand trembling. He read the headline over and over, but still he couldn't believe it.
"My fault..." He whispered, voice shaking from tears. "My fault..."
Just then, the front door slammed shut and Johnson stormed into the apartment.
Heero flinched, dropping the paper. It crashed down on the kitchen's floor.
"J-Johnny..." Heero whispered, voice wavering. "Johnny?"
Johnson had been out on that mission. By Heero's call, he was in charge of the operation. He had been gone for nearly a week.
Now, he was back.
"Johnny..." Heero tried again, walking towards the kitchen door. He knew that Johnson would be pissed. He knew that it would be hard for him to accept failure.
What he didn't know was what he was about to get.
"Johnny, speak to me, please!" Heero begged, stepping out of the kitchen. "I want to know what happe--"
BOOM!
Something hit him in the face, and Heero staggered back, gasping in shock. He reached up a hand to touch his throbbing cheek, his wide blue eyes slowly looking up at the man who had just punched him. "J--Johnn-"
BAM!
Another punch, straight in the nose.
Heero cried out in pain, staggering a few more steps back. He looked up at Johnson, covering his bleeding nose with a shaky palm. "J--Johnson... wh-what..?"
"This is ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!" The man roared, diving in for another punch. "YOU USELESS WHORE!"
"ARGH!" Heero cried as another punch sent him down to the floor. He looked up at the man towering above him, still holding his throbbing and bleeding face. "M-my fault? I wasn-URGH!"
This time, it was a kick, straight to the gut.
Heero coughed and cringed in pain, clutching his mid section.
"PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!"
"Na--no..." Heero cried, panting in order to control the pain. "I didn't mean it..."
"BULLSHIT! LOOK WHAT HAPPENED! WE LOST TWO MEN BECAUSE OF YOU! THEY WERE GOOD FRIENDS OF MINE!!"
"URGHHHHHH!!!!!"
Another kick, straight to his chest.
Heero crashed down to the floor, face down, coughing, a hand over his heart. "Sss-stop... It's not my... my fault..."
"OF COURSE IT IS! YOU KILL PEOPLE!"
//"Onii-san, are you lost?"//
"I don't... don't mean to... do... it... I... I..."
//"Ne, are you lost?"//
"I DON'T WANT TO KILL!!!" Heero cried, looking up at Johnson with wild eyes.
"CRYING WON'T HELP YOU! GOD DAMN IT! YOU FAILED! YOU FAILED!!!"
"Na... no..." Heero rasped, tears running freely down his injured cheeks. As the blows kept on coming, he just lay there, receiving his punishment. He cried and he howled in pain, but the blows didn't cease. They kept on coming, harder and angrier. Hurting words and painful accusations thrown and spat his way.
"I'm sorry... Johnny... I'm sorry..." He cried over and over, mumbling a thousand and one incoherent apologies.
But the blows kept on coming. He squirmed and wriggled on the cold kitchen floor, trying uselessly to push the hurting hands away. He lay there on the floor, sobbing and crying, begging for forgiveness.
"Joh...nn...yyy..."
Blood mixed with tears, creating a large puddle on the white and cold floor.
"I didn't mean it, Johnny... I didn't mean it..."
He was picked up in the air only to be thrown against the cupboards and sink back to the floor.
"I'M SORRYYYY!!!!"
But the blows kept on coming.
"I'm... sooo...rrr...yyyy..."
TBC…