Remember When Arc
Life loves a tragedy
We
do not own the rights to Nev Never have and never will!
Warnings:
Angst, language, slight OOC
Archived
at: AFF, MM, and www.templeofthegoddess.com
Remember when…Life loves a tragedy part one by
Sparkling Diamond PG-SSM & Saiyajin_Raven69
July
24 of 199 A.C.
“Duo,
you have to stop doing this! You don’t have the time or the money to keep
picking up every kid on the streets!” Duo
huffed in annoyance, swiveling himself around in his dilapidated desk chair to
face the blonde on his vid-phone screen.
“If
I had known you would turn this into a huge affair, Quat, uldnuldn’t have
called you! I just need a little to pay next month’s rent, and
the girls.”
“Duo,
you have to see things from
old. You’re going to college, and live in a tiny apartment. How are you going
to afford the bills on this one?”
“Stop
talking like they’re
need help, which I’m going to give them. Don’t make me bring up what Tro
brings home every week!”
“That’s
different! Stray animals are different, Duo…”
“Bullshit!
Your damn
mansion is turning into the pet menagerie from hell! I’m just surprised it
hasn’t been turned into a wildlife preserve yet. You get Trowa to get rid of
all those animals and I’ll get rid of the babies.” Duo grinned widely into
the screen knowing fully well that Trowa would not get rid of a single critter,
and Quatre knew this. The blonde sighed, lifting a hand to his head to rub at a
throbbing headache that was starting. Duo had him once again, and here he
thought he was the strategist of the group.
“I
can’t, Duo. You know what Heero will do to me if he finds out that I’m
sending you money again? He’ll flip out and won’t talk to me for a week!”
“Then
don’t tell him, Quat. Please I need just a little. I’ve been working my ass
off with two jobs, going to school and taking care of the babies.
degree! You know I’m good for it. Please…”
“I’ll
see what I can do, but I’m not promising anything.”
“Thanks,
Quat! Look, I have to go, but I will talk with you soon. Tell Trowa and Heero I
say hello.” Duo cut the connection before his friend could get another word
out. He didn’t want toe the the call, but things weren’t coming together as
Duo had planned. He only had one more year in college before getting his
teaching degree, but with things the way they were at the moment, he wasn’t
sure if he was going to graduate on time.
_____________________
“What
did Duo want now?” The question startled the young billionaire from his
thoughts. Quatre thought he was alone today, but evidently Trowa had been there
all along.
“Nothing
much. Just a few thousand credits to tide
picking up pieces of paper off the desk and organizing them. There was no way he
was going to be able to transfer that money into Duo’s bank account now. Once
Trowa knew, Heero would know shortly after. There were no secrets between them.
After
the wars, Trowa had moved in with Quatre while going to college. Deep friendship
proved to be more than what it seemed, and they
relationship didn’t come until after the Mariemaia Incident.
it wasn’t for both Trowa and Quatre asking
for the solider to move in with them. After eight months of subtle hints, Heero
became the lover of both teens. Lives and secrets were shared along with the
hurt, pain and joy they’d had in their short lives.
“Heero
isn’t going to like you sending money to Duo again. He’s going to have to
learn to make it on his own.” Trowa replied entering the room further to stand
in front of a window that over looked the enormous backyard. He heard the
casters on the chair glide back, and the presence of his lover behind him before
two strong arms wrapped themselves around his chest.
“I
know that, Trowa. It’s just…he needs the help and I can’t deny him! He’s
a good friend, and he’s making something of his life, somethiood.ood.” The
blonde answered, laying his head against Trowa’s back, soaking in the warmth
the taller teen seemed to radiate.
“We
all are, Quat. Wufei is still working for the Preventers. Heero is doing great
as the head of your security team. I’m suro iso is going to be a great
teacher. I know he enjoys working with kids.” Trowa twisted in the entangled
limbs that hugged him closely to look at his lover. He was sure Quat wasn’t
telling him everything, but he didn’t need to be psychic to figure it out.
“What
did he name this one?” Quat’s head shot up, eyes huge at the question. He
was sure no one was in the room when he was talking with their braided friend.
“You
knew?”
“No,
you just confirmed it though.” Trowa chuckled, tightening his hold on his
lover. Quatre bit his bottom lip, mentally berating himself.
answers from him. How pathetic was that?
“I’m
not sure. I didn’t ask.”
_______________
Duo “I’m “Shhhh, The “It’s “Mr. “I “It’s “Everything “Duo!” “I’m _______________________________ Duo “Man, “Yo, “Are “Hello? “Oh ____________________________ Heero “What?” “Heero? “Duo, “Look, “What’s “I’m “You now please get Quat for me…” “No.” “Heero? “I “Please? “Deal Thousands “Damn He There The Duo “There _______________________________ Commander He “Hello?” “Wu? “Duo?” “I “Slow “Don’t “What “Look, “I’ll “Granger “I’m “You
hadn’t realized he was so late for classes when he hung up on his friend. He
rushed around the small apartment looking for books and folders, while trying to
pack a small diaper bag for the two infant girls that shared his small home with
him. Aleana, the eight month old, and the first baby he had taken in was
squalling for her binky, while the still nameless babe was snoozing in an infant
seat near the couch.
coming Aleana, Daddy’s coming. I know I saw that dang thing around here some
place. Ah ha!” The braided teen cried out in triumph, finding the lost
pacifier under the end table. He turned with a smile placing the found object at
the smaedheedhead’s quivering lips.
I found it. But we have to go. Mrs. Gregory is probably waiting for us by now,
and I’m already late for my first class.” Duo picked up Aleana, settling her
on his hip, while he picked up the overly stuffed diaper and book bag over his
other shoulder. Slipping his keys into his coat pocket, Duo picked up the baby
seat with the sleeping infant that had to be no older than a month, and slipped
out the door of his apartment.
elevator was broken once again, but Duo took his time on the stairs, nimbly
making his way down the ancient steps
could handle everything that he was carrying. Once street level, the sounds of
the city assaulted young ears, making Aleana whimper, and the new baby wake with
a howl, not happy to be awakened by the sounds
of cars and loud voices.
all right. We’re almost there.” Duo said in a soothing voice, smiling as his
oldest buried her small face against his neck.
Maxwell! You’re running late!” An elderly looking lady scolded the teen from
the front porch of a neighboring building.
know Mrs. Gregory. I’m sorry, but I got caught up talking to a friend. I have
to work late tonight, but I promise to be back to get both of them as soon as I
can.” Duo said quickly, following the woman into her first floor apartment.
all right dear. I’m sure everything will go just fine. Don’t worry at all, I
have things under control. Go now, before you’re too late.” Mrs. Gregory
shooed the teen away with a sweep of her old hand.
should be in the diaper bag. I also left some extra credits in there just in
case.”
The woman scolded him again, pinning him with a gaze that would scare even
Heero.
going! Thank you, Mrs. Gregory!” Duo called out, his long braid trailing
behind him as he ran.
sighed, looking over his books on the large desk in front of him. The time
seemed to fly by earlier in the day, but since eight o’clock, time seemed to
stand still as he worked. The stupid tie around his neck bothered him, and so
did the freaking idiot looking hat he had to wear as part of his uniform, but a
job was a job. Even if he had to take a measly security job at an office
building to make a few extra credits.
I should have told Frank I wouldn’t work this damn shift for him. I could be
at home with the girls…” He flipped his pewn own on the desk, glancing from
monitor to monitor finding nothing out of the ordinary…like usual.
Maxwell. You have a phone call.” Duo looked pointedly at the middle-aged man
that came into the security room.
you sure? Damn it.” Duo cursed under his breath with the confirming nod. Who
could it be? He was praying it wasn’t Heero calling to tell him to leave Quat
alone and to stop begging for money…again. He’d already heard that speech
once, and that was enough for him.
Duo Maxwell speaking…” He started his usual spiel, but was interrupted by a
hysterical woman on the other end. His face paled visibly, his knehakihaking as
he rose from the desk chair.
no. Oh god, I’m on my way, Mrs. Gregory.” Duo didn’t say a word as he
gathered up his coat and books, before fleeing the room.
grumbled loudly, throwing an arm over the top of his head to block out the
annoying tone of the vid-phone going off. It seemed the other two in bed with
him were not going to get up to answer it, why should he? Who ever it was trying
to call would get bored and hang up, eventually. At the twentieth ring, Heero
threw back the blankets, grabbing his robe from the floor in a huff. The person
on the other end was going to know where to shove it.
Heero had answered before taking a seat in front of the screen, not caring one
way or the other who it was, or what they might need.
Is that you?”
you better have a good reason to be calling at two o’clock in the morning.”
Heero bit out angrily, his eyes finally focusing on the teen on the the screen.
Duo looked disheveled, his braid coming undone, his uniform rumpled, his tie
draped around his neck.
I need to speak with Quat. It’s an emergency.”
the emergency?” The mere word striking the ex-pilot’s curiosity.
at the hospital here, and I need some money or something. They won’t treat her
because I don’t have insurance on her!”
Duo said frantically.
called because you need money, or the influence of the Winner name?”
Please, I need to speak with him.”
said no.”
She’s going to die without treatment, Heero. Please? I won’t ask for another
thing for the rest of my life…”
with it, Duo. I’m going back to bed.” With those curt words, Heero hung up.
and thousands of miles away, Duo bit back a strangled cry. How could his friend
just hang up on him in his time of need? His
fingers clenched tightly in his hair, knuckles white with frustration.
it!” The teen chocked out, one hand slamming into the wall beside the
vid-phone screen.
just couldn’t believe the day he was having. He was late for classes; he
spilled coffee all over a businessman at his first job, a
district. He wasn’t even supposed to be
working his security job tonight, but he figured he could use the extra money
since finding the new baby just days ago. The call from a frantic Mrs. Gregory
changed his day from not going well, to downright terrifying.
wasn’t much he could do but wait for news when he arrived at the hospital. The
nameless baby he had picked up a few days ago now had a name, courtesy of Mrs.
Gregory. The doctors needed a name, so the old woman named her Miranda Paige
Maxwell. Duo frowned at the name, but it didn’t matter much when the doctors
came out to deliver the news. Whomever had dumped the baby to die knew something
was wrong. The infant had dire heart and lung problems from what Duo could catch
from all the technical words that were flying out of
failing as well…’oh god, no.’
doctors had all agreed to treat the baby, but that would take money; a lot of
it. Money that Duo didn’t have. Insurance? Sure he had it…but only for
himself, nothing for Aleana or Miranda. No insurance, no money, no treatment.
One nurse asked him if he would just sign the papers to let her die.
had begged the doctors to take her, promising that the hospital would have their
money for the treatment. He didn’t care what they had to do, just save ‘his’
baby from dying. He cursed himself. It would have been easier to part with the
child if he didn’t have emotional attachments already. He shook his head.
He’d already fallen in love with the baby.
is only one last person to call. I hope he doesn’t turn me away…”
Chang Wufei woke with a start at the sound of his vid-phone ringing at quarter
to four in the morning. Heaving a deep sigh, he crawled out of his warm and
comfortable bed to answer. He was not looking forward to being called into work
on his remaining day off this week.
slid slowly into his cha chair, pressing the on button while swiping at some of
his loose hair to get it out of his dark eyes.
he breathily answered, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
Please, don’t hang up on me!”
Wufei asked, his eyes widening a little to taken in Duo’s frantic looking
state.
need a favor, man. Heero is severely pissed at
me, and won’t let me talk with Quat.”
down. What’s going on? What favor do you need from me? Last time I checked, I
wasn’t high on your ‘friends’ list.” The Chinese man snorted out,
shaking his head.
even start that, Wu. I didn’t want to call you, but I need help. Please.”
Red rimmed blue-violet eyes locked with dark sleepy eyes for a moment, the tone
in Duo’s words making Wufei pay more attention to his once comrade in arms.
do you need? Have you been crying?” a small sniffle was all Wufei heard, a
slight shaking of Duo’s shoulders as the chestnut haired man bowed his head
away from the screen.
if you can’t help me, just say so. I…”
help you, Maxwell. Just tell me where you are, and what you need.” Duo raised
his face towards the screen, relief flooding his eyes. Finally, someone that
would help him.
Hospital in California. I need money, Wu. My little girl will die if I don’t
have it.” Wufei bit back a gasp of surprise. ‘When did Duo have a
child?’
not far from you. I’ll be there, Duo. Just calm down and relax. You can tell
me everything once I get there.”
don’t know how much this means to me…”
lasslass=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto\">“I’m
sure I don’t, Maxwell. See you in a few hours.” The Chinese man cut the
connection quickly, mentally thinking of things he would need to take on his
emergency trip.
_________________
Wufei
arrived at Granger Hospital shortly after 10 a.m. after a short plane ride to a
nearby airport. The main floor was quiet, with
a scattering of nurses and other hospital employees coming and going. His first
mission was to find Duo, then find out what had the teen so upset that he would
call him so damn early in the morning. Spotting an admitting desk off of a small
waiting room, Wufei adjusted his backpack as he walked towards it.
“Can
I help you?” The clerk, wearing far too much make up, asked sourly as he
approached her desk.
“I’m
looking for a friend. His name is…”
“You’ll
have to go to the desk down the hall to find out where patient’s rooms are.”
“He’s
not a patient, but his daughter is. He called…”
“I
told you, you have to go to the desk down the hall, young man.”
type at her computer.
The
Chinese teen exhaled loudly through his nose, his fingers biting into the fabric
of his backpack. “Listen.
telling me that this institution would not treat his daughter without proof that
he could pay for her treatment. I’m
here to take responsibility for any charges incurred.
ask to see your supervisor?” He
snarled at the woman, as he laid his wallet on the desk, prominently displaying
his Preventers’ badge.
_________________
Muttering
a few choice words under his breath, he made his way down the white tiled
hallway toward another desk, hoping that not all the staff were as rude as the
woman he’d just encountered.
He
found the clerk at the reception desk to be a lot more helpful than the woman in
registration. He was directed to
Duo within a matter of minutes after conversing with the receptionist.
huddled in a chair in an otherwise empty waitinom, om, near Pediatric Intensive
Care.
The
braided teen hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours, and his eyes were
fighting with him to close, while his brain told him to keep them open. He
didn’t want to miss Wufei when he finally arrived, and he sure as hell
didn’t want to miss any doctor or nurse that would bring him information.
“How
long am I going to have to wait?” Duo
sighed out, burying his face in his hands.
“For
me, or for those people you call doctors?” Wufei smirked, leaning against the
doorframe, watching Duo’s face flitter with several different emotions before
settling on one that seemed to be almost disbelief. ‘Was he afraid I
wasn’t going to show up when I said I was?’
“You’re
here…”
“I
said I would be. I would never dishonor myself by lying to you. Now tell me
what’s going on.” The question floated unanswered for a moment, Duo watching
his friend taking a seat directly across from him.
“Umm,
well…I’m not really sure where to start, Wu. I mean…”
“How
about the beginning? That always works for me.”
Duo
spent the next fifteen minutes telling his friend about how he had found, and
taken in both children. He told
Wufei of his working two jobs to pay the bills, and keep them all fed, while
still working toward his degree in teaching. By the time he had related the
events of the past few hours, the braided boy was visibly exhausted.
“I
wasn’t really paying much attention to the doctors as they rattled off all
this shit. When Mrs. Gregory called
me, the baby was having trouble breathing, and was acting lethargic.
going on.”
“Have
they come by to brief you lately?” Duo shook his head, his fingers fiddling
absently with the navy blue tie that was draped around his neck.
“I
will see what is going on then. Maybe if I pull a few strings, these people will
get their asses moving.”
“Don’t
threaten them with your Preventers’ badge or anything. I just want to know if
there is anything that can be done to save her…God, I don’t want to lose
her, Wu. I don’t wanna…”
Wu
knelt down in front of the other boy, hesitating slightly before wrapping his
arms around him.
“Shhhh,
I’m sure everything will be fine.”
________________________________
Less
than six hours after reassuring Duo Maxwell that the orphan baby he had come to
care for would be fine, Wufei stood cursing himself for muttering those words.
Things were not fine, only becoming steadily worse at the hours ticked by.
The
nurses had allowed Duo to visit for just a few moments, but it seemed to
increase the stress Duo was under, rather than
lessen it. The braided teen had worried over the countless wires and tubes
running from the tiny body. For the first time in years, Duo had
long ago deemed not to exist.
Mrs.
Gregory stopped by with Aleana to check on Duo,
and to bring him some dinner that she had prepared just for him. They only
stayed forty-five minutes before the red haired infant started squalling. Duo
had tried in vain to quiet the babe, but his nerves were frazzled, and his
normally cheery disposition just wouldn’t
surface to calm her.
The
Chinese boy sat silently, watching everything that happened around him. He had
remembered the brash young man that called himself ‘The God of Death’,
but that name didn’t seem to fit him any longer. Duo had grown up, literally,
in the two years since he had seen him last. He was taking responsibility for
two abandoned babies, working two jobs while going to school. Wufei allowed a
small smile; he thought that Duo would end up working in that damn salvage yard
with Hilde until he died. He decided that there was certainly more to Maxwell
than what meets the eye.
“Mr.
Maxwell?” A young looking doctor called out, his nose buried in files that he
held in his arms. Duo frowned, not recognizing the man that had stepped into the
waiting room calling his name.
“Yes?”
“Would
you like us to call a priest to have last rites performed?”
TBC…