Healing Duo

Trowa stops outside of Duo’s door and grins at the indignant voice coming from inside.
“ Hilde, I can barely fit into these! Isn’t there another pair I can wear?”
“ I’m sorry honey, I’ve seemed to have misplaced all your other ones!” The girl says, not sounding sorry at all.
“ What are you trying to do to me!!” Trowa taps politely on the wooden door and feet come closer.
“ Duo stop fretting, you look great!” The door opens to reveal the blue-haired girl dressed comfortably in a pink sweater and jeans. “ Trowa!” She shrieks and launches herself at the surprised youth.
“ Hello Hilde, it’s nice to see you again. I was asked to escort you two just in case you lose---you’re…” The green eyed boy loses his voice as he finally looks as Duo Maxwell for the first time in almost four years. The girl moves to the side as the dazed boy comes into the room.
“ Trow?” Duo asks a little hesitantly. Trowa gulps, the boy is in a deep purple, tight-tight turtle neck sweater and black jeans practically painted on his legs. Those eyes are still luminous and exotic, his hair pulled back into a loose pony tail. Snapping out of his daze by the door shutting Trowa clears his throat.
“ God Duo you look amazing!” Both boys blush.
“ I told you so!” The girl crows. “ Well, hug already so we can get going.” Trowa smiles and takes the boy into his long arms. Duo sighs.
“ I’ve missed you so much.” Trowa chokes through quickly welling tears. Why was he so sad all of the sudden? “ Well we better get going.” Duo nods and automatically takes Hilde’s offered arm, testing to make sure all the sensors were in place before trying to walk. He could only use them for a couple of hours before his muscles needed extensive rest, and he didn‘t want any of them falling off before that. Trowa notices Duo’s walk is measured, some of his weight being taken by Hilde.
“ Duo are you alright?” The two others stop and look at each other.
“ I’ll explain after breakfast.” Duo finally answers, not wanting to have to say it all over again each time he was asked. Duo’s beautiful eyes open wide as Trowa hooks his own arm under the other‘s, offering his support without needing to be asked or know why. Duo’s eyes tear up as Trowa looks deeply at him.
“ Duo, you’ve always been one of my cherished friends and I’ll never let you forget that from now on.”
“ Let’s go see the Emerald City guys!” Hilde giggles and the other two can’t help but join her.

Through amused eyes Quatre quietly watches the pilots before him. Wufei and Zechs are sitting on the love seat to his right, each holding a hand computer and playing some new game the blond had designed for training new recruits. The taller man curses once more as Wufei grins.
“ This is indignant, I designed that game!” Zechs hisses, sounding like his Chinese lover.
“ Well, maybe you should make some you can actually win.” The ice blonde glares.
“ Two out of three.” Quatre shakes his head, when those two were together (which was almost constantly) they acted like a couple of twelve-year-olds. Heero in the mean time is pacing the glassed-in porch once again---waiting, like the rest of them, for the appearance of their lost pilot. Quatre is the first to see the door opening his eyes practically fall out of his head---Duo----Duo looks fantastic! Zechs, who caught the shadow movement, turning to look behind him, looks like he’s thinking the same thing, letting the game fall into his lap, eyes riveted on the new arrivals.
“ Ha! Decided to just let me win? Well I’ll show you---ow!” The Chinese youth spews a line of his native tongue when Zechs jabs him in the side with his elbow. Finally looking up his own game falls with a clatter to the floor.
“ Maxwell!” Heero finally looks up as---in the most indignant fashion---the black haired boy leaps over his stunned lover, launching himself at the new comer.
Duo staggers with the additional weight, the other’s arms tightening enough to cut off his air supply.
“ Wu-man, don’t kill me I just got here.” He gasps and the ex Shenlong pilot seems to realize how hard he’s holding and backs off.
“ I---I just can’t believe you’re here!” Duo smiles and runs a hand through the spun ebony hair he’d admired during the war.
“ It’s good to see you too Wufei.” They smile for a while until Hilde begins to greet the black haired boy and Duo feels new arms take him into a tight but breathable embrace. A large, strong chest against his cheek has Duo grinning. He never would have thought Zechs to be the hugging type.
“ Hello Duo. You are looking as ravishable as ever.” Duo looks up in shock as Wufei slaps the man.
“ Zechs stop being a slut.” The blond gives a rich laugh, letting the smaller boy slide from his arms. Duo watches shocked as Zechs winks at him.
“ Wufei and I are on the second floor, third room on the right past the stairs if you’re interested----” Another smack has the blond laughing again and Duo’s blush deepening. Maybe the pants had been a good idea…
Fingers sliding across the end of his ponytail, knuckles rubbing lightly on the nape of his neck has Duo shivering.
“ Duo.” Turning, violet eyes meet sapphire blue and all other sound around them seems to fade. Duo blinks as crystalline tears drip from those eyes that haunted him in his dreams.
“ Heero---” As one the two youths, separated by more than time and distance, move to each other and feel their bodies clicking into places that seemed to be made for them alone. Heero can’t hold back his sobs, burying his face deeper into Duo’s scent and skin. He’d thought his songs helped take some of the hurt from inside him, but he’d been wrong. Duo can only clutch desperately to the other’s shoulder, feeling his knees buckling from the weight Heero is leaning on him.
The others had turned to the two at Heero’s first sob, each feeling their own tears. Hilde notices Duo’s knees buckling and rushes to Duo just as he starts to collapse. Quatre moves to help Hilde and Trowa gently tries to pull Heero from the other boy, but he doesn’t budge. Duo tightens his hold as well, not willing to let go.
“ Duo, honey please your legs can’t take this strain.” Hilde whispers fervently into his ear, but Heero hears in anyway. He finally pulls back
“ What’s wrong?” His voice sounding only slightly choked. Duo lets the girl pull him back and to the couch, Heero’s arm still reaching outward, but letting the other go. Duo turns to the girl and they hold a conversation with their eyes. Heero feels insane jealousy---he use to be the one that could read the boy with just one look. Now though, maybe they had grown too different.
Finally the two seem to come to a decision.
“ I think food is going to have to wait. I don’t think I’ll have the courage to say this later and I don’t want to repeat myself.”
“ I never thought the day would come when you’d think of something besides food.” Wufei laughs making Duo grin.
“ Things change Wufei.” At this the other pilots move around the room, taking seats and waiting for Duo to start. Heero is the only one left hesitant until Duo reaches out a hand and pull the boy down next to him and immediately arms wrap around him.
Duo begins his story, starting with the day after the party. He’d gone back to L2 and Hilde almost straight away, but had not begun working at the salvage yard. Instead moving on to visit his old haunting grounds. He’d seen the corruption in the cities when he was a kid, but had thought now he could do something about it. Infiltrating the drug and kid-peddling world as a dealer was easy. His charm and fast thinking got him right into the inner workings of one of the largest rings on the colony. He managed to secure names and catch transactions on video, siphoning the information to the IP (Intercolony Police) who worked closely with the Preventors.
“ That was you?!” Wufei exclaims, catching everybody by surprise. Duo merely blinks at the sudden outburst, not expecting to be interrupted.
“ What Wufei means is, we’ve heard about he increased number of arrests and closed cases on L2, due to a very reliable source of information.” Zechs smoothes over.
“ God Duo, do you know how much of a change you made on L2? Since then they’ve been able to network their own support system and things have really begun to turn around! You should have gotten recognition!” By now Duo is beat red. Yes, he had known, but never looked at himself as anymore than an L2 brat that had caught a lucky break.
“ There were more people than just me…” This just makes Wufei smile even more.
“ Please Duo, continue the story.” Quatre urges. Duo’s nerves are near fraying,, he closes his eyes to keep himself balanced.
“ Like Wufei said. Things really started picking up after that. The kids stopped peddling drugs as much or walking the streets. A lot of big names were put behind bars. It got tough then, the players left knew there was a rat. There’s rules in that kind of business. One of the most important being “do whatever it takes”. Looking back I know now that they suspected me for a while before they made their move. There was this kid, Shid, a real psycho. He dealt mostly with the heroin junkies, they didn’t mind his shakes so much. I had just started bringing him around, helping him detox….” The head drug dealers and pimps had held a meeting, no deals or anything, just a talking. Duo had of course attended with a wire tap and camera in the glasses he always wore. It was in a warehouse where pedophilia rings were notorious, one of the places Duo had busted earlier that year. That’s when they’d brought Shid in, beaten almost to death. One of the guys, Buster, had said to show loyalty everyone had to shoot the kid in a non fatal place; leg, arm, hand etc. Then he’d pulled out his gun cocked it and handed it to Duo first.
“ I-I pointed the gun at him-” A few people gasp, but he keeps his eyes closed. “ But I couldn’t do it. I shot Buster instead and ran for it. But they expected that, I could see it so clearly after…” The men standing outside the door, the ropes ready to tie him up. “ They threw me down next to Shid, made me watch while the raped and tortured him. They didn’t bother gagging the poor kid, let him scream all he wanted into my ear till he choked to death on his own blood-” The hitch in his voice brings the story to a slight halt, the echoes of dying screams filling his ears. The arms around him squeeze gently, reassuring him. “ When Shid was dead, they turned on me. At first they just beat me, used a knife a few times. When I was finally pretty out of it they started the raping, made sure to keep a knife stuck in me somewhere so I’d keep screaming. When they were done both my legs were shattered along with my hands and left arm. My skull was smashed in and I had bruises everywhere but my face.”
“ W-Why…” Quatre started making Duo sigh, he really didn’t want to admit why, but they already knew everything else.
“ I needed to get into the kiddy prostitution ring along with the drugs, the only way to get into either is start from the bottom and work your way up.” That was putting it delicately. When no other questions are forthcoming he continues. “ One of my kids had followed me there. She called the police and they took me to the hospital. For the last year and a half I’ve been in and out of the hospital while they’ve reconstructed bones and nerves.” Finally opening his eyes he looks around. Quatre is weeping opening into Trowa’s shirt, who’s cheeks are also stained with tears. Wufei looks ready to murder, his lover silent in thought. Hilde, even having heard the story is gallantly trying to hold back tears.
Duo can’t find the strength to look at Heero. His body trembling with fear that Heero will think him disgusting and broken.
“ Duo, what are their names?” Wufei finally growls, but the violet eyed boy merely shakes his head.
“ They are locked away Wufei, they knocked the glasses out of harms way early on.” But this doesn’t seem to placate the Chinese man, agitation showing in his clenching fists.
“ How-How dare they! Immoral, dishonorable heathens!-” More is said, but Duo had never learned Chinese and can only stare fascinated as Zechs looks at his lover astonished.
“ Fei, I don’t even think you can use a tazer gun that way.” Duo would have laughed out loud if a quiet voice from his left hadn’t spoken.
“ Your braid…” Still not looking at Heero, Duo hangs his head.
“ They eventually used it to tie my hands behind my back…I-I couldn’t live with that memory.”
“ Oh Duo!” Quatre wails with a fresh wave of tears.
“ No Kat, its ok really-” But he sounds unsure even to himself. “ I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth sooner…” He could feel it, the rope like twist of hair that had been his most prized possession, twisting his arms till one of his shoulder had dislocated, ripping the skin from his scalp. His gut clenching bring familiar sensations and all at once he knows he’s about to puke. Heero can only watch dazed as the warm body in his arms rips away, scrambling uneasily to the door before disappearing. The remaining audience are stunned in silence. The men watch as the blue-haired girl stands uneasily, straightening out her sweater, wiping a few tears that had strayed from her eyes.
“ Well now you know.” Hilde breaths into the air before following