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Remember When Arc	By : Ashley Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1409 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
We do not own the rights to GW! Never have and never
will!

Warnings: Angst, language, slight OOC

Archived at: AFF, MM, and www.templeofthegoddess.com

Part one of �Open Road� by Sparkling Diamond PG-SSM
& Raven Layne

January 13, 200 A.C.

Duo cast one last look around the empty apartment that
he had called his home for the past couple of years. All of his and Aleana�s personal belongings were packed
away in the back of an old station wagon that Mrs. Gregory had given him before
she left.

Mrs. Gregory had moved just three months ago, to be with
her youngest daughter to help with the set of twins that she was about to
deliver. Duo understood how happy it made the older woman to be needed by her
family, especially since it had been nearly four years since the last of her
children had left home, leaving her alone in the city. She had �adopted� him shortly after
he had moved into the run-down apartment complex, so to him, having Mrs. Gregory
watch Aleana was like leaving her with her grandmother. He was happy that she would be with her real family, but the
afternoon spent packing up her possessions before her son-in-law arrived to move
her to the Seattle area was bittersweet.

Not long after her leaving, the braided American found
his life nearly spinning out of control. The
desperation that was closing in on him was almost as bad as when he first moved
to Earth, but rather than alcohol and a feeling of disconnection from the world,
this time it was even more personal. It was the daily battle of juggling work and school, and it
was the feeling of guilt he had every day that he had to leave Aleana for hours
on end. She was getting older, ananteanted more attention from him than he was able to give her. The bottle started
to beckon him nightly in his dreams.

The holidays were anything but happy. With Mrs. Gregory
gone, it was a struggle to find decent childcare that could accommodate his
hours, and when he did find it, he found that it cost an arm and a leg. He
wouldn�t trust just anyone with his Sunshine, though, so he felt it a worthy
expense, and paid the high fees.

He was laid off from his security job at the beginning
of December, and he failed an English class.
To top it all off, money was beginning to become tight again. He had
received a huge settlement from the hospital that evidently Quatre had fought
for, but a large chunk of that was given back into the poor community, mostly to
the children�s clinic where he had first found Miranda. The majority of the
rest was put away, locked into a trust fund where he couldn�t touch it. That
was all for Aleana when she was old enough.
Of course he had kept some for himself and Aleana to live on; he didn�t
think it was wise to save a large amount of money for her adulthood, but have
her suffer as a child, but even his skills at budgeting were failing him, now.

The day that really shook Duo to the core was seven days in
to the New Year, the morning he woke to find himself lying on the kitchen floor,
an empty bottle of whiskey shattered close by. He remembered the whimper that
escaped his throat, a hand coming up to muffle the noise as he tried to scramble
himself up on shaking legs.

�What have I done? Oh, God!� He squeezed his eyes
tightly, hoping that when he opened them, he�d find that it was nothing but
another of his dreams. No such
luck. He looked at the shambles of
his kitchen, broken glass on the floor, refrigerator door standing open, one of
the chairs at the table overturned. He
heard a small sound coming from the back of the apartment that broke his gaze
from the room around him.

He found his daughter curled up in her crib, her beautiful
face streaked with tears, and her hands clutching her favorite bunny close to
her chest.

�Oh, Aleana. I�m so sorry, sweetie. Daddy is so damn
sorry.� He groaned, running his fingers gently through her messy red curls of
hair. Her green eyes blinked,
swiveling to meet his.

�Dada�� Her voice was raspy, nothing more than a
whisper, nobt cbt caused from crying and screaming through the night. Duo choked
on a sob, shaking his head in disbelief. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have done this to his
precious girl?

�Jesus! Oh, Sunshine. Please forgive me? Please, please
forgive Daddy for what I�ve done to you.� He choked again, lifting the one
year old out of the battered second hand crib. He held her close to his chest,
rocking her in a soothing motion. She mumbled incoherently against his shoulder,
her small hands grabbing at the long braid.

�I promised I wouldn�t drink again�damn it! How could
I?�

The rest of that day, Duo spent wallowing in guilt. He
noticed the blinking light on his vid-phosignsignaling that messages were
waiting, but he was too chicken shit to do anything about them. He deleted them without another thought.

Now here he stood, six days later, with his bags packed. He
didn�t have the foggiest idea of where he was going, but he figured he would
find out when he got there.

___________________________________________________________________

Heero punched the disconnect button on the vid-phone; a
concerned look crossed his face. He had been trying to reach Duo since after the
New Year, but with out any success. He left messages, waited patiently for the
braided American to call him back, but each time�nothing.

�Maybe, I don�t know for sure.�

�Damn it.�

______________________________________

Duo pulled into st sst stop a quarter past the hour of
midnight, just outside the city of Albuquerque, with a rumbling stomach and a
cranky babe in the backseat. He thanked his lucky stars that the old car and air
conditioner had held out for them thus far.

Grabbing the diaper bag, and his own backpack, he scooped
up the small redhead, and headed for the restroom building. The girl smiled,
probably in relief to be out of the car seat she had been riding in since very
early that morning.

�Let�s get you changed and we�ll find something to
eat in those vending machines we just passed.�

The rest area was deserted, allowing Duo to set Aleana down
to toddle around while he had a sink bath of sorts, and changed his clothes.

�Icky! Daddy really did smell bad, didn�t he,
Sunshine?� She smiled a toothy grin, clapping her hands at him. He smiled
back, throwing a tee shirt over his head, and pulling his long braid out through
the neck.

�Your turn!� She giggled loudly as he assaulted hermmy mmy with tickling fingers. Hoisting her up, he sat her down on the edge of the
sink, popping her shirt over her head and washing her down quickly with a cool
washcloth.

�This will make you feel a lot better.�

�Dada!�

�Yup, that�s my name, don�t wear it out!� Aleana
squirmed, testing Duo�s ability of dressing her. With a quick move, the shirt
went over her head, her curls bouncing back into place.

�Done! Now
to raid those vending machines! I�m sure we can find a hotel to stay at in the
next town we come across.�

________________________________________________________________________

Trowa was just
returning from the large kennels outside of the main part of the house when he
spotted his chocolate haired lover sitting on the back patio, laptop on the
marble topped table. This was not unusual, but the furrowed brows, and
determined look on his face was.

�Find
anything yet?� He kept his voice low, not wanting to disturb Heero�s
concentration.

�No. It seems
all services to his apartment have been shut off. Ashcroft Security�s files
show that he was laid off at the beginning of December. The Daily Grind, the
coffee shop he works at, hasn�t seen him in over a week, but he hasn�t
notified them that he was quitting.�

�There might
be a good explanation for all of this. Don�try yry yourself too much.�

�How can you
be so calm about this?� Heero asked, closing his laptop. Trowa�s lips
quirked upwards into a tiny smile as his hands caressed his lover�s tense
shoulders.

�Because
he�s a big boy, and can take care of himself. Have faith in him, Heero. I�m
sure he�ll turn up soon. Until then, you and Quat have to calm down, and stop
worrying like a couple of mother hens.�

�It�s hard
not to worry.� Heero sighed, swiping at some of his bangs. �Especially after
everything that has happened.�

�Yes, but I
have faith in him. You should as well. Come, it�s almost dinner time, and you
know how Quat gets when we�re late.�

�True.
Wouldn�t want to make the master wait for us.� Heero pushed back his chair,
claiming a kiss from his tall lover before retrieving his laptop and hurrying
inside.

�Master, huh?
I�ll show both of them, tonight, who the real master is.� Trowa smirked,
pushing the chair against the table, following the same path his messy haired
lover had taken.

_______________________________________________________________________

The outskirts
of Amarillo seemed like a good place to stop for a late lunch. The small
roadside diner looked friendly enough, but the multitude of motorcycles that
stood out front worried the braided American just a little. He could keep
driving until the next town, and listen to his daughter whimper in the back
seat, or they could stop and hope that there wouldn�t be any trouble.

Pulling up next
to some classic roadsters, Duo parked the car, getting out to stretch himself
before opening the back door to get Aleana out. The babe was all smiles as Daddy lifted her out of the car
seat, the cool wind and bright sun caressing her unruly red hair.

Taking a deep
breath, Duo entered the small diner, the chime of bells tinkling as the door
opened. Some of the patrons turn to look at the newcomers, but didn�t spare a
second glance as Duo made his way to an open table, grabbing an old high chair
on the way.

He placed the
high chair at the end of the table, moving it closer to himself and away from
the excessively tattooed, burly gang of bikers that took up most of the
diner�s seating. Some were loud, a little on the rowdy side, but the back half
of the dining area seemed quiet for the time being.

�Hi, what can
I get you today?� Duo looked up in surprise, somewhat startled to have a
server at their table so quickly in such a busy place.

�Uh, yeah.�
Duo snatched up a dilapidated menu, skimming it quickly before putting it back
in the little rack near the bottled condiments.

�How about
the burger and fries for me, and a small side order of fries for the ray of
sunshine here.� Duo beamed his mega watt smile at the middle-aged waitress as
she took down the order.

�Anything to
drink?� She asked, pencil poised over the small tablet of paper in hand. Duo
cringed at the question, his mind still raw with the knowledge of his drinking
binge just over a week and a half ago.

�Water,
please. Oh, and if you have any juice, a small glass would be great.� Duo
requested politely, digging around in Aleana�s diaper bag for her training
cup.

�Sure. I�ll
bring that right out.� The waitress smiled, ripping off the order from her
tablet to send back to the kitchen.

Duo didn�t
have to wait long for the drinks to arrive. He immediately put the apple juice
into Aleana�s training cup, and placed it on the tray in front of her. She
cooed, grabbing the cup with enthusiasm. He shook his head, a silly grin
plastered to his face.

�Now is as
good a time as any.� Duo noted, pulling out a small note pad with a running
column of numbers being kept there. He wasn�t sure it was a good idea to talk with such people,
but he was afraid that if he didn�t answer, something might happen.

�She�s
cute. I have a niece about her age up in Minnesota.� A third biker piped in.

All in all, the
stop at the old roadside diner was good. The
bikers were all friendly, and the food was great.
Aleana especially enjoyed her two hours of freedom from the hellish car
seat. The bikers suggested routes
for the braided American, pointing out the best roads, places to stay, and where
to watch for speed traps.

Duo paid his
check, balancing his daughter on his hip as he made his way back to the station
wagon. He smiled and waved as some of the bikers left the parking lot, their
destination unknown.

�You�d better have a good reason for calling me this
early.�

�It�s Duo.
Have you had contact with him? I know that you just returned from a mission
tonight. I�ve been keeping in contact with Une and Sally, hoping that maybe
one of them had heard from him.�

�Duo seems
fine. He and Aleana just showed up at my doorstep less than an hour ago.�
Wufei didn�t miss the look of utter relief that passed over Heero�s face. �He didn�t tell me why he was here,
though. He just said he had driven
sixteen hours today, and was exhausted, and he�d tell me the morning. What�s been going on?�

�I hope youve ave a few minutes.�

�I do. Now
tell me why I have Duo and the baby here��
- 7
- 8
- 9
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Remember When Arc