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Hanging On, by Andrea a.k.a Lady D.

Disclaimer: Don't own them so don't sue....
Pairings: TrowaxQuatre, WufeiXSally, DuoxHilde
Warnings: This is a DEATH FIC!!, Adult Language, Violence? Angst!


CHAPTER 1: Friends Reunited

It had been three years since the war had ended, and peace had finally returned to the earth, along with the colonies. So many years of fighting for a cause that had seemed impossible at the time, but had at last become reality. The five Gundams had fought for that cause. With bloody hands and tainted souls they held onto their pure hearts and the will to keep fighting, even if they were fighting a losing battle. The five had drawn close during that long yet short time, bonding with each other, becoming the only permanent family some of them would ever know.

Duo Maxwell, a mere twenty-one years old, pondered these thoughts as he sat at his desk with a mound of paperwork that he had yet to touch. It had already been three years; it seemed like a lifetime ago when he and Deathsythe had fought together against the tourney of the Alliance and OZ. But even if it did seem long, it was a second compared to the never ending years at war. He span around absent-mindedly in his chair, glancing around the office at the average salvage business he had started at the end of the war. Grumbling at the sight of the paperwork staring straight at him, he span back to face the desk again. He had stayed on earth, instead of returning to his home colony of L-2. It was a beautiful summer out, and he didn’t want to be stuck in this unbearably humid chicken coop doing paperwork! I’m Duo Maxwell! I don’t do PAPERWORK! ******** that s**t!

“I’m not doing this…”

He mumbled to no one in particular as he stood up from the glaring papers. Arching his back, he stretched out like a cat until a satisfying pop came from the mid region of his back. He strode quickly out of the office, into the service area where Hilde was minding her post. Peering around the corner, he caught sight of his lovely wife making a sale…hopefully. He somehow had to sneak past her and out of the building, without her seeing him, or else he was going to be a prisoner in this damn office until his work was finished. Now just wait a second… he thought. I’m the great Shinigami! I used to be able to sneak into a fully armed OZ base without being noticed! But then again, wouldn’t you love to be able to call on those powers when you need them (or at least want them), since you’ve been nothing but a potato at a desk for the best part of the three years? Then again, old habits die hard…so I should be able to…NO! I CAN DO IT, DAMNIT!

Peering from the corner again, he saw that Hilde was gone. Yes! Perfect timing! Instead of sneaking out of the building, he walked quickly out from behind the wall, only to feel a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, turning around slowly to see Hilde with a wide grin playing across her face.

“And where do you think you’re going, Duo?” She asked, placing angelic hands on her well-framed hips.

“Umm… For a walk?” He answered, in his Oh-boy-am-I-gonna-get-it voice.

“Is that paperwork finished?” She spoke with sly voice.

“Uh, no…” The braided American squeaked.

“Duo! Those papers need to be sent out to L-1 tomorrow afternoon!” Hilde complained, giving her young husband an annoyed look.

“But if they don’t need to be done until tomorrow, then I’ll do them when I get back. Besides, I work better at night.”

Letting out a heavy sigh and looking off towards the opposite side of the room, she finally gave up, after a period of thought. “Fine. But if they’re not done by tomorrow morning, you better find somewhere to hide!” Swallowing hard, he nodded quickly. “I promise they’ll be done by morning.”

Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, he was out the door. The only person who could possibly scare Duo Maxwell like that (other than Heero Yuy- who he hadn’t seen in three years) was his wife.

Tucking his tank top into his jeans, he closed his eyes, tilting his head back and inhaling the fresh summer air. This was a hell of a lot better than that office, Duo thought to himself as he started down the sidewalk of the city. Hands stuffed inside his jeans pockets, he sighed heavily as he stared up at the blue sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight; a perfect day on earth. It would have been even more perfect if he could see the gang again, he mused.

He and Wufei kept in touch, since Wu worked in the city at the Preventers, with his wife, Sally. Quatre sent an email once in a while from L-4, and he’d go to see Trowa when the circus was in town.

Heero was the only one he hadn’t seen at all. Not even a ******** peep since the war ended. He just disappeared, and knowing his young Japanese friend, if Heero didn’t want to be found, there wasn’t anyone in the galaxy who’d be able to find him.

Duo sighed heavily. How he missed everyone. It had always been the five of them. Even if they were separated at times on different missions, they would meet up again somewhere. But now they each had their own lives to run; Quatre, with his fathers business. Trowa, with the circus. Wufei at the Preventers, and expecting his second child. And of course himself and his own business, and wife. Things had gotten a lot simpler, yet a lot more complicated at the same time. “Aww… Man…” He whined out loud.

Not paying attention to where he was going, Duo was lucky that he had managed to manoeuvre around every person on the busy street. His head was still tilted in the upward position, hands behind his head now, as he just kept walking.

“What day is it? I think its Saturday. Wufei should be home… Or at least I think he is. Anyway, Sally will be home.” Ironically, he was at the street he needed to turn to get to Wufei’s place.

He didn’t know why he was depressed. Sure, it happened before when he thought about Heero, but never this bad. They had gotten so close during the war, and he hadn’t seen him since. They were partners; comrades in arms and best friends. Now he had disappeared. He had discussed this with Hilde a couple of times, and also with Wufei and Sally, but he got the same answer with each person he talked to; Heero would come out when he wanted to, and until then there wasn’t any point on getting himself all worked up.

He let out another distressed sigh as he climbed up the small porch steps to Wufei’s door. Ringing the doorbell, he waited for a response. As he glanced over towards the window, the curtain moving ever so slightly, he caught sight of Sally. Then he heard a loud pounding coming from upstairs, followed by a loud thudding. Someone came bolting down into the lower level, drawing nearer to the door. Between the thudding he heard a male voice yell out. As the door opened, he was looking up at the sky. A shaded face peered down at him.

“UNCLE DUO!!!” A young voice shrieked with joy.

”Merien! My little Asian wildflower!” He smiled, giving the young girl a large hug.

“Uncle Duo! You’re squishing me.” Merien giggled, trying to squeeze her way out of Duo’s grasp.

A larger shadow then came over Duo. Peering up, he saw Sally in the doorway looking down at them with her hands on her back to support the extra weight around her waist. Sally was three months pregnant with her second child and was looking like she was ready to pop already. Merien was their first; she was an amazing four years old already. She had Wufei’s black hair and elegant figure, but she had Sally’s facial features. Her eyes were an onyx color, her hair hiding them, even with it tied up into pig tails.

“Come on you two, inside. Merien, go apologize to dad, you weren’t looking where you were going, and you made him drop all of his work on the floor.” Sally spoke in a serious yet gentle voice, so that the young child would know she had done something wrong, but would not be scared.

Pouting, Merien got up from on top of Duo and sulked back into the house to apologize to her father. Sally just looked down at Duo, shaking her head.

“I’m surprised you haven’t learned, Maxwell. Merien gets you every time.” She chuckled while Duo slowly got back up onto his feet, dusting off his clothes.

Grinning widely as he looked directly at Sally, he whispered, “I’ve learned, sure enough, but she likes it when she gets to do it, so I just play along.” He chuckled softly.

Sally lofted a brow as she noticed Duo’s expression; even though he was displaying a smile over his vibrant features, there was a hidden sadness behind those violet eyes. She let Duo in, closing the door behind him.





She chuckled as she turned around to find Duo already at her husband’s side, with his arm around Wufei’s neck.

“Heya Wuffers! Watcha got there?” He asked in an annoying mock tone, as he hung over Wufei’s shoulder.

“Nothing for you! And won’t you ever grow out of your idiotic nicknames for me, Maxwell?” Wufei grumbled softly as he tried to rearrange the mountain of papers scattered across the floor.

“Of course not!” He said, placing his hands on his hips, “How else would you expect me to act?”

He stared down at Wufei while waving his index finger in the air with a wide grin.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less out of you.”

Sally chuckled as she placed a hand on Duo’s shoulder,

“Why don’t you come help me in the kitchen, while my husband goes back to what he was doing? I wanted to show you something.”

The braided man smiled widely as he nodded,

“Sure Sal, what do you got to show me?” He asked, while he followed Mrs. Chang into the kitchen.

Sally was preparing a kettle of tea, as she glanced over her shoulder, looking over towards the ex-Gundam pilot,

“Is everything all right, Duo?” She asked, with a slightly worried tone.

Taking a seat at the kitchen table, he let out a sigh; count on Sally to see that something was bothering him. Looking up at his chubby friend,
he smiled.

“I was just thinking about Heero and the others. I miss them more than ever right now, for some reason.” He spoke softly, as his gaze went to the tabletop

“Duo, we told you before…”

“That I shouldn’t get worked up. I know, I know.” He waved his hand, indicating he knew what Sally was going to say next.

“Exactly. That’s why you shouldn’t worry so much, Duo.”

“But for some reason, I just feel that something’s wrong. Something near, but I can’t put my finger on it.” He sighed, heavily frustrated.

“It’s probably…”

“Nothing…I know, Sally.” Standing up, he stretched back out and put his joker mask back on, sending a grin towards Sally.

“Thanks for the talk, I needed it. See ya later!”

He left like he usually did; running upstairs to give Merien a big hug, telling her they’d play when he came over next time. Then he casually walked out of the house, back into the busy streets.

It was nothing…just nothing. It usually was when he got these feelings. Nothing ever came out of it in the end. What if Heero was hurt somewhere? What if J got to him again? Could J even be alive? He had so many questions and thoughts running wildly through his mind that yet again he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. Not like he did anyway any other time.

Coming down the opposite direction of the street, eyes planted on the sidewalk, hands stuffed inside his pants pockets, was another young man. A shoulder bag hung over his right shoulder. As he moved, the bag hit against his hips with each step he took. Dark brown bangs hanging over his eyes, he continued his slow steady pace down the busy street. People moved around him instead of him avoiding them; it was always like this, no matter where he went. It didn’t matter anyway, he wouldn’t be amongst the living very long, and for the first time since the war he was afraid.

He turned down the street towards his fifth home in the past four months. He never could stay in one place for too long. It was an old habit, he guessed, but it was also harder to be found. It was better this way, he thought to himself. They’re better off thinking either that I've disappeared, or that I’m dead.

He didn’t have time to get attached to them again; it would just increase the fear that had grown tremendously inside him over the past three years, even though he did miss them. But…it would be too much for him to think of what he’d be leaving behind, and too much for them to bear when he’d be gone.




His musings were broken when he fell violently onto the pavement, his bag falling two feet off to the side of him. He shook his head, trying to realize what had just happened. There was a burning sensation on the back of his left shoulder as he hissed, cursing silently to himself. The summer sun shone brightly into in his eyes as he blinked to refocus his vision, trying to see who the culprit of the accident was.
A shadowed figure hung over him, its black form holding out its hand to help him up. Taking it willingly, he was pulled up onto his feet as he brushed off his black slacks.

“Baka…” He muttered slightly, as he picked up his bag.

Heero heard a gasp as the shadowed figure stared at him. Heero turned, only to stare into a pair of wide violet eyes. Also gasping, the mouth of the person finally moved.

“H…Heero?” It asked, softly. A small breeze picked up, as a long chestnut braid blew to the side of him.

“Duo?” Heero replied, as he stood there, looking over his shoulder. Another gentle breezed picked up, tousling his hair about playfully, while
Prussian blue eyes shone brightly in the afternoon sun.

“Is it really you, Heero? Is it really you?” Duo asked softly, holding his hand out, as of to test if he was a hallucination.

“Hai, baka. It’s me.” The Japanese boy replied with a slight smirk.

He couldn’t help but smile at the other; it was those eyes, they got him every time, no matter how hard he tried to resist. Even though he didn’t
want to get involved with the pilots again, it wouldn’t hurt to have some company, but he wouldn’t let his loud mouth American friend know that.

Duo’s smile widened, spreading from ear to ear. He ran towards Heero, wrapping his arms around him, embracing the other.

“Oh, Heero! I’ve missed you so much.”

Heero was stunned by Duo’s sudden actions. He tensed at first, but then took his right arm and patted Duo on the back slightly, nodding.

“It’s umm…nice to see you again, Duo.”

They both just stood there in silence, consuming each other’s company while the city around them remained alive. It seemed that time had stopped for them as they just stood there while people walked around, sending them odd glances. It was a precious time, when friends were reunited with one another after a long three years of nothing.

It was Duo who had finally broken the silence between them, as he placed his hands on his hips and shook his head.

“You seem to always pop out of nowhere, don’t you Yuy?”

“What do you mean, pop out of nowhere? I’ve been here for almost a month now! I go to the college eight blocks away from my apartment.” He pointed in the general direction of the college.
Duo knew it well; he had gone there for the first year he had gotten here- about two years back. He quickly nodded in understanding, but his eyes were wide with shock.

“You’ve been here for almost a month, and you didn’t even drop by to say Hello?” He leant forwards, staring Heero down.

“I didn’t want to bother you, and plus I have homework and classes to go to everyday except Sundays, and even then I’ve got things that need to be done.”

“That’s just a dumb excuse.” Duo paused for a moment, then stood up straight and let out a sigh. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you come to my place, and Hilde will cook dinner and we can catch up.”

“I can’t.”

“And why the ******** not?” He snorted, lofting a brow.

“I just can’t, Duo. But you’re welcome to come to my place and have a quick cup of tea before I have to get to work on my projects.” He offered instead.

He couldn’t get too close…he just couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to Duo, or Hilde. His thoughts were broken by Duo’s voice again.

“Hey, Heero! Earth to Heero! Are you going to show me to your place, or are we going to stand here and look like a couple of idiots?”

“Hn” He nodded as he started back down the street, heading the opposite way that Duo was going. Turning down the next street that passed Duo’s shop, he took another right into the apartment area. Heero’s was a large white building off to the left. They entered the building together, and ironically it was the very first door on the right. Taking out his key, he unlocked the door and walked in, setting his bag down on the carpet next to the door.

Duo walked in slowly, closing the door behind him as he glanced around the room. It seemed that he was in the middle of a decent size living room. There was a large, hard wood and glass case in the corner off to his right, filled with items that he couldn’t see from the door. A desk sat across the room against the far wall. Then a couch, and two end tables in front of the TV.
He glanced over towards Heero, who had flicked a switch on. Dim lights that from lamps strategically placed on the tables and the desk lit up the room with a soft glow.

“I’ll go start making the tea. Feel free to look around, Duo.” Heero replied, as he walked through the archway into the hallway and into the kitchen across the hall, leaving Duo alone in the living room.

He nodded as he stepped further into the room, taking another look at the glass case that had caught his attention when he had walked in. Eyes widening, he realized what filled the beautiful case. The contents consisted of Heero’s customized pistol that he had used all through the war, and that had never left his side. Taking another look at the old gun, he caught a glimpse of some writing on the butt.

’Never again used as a tool of war’

In awe, Duo couldn’t help but smile to himself as he then continued on with browsing the inside of the shelf. There were other types of guns that he had seen Heero use during the war. He had never thought that he would keep all of them. Each one had the same inscription on either on the butt or the barrel. He knew that the inscription wasn’t just some fancy thing for the guns, but had a deeper meaning to Heero; for once he was considered a weapon in the eyes of Doctor J.

“Never again used as a tool of war.” He smiled again as he remembered how hard it was for Heero to toss away his soldiers life.

Going back to the case, he saw there was also a group picture of all of them together. The five of them- never less than that. Then there were single pictures of what each pilot looked like now. Lofting a brow, he wondered how Heero had gotten those, considering the fact that he hadn’t been seen in over three years now.

“Sneaky b*****d.” He mumbled to himself, as he couldn’t help but smirk.

There was a picture of Hilde and him at the shop kissing, then Quatre and Trowa during one of their frequent meetings, and then Wufei and Sally with their daughter Merien. He smiled at the thought. Then there were a few stray pieces of what looked like a Gundam interior. His only guess was that it was the only remaining parts of Wing Zero. A man and his mech. Nothing could separate them, even after it was destroyed. He was brought out of his musings by a hand on his shoulder.

“Tea’s ready, Duo.” Heero said softly as he glanced at the glass case. “I’ll explain after. For now, let’s catch up.”

Glancing over his shoulder, he nodded and smiled, following Heero into the kitchen. Pulling out a chair, he sat down at the table that was near the doorway. His Japanese friend was still standing as he poured Duo a cup of tea, and then one for himself. Then taking a seat, he placed the sugar bowl in front of Duo.

“I don’t remember how you take your tea. Sorry.” Heero apologized softly, as he picked up his cup and slowly sipped the steaming hot liquid without putting anything in it.

“That’s all right, buddy. I don’t expect ya to remember after this long.” Duo chuckled lightly as he put almost a cup of sugar into the small teacup.

“So how are you and Hilde doing?” Heero asked softly, sipping his tea.

“We’re doing great! The business is booming and life is great. Except the load of paperwork that comes with it.” He wrinkled his nose when he mentioned the paperwork.

Heero chuckled lightly, as a small smile played across his features,

“That’s always good. I’m happy for you, Duo, and Hilde.”

“Thanks man!” He replied, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. “Oh there was something I wanted to ask you.”

“Nani?”

“How did you get those pictures in your case? None of us have seen you since the Eve wars.” The cocky American asked, as he made a gesture towards the living room.

“Oh. Umm… I’m taking photography in college, and I needed something for a final project. I’ve lived in five places within the past four months, and it seemed no matter where I moved, one or two of you guys were there someplace. So I kept some of them, just for memories sake.” He said softly as he slid a well-decorated and well-composed binder towards Duo.



Staring down at the binder, confused, Duo looked up at Heero, eyeing him oddly,

"What the hell is this?”

“That’s my final project, baka…” He replied, shaking his head slightly.

“Oh, you’re letting me see it?” He asked, pointing to it.

“Why else would I put it in front of you? So you can just stare at the cover?” He said sarcastically.

“a**.” Duo mumbled as he pulled the binder closer to him, turning it upright. Turning the cover over, he gazed at the title.
Friends Forever, No Matter Where We Part.

The title brought a smile to his face. He looked up to Heero, who was reading a large book, while Duo looked through the album. Looking down again, he noticed an old picture that had been taken with a timer camera that Heero had gotten his hands on from Relena. It was of all five of them next to their Gundams, the last time they had been together before they went their separate ways at the start of the Eve Wars.

Turning to the start of the binder, he held his breath, not knowing what could be in here. Knowing Heero it could be anything. With anticipation, he folded the page down, glancing at two pictures. The first was of Quatre sitting at his desk at the office where his business was, talking on the phone with some unknown person. The other was of Trowa standing on the high wire during one of his performances. He continued on further into the binder, stumbling across pictures of him and Hilde on their honeymoon on the beach, along with a picture of Wufei and Sally with their daughter, and many more. Each was taken with care and precision that only Heero could have with a piece of machinery.

Looking up at Heero, he slid the piece of art back over to its owner. He looked up from the book he was reading and smirked.

“Did you like it?” Hero asked softly, as if too shy to come out bluntly.

“It’s wonderful. But how did you get these pictures without anyone noticing?”

Heero only shook his head and chuckled, a wide grin playing across his features as he placed the binder back into his shoulder bag.

“I guess you could say my old habits haven’t died yet, Duo.”

“I see. Do the others know about this?” Duo asked curiously.

“No they don’t. They don’t know if I’m still alive.”

“If you know where they are, surely you know how to get a hold of them to let them know that you’re all right!” Duo stood up from his seat, getting slightly annoyed and excited.

“It’s better off this way; that they presume that I’m already dead. Meeting you today was a fluke all on its own. I shouldn’t have invited you to come here.” He mumbled softly.

Walking over to Heero, he laughed loudly, then slapped him on the back of his left shoulder.

“Oh, come on buddy!! You just don’t want to bother them!” He continued to laugh.

Heero let out a loud yelp as he stumbled forward, holding his shoulder, closing his eyes tightly as he panted heavily. Duo stopped immediately when he saw this, and quickly went to Heero’s aid.

“I’m sorry man, I didn’t mean to…”

“Get away!!” Heero growled, glaring at the other over his shoulder.

“What? What’s wrong Heero? Are you hurt?” Duo spat questions left and right at Heero as the other slowly began to push him away. He could see it in the others eyes; those cold oceans of emotion.

Heero then boldly stood up, facing Duo as he tore open his button up shirt, revealing a bandage that wrapped around his chest then around his left shoulder, all the way down to his forearm. Duo’s eyes widened with shock.

“I’m dying, Duo! So get use to me not being around to tell everyone I’m okay!”

“What?!?! I don’t believe this!”

END OF CHAPTER 1