It was cold- no, scratch that, it was freezing. Duo stuffed his hands in his pockets, cursing himself mentally for leaving his gloves, his freakin' gloves, back in the cockpit of his Gundam. It was of no use retrieving them- Deathscythe Hell was in kneeling position on the bottom of the nearest lake- ten miles from here. Fuck! The biggest disadvantage of the Gundams was their giant size, rendering them impossible to hide. It wasn't like you could fold them up and tuck them away in a convenient pocket in your pants or something.
Muttering under his breath, Duo kicked at the pebbles on his path, the small stones flying in several directions. He was cold, hungry, and tired. The scheduled meeting better had be good, or else..! He was going to sleep for two weeks straight, the state of his bunk be damned- he felt so tired that he probably could fall asleep standing right up... which he was trained to do anyway.
His chestnut braid tucked away under his cap, Duo broke out in a slow jog, trying to get himself a little warmed up. It was only a mile to the safe house, and he wouldn't get there any sooner by moping around and slowing down. He was looking forward to meeting the others as well- this would be the first time they'd actually be together, the lot of them. He'd met Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei all separately, and after lots of scheduling and planning, it was arranged that they'd meet up together in this safe house in the far mountains. Apparently, OZ is coming up with a grand plan or something for all of us to gather together.
Duo regretted that everybody worked solo. Strength was in numbers- not only that, but working together was so much more beneficial. He didn't mind teaming up with someone, though with the exception of Quatre, no one of the other pilots seemed particularly smitten with the idea. Idiots. There was so much you could learn from working together, strengthening weak points and smoothing out the flaws. Really, there were almost nothing but benefits; that, and Duo liked the human contact. He wasn't a loner like Wufei, or Heero, or Trowa... all three of them had given him the impression of preferring being alone, though he was convinced they hid a turmoil of emotions behind their firm, steadfast mask.
Oh, he'd peel them off, eventually. It would help if he'd see them more often, but in the end, Duo Maxwell would wedge his way between them, and he would take off their masks to see what was underneath them. Ignoring the walls he build around himself, Duo was convinced that he'd succeed- after all, the Maxwell charm was undeniable. In any case, they'd simply end up being friends, which was always a good thing. As long as this war was raging on, he'd need all the friends he could get, though he had to be careful- they could turn into an unsuspected enemy, or die because of the fighting. He heaved a sigh.
The safe house wasn't that far from here, and he sped up a little, longing for something to eat- as long as it was hot and plentiful- and a place to sleep. Furthermore, meeting the others would be fun- he wasn't that naive to expect a roaring camp fire and everyone being pleasant and happy, but he was just looking forward to see them. The idea of spending the night together instead on a boring watch, curled up in a pilot's seat, or somewhere in a rat-infested hellhole that just screamed desperation, was appealing to him. It reminded him of the large dorms in the orphanage of Father Maxwell, and every memory of Father Maxwell brought a flood of feelings back: warmth, melancholy, sadness and grief.
Shaking his head, Duo continued jogging and his feet hit asphalt. Noting a small sign, he knew he only had a few dozen meters to go, until he had to go to the east, crossing a large cornfield before he'd reach the safe house. Who was in charge of finding these things, anyway? He tried to occupy himself with thoughts about why they were all summoned to get together at that particular house. It was not far from the mountains, in a rather deserted village- all right, so barely no chance of being detected- and just before the winter season would officially start. What did OZ have in mind? An attack with Christmas? Was Romefeller planning a massive offense, after hiding in the shadows for so long? Khushrenada announcing another kind of mobile suit?
When he caught the first glimpse of the house after making his way through the corn field, his heart sank. He'd seen quite the dilapidated buildings in his life, and knew that none of the safe houses were luxurious buildings- but this... this just looked like...
"Crap," he voiced out loud while he jumped onto the porch, his steel toed boot leaving an impression in the soft wood. Duo reached for the door and immediately broke off the handle. What the hell? He tried to keep from cursing as he forced the door open, his eyes trying to get used to the dark. It was already late in the evening, but this house was dark- it took him some minutes to figure out that the windows were painted black.
"Great, just great," he said, immediately noticing that none of the others were here. In fact, it seemed like there hadn't been someone here for quite some time. There was no furniture except for a few broken chairs and a plump couch he'd bet was infested with fleas, and nothing worked- no light, no gas, no water, nothing. He snorted- the house was nothing but a dump, and though he was quite used to spending nights at a dump, he'd never seen such a dump as this one.
"This must be the dumpiest of them all," he sighed and dropped his duffel bag. There wasn't much in it, as this was supposed to be one night only- they'd have the whole day to debate their new orders. Duo snorted again- he doubted if any of the laptops would work out here. Well, maybe Heero's, but that one probably worked when buried in the Earth's core. Grinning at himself for the small joke, he looked around the house.
There wasn't much to find; the stairs were broken half-way and he didn't trust the floor either, the... thing passing for a bathroom was covered in mold and other organisms he didn't recognize, the fireplace was completely cluttered and the chimney was clogged with bird nests and leaves. When Duo returned to the living room from his small round, seeing his duffel bag on the floor, it felt like his heart sank again. Had he missed the meeting, had he made an error in the date? He didn't think so, but he hadn't expected to arrive first. There was no sign of life, no sign of anyone, not even an animal, not a bird whistling, a cricket chirping, or a wolf howling. Nothing. No one.
He didn't notice he was hugging himself, even though he was wearing winter gear and he wasn't really cold; his fingers were already warming up, curling into the thick fabric of his jacket. His face still felt cold and his breathing made soft clouds, but he wouldn't freeze to death here if he'd fall asleep. It was just so... desolating. Barely any light, no one around, chilling temperatures... and he almost fell on his knees, crushed by the weight of being alone and disappointed, though he couldn't pinpoint why he was so disappointed. What did you expect, Maxwell? Coffee and cake? A party? There's a war going on. People don't have time to interact, to care, to love, to laugh.
"Not true," he whispered. Father Maxwell had cared, Sister Helen had loved and laughed, and the other orphan kids had shared with him, hugged him, just like brothers and sisters.
It was too much to ask to be on a brotherly basis with the other Gundam pilots- they were fighters, murderers, killers, called together to discuss a new stage of warfare, to develop a new strategy to attack and destroy. Didn't he claim it himself? Being the God of Death, impersonating the Grim Reaper, taking the souls of thousands, innocent and guilty? What was he expecting here? Mercy? There was no mercy for one who didn't deal in mercy himself. It was cold, not here, not outside, but inside, in his heart, and he wanted to reach out, but he found his hands cramped, his fingers curved, nails split and crumbly, as if they wanted to claw at his face…
An indignant yelp escaped him, his body shaking, startling, and he was immediately on his feet, hands up in the air to defend himself.
"What!?"
"Take it easy," the other said, face obscured, holding up hands as well, ready to take him down if he'd lashed out. Slowly, Duo lowered his clenched fists.
"Heero."
"You're early."
Duo didn't answer, a sudden jolt of pain flaring through his knees and he hopped from one leg to another.
"That was a mighty uncomfortable position to fall asleep in," Heero commented, a smirk tugging at his lips. Duo lifted up his hand, rubbing over his cheek, feeling strangely numb- he didn't have to look down to his duffel mark to see the indentation. It hardly happened to him that he fell asleep on the floor- but yet again, he'd been tired.
"I was waiting for you. Where's Wing?"
"Camouflage net." A loud 'thud' of the other's duffel bag, immediately snapping a piece of hardboard of the floor. "This is some crappy place."
"You can just say out loud that it's a dump," Duo replied, not knowing whether to feel embarrassed at being caught a sleep or miffed for being disturbed in his sleep.
"Why didn't you get the fireplace started?"
"The chimney is clogged. Didn't feel like suffocating myself, you know." Was that a smile? A real, genuine smile? Impossible.
"It would be a waste," Heero said, moving around the room as if he wanted to determine its size. "Painted windows, no electricity, no water, no gas. I'll thank Dr. J in person when I see him next time."
"Do you know why we've all been called here for?"
Heero simply shrugged. There was hardly a thing that could faze him. "here was something mentioned as Khushrenada being under some kind of house arrest, and Relena has been spotted with Romefeller officials."
"What? The Princess of Peace with those old goats?"
"Something like that. I'm sure Dr. J. will brief us extensively when the others have arrived."
"Yeah, when they arrive," Duo agreed, feeling already better that at least Heero was around. He wasn't dependent or clingy, but he just liked having someone around. After all these solo missions, after all this working on his own, he just wanted to see another human, interact with him or her, but it wasn't exactly some kind of punishment that it was Heero who has turned up first.
"Let's see if we can get something going here," the other pilot said, and startled Duo out of his thoughts.
"Whu- what?"
"Get something going here," Heero pursed his lips, holding up a large rod- probably a curtain rod. "If we can poke at the stuff that's clogging the chimney and get an opening, we can get at least a fire started."
"Sure," Duo was quick to roll up his sleeves. It would take a while to get the open fire started, and it would take a while for the others to arrive as well, so why not make oneself useful? After all, there was someone around now, and even though Duo could well take care of himself, he felt a lot safer. On safe ground.
As he worked alongside Heero, chattering to him about everything that came to his mind, rewarded with an one-liner, a simple grunt or a dry comment, Duo didn't mind getting his hands dirty, that the remnants of bird nests and other clutter came down with a rattling noise, covering the both of them in dust and charcoal. It felt familiar, working together with Heero, and he was stealing glances at him.
They both were stealing glances at each other, and Duo didn't imagine the worry in Heero's eyes when he suddenly cut himself with a piece of splintered wood. The fire would soon be going, roaring flames searching their way upwards and warming this miserable shack... and maybe, maybe there was something else going on as well.