Crying To The Walls
part 7
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CRYING TO THE WALLSdir=RTL style='font-size:10.0pt'>
PART SEVEN
*
* *
Duo looked up from his
monitor as he heard someone knock on his office door. He sighed.
“Come in!”
The door opened and in
walked a young woman.
“Oh, hi Shelly.” Duo
forced on a smile, getting up to greet the girl. “Anything I can do for ya?”
“Well, I sure hope
so.” The girl sighed, closing the door behind her. She was carrying some thick
folders with her. She handed them out to Duo. “See, I need to hand in these
reports, but I can’t seem to find A.D. Yuy anywhere.”
Duo frowned. “Did you
try upstairs?”
“I’ve been looking for
him all day! I tried to page him, put he won’t answer. He’s nowhere to be
found, sir.”
“That’s odd...” Duo
mused, slowly sitting down. “Doesn’t Edna know where he is?”
Shelly shook her head.
“No. She says he didn’t come in to work today. She has no idea where he could
be.”
“Hmm... pretty
careless for a private secretary...” Duo sighed, deep in thought.
Shelly just nodded
slightly and put the folders on the desk, pushing them slowly towards Duo. “I
was wondering, if you could give it to him, at home.”
Duo’s eyes widened
briefly, and he looked up at the girl, frowning.
Shelly blushed
slightly. “I heard you once on the phone. I gather that you live together,
right?”
“Not anymore.” Duo let
out, looking away.
“Oh.” The girl
answered quietly, bowing her head. “Well, um...”
lasslass=MsoBodyText dir=LTR style='line-height:12.0pt'>“Tell ya what!” Duo
suddenly called, looking up at her with his trademark grin. “Leave it here, and
I’ll give it to him if I see him. If not, you could always say that you gave
them to me, ne?”
The girl forced
herself to smile back. “All right. Tha-thank you.” She mumbled, preparing to
leave the room.
“No problem!” Duo
answered, turning back to his computer. Once the door closed, his hands left
the keyboard, and he turned to look at the documents. He stared at the
abandoned folders, a worried frown on his features.
*
* *
Much later that night,
Duo had finished his work for the day. He had nothing waiting for him at home,
so he took the opportunity to catch up on some reports. Now he was getting
tired, so he logged off his computer, and shut down the desk lamp. He got up,
putting his jacket on. He stopped to look down at his desk, seeing that the
documents Shelly brought were still lying there, untouched.
He sighed, picking
them up, and walked out of his office.
He locking his office
door, shifting the folders from one side to another and humming to himself. He
began walking towards the elevator, when a certain sound registered in his
mind. The sound of a keyboard.
Slowly, Duo turned
around. He scanned the dozens of office cubicles, narrowing his eyes to try and
see in the dark. But there was no one there. Not one light was on. But the
sound was still there.
Duo took a few steps
forward, still looking around. He turned to look at the hall at the far end of
the office floor, where the Assistant Director’s office was located. Heero’s
office. And to his surprise, a soft light was coming from underneath the door.
Duo clutched the
documents tightly and ran towards the office.
He stopped in front of
the closed door, panting. He looked down at his feet, illuminated by the weak
light that poured from within. He could tell that it wasn’t the main light, for
it was too dim. And it seemed a little suspicious that someone would be working
in the dark, so secretive, like he wasn’t meant to be in that office...
Senses alert, Duo
slowly reached for the doorknob. He took a deep breath, and slowly, silently,
twisted it open. He opened the door just slightly, enough to sneak a peek at
the room.
He saw one figure,
sitting behind the desk, working on the computer. He narrowed his eyes, trying
to determine who the person was. But the figure’s dark head was hidden behind
the large screen, and the room was too dark.
Sighing, Duo finally
gave in and decided to be blunt. He walked into the room.
The figure gasped and
looked up, jumping in her chair.
Duo gasped as well,
nearly dropping the folders he was holding. “Heero!?”
Heero didn’t answer
and hurried to hide his head behind the screen again. The tapping continued.
Duo sighed and
approached the desk. “Heero, where were you? I’ve been looking for you ALL
day!” He frowned as he noticed Heero shift in his chair, making sure to keep
his face behind the screen even as Duo came to face him.
“Heero?”
The boy didn’t answer,
and just continued typing, his head bowed, his features hidden behind a messy
mop of dark hair. He was looking down at the keyboard, refusing to look up.
But Duo didn’t buy the
act. He knew that Heero could type blindly.
“What are you doing
here?” Duo finally asked, sitting down on the desk.
“I have work to do.”
Duo raised an eyebrow.
“At this time of night?”
“There are some things
I need to catch up with.” Heero replied quietly, still typing.
“And you couldn’t do
it in the morning, like everyone else?”
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Why?”
This time, Heero
didn’t bother with an answer. He continued working, sending quick glances at
the screen once in a while, but otherwise keeping his head down.
Duo sighed, looking
down at the documents lying on his lap. “Shelly was looking for you.”
“I know.”
“You know?!”
“She paged me.”
“But you didn’t answer
her.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Again no answer. He
was getting sick of this. He jumped off the desk, and went to stand by Heero’s
chair. He looked down at the boy, watching the screen over his shoulder. He
continued watching him for a while, until he got sick of the sight of his back.
Sighing deeply, he rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Heero,”
Heero flinched
slightly at the touch, but then returned to his work, ignoring Duo.
“Heero.” He tried
again, getting annoyed. “Heero, look at me.”
“I’m busy.”
“Chk! Don’t give me
that! What’s up with you, huh!?” He burst, reaching down to whirl the chair
around. “You’ve been acting so strange lately! I dunno what to think anymo--“
Suddenly, Duo gasped, covering his mouth with his hand.
After he whirled the
chair around, forcing Heero to face him, he saw it. Heero’s features were not
only pale, but also bruised. He had a black eye, forcing his right eye to
remain shut.
“Hee-Heero...”
The Japanese boy
sighed, bowing his head. He sat there quietly, staring down at his fidgeting
hands.
“Wha--what happened?
Who... who did this to you?”
“I...” Heero began,
voice wavering. “I fell.”
“Fell?! On what?
How?!”
Heero took a deep
breath, closing his hands into fists. “I... I just... I just fell. You know
me... I get so clumsy sometimes...”
No. He didn’t know him
like that. The words ‘clumsy’ and ‘Heero’ did NOT go in the same sentence!
“Bullshit!” Duo burst,
looking down at Heero. “Heero! Tell me the truth!”
“It is the truth...”
The boy mumbled, shaking his bowed head. “I... I fell...”
“Heero...” Duo
whispered compassionately, falling down to his knees. He looked up at the boy,
and slowly reached up a hand to touch his cheek. Gently, he pushed Heero’s head
up a bit, forcing the boy to look at him. Both their eyes were shimmering with
unshed tears, glistering under the pale light that poured out of the monitor.
“Heero,” Duo began
softly, caressing the tender cheek. “Is everything all right? Are you
all right?”
For a moment, the boy
did nothing but staring down at Duo. After a long while, he swallowed, looking
away. “H-hai.”
“Heero,” Duo spoke,
more demandingly this time. “Are you sure?”
Again Heero swallowed,
still not looking down at Duo. “...hai.”
Duo sighed, letting
his head drop in defeat. “Heero, look at me and tell me that everything is all
right.” He begged, voice shaking a little.
Slowly, almost stiffly,
Heero turned, looking down at Duo. “I’m... I’m a-all right...” He whispered, a
tear trickling in the corner of his good eye.
Duo sniffled, and
slowly raised his head up to look at Heero. He caressed the soft cheek gently,
brushing the pad of his thumb over the pale and silky skin. He examined his
ex-lover with tearful and longing eyes, his face a mixture of yearning,
compassion and sorrow.
“Are you sure?” He
finally asked, after finding his voice.
Heero forced himself
to smile weakly. “...Aa. Thank you for asking.”
At that finale
reassurance, Duo sighed ant heavily got up. He looked down at Heero one more
time, sending him a sad little smile of his own. “Take care of yourself, ya
hear?”
“Aa.” Heero nodded,
following Duo with his gaze as the boy walked over to the door.
“Well, I’ll... I’ll
see ya tomorrow then.” Duo mumbled, opening the door. Heero didn’t answer, so
the two just looked at each other for a few long moments, before Heero broke
eye contact.
Duo sighed and left
the room.
The minute the door closed
behind him, Duo sighed deeply, and leaned on it. He closed his eyes and tilted
his head back against the wooden door, taking in deep breaths. He remained like
that for a few minutes, standing in the darkness of the hall.
His eyes snapped open
as he heard Heero’s phone ring. He strained his ears and leaned deeper into the
door, trying to hear what was being said.
“Hello?”
Heero’s voice sounded
so tired, Duo suddenly realized. He wondered if the boy was getting enough
sleep.
“Oh... uh...
J-Johnson... Why are you--”
At the mention of the
name, Duo snorted softly. He sighed and closed his eyes sadly. So Heero was
still seeing him, huh?
“What? Na-- no-- No!
I’m at work.” Heero sounded like he was actually afraid, judging from the way
he was hurrying to assure Johnson where he was. Like that jerk didn’t figure it
already! After all, he was the one who called!
“Yes, I... I have some
work to catch up on.”
Duo’s palms closed
into fists. What was that guy’s problem anyway!? Did he have to know where
Heero was twenty-four hours a day?! Jesus! Couldn’t he give the poor a guy a
break? After all, Heero had SOOOOO much more work to do than a STUPID section six
officer!
“No... no... I promise
that I’ll be home by mid-- huh?!”
Duo growled. The man
wasn’t even letting the boy speak!
“No! No! Really! I
have some reports I need to-- It’s true! J-Johnny, please...” Duo’s knuckles
were turning white. “I’ll be done soon and then I’ll--“ Again Heero was cut out
in the middle of his sentence, and Duo’s jaw clenched with anger.
“A-aa.” Heero
continued, sighing deeply. “Aa. I’m alone. There’s no one else here.” Again the
boy sighed. “No! There’s no need for you to co--“ And again he was stopped. Duo
ground his teeth against each other, now very much angry! That guy was TOO much
of the jealous type!
“...yeah. Okay.” Heero
replied with a defeated sigh. “I’ll... I’ll wait for you downstairs... All
right. Yeah, okay. Goodby-- oh, I... I love you too. Bye.”
He heard the phone
being returned into place and sighed, closing his eyes sadly. “I love you too?”
He whispered, voice sad. “...why?”
*
* *
As time went by,
Heero’s function at work got worse. He continued to work late at night most of
the time, only coming in the daytime when there was an important meeting. He
had isolated himself from his co-workers, and whoever needed him, had to go
through his secretary. Not even Duo could reach him. He didn’t return any
calls, he would only communicate by email, and even that was very infrequent.
It wasn’t that he
wasn’t doing his job, he was still a good officer, but it seemed like he was
showing disrespect and scornfulness to his job. Duo didn’t know what to do
anymore. He tried to speak with the boy, but even he COULD catch him, Heero
always avoided the subject. It was frustrating! He found that he couldn’t get
his mind off of it, and it ruined his concentration on other important matters.
“Sir? Are you going to
enter or not?”
“Huh?” Duo looked up
at the doorman, who was standing before him, and blinked. He looked around and
then up at the building he was about to enter. He sighed and turned to face the
man again, blushing slightly. “Oh, um... sorry.” He mumbled and walked through
the door. He heard the man mutter something as he closed the door behind him,
but he ignored it.
He crossed the lobby
quickly, making his way to the elevator. He pressed the button to the top
floor, and leaned against the wall, sighing.
Today he was going to
see Hitomi, after six weeks of not seeing each other. The last month and a half
they were having a phone-based relationship, and today Hitomi was finally back
in town, and he could see her.
It’s funny. He thought
that he would be much more excited about it. After all, he had missed her,
right? He missed the scent of her chocolate-brown hair, the touch of her ivory
skin... the deep blue of her eyes... the ghostly touch of her fingers... he
missed her very VERY much.
But why wasn’t he
excited?
Shaking his head, Duo
forced himself to feel happy and walked out of the elevator. He quickly made
his way to Hitomi’s door, and prepared himself to meet his beauty. He knocked.
He waited breathlessly
for the door to open, his body suddenly tickling with excitement. He couldn’t
wait to finally touch her... kiss her... feel her... He had craved such contact
for sooooo long...
When he heard the lock
finally being turned open, he ran a quick hand through his hair and turned to
smile at the person behind the door.
The door opened.
Duo’s smile faded.
He blinked, trying to
force his vision to clear up.
But the image didn’t
change.
“Hii--Hitomi?!” He
choked out, stunned.
The girl smiled back
at him. “Yes. It’s me. Come on in!”
“But... but... What
did you do to your hair?!” He called, still too stunned to turn his gaze away.
Away from one blonde and shorthaired Hitomi.
Hitomi just smiled and
took Duo’s hand in hers, leading him into her penthouse. “Do you like it? My
agent said that it would be good for my image. Blonde is the color of the
season.”
“Yeah, but...” Duo
mumbled, still unable to look away.
Hitomi turned to face
him, a slight frown on her features. “What? You don’t like it?”
“Oh no... no! That’s
not it! You’re very beautiful, but...”
“But?” The girl asked,
raising an eyebrow.
“Oh nothing. I guess I
just got used to the older color... It looked more like...” He frowned,
stopping himself.
“Looked more like
what?”
Duo’s n den deepened.
He had no idea.
“Oh, well, you’ll get
used to it!” Hitomi assured him, walking to the kitchen. “And wait till I’ll
get my new contacts! This is going to look so much better once I’ll have green
eyes.”
“GREEN EYES?!”
“Mm hmm. Green, gold
and yellow. These are the colors this season. My agent says they’ll look great
on me.”
“But... but...
wha-what’s wrong with the color you have now? You have beautiful eyes, Hitomi.”
Duo protested, rushing to the kitchen.
“Nah, blue’s old. Too
plain.” The girl dismissed him, pouring some lemonade into a glass. “Besides,
blue isn’t such a special color. A lot of people have it.”
“Not... special..?”
Duo mumbled, slowly sitting down on an elegant wooden chair. Blue eyes were too
plain? Heero’s eyes were too plain? Ordinary...
“Wait until you see
the whole package! It’s gonna be great!” The girl continued babbling in his
head.
He ran away from
‘ordinary’... He ran away from Heero... He ran and he came to Hitomi...
“Besides, I was
walking around with that hair color for far too long!”
But that’s what he
liked... Her hair... it was like Heero’s...
“And being blonde and
blue eyed... that’s like a bad cliché!”
But her eyes... they
were deep Prussian blue... like Heero’s...
Hitomi... she wasn’t
Hee Heero anymore. Was it really Heero he had been seeking in her? Was it her
looks that drew him to her? There HAS to be something else, right? He didn’t
like her JUST because she reminded him of Heero, right?
“It’s gonna be a total
image change for me! My agent says that that’s JUST what I need!” Hitomi smiled
and handed him a glass of lemonade. “You’re going to love it!”
Duo stared numbly at
the glass offered to him, eyes dull. “Love... it..? He whispered, voice numb.
“...why?” She was nothing like Heero.
*
* *
“The problem is, that
if we enter from beneath the building, it will take us too long to get
to the hostages.”
“Yeah, but if we don’t
neutralize the bombs first, than there won’t be any hostages to save!”
“You’re not making any
sense! If we enter the basement first, the terrorists will KNOW that we are
there LONG before we can get up there to rescue the hostages! Lives would be
lost!” Duo shouted, punching the table. He was sitting in the middle of a mission
briefing, up in one of the top floor’s meeting rooms. There were about ten
other agents around the table. Heero was seated at the far end of the table,
listening to the discussion. He was the one who had to make the call, and right
now there were two opinions and one big argument over which was the right way
to go.
Unfortunately for Duo,
Johnson was also part of the team, as always. Wherever Heero was, Johnson was.
“The hostages are at
the top floor. If we go there first, we risk getting all of us killed in one
big fancy explosion!” Johnson called angrily.
Duo turned to glare at
him. “I didn’t ask for your opinion, Fritz! If I wanted an answer
from a section six officer, I would have asked you what shape is your
boss’s ass!” Duo roared, punching the table again.
“Watch it pal!” The
man warned, getting up.
Duo got up, throwing
his chair aside. “You wanna take it outside, pal? C’mon!”
“Hey, guys! Relax,
okay?!” Some female agent called. “Leave your display of machoisim for AFTER
work! We got a hostage situation on our hands!”
Both enemies glared at
each other, but sat down silently.
The female agent
sighed and shook her head. She turned to face mae man at the head of the table,
who seemed to be pretty much out of it. “Sir, it’s your call. I don’t think we
can settle it in any other way.”Heero looked up from
the table, blinking. “My... call?”
“You are the A.D,
aren’t ya?” Someone snarled.
Duo turned to glare
him down. When the man looked away, Duo turned to face Heero again. “Heero,
think this through. If we send one team to the bottom floor, we risk getting
caught. We have to send TWO teams to work simultaneously.”
“You don’t have the
man power for that!” Someone shouted.
“If ONE team fails,
we’re all screwed!” Johnson added sharply. “We can’t have TWO teams depending
one each other like that!”
“You can’t HAVE it any
other way!” Duo shouted back.
“Shut up already! It’s
not your call!”
The argument
continued, and Heero sighed, bowing his head. He knew that having Johnson here
was a bad idea. Whenever the man was around, he felt insecure. It was hard for
him to make decisions, even if the man wasn’t in the room. But now that he
was... it only made it ten times worse.
He looked up at the
arguing agents, uncertainty in his eyes.
“Heero,” Duo suddenly
called, looking at him, his eyes dead serious. “Make the call.”
“I...” Heero
swallowed, unable to look at Duo in the eye. He could feel everyone’s gaze on
him, and it wasn’t making things any easier. He looked down at the reports
lying in front of him, running the data through his head one more time.
“You don’t have any
more time to waste!” Johnson yelled. “Make the call!”
“Don’t pressure him!”
“Shut up!”
“Make me!”
“ENOUGH!!!” The female
agent called again. “Get a hold of yourselves! You’re acting like a bunch of
three-year-olds!”
Both men settled back
to their seats, looking at Heero.
Heero swallowed again,
wiping his sweaty palm on his trousers. Why was it so hard to make the call? He
used to be able to make split-second decisions that would regard THOUSANDS of
lives... Why was it so hard?
He looked up slowly,
feeling the weight of Johnson’s gaze at him. He took a deep breath, trying to
sound composed. “How many men do you need?”
“Heero, it’s better to
go in two teams!” Duo shouted.
Johnson just smirked,
ignoring him. “No more than six. We’ll be in and out of there in no time.”
“Heero, don’t listen
to him. You’ll be rng nng not only the team, but the hostages as well!”
“We can’t afford to
send many people, Duo.” Heero informed him, voice quiet and hesitant.
“That’s a bunch of
horseshit and you know it!”
“It’s my call, Duo.
And I believe that one team, coming from underneath the building, is the best
choice. They will neutralize the threat first, and then rescue the hostages.”
“You’re making a
mistake, Heero.” Duo warned him, gaze piercing. “We all know why you’re REALLY
making this decision!”
Heero flinched,
ducking his head between his shoulders. “That’s not true...”
Johnson smirked. “Just
give us the green light and section six will be right on it!”
“Heero, no.” Duo tried
one last time.
Heero sighed, reaching
for his pen. “It’s my call.” He whispered, signing the paper.
“YOU’RE MESSING WITH
PEOPLE’S LIVES HERE HEERO! YOU’RE GOING TO REGRET THIS!” Duo roared, throwing
his chair back as he got up. He stalked over to the door, and stormed out of
the room.
The door slammed
behind him, makign Heero flinch.
Silence fell over the
room.
Heero sighed and bowed
his head, staring numbly at his signature.
Johnson continued
smirking.
*
* *
The mission was a
failure. Nearly ten people died. They lost two of their best agents. The
building blew up, injuring hundreds.
And the blame rested
heavily on Heero’s shoulders.
He looked down at the
newspaper he was holding, his hand trembling. He read the headline over and
over, but still he couldn’t believe it.
“My fault...” He
whispered, voice shaking from tears. “My fault...”
Just then, the front
door slammed shut and Johnson stormed into the apartment.
Heero flinched,
dropping the paper. It crashed down on the kitchen’s floor.
“J-Johnny...” Heero
whispered, voice wavering. “Johnny?”
Johnson had been out
on that mission. By Heero’s call, he was in charge of the operation. He had
been gone for nearly a week.
Now, he was back.
“Johnny...” Heero
tried again, walking towards the kitchen door. He knew that Johnson would be
pissed. He knew that it would be hard for him to accept failure.
What he didn’t know
was what he was about to get.
“Johnny, speak to me,
please!” Heero begged, stepping out of the kitchen. “I want to know what happe--“
BOOM!
Something hit him in
the face, and Heero staggered back, gasping in shock. He reached up a hand to
touch his throbbing cheek, his wide blue eyes slowly looking up at the man who
had just punched him. “J--Johnn--“
BAM!
Another punch,
straight in the nose.
Heero cried out in
pain, staggering a few more steps back. He looked up at Johnson, covering his
bleeding nose with a shaky palm. “J--Johnson... wh-what..?”
“This is ALL YOUR
FAULT!!!!” The man roared, diving in for another punch. “YOU USELESS WHORE!”
“ARGH!” Heero cried as
another punch sent hown own to the floor. He looked up at the man towering
above him, still holding his throbbing and bleeding face. “M-my fault? I
wasn-URGH!”
This time, it waskickkick, straight to the gut.
Heero coughed and
cringed in pain, clutching his mid section.
“PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE
OF YOU!”
“Na--no...” Heero
cried, panting in order to control the pain. “I didn’t mean it...”
“BULLSHIT! LOOK WHAT
HAPPENED! WE LOST TWO MEN BECAUSE OF YOU! THEY WERE GOOD FRIENDS OF MINE!!”
“URGHHHHHH!!!!!”
Another kick, straight
to his chest.
Heero crashed down to
the floor, face down, coughing, a hand over his heart. “Sss—stop... It’s not
my... my fault...”
“OF COURSE IT IS! YOU
KILL PEOPLE!”
are you lost?”//
“I don’t... don’t mean
to... do... it... I... I...”
are you lost?”//
“I DON’T WANT TO
KILL!!!” Heero cried, looking up at Johnson with wild eyes.
“CRYING WON’T HELP
YOU! GOD DAMN IT! YOU FAILED! YOU FAILED!!!”
“Na... no...” Heero
rasped, tears running freely down his injured cheeks. As the blows kept on
coming, he just lay there, receiving his punishment. He cried and he howled in
pain, but the blows didn’t cease. They kept on coming, harder and angrier.
Hurting words and painful accusations thrown and spat his way.
“I’m sorry...
Johnny... I’m sorry...” He cried over and over, mumbling a thousand and one
incoherent apologies.
But the blows kept on
coming. He squirmed and wriggled on the cold kitchen floor, trying uselessly to
push the hurting hands away. He lay there on the floor, sobbing and crying,
begging for forgiveness.
“Joh...nn...yyy...”
Blood mixed with
tears, creating a large puddle on the white and cold floor.
“I didn’t mean it,
Johnny... I didn’t mean it...”
He was picked up in
the air only to be thrown against the cupboards and sink back to the floor.
“I’M SORRYYYY!!!!”
But the blows kept on
coming.
“I’m...
sooo...rrr...yyyy...”