June 25, 196 AC

LETTERS FROM DUO
(Sidefic series for the Death and the Dragon Arc)

By: Mel and Christy
Warnings: ummm... not really angst?

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Heero sighed, stretched, and started to remove his school uniform. He disliked undercover school missions at best, but without Duo to make them more interesting, he nearly detested them. At least this time he had managed to hack himself a single room, so he didn't have to share with some stranger. It would be barely tolerable, but once the braided pilot had calmed down after the rant about his leaving without telling him, Duo had promised to email him every day. Of course, Duo emailed him every day on every mission they had seperately, but Heero thought it wise not to point this fact out.

Wondering what the contents of the anticipated email might be-- humorous anecdote, mini-rant, minor complaint-- Heero settled at his desk and opened one of his school books, intent on finishing the homework for the week, when the gong signalling Duo's letter sounded. Heero smirked, pulled the email up, and then frowned. "He never uses the same email alias twice... and he always has a subject..."

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FROM: Grumpy@7_Dwarves.com
TO: Dopey@Hi_Ho.net
SENT: 18:41 June 25, 196AC
SUBJECT:

---message begins---

Heero--

This is Quatre. Don't worry! Duo's fine-- well, he will be. There was an accident at the new safe house this morning. One of the scaffolds in the cave where we're hiding the Gundams collapsed under him and he fell, breaking his leg in three places. We got him to Sally in the city, and she took him to the hospital, saying he was her nephew, visiting for school break, and that he fell while hiking the mountain. They had to operate to get the leg set right, and he's still unconscious from the anaesthetic-- the surgeon couldn't believe how much it took to knock him out-- but Sally says he should come around by morning. He'll be stuck in here at least ten days, but since Sally doesn't trust him to take it easy, she'll probably keep him for a full two weeks. According to the surgeon, the cast can come off in three to four weeks, and he should be 'back to hiking mountains' in four to five.

Sally also got us special permission to stay with him after visiting hours (but unfortunately not overnight), playing up Duo's fear of hospitals, being alone, nightmares, etc. So, at least one of us should be with him most of the time, and Sally's covering our backs by saying we're his friends from school, vacationing with him. We've taken care of records and identities too, just in case, so don't worry about that, either.

How long will you be on this mission? Duo will want to know when he wakes up. Allah help us all then! You know how he gets when he's laid up and bored.

Again, don't worry. Everything's taken care of, and we'll look after him.

Be safe and take care of yourself!

Quatre

---message ends---

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Heero spent nearly half an hour trying to convince himself that no, he didn't really have to stay on his mission; the situation would handle itself even if he didn't take care of it... Unfortunately, he couldn't quite manage it.

*Duo knows exactly how long this is supposed to take,* he told himself sternly, pulling up a reply email and beginning to compose his answer. *If I show up early, he'll want to know why... and if I have to admit 'I blew off a mission to come and see you', he'll never let me hear the end of it. He'd send me straight back here, and never cook that frothly orange thing for dessert ever again.*

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FROM: Dammit_Duo@WHAT.net
TO: Gimpy@LOOK_OUT.com
SENT: 19:17 June 25, 196AC
SUBJECT: Re:

---message begins---

Quatre,

Thanks for keeping me updated. Take this in to the hospital to show Duo, please; print it out if you have to. I certainly don't need to lecture you on how to keep it secure, you know just as much about secrity procedures as I do. Duo already knows how long this mission is likely to last; we were anticipating approximately two weeks. Tell him I'll wrap it up early if possible.

Duo,

(Ha. I worked out how you've been changing email aliases. Nice trick.)

All right, you gave me a lot of rules about how I should behave, so now I'm giving *you* a list. Things Duo Should and Should Not Do In Hospital.

--You will NOT break out. And don't give me that line about 'I got you loose from the Alliance hospital, now you get me out of here!' You have a good cover in place, and smashing your way out a window with a maniacal laugh and a hearty 'HiHo Deathscythe, Away!' would wreck it-- and, incidentally, Sally's credibility. We'll break you out if it looks like you're in danger of being discovered; otherwise, stay put!

--You will NOT give Sally a nervous breakdown. The same goes for her staff. I'm not even going to think of telling you to leave them completely alone, but try not to overdo things. Bear in mind that Sally is perfectly capable of taking revenge on you if you really annoy her.

--You WILL look after your leg. If you manage to misalign the breaks by doing something you aren't supposed to do, I'm going to ask Sally to let *me* re-set it. The way I set mine. Remeber that? Don't give me any excuse to argue that since you won't let yourself recuperate properly, I don't have to either. All right?

Get better fast. I'll come and visit as soon as I can.

--Heero

---message ends---