LETTERS FROM DUO
(Sidefic series
for the Death and the Dragon Arc)
By: Mel and
Christy
Warnings: ummm... not really
angst?
----------------------
Sally walked down the hall
to Duo's room, finally finishing her rounds and getting a chance to check on the
braided pilot. Wufei had spent the night watching over him, and she had
finally convinced him to get a shower and some real breakfast, promising to look
in on Duo at regular intervals. Not that Duo would be up to his usual mischief
or going anywhere; the mild sedative she had in his I.V. should keep him calm
and drowsy for the rest of the day.
Slipping into his room, Sally
couldn't help but smile. Duo had fallen asleep over his laptop. She walked
quietly to the bed and retrieved the computer, quickly scanning the
screen.
"Oh dear," she murmured under her breath, "Heero is going to
worry if he gets this..." Torn between just leaving it alone or deleting the
message, she nodded and began typing. "I can't delete this in good conscience,
but I can ease Heero's mind a bit."
Once finished, she hit 'send', put
the laptop on the bedside table and gently brushed Duo's bangs away from his
sleeping face before slipping back out of his
room.
----------
FROM: Victim@BUGGER.org
TO:
Sadist@S_n_M.com
SENT: 10:14 June 28, 196AC
SUBJECT: I hate
you
---message begins---
Heero...
I hate you. I hate you
all. This is your revenge for me shooting you that first time, right? 'Let Duo
sit and wallow in the hospital and BE TORTURED by evil onnas!'
Shinigami
will get you back. Trust me. I'm not sure how I'll manage it, but I'll think of
something. I should have left you in that Alliance hospital at Sally's tender
'mercy'... then you'd know what it's like!
She JABBED me with a needle,
Heero! A big one! In the ass! It feels like there's a rock in my butt cheek now.
And Wufei helped her! That traitorous snake in the grass! Can't even trust my
own partners anymore. I should have let him grow mould in that damn prison! And
Quatre and Trowa just left me here! 'Got a mission, be back soon' my ass. They
probably begged to go on one. You all hate me.
Why is everyone so mean to
me? I didn't do that much... just helped the goldfish... and ok, I did pinch
some fruit... but I was hungry, Hee-chan! Everyone here is so uptight. I just
wanted to lighten up the mood. Do you think Sally took offense at the whole
pictures and scalpels thing? I really hate hospitals. Did you know people die in
hospitals?
Wufei brought me dinner last night... burgers and fries. Then
he held me down so Sally could stick me with that needle... but he stayed all
night and was here when I woke up. He wouldn't do that if he hated me, would he?
I mean, he has to care to waste his night sitting in the hospital with me,
right? So, maybe that makes us friends? I guess the Frosty isn't really an Ice
Man, after all.
'm sleepy, Hee-chan. When you comin back? I want to go
home. Hate hos
Heero,
This is Sally. Don't worry,
he's alright. He just fell asleep again. I'm keeping him lightly sedated, via
his IV, for another day or two, to give the breaks a little more time to set.
The sedative I have him on seems to make him more emotional, unfortunately, but
it *does* keep him relaxed and in bed, which is the important thing. So don't be
too upset or concerned about his rambling, it's the medication talking. I've
arranged with Chang for him to stay with Duo most of the time he's on the
sedative, so he won't be alone.
As for the leg itself, luckily the breaks
were simple, but even with the bone healing medications and such, he's going to
have to take it easy for a while. I'm going to try and keep him here for two
weeks, if he doesn't drive the staff insane, and we can probably remove the cast
in three to four weeks. Once the cast is off, I'd recommend 'light duty' for
another couple of weeks. In other words, suit missions only... and I don't
really recommend that unless it's unavoidable. Barring any complications,
mishaps or Duo-isms, he should be at 100% in about six weeks.
Don't
worry, Heero. Duo's safe here with me, and despite his pranks, I *will* take
good take care of him.
--Sally
---message
ends---
----------
* * * * *
"Duo on sedatives..." Heero
muttered, reading Sally's addition to the email with growing unease. "Duo on
sedatives... that could be very bad." He chewed on the inside of his
cheek for a moment, glanced at the time, and decided not to alert Sally to what
could happen if they were the wrong sort of sedatives. "If they're going to set
off his nightmares, like the time he managed to beat up Trowa and Quatre in his
sleep, she'll already have found out."
----------
FROM:
Sadist@S_n_M.com
TO: Victim@BUGGER.org
SENT: 18:32 June 28,
196AC
SUBJECT: Re: I hate you
---message
begins---
Duo,
Calm down. Please. Don't force me to come down
there and reset your leg. Neither of us really wants that, right?
No,
this isn't revenge. Revenge would be if I did what you wanted and took you away
from the hospital and looked after you myself. I'm a terrible nurse, trust me.
Do you really want to be stuck eating my cooking until you're recovered enough
to cook for yourself? Sure, I've improved since you started teaching me, but
even Quatre can't think of anything complimentary to say about my
meals.
Speaking of Quatre, he and Trowa didn't beg for a mission; they
got it delayed for twenty-four hours instead, so they could stay with you a
little longer. You know they don't hate you. Nobody hates you. You're impossible
to hate! Wufei even 'kicked butt', as you would say, on his mission and finished
three days early after Quatre told him that they couldn't stay with you. You
know how serious he is about not 'neglecting duty for personal attachments', so
he *definitely* doesn't hate you, no matter how he acts sometimes. At the very
least, he's got to think of you as a 'worthy fellow warrior', or something
equally Confucian.
This mess I'm investigating should be cleared up in
another few days, then I'll come and see you. In the meantime, I'm sending a
bunch of fruit and stuff to Sally for you-- yes, lots of grapes. Try not to give
her too much trouble, okay?
--Heero
P.S. What *did* you do to the
goldfish?
---message ends---
----------
Heero hit 'send'
and immediately began typing another email, ordering a huge basket of assorted
fruit and chocolate to be sent to Sally's office at the hospital... and a very
large bouquet of hothouse flowers.
*I wonder what I should get them to
put on the card?* he mused, frowning. *'Don't kill him'? 'He only does it
because he's stressed'? 'Please don't kill him'?*
*Maybe I
should send Chang something, too* He snorted. *What message should I send
him? 'Thanks'? 'Congratulations, I'm now convinced you're human'? 'After
Duo comes off the sedatives, you'll need to watch for revenge pranks'? No, I'm
sure he's worked that out already...*