lavandarlizard2 | ahhhh.... Friday...

All I want is to dry out... And a really good receipe for hamster stew. And someone else to clean the little furballs.

BFB - 086e - Strange Days IV

I *knew* I wasn’t being over-protective. Q and the doctor from the hospital were there in his room. I glared at both of them before seating myself beside Duo. He cast me one of those eyes-rolling-without-actually-rolling looks, so I glared at him too. I don’t understand why he’s being so closed-mouthed about this. I love him, I want to be here; I want to help, but he continues to act as if what happened to him has nothing to do with me.

It has *everything* to do with me. He is my Chosen; mine to protect, mine to love. He is my Chosen; I am his to command. He should not have been alone and vulnerable; I should have been with him. Wufei – damn him anyway – is not wrong in that. It *is* my fault.

Clearly, the doctor did not have good news; she fidgeted to the point that Q even offered to deliver it for her. He didn’t like it any better, but he is a gentleman, and conditioned to chivalry. The news, when finally delivered, stinks.

They now have their proof that Duo acted in self-defense; the authorities cannot continue with their ridiculous charges. But the flip side of that is that yes; my angel was assaulted.

Duo’s face went blank, his eyes glassy and unseeing. I called his name; I even shook him. He didn’t respond to anything. It scared me to see him turned so far inward that he didn’t even hear us. I had to slap his face to bring him back.

And then he tried to pretend that he wasn’t... wasn’t... I don’t know what he wasn’t. Scared, angry, sad? I couldn’t tell... He seemed... perplexed. As if he didn’t quite understand, or couldn’t make sense of the doctor’s words. The doctor managed to give the details of the damage that filthy cockroach had caused, but Duo was zoning out again.

When he came back that time, he was unnaturally calm and subdued. He thanked the doctor and Q for bringing him the information. He told me I should go back to work. He said he was going to lie down.

I told him no; I was not going to leave him. He argued. He insisted there was nothing to be concerned about; he was only going to rest, he was not suicidal. His mention of that word just... freaked me out. Why would he even use that word, if he wasn’t thinking of it, and why would he have been thinking of it, if not in contemplation? I roared; he tried to pull away from me. I held on; he fought me. Then he screamed, and the world went... fuzzy.

~*~

Note to self... When Duo says “Let me go,” let him *go*.

Duo was on the bed, asleep or unconscious, when my vision cleared. Q was sitting beside him, stroking his bangs gently. Dr French was digging in her bag, muttering to herself about the apparent idiocy of certain overly-possessive Dragons. I assume she meant me.

I sat up, groaning in the process. I felt like I’d gone a couple of rounds with an angry werewolf, but all my parts appeared to be still attached.

“What the hell,” I muttered. Q put out a hand to steady me.

“Heero,” he said seriously. “I really must insist that you accede to Duo’s wishes from now on when he wants to be alone. I cannot afford to have my best investigator residing in a bucket in the freezer.”

I blinked at him, not immediately understanding. The doctor took hold of my wrist, startling me, but when I tried to pull away, her grip was like steel.

“Hold still, big boy,” she snapped. “Unless you want to spend a couple of days as a blistered wonder.”

“Huh?”

She turned my hand over; the hand that had been gripping Duo’s arm when the world suddenly got vague.

Blisters. Hundreds of blisters. Just like Trowa. Just like Wufei.

“Shit!” I hissed. “Get rid of them! Get rid of them *now!”

“That’s what I’m working on,” she snarled. “Now hold the hell still, dammit!”

“Does he know?” I demanded. “He can’t know about this! He’ll freak out!”

“Heero,” said Q firmly. I looked at him. “He doesn’t know, and he won’t. That’s why I put him to sleep. We’re going to let him think that it was a final parting shot from the drugs. By the time he wakes – in about three hours?” He glanced at the Witch for confirmation and she nodded absently, still working on my hand. “By the time he wakes, your hand will be good as new, and he will never know he did anything.” He combed his fingers through my Banshee's bangs. “And when he is ready, I will see to some more extensive evaluations. He has a power of some sort; he needs to know what it is, what it does, and how to control it, before something terrible happens. Again.”

...tbc...