(GW) cloneness yay~

[askerian]

Not done with this chapter, but hey.

previous chapters at reiyel.

This is transcribed from a RP log (*huggleloves her cutecuddly windandwater*), meaning that there might be some awkwardness left, or plot holes, or wrong tenses or "hey, wasn't he ALREADY sitting down?" kind of things. If you find any of that, please point it out to me.



The Vultures had moved, that was the first thing he noticed. From the marks and the cigarette butts and the smashed glass, they were more to the South -- more toward Duo's place.

The second thing he noticed, was that he was getting stalked. He'd heard someone scrambling through the rocks earlier -- too far for him to follow -- and then, maybe fifteen minutes later, he'd started feeling, hearing things.

The puppy, maybe picking up on his renewed watchfulness, had started dogging his heels. Since it refused to stop following him, he made a note, absently, to teach it to stop wandering from right to left and getting in his legs like that. If he needed to move quickly, he would need it to know how not to trip him up. Really, he should have tried to teach it before they entered the city. That was a lack of foresight on his part.

Finding a manhole almost filled with debris, he put down his backpack, making sure to have it lean against one of the sides so the puppy couldn't climb and piss all over it, then took off his knee-length coat and stuffed it in the hole. His fingers just barely brushed the bottom when he leaned down; that was perfect.

Seeing him put down his things, the puppy was starting to wander off. The second Heero started running, it would follow him, no doubt whining pitifully. He reached out, grabbed the startled, wriggling dog by the skin of its neck, and dropped it over the coat. Said coat was impervious to rain, hopefully it would wash off easily in case he was gone too long. He didn't listen to its soft whining as he dragged a slab of concrete over the hole.

He wasn't about to lead anyone to Duo's place. He didn't bother straightening up, just rolled to a half-buried door leading to a basement room, and started making his way in the darkness toward the window that opened on another street.

His stalker wasn't bad, and he had the advantage of knowing the area; they danced around each other for at least ten minutes without ever seeing more than each other's shadow. Heero, though, had been trained all his life for urban guerilla. And a normal man would never have been able to jump high enough to reach that window, so when his opponent went to trap him in the blind alley, he wasn't there anymore; he was inside, dashing from one windowsill to the next. He swung right out of the building, dropped on the ground just behind the corner, slapped aside the shotgun's barrel and aimed --

-- right at Duo's face.

"... Ah."

"... Heero?"

Heero eyed the knife in Duo's other hand warily, and didn't let go of the shotgun until it had been put away again.

"Well fuck, look who the rats dragged in."

Heero blinked. That hadn't sounded very much like Duo was glad to see him. He'd been thinking that the worst thing that would ever happen would be if they didn't even remember him, but now... he wasn't so sure.

"You scared the shit outta my kids. They all freaked out 'cuz there was some stranger around."

For some reason the 'stranger' made him want to wince. He didn't show it, though. "... I didn't mean to," he offered quietly. Duo didn't seem overwhelmed by his apology.

From a few streets back, a shrill, muffled howl rose. Heero turned around and stalked back to his things. There were a few seconds where he only heard silence, and then Duo finally jogged to catch up.

"Where you going?"

They were there, so Heero didn't bother replying, just lifted the slag off the manhole and reached down. The puppy started yapping hopefully. Heero pulled it out first, because he didn't want it to claw his coat any more than necessary.

"What the hell is that?"

The puppy was eyeing Duo, wondering what to make of him, nervously wagging its tail. Duo was staring back at it, as if he'd never actually seen one before.

"A dog," Heero replied as he pulled out the rest of his gear and put on his coat again.

Duo sat down on his haunches, watching the dog as it hid behind Heero and peered at the braided man.

"... Is this for dinner?"

Heero glared at him and snatched the puppy, tucking it in his coat, in the crook of his arm. "No, it's not." He hadn't gone to the trouble of feeding the clingy little thing just to eat it now. Unless the children were hungrier than usual, the dog would stay in one piece.

Duo looked up at Heero with a grin that startled the clone; after all the awkwardness between them, he hadn't expected to be smiled at again so soon. "I'm kiddin'! ... mostly."

"Unless you are in dire need of food, I'd rather not kill it," Heero explained quietly, and climbed on his feet, shouldering his pack.

"Oh, we're alright so far, but you're gonna hafta feed it on your own rations. I'm not wasting perfectly edible food on a walking dinner."

The scavenger was still smiling. Heero relaxed a little. "I wasn't planning on taking food from your children."

Duo stood up in turn; they started walking. "Where'd ya find... what's it's name anyway?"

Heero blinked. "I didn't name it." It hadn't occurred to him, to be frank. It wasn't as if he had to tell it apart from a dozen of identical puppies. "It was living around an abandoned village I went through."

"Abandoned village?" Duo asked, interested, as he reached out and pulled the squirming puppy out of Heero's coat. The clone blinked, and waited to see what he was doing with it, though it was hard to trust him with it.

"Yes. It seems to have been left mostly intact, too."

"Intact?" Duo prompted him, as he struggled with the dog, who was whimpering and growling and chewing on his finger enthusiastically.

"The roads are in bad shape and there were no directions. It's a small village. It was just empty."

Heero kept an eye out for trouble, but he was more interested in Duo's progress with the puppy. It was still distressed, but not as aggressive -- though that changed the second Duo tried to turn it on its back.

"Like... houses? Roofs?"

Heero nodded. "Some, yes, though the humidity damaged most of the furniture."

"... ahh... Still, that's good." Duo petted the puppy awkwardly, ruffling up its fur. "She's a girl."

Heero blinked. "Ah."

"Better give her a girl name. Or not. Up to you."

"I don't know what's considered girl names," Heero replied, and wondered if he was imagining the awkwardness, the distance between them. Duo didn't seem really glad to see him. Probably because they'd only been around each other for a few days before he left; and he'd been gone for well over a month now. Ah, he didn't care. Even awkwardness was better than drifting without a purpose again. He'd fulfilled his part of the bargain, now he had a right to stay with them.

"I guess ya can name her anythin' ya want."

"I don't know names."

Maybe it was the total lack of emotion in his voice, but for once Duo actually met his eyes. "Ya know plenty o' names for a puppy. It don't gotta make sense."

"Name it if you want. I don't care."

Duo blinked. "But isn't she yours?"

Heero blinked back, confused. "...it's just ... keeping me company."

Duo gave him a little smile; he relaxed a bit. "I think she's great company. Hey, what's the word for friend in your funny Japanese?"

Heero had to actually think about it for a while; he didn't remember off the top of his head. But the little girl had used it, and eventually it came back. "...Tomodachi."

"Tomo...? No... Dachi. Her name is Dachi."

Heero had forgotten how easily he got confused by the way Duo's brain worked. "If you wish," he commented. He didn't have an opinion.

"Isn't that right, Dachi?" the scavenger asked, nose to nose with the puppy. It barked at him. Heero's hand shot forward, closing around its little muzzle.

"Don't make it bark." He really didn't need it to grow up noisy; it was enough of a liability already.

Duo held the puppy out to Heero. "I'm done messin' with her. Ya can have her back. And she's just a puppy, she don't know any better."

Heero took it and hid itunder his coat again; the ground was getting too rough for it to follow easily and he didn't want to lose time waiting for it to make its way around or over the obstacles. "Either it will learn fast or I will leave it behind."

Duo frowned at him. "That's cruel. If ya planned that, why not just leave her alone in the first place?"

"You're the one making it bark. It doesn't usually."

"What's yer problem?" Duo retorted, whirling around. "You've been runnin' hot an' cold ever since ya came back."

Heero didn't answer right away, wondering why he felt so... so... disappointed. The welcome hadn't been what he'd expected.

"I don't have a problem. Now may we leave the area before we're spotted?"

Duo snorted. "We can find cover, I better tell my kids that yer back, so they ain't scared no more."

Heero twitched. He hadn't meant to scare them.

Duo shrugged and started moving again, motioning for Heero to follow. "I didn't expect ya to come back, actually..."

"I told you I would," he replied, and then realized, "you didn't believe me." It wasn't a good feeling.

Duo turned to look at the clone. "I ain't the one who snuck away in the night an' then was late," he replied, frowning. "... ya said you'd only be gone a few weeks."

Heero paused, surprised. That was right... he hadn't respected his initial promise. "I didn't mean to be late," he apologized softly, "but it wouldn't have been any use to bring the children to the place I found if there wasn't any water."

Duo gaped at him. "Did ya..."

"I had to clean and repair things."

"Repair?" Duo repeated again, dazedly.

Heero nodded patiently.

"You... you found... a place?"

It didn't sound like he was angry anymore... or at least Heero didn't think so. He relaxed a little. "Yes."

Duo stopped in the shadow of an old truck, staring at Heero in shock. The clone blinked at him, puzzled. "Duo?"

"A... a r-real place? Like... a safe place?"

Heero nodded cautiously, unsure.

Duo leaned against the truck heavily, as if his legs didn't work properly anymore. Heero reached out to steady him, but lowered his hand before he touched him, not sure that he was still allowed to touch.

"... are you okay?"

"H-how... how far...?" Duo's voice cracked.

"Thirteen days for me, but with the children I'd say at least twenty. We would have a harder time hiding the trail and they tire out faster."

The scavenger was pale, eyes wide. Heero desperately fished for something else to add, anything that would shake him out of it. "... it's a big farm, close to the village I told you about. But the path is mostly hidden. No one comes to the village, so I doubt it could be found so easily. And I saw animals there." Still no reaction. "... there's a small river too... not that deep, but the water seemed okay."

Duo slid down against the truck suddenly, ending up sitting on the ground, and covered his face in his hands.

"... Duo?"

Heero fell into a crouch, worried, and muffled the dog absently as he peered at Duo's face.

"You said... farm?" The scavenger's face was unreadable to him, his voice rough. Heero didn't quite get which emotion was making him react like that, but good or bad, it was a powerful one.

"... yes," he replied softly. "It's big enough for all the children, I checked."

"Water? ... animals?"

Duo pressed his forehead against his knees, wrapping his arms around his legs. Heero tensed. What had he said wrong? He was in too far to just shut up now, though.

"Yes. Hens, and a few sheep. They're wild now, but they're still around. And there is a place that must have been a vegetable garden."

"... vegetables..." Duo whispered.

Heero couldn't help but ask, unable to stand the uncertainty any longer. "Did I do good? ... I tried to... to find a good place, but I'm not sure what you need, and..."

There was a soft sniffling sound and Heero tried not to panic.

"It sounds... it sounds like a dream..."

Heero relaxed, immensely relieved.

"I never thought... there's... too much nothin'... a place... like that... it's like a dream..." he looked up at Heero, his eyes slightly watery.

"So you're happy? I... I can stay, right?" he asked for confirmation, petting the puppy absently as it wriggled.

"Oh yeah, I'm really happy an' of course ya can stay," Duo replied, wiping his eyes with the ragged edge of his sleeve. "Sorry... just got a bit choked up. I guess we better get back, huh? We're gonna have to plan."

Heero nodded, trying not to show how totally confused he was over Duo's behavior.

"Hey, man... and watch yer puppy. Don't want her to get hurt 'cuz of the kids," the braided man added, getting up, and took a deep breath.

Heero held the puppy closer. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... just... shocked a bit. I never thought... I figured you'd find empty cities, like this one. I've never seen anythin' else..."

"Ah. But I told you that cities are all the same..."

"Yeah. I didn't think you'd find..." he made a vague motion, encompassing the ruins and the rusted cars and the few saplings doing their best to grow through the cracks. "... anythin' worth it. Worth leavin' for.

Heero looked away. "You didn't believe me, then." It wasn't pleasant, to know that Duo had just been humoring him, that he hadn't thought he would deliver.

Duo shook his head. "All I've known my whole life is stuff like this... I ain't like you, I ain't had a chance to see things. This... this is all I know."