The Telltale Braid

Okay, so it's a silly title. I just couldn't think of a better one off the top of my head. This story is based entirely on Jenn's goth pic of Heero and Duo, so this is entirely her fault. The link to the picture responsible is at the bottom of the page.

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are the property of Bandai and Sunrise. I own nothing. Suing me is a waste of time and effort, believe me.


Heero crouched on the floor of the abandoned apartment on Decatur Street, listening intently for any sounds of movement beyond the battered wooden door. The sounds of distant shouts and laughter intermingled with the grating strains of Calliope music from the departing evening riverboat cruises made discerning individual sounds nearly impossible, but Heero had never been the type to walk away and admit defeat. He scowled at Duo, kneeling and peering through the cracked window on the opposite side of the room. This entire mess was Duo's fault, Heero decided. If it wasn't for that damn signature braid of his, they wouldn't currently be sharing a hideout with a number of very large rats in a collapsing building in New Orleans, with an undetermined number of Oz soldiers crawling through the courtyards outside.

Cursing eloquently under his breath, Heero abandoned his post by the door and crawled across the filth-littered floor to join Duo at the window. Duo turned to him, an inquisitive look in his huge violet eyes.

"I can't hear a damn thing through all that noise," Heero hissed, indicating the offending wandering parties in the street with a toss of his head. "Have you seen anything suspicious?"

Duo shook his head in response, turning back to the rear window and his intense scrutiny of the darkened courtyard. Heero sighed and crouched down on the opposite side of the pane, glaring into the darkness. He scanned the street for movement, taking in the deserted apartments, noisy bars, and businesses closed and boarded up for the night. All except for one shop on the corner, which was apparently still open for business. The doors swung open and a young couple dressed entirely in black stepped out into a puddle of yellow light, shopping bags looped over their arms. They paused to wave at someone inside the door before turning and heading towards the noise of Bourbon Street. The pale light gave Heero just enough time to make out the dim forms of Oz soldiers slipping into a nearby alley. As his eyes moved from the shapes in the alley to the open store, a grin crossed Heero's normally harsh features.

"Heero?"

He glanced at Duo, his grin widening as the plan crystallized. "Mission accepted."

Duo blinked. "Nani? Oi, Heero, man, are you all right? I mean, you saw those Oz bastards slip around the corner, ne? We have to find some way out of here pretty quick-"

Heero slapped a hand over his mouth. "Shut up, Duo." Laughing softly to himself, Heero wrapped the end of Duo's telltale braid around one fist.

"Mmpf?" Heero quickly pulled away his hand. "What are we going to do?"

Heero continued to gently stroke the silky mass of hair clutched in his fist, eyes narrowed with concentration. Fighting down a flurry of anxiety, Duo managed to paste on a cheeky grin. "We can't just walk right down the street and lose them in the crowd, eh Heero?" Heero tore his eyes away from his inspection of Duo's hair, one eyebrow raised slightly. Duo facevaulted. "Are you crazy? They know what we look like and-"

Heero shook his head, eyes actually sparkling. "No, they know what you look like." He snaked an arm around Duo's with an iron-hard grip.

Duo tried to back away, deciding that Heero had finally lost his mind and was well on his way to becoming a homicidal maniac. He froze in horror as Heero pulled a knife out of somewhere and ran the edge down Duo's arm caressingly. "Yo, Heero, I think we can talk about this," Duo managed over a very nervous laugh.

"I really am sorry, but there's just no other way." Heero stared into his eyes for one endless moment, fist clenched around Duo's arm. Then with one smooth, quick motion, Heero grabbed Duo's braid and sliced it off.

Duo's eyes went huge with absolute horror. Heero slapped one hand over his mouth again before he could start screaming, but Duo bit him. Hard. Heero jumped back, his wounded hand pressed to his chest. "K'so! My hair! You cut off my hair!"

Heero jumped to his feet and edged towards the door, glaring darkly at Duo.

"Kisama! Get back here!"

"I had to do it, Duo. It's our only chance of sneaking out past an entire Oz regiment."

Duo stared at him for a moment, then collapsed into a heap on the floor, one hand clutching the severed braid to his chest. "No, no, no, no…"

Heero took a deep breath, one hand on the doorknob. "I'll be right back. Promise you won't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

Duo rose on an elbow and fumbled for his gun. Heero, remembering all too clearly the last time Duo had pulled a gun on him, ducked out the door. Something hit the wall hard behind him, showering him with a spray of peeling red paint. Sighing and peering blindly out into the darkness, Heero jumped off the steps and launched himself towards the relative safety of the shop down the street at a dead run.


********

Duo pulled his gun again as a sound at the door forced him back to his senses. Whether it was the Oz forces coming to take him prisoner or Heero returning, Duo intended to be ready. Either way someone was going to dance with death tonight. A strangled moan escaped his throat as his fingers strayed to the uneven wisps of hair tickling the back of his neck.

The door opened and a lone figure slipped inside, a shopping bag slung over one arm. As he stepped into the dim circle of neon light cast through the window, the gun slid from Duo's instantly nerveless fingers. "H-Heero?"

Heero dropped down in front of Duo, his eyes tight with something that looked suspiciously like worry. He stared at Duo wordlessly, resisting the urge to reach out and touch the loud-mouthed baka's face to reassure himself that Duo was really there. There had been gunfire while he was inside the shop and, deep down, he'd been afraid that he'd went too far. Finally, he gave his head a shake and turned the full effect of his penetrating cobalt gaze on Duo. "There are a lot of soldiers still crawling around out there, but I think we can get by them without too much trouble if we're careful."

Duo shook his head uncomprehendingly, eyes wide and stunned, all thoughts of his hair forgotten. He closed his eyes, pinched his arm, and reopened them. Nothing had changed. Heero was still crouched in front of him, newly dyed red hair slipping into his cobalt blue eyes, skintight black leather hugging the hard lines of his muscular body. Duo felt himself becoming light-headed and made an effort to breathe.

"Duo? Daijoubu ka? I heard shots. It wasn't-"

Duo reached out and touched Heero's arm with one shaky hand. "No. No, I'm fine. This…" he indicated Heero's appearance with a wave of his hand, "this was your mission?"

Heero nodded solemnly. "Hai."

Duo took a deep calming breath, trying very hard not to focus on the vision out of his dreams currently kneeling in front of him. His eyes focused on the bag instead. "So what's in there?"

"Your disguise," Heero informed him, his eyes made even deeper and more penetrating, if that was possible, by the dark lining someone must have done for him while he was out. Then there was the collar… Duo fell back against the wall, one hand clutching his throat.

Heero's eyes widened. He reached out and shook Duo, hard. "Chotto, Duo, we don't have time for this!" He turned and began pulling clothing out of the sack at his feet, then paused and turned to Duo speculatively. "We'd better do your hair first. I'd hate to ruin the clothes."

Duo's hand immediately shot up to the tattered remnants of his once long beautiful chestnut hair. "Oh, no. You've done enough damage to my hair for one lifetime, Yuy."

Heero snorted and grabbed Duo's arm, pulling the smaller boy to his feet. "Into the bathroom. Now." Even his trademark glare seemed amplified by his make-up.

Duo eeped and headed to the bathroom. Heero followed behind him. He turned the water on in the sink and pushed Duo down on the edge of the bathtub, lifting the heart-shaped face up to meet his. His breath caught in his throat at the short tufts of hair falling into Duo's expressive eyes. He cleared his throat, trying to sound utterly businesslike. "It's not like this is permanent or anything." He picked up a tube from the sink and squeezed a blue solution onto his hands.

Duo's eyes bugged out. Heero dropped down to his knees in front of him, the black leather tightening over the hard muscles of his thighs, and Duo completely forgot why he was protesting in the first place. He slid down to the floor in front of Heero and let his eyes slide shut as Heero began to massage the dye into his short hair.


********

Duo stared as his reflection through the soap scum caking the small bathroom mirror, pausing to wave his arms to make sure the mirror was really working. The boy staring back at him, violet eyes outlined with black, short wisps of bright blue hair fanning across his forehead and not even coming close to reaching the collar of his white shirt and black jacket, looked completely alien. Hearing noise in the hallway, Duo dropped his cross inside the collar of the shirt and affected a pose of nonchalance. He'd be damned if Heero was going to find out just how much losing his hair bothered him.

Heero came into the bathroom with the shopping bag once again draped over his arm. Duo, a bit more used to the idea of Heero in skin-tight black leather, managed to keep breathing, even when Heero stopped short inside the door to stare at him. After a minute of intense scrutiny, Duo reached over and snatched the bag.

"Ne, Heero, what's this? Going shopping again?"

Heero shook himself, eyes clouding with confusion then clearing so quickly Duo decided he must have imagined it. He rolled his eyes and snorted with disgust. "Baka."

Duo watched with a puzzled expression as Heero dropped to his knees, fingers searching the wood planks on the floor. A tiny smile of triumph touched his lips and he ripped up one of the floorboards. A flurry of angry squeaking sounds filled the room as Heero dropped the bag through the hole and pounded the board back into place. Standing up and dusting himself off, he nodded at Duo. "Now we can leave."


***********

The two boys slipped out of the front door, eyes scanning the street even as they tried to look inconspicuous. Heero blocked out Duo's incessant nervous chatter, trying to find the Oz soldiers he knew were hiding somewhere in the dark. As they reached the end of the street, Heero saw the dark form separate from the shadows of the alley next to their hideout and scuttle after them. He fingered the gun tucked into his vest absently as he considered his options. Running was too much of a risk, and firing without knowing the locations of the rest of the soldiers was suicidal even for him. Left with only one option, Heero grabbed Duo's arm and yanked the boy to the side of the street.

"Itai! Hanasee!"

"Shut up, baka. We're being followed."

Heero glanced back down the street. The figure was slowly advancing, clinging to the shadows on the opposite side of the street. "We have to look like we belong here," Heero hissed at Duo, eyes following the figure. He missed the glint that suddenly lit up Duo's eyes.

Duo, not about to miss a chance like this, pushed Heero against the wall and pressed the length of his body against him. Heero hissed in a sharp breath, muscles tensing. "Look like you belong," Duo whispered back, motioning to another couple leaning against a wrought-iron fence down the street. Heero started to sputter, and on impulse, Duo kissed him, then moved his face down Heero's throat. He could feel the rapid staccato of Heero's heartbeat under his hands as they moved lightly across his chest. "Where is he?"

"He stopped one alley down."

"See?" Duo whispered, hiding his smile. "It's working, but you have to cooperate."

Heero took a deep breath. "Omae o korosu." The words sounded more like habit than an actual sentiment. Grabbing Duo's face with his hands, he pulled the other boy closer and kissed him. After a moment of apparently agitated indecision, the figure slipped back into a shadowed alleyway. Heero contemplated informing Duo for about a second before closing his eyes and letting the idea slip from his mind.

When they finally broke apart again, Duo collapsed against Heero's chest, gasping for air. Why were they doing this again? Oh, yeah, he remembered. "Is he still there?"

"Hn? No. He left a while ago."

"Ah." Duo sucked in another breath, for once absolutely speechless. "Shouldn't we be going, then?"

"Hai." Heero glanced at Duo, his expression strangely uncertain. One hand lifted to the back of Duo's neck. "Duo, I am sorry about your hair, but…"

Duo, having more important ideas on his mind, shrugged and kissed Heero again, the noise from Bourbon Street fading into the background, until a sound from the street sent them into instant alertness. They spun around, Duo latching onto to Heero's arm before he could draw his gun.

The mounted policeman shook his head slightly, an indulgent smile touching his lips. "You boys might want to find somewhere else to be. This isn't the safest street right now for that kind of thing." The policeman tugged on his reins, heading off down the dark street.

"You heard the man." Duo turned to Heero with a wide grin. "Let's get out of here!" Grabbing Heero's hand tightly in his own, he pulled the other boy towards the lights and loud music of Bourbon Street.


*********

A lone figure detached from the shadows of the alley, glancing after the two boys running down the street. He'd been almost positive, but neither one matched the description of the downed Gundam pilots. Especially not with hair that short. He sighed and ducked into another alley, the two boys already pushed out of his thoughts.


I know the ending's a bit abrupt still. Any comments or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Go see Jenn's wonderful pic that was my inspiration!
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