FicWad

Chapter 3 A Knife?

Duo woke the next morning still on his couch. His own black comforter had been taken off the bed and thrown over him, he guessed by Heero, who seemed to have left. His jacket was no where to be seen and Duo could not hear him in any other part of the apartment. Were it not for the half empty bottle of Wild Turkey, the two shot glasses, and the fact that the last movie Heero had chosen was still in the player, Duo would have thought he had dreamed the entire thing. Feeling a distinct sense of loss, Duo thought about why Heero had left so early, but quickly chided himself. Why shouldn’t he leave? It’s not like he lives here. It’s not like you have a hold on him. He probably didn’t mean to stay as long as he did anyway. At least you got to see him at all. With that thought, Duo forced himself to cheer up.
He felt much better after a shower and some breakfast. It was not until then he noticed the small package under his tree was not the one he had put there. Thinking that Heero might have left him a present, but not daring to hope, Duo went over and picked up the package. A note was left next to it, but for the moment it was forgotten as Duo stared at the simple red wrapping. The present he had wrapped for Heero had been blue with little snowflakes on it; this was definitely meant for him. Duo carefully opened it feeling as though it would be wrong to even tear the paper a little. He noticed how perfectly it was wrapped and smiled. Only Heero would make it perfect. Inside the paper was a plain brown box that held no written clue as to what treasure lay within.
Duo became aware that he was holding a nervous breath and let it out before opening the box. Inside was a small knife. It was obviously old and worn, but the blades were still sharp enough to cut Duo’s finger as he brushed it feather light over them.
“Ow!” Duo stuck his finger in his mouth on an impulse and looked at the knife again. There seemed to be something oddly familiar about it. It looked like a standard Swiss army knife any boy scout would use.
He had been so intent on the knife that Duo had not seen the other objects inside the box. Now he turned it upside down on the table and let the contents spill out. When he lifted the box there was a yellowed piece of paper and a pair of black gloves. Duo could see right off that the gloves each had gold embroidered crosses on the back and tip of each finger. He smiled and put them on before going back to the paper that lay on the table. Turning it over, Duo could see it was not just a piece of old yellowed paper, but an old, yellowed photograph instead. The picture itself was not that old and Duo could not help wondering what Heero had put it through to make it so worn.
The picture showed Heero and Duo outside a warehouse. They were in full assault gear and Duo looked very happy. Heero was the same as usual, if not a little annoyed looking. Heero held his gun loosely in one hand while he stared at the arm Duo had flung over his shoulders. Duo had taken the picture himself right after the LaGuardia mission half a year ago. The mission had been successful, but only barely. Duo had panicked and insisted on buying a disposable camera to take pictures of him and Heero. He had told Heero that the mission had been more fun than usual and wanted to remember it well, but Duo really just wanted pictures of Heero. The LaGuardia mission was the closest Duo had ever come to losing Heero and had realized that should he actually lose the boy, Duo would have nothing but memories. He had filled the entire camera with pictures. He had given Heero doubles of them all.
Duo still could not see how the knife fit into this. Picking the knife up again, Duo plopped onto the couch and pondered the knife’s importance. I don’t carry a knife, now or ever. Heero knows that. The only time I carried a knife was the LaGuardia mission and it had been something I found in the cell. Could this be the same knife? Duo closed his eyes as he remembered the mission.