Title: M
Author: Link Worshiper
Pairings: alludes to 1=2 and 9+6
Stuff: AU, thoughtful, maybe angsty, kind of dark and apocalyptic
Disclaimer: If wishes were Gundams, Treize wouldn't have stood a chance. Inspiration nod to Alan Moore; props for knowing who he is and what I was reading when this popped into my head.

++++

Duo pulled his brown trench coat tighter around his body as the cold air started to settle in his bones and leaned against the poster-covered side of his little newsstand. At his feet sat bundle of the day's paper, still bound tightly together with a wrapping of twine, but he purposely kept his eyes away from it, disgruntled by the gloomy headlines. Just once, he wished there was something less disillusioning to read about, but the cynical tone he'd acquired over the years kept him feeling doubtful.

"At least you can count on some things ain't never changing," he muttered to himself as he stared down the sidewalk that was as familiar to him as the apartment he called home. He'd been peddling newspapers and magazines on the same street for almost five years, and in all that time, the only thing that ever evolved was the graffiti slathered across the condemned building on the corner. "Eh, what's it matter," he mused; "The world's a dump anyway."

The sound of someone clearing his throat with annoyance cut off Duo's train of thought, and he glanced up to find the one aspect of his routine he hoped would always stay the same: the young man with messy brown hair glared at him with his fierce blue eyes from behind the comic book he was reading, the pages of which surely concealed a tight-lipped frown. Duo had no idea who he was or where he came from, but every Monday, for the past two and a half years, he'd come by at exactly noon, swipe the newest issue of Tales of the Black Freighter and settle against the nearby fire hydrant to read it cover to cover. It usually took him about an hour, and then he'd replace it on the stand and walk away with hardly a word. Duo didn't really mind, though; there was something about the young man that intrigued him, and besides, he got the feeling that there was very little else in the stranger's world that offered him the same solace that crazy pirate comic did, so he let it slide.

Still feeling the chill of the windy day, Duo started digging in his pockets until he found his pack of cigarettes and his matchbook. Procuring them, he was quick to light up and relish in the comfort of the nicotine.

"Hey."

Duo glanced up again at the sound of the blue-eyed stranger's voice, and he arched his eyebrows expectantly to acknowledge that he'd heard him.

"Can I get a light?" the man asked, lowering the comic book to his lap.

There were only two cigarettes left in the carton, and Duo sighed a little reluctantly when he took stock of this, especially considering he wasn't sure when he'd be able to afford another pack.

"HEY!"

The shout had come from across the street, and both the stranger and Duo were quick to snap their attention in that direction. Behind the row of parked cars, they were just in time to see a tough-looking woman with dyed purple hair and mascara melting down her cheeks whip a fierce right hook into the man she was currently shouting at. Her words were incoherent, but her intention was clear, especially after he gave her a harsh shove and instigated her further.

"Would'ja look at that? Shi-eet," groaned Duo, a frown turning his lips as he crunched the cigarette carton in his hand. "Why do people gotta fight all the damn time? With all this damn commotion and conflict, it ain't no wonder nobody ever connects with anybody else." He glanced back at the stranger, whom he supposed he'd been addressing and found himself met by a blank, Prussian stare. His eyes flicked back to the cigarettes in his hand and he sighed again: "Just don't be gettin' no ashes in the pages," he said as he withdrew one of the cigarettes. "I'm nice enough lettin' you sit here all the damn time and read that shit without paying for it. What d'ya do that for, anyway?"

"Do what?" asked the stranger, rising to his knees to accept the cigarette from Duo.

"Read them stupid comics over and over," Duo clarified, striking a match and bending down to press the flame to the tip of the stranger's cigarette. His dry fingertips brushed across the back of the stranger's hand as he did so; it was rough and callused.

The stranger took a puff and then settled down against the fire hydrant again. He flicked the comic and reassumed his usual reading position before he took the time to answer Duo. "'Cause they're the only thing I can make sense of, that's why," he said, his voice a pleasant rumble.

"You don't say, huh?" mused Duo, taking a drag from his own cigarette as he rolled the comment over in his brain. Across the street, the woman was ripping up some magazine and flinging the shreds of paper at her companion. Duo took another long inhale and slowly vented the smoke from the corner of his mouth. "Look, man, I'm just sayin'," he went on after a bit. "I mean, you been comin' 'round here forever and a day, and we ain't exactly close or nothin'. I mean, I don't even know your name or what you get outta comin' here in the first place."

"It's Heero and I told you already, it's comforting," he said a bit curtly.

"That don't tell me jack," Duo answered just as quickly. "Then again, I don't figure it's any of my business or nothin', but come on. You need a distraction, well, so do all of us; get a job or somethin', you know?"

"Got one already; it sucks," Heero said flatly. "Boss doesn't treat anybody like they're human and drives us like we're filthy dogs. Says that's what we are and what we're worth. I dunno - maybe he's got a point." He shrugged and blew out a long stream of smoke. "What's it to you, anyway? You got a shit job, too. Doesn't signify anything, really; everybody's got shit to deal with on their own."

Duo made an ambiguous grunt and didn't reply. He finished off cigarette and tossed the butt into the gutter, while Heero went back to reading his comic book. Across the street, the woman and the man were being held apart by an intervening passerby, even as she continued to scream indistinguishably at his deaf ears. Duo shook his head and tried to ignore the commotion by staring up at the gray sky that peered between the tall buildings overhead. He squinted at the cloudy haze, wondering if he'd imagined the odd glimmer he'd seen. Oh, but there it was again, this time brighter than before. He raised a hand to his forehead to lift his bangs out of his eyes and get a better look. "Say, Heero, you notice anything outta joint here?" he wondered aloud.

Heero grunted but didn't look up.

"No... what's that? That's definitely somethin'..." Duo tried to discern what he was seeing but found himself at a loss for words. Then he felt a fear like he'd never known fill the pit of his stomach as the glimmer began to morph into a dark shadow, and he could only think to stammer, "Heero...?"

This time, Heero benefited Duo with his attention, but his indifferent stare was quick to melt away as he, too, turned his eyes heavenwards just as the great, burning shadow in the sky had grown large enough darken the midday sun. On the other side of the street, the woman had stopped shouting and now stood clutching the hands of both the man she'd been fighting with and the passerby as their fate closed in upon them - a monumental construct of human aeronautical engineering forcibly returned to Earth by the very hands that had lifted it to the stars.

The street was bathed in the red light of the colony's hull, which was aflame from its passage through the Earth's atmosphere. The grew more intense across Duo's cheeks as the end neared, and he glanced quickly back at Heero, who was now staring back at him with wet eyes that were still so dark and blue, even as the world began to fade. He threw his comic book aside and flew towards Duo in one fell motion, and Duo opened his arms to receive him, pressing him close to his chest and weaving a hand into his dark hair. "You're not alone," Duo whispered, clutching Heero tightly.

Heero felt a lurch in his chest as if his heart had only just then begun to beat, warmed by the knowledge that this was all there was time for, and then...

Nothing.

++++

End

++++