Okay this is an idea I got while I was on the J train (which is an elevated train) and passed Cyprus Hills. That's the stop that passes by Franklin K Lane high school and Cyprus Hills Cemetery. Anyway, I was on the train and looking down at the cemetery and I saw a man dressed all in black, wearing sunglasses standing in front of a grave. Some people were coming towards the same grave and as soon as he saw them he practically ran away. That little story was the inspiration for this fic. ^^;
Author: Aya
Pairings: 1x2
Warnings: AU, Lemon, PWP, Strange, Angst, Death (Err the character is already dead), and Duo speaking improper English
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimers: I only own this crappy computer.

Morbid Indeed

"One of the most important things about learning Spanish is the ability to conjugate verbs," Mr. Barton was saying as he stood in front of the large classroom. "So for the quiz tomorrow I want you all to be able to conjugate the list of verbs that I gave you yesterday. This is fairly simple stuff guys and remember, it's your graduating riding on a passing grade so decide whether or not you want to pass eh?"

Duo rolled his eyes and slumped down in his seat, staring out the window of the class. He hated Spanish. He hated Mr. Trowa Barton and most of all he hated school. "This blows," He muttered and snapped his pencil in half.

"Is there a problem Duo?" The Spanish teacher eyed his student warily. There was always a problem with Duo Maxwell. He was a smart boy but even back in his early years at Franklin K. Lane he had been a slacker. A slacker yes, but at least he had been tolerable back then. But ever since the... incident the previous summer the longhaired teen had become a sullen, rude nightmare of a student.

"Yeah, the problem is you droning on about shit I don't care about," Duo muttered not even bothering to look at his teacher. His eyes were trained on the cemetery that surrounded the school, just as they usually were whenever he was in the class.

"Duo --" Mr. Barton sighed and rubbed a hand across his face warily. He looked over the class and noticed that most of the students seemed to be enjoying Duo's antics. His green eyes hardened and his lips pursed in annoyance. "I know that after what happened this summer everyone is going through a lot of stress. Everyone liked him and we will all miss him but I will not tolerate any disrespect in my classroom."

Duo dragged his eyes away from the window and sneered. "'We all liked him'? Give me a fucking break! You people hardly knew him! I was his friend! You people mourned him for like two seconds and had some crappy assembly about gang violence after it happened like he was some kind of thug, when he wasn't! You know nothing about anything so just keep your heart felt fucking speeches to yourself," He snarled angrily.

Trowa opened his mouth to respond but thought better of it, instead walking to his desk. "I'm sending you to the dean; I don't want you in my classroom until you learn some respect Mr. Maxwell."

Duo snorted. "I'm not going to no fuckin' dean."

Several students started murmuring and snickering at that statement. Trowa grit his teeth and his hands squeezed into white knuckled fists. "Then I'll just get security to escort you," He snapped and picked up the class room phone.

Duo leaned back in his chair and grinned. "Go ahead and call `em. I'm not afraid of no wanna be toy cops. What are they gonna do anyways? Shine me to death with their stinkin' flashlights?"

Trowa practically yanked the phone out of the wall when he picked it up. He dialed quickly, all the while glaring at Duo who smiled back cheekily. "Hello - yes I need security in room 105."

Duo sighed and began shoving his few belongings in his Nike knapsack. He didn't do much in school so he didn't bring much, only a few sheets of stray loose-leaf and a pen. It was always the same old thing with his teachers. Always sending him to the dean and getting him in trouble. Stupid teachers. He stood up and sauntered to the front of the room just as security came to the door. "Ah, Officer Chang - how gracious of you to come escort me! How're the kids? How's the old ball and chain?" Duo asked with a big smile.

Wufei rolled his eyes. "Sally is fine, Duo. What did you do now?"

"Same shit every time," The teen offered with a smirk.

"He is disrupting my classroom as usual and frankly I am sick of it. I want him out of my sight and I want him transferred into a remedial class where he belongs," Trowa snapped as he started writing on the board.

"Hey, fuck you man! You tryin' to insult my intelligence?"

The Chinese guard sighed heavily and grabbed Duo's arm before the student could get in Trowa's face. "All right, all right let's go. The show's over," He muttered and began dragging Duo out of the room. "When are you going to learn to keep your big mouth shut, kid?"

Duo scowled and yanked his arm away. "Don't touch me."

Wufei stopped walking and stared at the teen. "Duo, this is getting out of hand. I don't know what's going on with you lately but you've got to cut the shit. There's already talk of transferring you out of the school. This is one of the worst schools in the damn city and they are kicking you out! Do you know what that looks like?!"

"No Officer Wu-Chang, enlighten me."

Wufei rolled his eyes and ignored the ridiculous nickname. "I know you are taking his death bad but -"

"Hey! Shut your mouth about that!" Duo snapped.

"Duo..." Wufei trailed off and shook his head. "I think--"

"No, you know what I think?" Duo asked as he started slowly backing away from the guard. "I think I don't need this shit from you of all people when we all heard the rumors of your high school experiences."

"Duo--"

"So I think I'll be getting the hell out of here and spare myself another lecture by Dean Khushrenada." On that note, Duo spun around and took off running down the hall towards the back entrance of the school.

"Goddamnit!" Wufei yelled and ran after the boy. He followed as Duo darted out the door but stopped when he saw the agile teenager sprinting across the athletics field.

"Adios Senor Chang!" Duo shouted across the track field, and then disappeared over the gate that separated the school from Cyprus Hills Cemetery in one graceful jump.

"Ah.. Screw it." Wufei muttered and went back into the school, muttering about being too old for this shit even though he was only 25.

+

As soon as Duo was a safe distance from the school, he stopped running and looked around him. He was in the center of the cemetery and he wasn't surprised to see that he had unconsciously run to the area where he spent so much time. Duo sighed heavily and wiped a hand across his brow as he walked along the familiar plots. He passed a particularly large headstone that read Samson Thomas, 1891 - 1915. "Hey Sammy, what's up today?" Duo asked cheerfully. "Looks like rain, yer gonna get soaked again," He warned.

If anyone ever followed Duo into the cemetery and realized that he spoke to headstones and graves, they would probably think he was insane. But, he wasn't. Duo just believed that cemeteries were haunted by the ghosts of their inhabitants, so he liked to speak to them and imagine they could hear them. Strange? Maybe. Morbid? Definitely. But what the hell? Duo didn't mind a little morbidity.

His whole life was morbid and strange. Everyone he came in contact with seemed to die. His mother died giving birth to him, his father died in prison and now his best friend was dead too.

Duo stopped when he came to row A, plot 30. A large angel statue hovered over the well-kept grave, the large plaque in the center read: Quatre Raberba Winner, Only son of Winner family. 1984 - 2001 "Hey buddy," Duo whispered to his friend. "How's death treatin' ya today?" The longhaired boy eyed the statue and rolled his eyes. If Quatre was indeed a wandering ghost he was probably pissed that he had a dumb angel statue over him for eternity. Everyone used to say that Quatre looked "angelic" because of his delicate features and golden blonde hair. It had royally pissed the guy off and now ironically he was stuck with the title even in death.

Duo walked around the statue and sat down behind the grave, leaning against the back of the cool porcelain. He always sat behind the statue because if he sat in front of it he felt like he was sitting on Quatre. Which was a little too morbid even for him. "Like stinks man, they are talking about kicking me out of Frankie Lane. Can you believe it? I'm not that bad! They let the gang members who fight and wreck the place stay but kick me out cause I gots a smart mouth," Duo sighed and dug the small flask of liquor out of his coat pocket. "My grandparents decided that they were tired of putting up with a bum like me so when I turned eighteen last month they set me up with my own pad. I was kinda pissed at first because they wanted to get rid of me that bad... but living alone is pretty cool. I can actually smoke weed in my room without burning ten tons of incense afterwards." He chuckled and took several gulps of vodka.

"I miss you man.. You kept me in check. Kept me good. Now without you, I'm turning into an even bigger screw up then I was before. Drinkin' all the damn time.. smokin' like there's no tomorrow. I doubt I'm gonna graduate high school at the rate I'm goin'." Duo sighed again and closed his eyes. "They all think you got shot by some drug dealer that you owed but I know that's bull shit. I knew you better than I know myself and you didn't take aspirin let alone cocaine. That whole shit was just a big set up... I just wish I could prove it to those lousy bastards who are callin' ya a cokehead."

Duo tucked himself into a tiny ball and ignored the tears that were beginning to burn his eyelids. "Sometimes... I wish I was dead too.." He lay there on the damp grass, even as a light rain began to fall and eventually fell asleep.

+

The sound of soft footsteps approaching the grave behind him woke Duo out of his light slumber. It was dark outside so obviously he had fallen asleep for a good while even though it had been raining the whole time. The footsteps stopped at Quatre's grave and then there was complete silence. Gooseflesh rose on Duo's arms and he slowly turned around; peeking through the space between the angel's arms to see who was there.

A man stood before the grave. He was dressed entirely in black; black jacket, black jeans, and despite the fact that it was night, there were black sunglasses covering his eyes. His hair was dark and spiky, tousled all over his head in a way that was trendy but obviously natural. He was tall and looked well built, his face all sharp angles and perfection. He was total eye candy and Duo found himself desperately wanting to see the stranger's eyes.

The man kneeled at the grave for a moment and placed a bouquet of red roses by the angel statue. He seemed to be in a trance as he gazed at the picture of Quatre that was propped precariously at the base of the statue. Quatre had been showing off his dazzling smile in the picture and although the nickname was hated, it showed why people thought the name "Angel" fit him. Moments passed and the man just kneeled there, staring at the photo. Finally he straightened up and stood there for a moment longer, his lips pressed into a thin line. Curiosity overcame Duo and he finally stood all the way up, stepping out from behind the statue. "Who are you?"

The man was obviously startled and he automatically stuck one hand in the inside of his coat as if reaching for a weapon. "Who the hell are you?"

Duo's thin eyebrows shot up. "I asked you first."

The taller man scowled deeply and didn't move his hand from the inside of his coat. "Why are you watching me?"

Duo crossed his arms over his chest indignantly. "I was not watching you. I was sleeping behind this giant winged monstrosity here and I heard you approach. I've never seen ya before and I was wonderin' if you knew Quatre."

There was a moment of tense silence and the man slowly dropped his hand. He raised an eyebrow dubiously and stared at Duo. "You were sleeping behind the statue."

Duo frowned. "Yea, and what of it? Is there somethin wrong with that?"

Although he was wearing the dark sunglasses, Duo knew that the man was looking him up and down. His lip quirked and his other eyebrow joined the first one near his hairline. "Are you homeless?"

Duo blushed to the roots of his hair and realized how he must look. He was wet, his hair was probably a frizzy tangled mess and his clothes were covered in mud. //What a way to make an impression Maxwell. You're a real charmer.//

"No! I'm not homeless! I go to the high school and Quatre was my best friend. I visit him a lot.. and well.. I feel comfortable near him, so I stayed and dozed off..." Duo trailed off lamely.

"I see."

They stared at each other in silence for several moments before the man suddenly turned to go. "Wait!" Duo called desperately and reached out, grabbing the man's sleeve. "Don't go!"

He turned slowly and stared at Duo's small hand where it was clutching his coat. "...What?"

"You uh.. you..." Duo faltered and his mind whirled, trying to find something to stall the man. There were two reasons why he wanted him to stay. One, Duo wanted to know how he knew Quatre and two, he was really hot. "You didn't tell me how you know Quatre."

He grunted and glanced at the picture again. "None of your business."

"Oh, c'mon! I told you a mouth full and all you did was grunt at me like an ape!" Duo protested.

"So?"

"So... so... I don't know. Just tryin' to make conversation..."

"Do you normally go around making conversation with complete strangers whom you meet in cemeteries?"

"No, I normally make conversation with the ghosts," Duo muttered sullenly.

The man actually smirked and it made him look even hotter. "I am a business associate of Quatre's father. I only met him one time but I wanted to pay my respects," He said coolly.

Something about the man's tone was off to Duo and he knew that something was being left out, but he didn't push it. "Oh.."

"He seemed to be a nice kid," He added.

"He was. And what do you mean kid? You don't look too much older than I am."

The man raised an eyebrow. "I am twenty-six years old."

Duo whistled softly and openly checked him out. "Damn! You look young!"

The black clad man shrugged and smirked again.

"I'm Duo by the way. Duo Maxwell. What's your name?"

He hesitated before answering. "You can call me Heero."

It was Duo's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Something tells me that isn't your real name."

Heero's eyebrow twitched. "Aren't you perceptive."

Duo grinned. "It's a gift."

"Hn."

Suddenly thunder boomed loudly and Duo yelped in surprised; jumping about two feet in the air. Heero snickered at him and looked up at the sky as rain began pouring down from the sky in cold sheets. "I have to go find a hotel before it gets too late."

Duo hesitated only for a moment before speaking. "Well... it's raining pretty hard and you know, there aren't any hotels `round here that you wouldn't get robbed at... so you can come to my place if you want."

Heero stared at him. "You don't know me. Why are you offering me a place to stay?"

Duo shuffled his feet in the muddy ground and examined his beat up Addidas. "'Cos I'm a nice guy.."

Heero snorted. "I've heard New Yorkers are rude and inhospitable."

The longhaired teen grinned widely. "Oh, don't worry, I am! The stereotype holds true to me. I'm just bein' nice `cos you knew Q- Man."

Heero's eyes narrowed and a strange expression crossed his face. He stepped close to Duo until their faces were only inches apart. "...I could be a killer for all you know," He said softly.

Duo raised an eyebrow and watched as Heero's sunglasses slipped to the bridge of his nose. He had amazing bright blue eyes. They stared at each other and Duo felt as if he were falling under some kind of spell as he stared into those eyes. "...You gonna kill me Heero?"

Again, the dark haired boy's mouth curved into a sexy half smile. "Maybe. I guess it depends on how long your... hospitality holds out," He practically whispered. His eyes traced Duo's elfin features slowly, halting at his full lips before they returned to his violet-blue eyes. Heero realized with a start that he wanted to kiss the teenager. Duo's hands curled into fists as he tried to yank his gaze away. The sight of those slender hands stirred something in Heero. They were so much smaller than his.. so delicate looking.

Once again thunder crashed loudly and Duo jumped again, shivering violently as they stood in the rain. "S..so, are you coming? I ain't standing out here forever."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Heero asked softly.

Duo grinned and led the stranger out of the cemetery - and even though it was against his better judgment - to his house.

+

[cont]