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Title: Heero

FF.net Penname: Rally Collins

Guild Profile: Ladycrystalite

Genre: Drama, Angst(ish)

Status: Complete

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Bandai, Sotsu Agency and Sunrise own Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. I do not. This is just for your entertainment and my need to brush up on my writing skills.

Summary: Part 2 of Lelandra's "20 Word Mix" prompt challenge. Prompt is "face." Character featured is Duo Maxwell. It's very short.

Skipping the teaser 'cause it's just too darned short and just posting in it's entirety.

Heero

There was one thing he always remembered, every time he closed his eyes.

A face. It wasn't frightening. It wasn't cold. It was simply empty, devoid of emotion, devoid of life. Each and every single time.

He reached up through the darkness and turned on the lamp attached to the head of the bed. It made a clicking sound that echoed off the concrete walls of his room loud enough to wake his sleeping roommate. A quick check confirmed that the person in question was still blissfully asleep, so he sat up and silently made his way to the door and out into the dorm hallway.

A faint light was placed every twenty feet or so along the corridor, to give just enough illumination for a person to navigate safely, but in no way left the impression that it could possibly be daytime. He made his way to the end of the hallway and then pushed open the door to the stairwell. Here the air was much cooler with a bite that cut into the bare skin on his arms and chest. He sat, bracing against the metal chill of the top step and then took a deep, calming breath. His eyes closed.

There it was again. That face staring blankly at him. Even though he knew there was a good, solid mind behind that facade, he couldn't get past that wall of void. At first, he had tried words: angry words, words of welcome and at times words of admiration. Now, it seemed he had used an endless rant that only reached his own ears.

"Tell me. What is it that distances you so?" Those words were faint enough not to bounce endlessly off the surfaces of the stairwell. He opened his eyes and was greeted only by the dim walls and the chasm of the empty staircase. "I guess I'm just not trustworthy enough."

He rubbed his face and then stood, pulling himself up with a railing. "Why does it keep haunting me?" He worked his way back to the door to his room and after another calming breath his hand found the knob. "Well, onward and upward. The next time we meet, screw trustworthiness, I'll just have to make him tell."

The door closes.

-End-