Duo let Zechs steer him out of the building, retreating to autopilot in something like shock. It felt good to let someone else be in charge for a while. Yeah, less chance that I will screw up again that way.
He knew that Une had a point, he was endangering other agents. He just didn't know what to do about that fact. Should I quit...? What else would I do? He dimly heard Zechs and Dorothy discussing where to eat and if they should take more than one car.
"Am I suicidal?" He asked, startled when he realized that he'd asked that out loud. They broke off the discussion and turned to look at him.
"No more than we are," Dorothy finally sighed. "That's why we like you."
"But... you guys seem to... function. And Une isn't taking you out of the field...."
"She tried," Zechs pointed out, stopping beside a nondescript car and unlocking the door. "But we don't go into the field with partners, and we stay just far enough under Dr. Po's radar that she can't justify it."
"We've managed to slip through the cracks." Dorothy frowned. "Which you could probably manage too, if you start sleeping."
"It's not that I don't want to...!" Duo scowled. "I try to sleep... I... at least I did for a while...."
"I know..." Zechs looked sad. "Get in."
Duo sighed and slipped into the front seat of the small car, dimly aware of Dorothy sitting behind him. He couldn't think of anything to say, and the silence got longer.
Lost in his own depressed thoughts, it was almost a shock when Zechs pulled the car over and parked. Glancing out the window, Duo saw a small, but elegant restaurant; instantly he felt himself flushing with embarrassment.
"Um... guys...?"
"Yes?"
"What is this place?" He frowned a little. "I... thought maybe we'd grab burgers or something. I just got out of the field... and... um...."
"You're fine, Maxwell." Dorothy dragged him out of the car. "You need real food, not burgers...."
"Hey, you just said I couldn't have coffee and donuts. Nobody said anything about food I wouldn't recognize...." Or couldn't afford.
"Duo..." Zechs hand on his elbow kept him from just heading down the block in a random direction, since he had no clue where they were. "Trust me, this place is not as fancy as you seem to think it is. You'll be able to identify the food."
"But..." Duo trailed off as he was dragged inside. There was no way of escaping this without causing a bigger scene and really destroying any remnants of his dignity.
"It's going to be alright, Duo," Zechs managed a smile, though his ice blue eyes were still sad.
"Nothing's alright anymore..." Duo mumbled softly. "It all went wrong, somehow. Again...."
"We'll figure it out, kiddo." Zechs murmured something to the hostess that came to seat them, and they were led to a small round table in the back; half hidden by a surprising profusion of plants and secluded enough to give them privacy from the few other diners.
By unspoken agreement, Dorothy and Zechs tucked him into the corner where he couldn't escape without climbing over one or the other of them. Duo gave in and just let them arrange things. It was suddenly taking more energy than he had to spare to protest. Picking up his menu, he glanced blankly at the writing on it.
"Duo... what do you want to eat...?" Dorothy prompted softly, carefully putting one hand on his wrist. He blinked at her, and finally noticed that the waitress was watching him intently, and that there was a glass of water in front of him and various drinks in front of the other two.
"I...." Shit...what's happening...I'm losing time... and....
"He'll have the steak and a baked potato," Zechs finally answered for him. "How do you want that cooked, Duo?"
"Huh?" He stared blankly at Zechs this time.
"Medium," The older man sighed and just finished ordering for him. The waitress nodded and walked away, throwing him suspicious glances over her shoulder.
"I think he's crashing," Dorothy said softly, right on the edges of his perceptions.
"It's been coming for a while," Zechs sighed. "It has just taken him longer than it did either of us, I think."
"He had farther to fall." She nodded. Duo let their voices drift around him.
Zechs threw Duo a worried look, as the young man seemed to sink farther into oblivion. He hadn't responded to questions from either of them for a bit, and had barely noticed when the food arrived. He was eating automatically now, and Zechs doubted that he could even taste the steak.
"It... seems wrong to see him like this," Dorothy spoke suddenly. "During the war... he always seemed so full of life."
"I know," Zechs sighed. Okay, Treize, now what do I do? I'm out of my depth here... But for once the ghost didn't appear to offer any advice.
"And where the hell are his friends? Haven't they even noticed? Or do they just not give a fuck about him now that they have found each other?"
"Right now, we are his friends," Zechs shrugged. "I don't know. I... got through this. So did you. So will he."
"Maybe." She looked as if she would say more, but Duo suddenly started speaking. His voice was soft, and sounded almost broken as he told them what Une had said to him.
"What am I gonna do?" Haunted eyes bruised dark purple with exhaustion met Zechs' blue ones. "I... can't go home to my apartment for two days. I can't...."
"It's okay, Duo. You don't have to," Dorothy said soothingly. "We'll think of something."
Duo blinked, and actually seemed to come back to them for a few minutes.
"Huh...?"
"You slept the other night when I was in the same room," Zechs said thoughtfully. "And you managed not to have any nightmares for almost four hours. Maybe it's just sleeping alone that is the problem."
"Yeah, well..." Duo flushed in embarrassment. "Hiring prostitutes to spend the night would get a little expensive after a while. And I don't have a lot of other options."
"You have two," Zechs shrugged, and looked at Dorothy. After a startled moment, she nodded.
"He's right," she managed. "You could come home with one of us."
Duo just blinked at them both, his eyes wide. "Um... you guys are never home either."
"Maybe... we hate going home to silence and ghosts just as much as you do." Zechs winced guiltily. No offense Treize.
'None taken.' The ghost sighed, wandering through one of the plants blocking them from the rest of the view. A moment later, Solo followed, his gray eyes staring around the restaurant in wonder. Zechs had the sneaking suspicion that Duo would have had the same look on his face if he hadn't been so exhausted.
"Oh..." Duo just blinked at Zechs, looking oddly lost. Once again, Zechs was reminded of just how young the pilot was. The hazed eyes were huge in his pale face, and he barely looked fourteen at the moment, much less the eighteen that he might truly be. He had started nervously playing with the end of the braid resting in his lap. "I... um... guess if you guys... don't mind.... That would be cool...."
"Then it's settled," Zechs smiled, amused at the blush that washed across Duo's cheeks. Solo glared at Zechs, taking a protective stance behind his friend, and somehow managing to give the impression of being much older than Duo. "You will come home with me tonight, and we'll see after that, alright?"
"Um... yeah," Duo managed a sad smile. "One day at a time and all that, right?"
"Right." Dorothy nodded. "It gets easier, Duo. You just have to stop wishing for the future and exist in the present."
Something about that statement bothered Zechs, but he decided to worry about it later. Duo's eyes were nearly crossed with exhaustion, and the dark head was starting to nod. He had the bad feeling that Duo had reached the end of his rope and had simply let go. Either he trusts the two of us to catch him... or he just doesn't give a damn anymore if he makes it through this.
Motioning the waitress silently, he held out a credit card. Dorothy frowned, looking like she meant to protest, but he just smiled sadly.
"We've managed to get him to agree to go to sleep. I'd like to get him close to a bed before he catches his second wind and realizes that little fact."
"True," she sighed. "I'll catch a cab, then, so that you don't have to take me back to Headquarters first."
He smiled at her, truly grateful for the understanding in her voice. "Thank you... for helping with him tonight."
"He's...my only friend too," She shrugged. "If we don't help him, who will?"
Zechs hesitated. "He doesn't have to be your only friend."
"What?" Her head came up and she stared at him suspiciously, one forked brow arched questioningly.
"I... know things have been... strained between us." He shrugged, looking almost embarrassed. "And I realized tonight that... they don't have to be. We worked well together once, even if it was for the wrong purpose. And... if we don't want him to have to face this alone, then there is no reason that either of us should have to either."
"Are you saying you want to be friends with me as well?"
"It will certainly make things simpler," He shrugged. "And yes, that is what I'm saying."
She stared at him thoughtfully for a moment, then smiled. "I think I would like that."
"Good." He signed the credit card receipt, and then hauled Duo out of his chair and held him up with one arm around the younger man's waist. "I would like that as well."
She nodded, trailing after them silently as he maneuvered Duo out of the restaurant and into the car. Closing the door carefully, he turned to look at her. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you back to headquarters?"
"I think if I can't manage to get there on my own, I'm in the wrong line of work." She smiled. "I'm not the one you need to worry about tonight."
"Thanks." He started slowly around the car, still looking sad. "I...still..."
"Call me when he wakes up?" She shrugged, feeling oddly reluctant for the two to leave as well.
"I will." He hesitated, then glanced back at her. "Dammit all... Dorothy?"
"Yes?"
"Come with us?"
"What?"
"Would you care to join us tonight? My place is rather small, but there is a comfortable couch. And I think... it may take both of us to get him through this intact."
She considered it for a moment, then smiled again. "Why the hell not?"