Chapter Text
New York, New York
205 January 1
“Where is everybody?” Duo asked as empty car after car on the subway train rolled by. The tourists and city denizens alike had apparently chosen to stay inside and recover from the night’s festivities rather than explore the bright January morning.
“It’s New Year’s Day,” Wufei reminded him as the doors slid open and they boarded. “You really have to ask?”
“Why aren’t we still asleep then?” Duo asked as he and Heero slid into some seats off to the side of the car door.
“Could you honestly have slept any longer than you did?” Wufei asked, taking hold of one of the loops that hung from the subway car’s ceiling just as the train lurched forward.
Duo thought for a moment. He had woken to a brilliant winter day, the light making his headache ever so slightly worse as his body fought off the last vestiges of the previous evening’s libations in his friend’s apartment. Wufei had already been conscious for some undetermined amount of time—coffee brewed, clothes changed, hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. Heero, for his part, had continued to sleep for several more hours, only roused when Duo pounced on him and informed him that they were heading out into the concrete jungle.
Eventually, Duo admitted with a shrug, “No, probably not.”
“Didn’t think so. Quit your bitching. It’s a perfectly acceptable hour to be awake.”
The retort earned muted laughter from Heero, who was scrolling through his phone where he sat beside Duo. “Empty cars mean no news, which is a good thing for everyone. I think there’s a grand total of five people at the Branch, Wufei and I included.”
“The week between Christmas and the new year keeps NYPD plenty busy, but we’ve escaped any international crises thus far. We’ll take the half-days while we can, even if it means one of us is technically ‘on call’ all day every day,” Wufei grumbled.
“So who’s on duty now, if you’re both here?” Duo asked, his eyes flicking between the two of them.
Heero pointed at his partner at the same time as Wufei muttered, “I am.”
“Even has that secure-line mobile,” Heero added.
“Are you even supposed to be carrying that around the city?”
“No,” Wufei admitted, but showed no sign of remorse. “So let’s just hope nobody decides to mug us today.”
“They’ll likely be hung over,” Heero reminded him. “Easy take down. Plus, after the monotony of the past week, it would be a welcome respite.”
Duo laughed and shook his head. “With both of you gunning for a fight, I pity the poor bastard who gets in the way.”
They rode the train north and exited out into Central Park. Duo found the web of access roads and pathways disorienting, a feeling amplified by the white snow that had enveloped the world. It made him think about one winter, years ago in Geneva, [1] and he chanced a glance at Heero at the memory.
At least this time I’m dressed accordingly, Duo thought, ducking his head into the scarf wrapped around his neck and clenching his gloved hands into fists. They meandered through the park, aiming in the general direction of The Met armed with thermoses of hot coffee and good company.
A faint buzz came from Wufei’s hip and Duo watched the man’s face fall. Digging into his pocket, he withdrew a dinosaur of a mobile phone that looked every bit as indestructible as it was ancient. Heero started chuckling darkly as Wufei groaned.
“What?” Duo prompted.
“Work call,” Heero supplied.
Wufei rolled his eyes and stood. “Excuse me,” he told them, retreating. “You can keep going—I’ll catch up.”
Heero shook his head. “We can wait.”
Wufei nodded and answered the call, fleeing several yards further back up the pathway as Duo and Heero stepped off to the side.
In the silence that followed, Duo worried his lower lip between his teeth. Since Hilde had visited him in Jakarta, he had anxiously awaited more of the same from the others. But they hadn’t come or offered to do so. In his most paranoid moments, he wondered if maybe they had made some internal pact to avoid bothering him while his studies were underway. Some misplaced desire to protect him and his time. Maybe that’s why he felt nervous about bringing it up: it was hard to argue when the lot of them got to mother-henning. But this was Heero after all, and he wasn’t sure when he would have another chance to broach the subject before his departure tomorrow. And so he pressed ahead.
“You should come out and visit, ya know,” he said, turning to face Heero full-on. “Hilde came out last year, but you’ve never met any of my friends or seen the campus. I could take you to all the cool places that you never got to while traipsing around the region on Preventers business…” Duo pressed his lips into a thin line, realizing he’d startled to babble. There was something like uncertainty in Heero’s eyes that set him on edge about the request. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything.
“I don’t want to be a distraction,” Heero answered, his gaze turning inward. “Your last term is important. You’re not done yet.”
I hate being right. Duo rolled his eyes. “I know that—better than most. Trust me. I meant during the break in March.”
The silence returned and stretched between them as Heero mulled this new information. “March?” he asked at last.
Duo smiled.