Author: hostilecrayon

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Violence, angst, biotechnological modifications, Preventor mission fic, post-canon

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3 and 5xS

This fic is dedicated to Merith, with thanks to Sunhawk for allowing me to use the Gravity Expo as an easter egg in the fic.

Drawing Lines

The day started out like any other day. I woke up, showered, ate a small breakfast, drank my tea, brushed my teeth, mentally cursed the landlord for not fixing the heat, wrapped myself in my jacket and started the eight block walk to the Preventors USA Division HQ. It was nearing spring, so the walk was pleasantly sunny, albeit cold. I enjoy the walk; it helps clear my head in the morning. Besides, I just don't see the point in driving eight blocks.

I nodded my hellos in the lobby and made my way to my office, stopping only to see if my partner had anything new for me. Wufei shook his head, so I went to work on my rather depressingly full inbox.

There was a time when I would have stayed late the day before and came in early to keep my inbox perfectly spotless, working damn near double shifts just to feed my perfectionist ego, but that part of me died two years ago. I'm still one of the best agents in the field, but when it comes to paperwork, average is normal. Yeah, a day like every other day for quite some time.

Well, almost.

I was very pointedly ignoring the calendar. Things were going as well as you could expect for an ex-terrorist three years removed, and I just didn't want to be reminded of what I moved past as best I could two years ago, nor the sense of panic I felt exactly one year after.

As long as I didn't get any e-mails from Quatre, I was sure I could make it through. It was only one day, after all.

~*~

Thank god I didn't have a mission. That's really all I could think about. Every other day of the year, I had perfect focus, but today just wasn't every other day, and I had damn well proved that last year on that fucked over mission. Thank god Trowa was there to pull me out; otherwise my ass would have been dead meat instead of just in critical condition. I suspect this day will be like this for a lot of years to come. Hell, I should just start staying home. I'll call it international Keep Maxwell Alive day. Think I could pull it off?

Trowa was eyeing me warily from the other side of the room, watching as I muttered and cursed at my paperwork with much more gusto than was necessary. He didn't bother to approach me though. I guess I only have to have one nervous breakdown for him to learn that today just isn't my day.

Unfortunately, Quatre doesn't have near as much tact.

I tried to shrink when I saw him approach, but there's just no diverting a tactical mastermind. No, he was headed straight for me. I saw Trowa catch his eye, and for a moment, they proceeded to have one of those couples conversations. You know, the ones where they have the entire conversation through eye contact? A plethora of silent words were passed back and forth, and I have to give Trowa credit for trying, but in the end, Trowa sighed in exasperation, and Quatre continued his beeline to my desk.

I tried not to think of him as my executioner, I really did.

"Hey Duo." I let out an imperceptible little sigh before forcing the smile on my face.

"Hey Quat! What brings you all the way to my little desk in the corner?" I knew damn well what he was here for, but I played the game for him.

"It's not so far out of my way. I needed to stop by and talk to Une. Besides, what's wrong with coming to see one of my best friends?" He smiled that deceptive innocent smile and I had to bite my cheek to keep from sighing out loud.

"Nothing at all." I grinned rather despite myself. "What did you need to see Une about?"

"A few things." He evaded. "We're doing some new things with the Winner Corporation funding, so I figured I'd stop by to hammer out some of the details."

That was an understatement if I've ever heard one. Anyone high enough in the Preventor ranks knew that Quatre is involved in more of what's going on in the organization than the top ranking officers, namely, we fellow Gundam Pilots. He isn't officially employed by Une, but his tactical strategies have been used in more than a dozen top secret missions, and he's had a hand in the decisions of more than a hundred smaller missions. Nothing happened anywhere in the Preventor world without Quatre knowing about it. When Une was away, Quatre practically ran the UK division.

"Did it go well?" I inquired, stalling the inevitable turn in the conversation.

"Better than I had hoped." Quatre smirked, and I swear there was an almost feral glint in his eyes for a second before he schooled his expression. I think I heard Trowa sigh wearily.

Then we came to the topic I was dreading. "Duo, we're having the pilot reunion in a couple of months. Do you think --"

"No." Telling Quatre no is something I despise doing. There is just something about him that makes you want to give him the world, and the dejected look he gets is almost too much to bear. But there are just some things I can't compromise.

"Neither you nor Heero will come ever since..." He began softly, letting it die off towards the end. We both knew what he was talking about, and it was better left dead.

"I'm sorry, Quat." And I was. But he had to understand that I just couldn't.

His face brightened a little, though I could tell it was forced. "Well, I hope you'll reconsider. I have some time around one. Will you go to lunch with me and Trowa?"

"Yeah, looking forward to it Q."

"Great! I'll be back at one then. I have a few other things I have to take care of." At the mention of 'other things', his expression bordered on smug, and I could only hope that none of those other things had to do with me. Though, knowing Quatre, they did.

He wandered over to Trowa and I tried to submerge myself in my paperwork, but the mention of that fateful day and their overly hushed voices made concentration scarce. I tried to tune them out, but old instincts die hard. Hushed voices are usually hiding something, so I found myself trying to listen in instead of block them out.

I could only catch bits and pieces.

"You really shouldn't have..."

"I can't just do nothing! It's been... ...not healthy... all that time..."

"...maybe not such a good idea to do it like this..."

"...you even said we should..."

"I hope, for your sake and theirs, this works out for the best."

"It will, love. It's right. You know that."

"Alright, my heart. I'm not saying I disagree..."

I suddenly wasn't all that sure I wanted to know. I let my head sink a little closer to the desk and prayed the day would just end already. It was getting harder to block the memories.

~*~

"Quatre will have my head if I don't at least try to convince you to go." Wufei said disdainfully, as if the task would be beneath him if it weren't for the underlying threat.

"So tell him you did." I replied flatly.

He snorted. "As if I would lie over something so trivial."

"I'm not in the mood for this, Wufei." I stared resolutely at the paperwork in front of me, more than ready for this conversation to be over.

"When are you ever?" He sighed.

"Please, not today. You can grill me all you want tomorrow. Just not today."

His expression turned solemn as he laid a hand on my shoulder. "You know," he began quietly, "it really isn't the same without the two of you. I feel as if I have lost a part of my family." He gave my shoulder a squeeze and left me alone to my thoughts.

Well fuck. What do you say to something like that? Wufei had lost everything and everyone with a connection to him a long time ago. The fact that he considered us to be family was overwhelming. How can I explain to him that I can't give that back to him? I can't. But it doesn't change the facts.

My gaze drifted to the calendar and the numbers glared at me accusingly. In the back of my mind I heard raised voices and the slamming of a door. A frantic e-mail from Quatre flashed before my eyes. The lingering taste of tears on my lips and the slow, deliberate movement of my hand as I filled out the Preventors transfer forms felt so real I shuddered.

I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed my temples. It was only one day, but it was definitely the hardest day of the year.

My phone buzzed and I snatched it up, grateful for the distraction.

"USA Preventors Crime Division. Agent Yuy speaking."

"Hey Heero."

"Commander Noin. What can I help you with today?"

"Heero, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? I think we have too much background for you to greet me so formally." Her heavy sigh carried over the phone. "Could you meet me in my office? I have a mission for you."

"Should I bring Agent Chang with me?"

"No need. You won't be going with Wufei this time."

I raised an inquisitive eyebrow, despite the fact that she couldn't see it. "A solo mission?"

"Not quite. Come to my office. I'll brief you on the details."

"Roger."

Noin has been the commander of the USA division for the last two years. I found it vaguely ironic that she now outranks Zechs. They finally married last year, and Wufei likes to tease her about being the man of the house.

I began the two floor trek to her office, but before I got very far, my ears were assaulted with the worst possible song that could have been playing at that moment.

When can I see you again?
When can my heart beat again?
When can I see you again?
And when can I breathe once again?
And when will I see you...

'Never' my mind supplied, and in a small fit of anger, I located the source. "Claudia! Turn that crap off!" My voice was loud even to my ears, and I was a little chagrined to see everyone in the vicinity flinch. The radio was turned off instantly, and Claudia was practically quivering with fear.

Duo always did say that I come off harsher than I mean to.

I shook my head and tried to smile. "I'm sorry, Claudia. Today isn't really my day. It was just a bad song at a bad moment. Turn it back on once I get on the elevator."

Relief and genuine concern battled for face time until concern won. "Are you alright?"

"I will be tomorrow." I had to keep myself from running to the elevator. It was a real struggle to keep the smile on my face for even that long.

I felt like sinking to the floor and not moving for the rest of the day. I settled on leaning heavily on the wall and trying to gather my wits before meeting with Noin.

I had a feeling I'd need them.

~*~

"A solo mission?" Commander Une, or Lady, as the guys called her behind her back, had called me into her office alone for the first time since... well, that isn't important. A long time. Let's just stick with that.

"Not exactly." Her smile was slight, a sweet little thing -- unless you knew her during the war, that is. That was Une in tactics mode, and since her tactics had once been to execute me, it was just a bit creepy. "As you know, you and your partner are a specialized team. Stealth, surveillance, speed and demolition, your specialties, are needed for this mission. However, only one agent is needed. Because of you have superior knowledge to Trowa in demolition, you have been chosen as the representative for your fields.

"You will be meeting with an agent representing complimentary fields. You will be allowed forty-eight hours to plot out your tactics and one month to complete the mission."

"...Let me get this straight. I'm going to be paired with someone from some other location, who I haven't met with before hand, and I have forty-eight hours to find out how well we work together?"

"That's correct."

"Do I at least get a name?"

~*~

"Unfortunately, no." Noin managed a small chagrined smirk. "This operation is highly confidential, and neither you nor your partner will be in possession of more information than absolutely necessary. You will each be given half of the mission objectives, to be looked over fully at the time of your meeting. The main office has issued code names for this mission. You will be Agent White, and your partner will be Agent Black."

I couldn't help but raise an amused eyebrow at that. "Agent White? Isn't that a little generic?"

Noin mirrored my humor. "Une thought it would be appropriate for the savior of the world."

I rolled my eyes. "So does that make my partner the Grim Reaper?"

Her eyes were practically glowing with mischief. "Something like that." She handed me a sealed tube containing what I imagined were mission plans. "For the sake of confidentiality, I have to ask that you do not open this until you meet with Agent Black."

"Understood. This must be a top ranking mission if this much caution is required."

"We aren't leaving any room for mistakes. I hope that you and Agent Black will be able to work well together. This mission leaves little room for error."

~*~

"So you can't tell me anything about it at all?" I rolled my eyes. If torture from OZ never got me to talk, I seriously doubted whoever we were after could.

"Nothing at all." I bit down on my sigh. I thought, not for the first time, that I should have been the one to transfer instead of Heero. He was always better with Une than I was.

I bit down on a sigh and resigned to the fact that there was no point in arguing. "When do I leave?"

"Your shuttle leaves in two hours."

I snorted. "You sure don't give much notice, do you?"

She smirked demurely. "Good luck."

I excused myself and glanced at my ticket as I headed to my desk. Wonderful. A trip to L2. I sighed rather heavily. Une sure wasn't making it easy on me.

Mary, my secretary, was humming along to her desk radio and I waved, suppressing a cringe.

All of my life, where have you been?
I wonder if I'll ever see you again...
And if that day comes, I know we could win
I wonder if I'll ever see you again...

'You won't' a quiet voice in the back of my head supplied, and I suppressed the shiver that was fighting its way to the surface.

Mary didn't notice and waved back cheerfully. "You taking off, Maxwell?"

"Yeah, it seems they just can't wait to get rid of me! I'll be on assignment for a little over a month. I hope you can put up with Trowa for that long! Or will you just be glad to have me out from under your feet?"

She let out a rich laugh. "You're a real doll, kid. Just make it back in one piece, you hear me?"

"Roger that!" I chuckled for her and grabbed my jacket. I turned to tell Trowa what was up, but he just smiled at me.

"Good luck." I was a little surprised by his sudden hug, but it was welcome in the mood I was in, and I returned it fiercely.

When I finally pulled back, I raised one eyebrow at him, a habit I picked up... a while ago. "You knew?"

"Une sent me a memo. Take care of yourself, Duo."

"I will. See you, Tro."

That damn song was still playing. I don't think I've ever got out of the building so fast.

~*~

It didn't take me long to pack. I never did get over the war mindset of being ready to move at a moments notice, though in my profession, it did come in handy every so often. It had driven Duo nuts.

I wondered if there would ever be a day that I didn't compare something to a memory of Duo.

The shuttle was mostly empty; typical of a midday shuttle to the poorest colony. The trip to L2 was about twelve hours, and I had very little to do other than think or sleep.

Thinking today just seemed to be a bad idea, but I wasn't tired, and in the end, I couldn't escape the inevitable line of thought.

L2. The colony Duo was from. Had Duo forgotten my promise to face his demons with him? Or has he still not returned to L2 even after all this time? I never did get the chance to hear the full story behind his grief. I guess I never will, now.

Never. We'd never see each other again. Did it feel like as much of a punishment to him as it did to me? It hurt more than all of our petty fights combined. Sometimes I wonder if it really was for the best. We should have tried harder.

But then, he never did understand how much I loved him. Or perhaps I didn't tell him enough. Either way, he refused to see what I saw in him.

What did I see in him? Well, everything.

I ran my fingers through my already ruffled bangs; a nervous habit I picked up somewhere a couple years ago. It was bound to be a long trip.

~*~

Going to L2 was last on my list of fun things to do. It was right down there below my inevitable trip to hell. But then, L2 was a hell in itself, I suppose. Maybe L2 was my personal hell. I suppressed a shudder, running my fingers through my bangs for what seemed like the fiftieth time since I boarded the damn shuttle.

I'd already killed off the book I was reading and I still had another five hours to go before I arrived in a place I swore I'd never set foot in again.

Well, not without Heero. But being I'd never be seeing Heero again, the chances of that were pretty slim, don't you think?

Going to L2 reminded me of my past. That's not something that is very pleasant for me, in case you didn't know. Now add that on to the date and that stupid promise I was breaking -- against my will, I might add -- and you might get an inkling of how I was feeling on that much too long shuttle ride.

I tried to sleep a little, but of course, it evaded me. I ended up thinking about Heero, which was a stupid idea, I know. It's just hard. Losing the one solid thing in my life -- again -- was just very god damn hard. And knowing that, for once, the person I cared for the most wasn't dead but was still inaccessible was just icing on the cake.

Things had been... well, bad. Real bad. We were just kids. Hell, technically we still are. We're not even old enough to drink in some countries. We were sixteen years old and coming off of the biggest adrenaline high you could imagine. There were things that Heero would do that would just drive me up the wall! And I was stubborn.

We had fights; big, screaming, door slamming fights. Everything in our apartment was broke at one time or another because of our explosive natures. But he never hit me. No, we didn't abuse each other physically, just everything else that dared to exist while we were angry. Heero would never hit me out of anger; that much I'm sure of.

In the end, we lost touch with the little things. The stupid things that mean nothing much until they're gone: Turning the warmer on so the coffee stays hot for the next person, keeping the volume down on the TV late at night, setting both alarms without being asked. It's all dumb shit, but it makes a world of difference.

We started drawing lines, and eventually, we drew the line at communication.

I think I sighed again. It was starting to become such a common thing in my life that I barely noticed it anymore.

I deliberately forced my thoughts elsewhere for a while. I let myself get a little worked up about being assigned a partner I wasn't familiar with before I deflated from pure emotional exhaustion.

So my thoughts turned bitter. I didn't manage to escape that mission after all. At least I wasn't supposed to be involved in a firefight today. But then, with my luck...

Let's just say that I was very grateful when the shuttle docked.

I stopped at the soda machine, fumbling around in my pocket for change. It took me a good three minutes just to find the right change and make my selection, and I nearly missed the last bus heading for my motel. I ran to the bus stop, leapt on the bus and managed to shake my soda up in the process. I glared at it as I punched quarters into the feeder and moved down the isle.

As it was the last bus until the morning, most people were just trying not to doze off. Some of them were finding things to occupy themselves. At least five people were engrossed in newspapers, which were pretty useless in a place like L2, unless you just want to read about the same old problems: poverty, violence, theft, prostitution. That's all that really goes on in that place.

I sat wearily towards the back, away from as many people as I could manage. I felt pretty much how most of the passengers without something entertaining them looked; tired and beat down. I put my head in my hands and occupied myself by staring at the ground. I sure hoped Agent White, whoever he was, would want to just sleep now and have small talk later. I didn't think I'd make it much longer, and if he was perky... Shinigami help him.

The low tones of music running in the background was almost soothing, until I managed to pick up some of the words.

Love
My love
I regret the day you went away
I was too young
To understand my love
But now I realize my mistakes
Where
Where are you now

I had to bite my tongue to keep from groaning out loud. Would the day never end?

~*~

I was let out into the busy hustle of people exiting the platform right on schedule. I noticed that another shuttle had just docked towards the right, so though it still wasn't quite crowded, there were quite a few more people than I was expecting. I weaved through the passengers, picked up a local newspaper to hunt for anything suspicious, and got onto the bus with a couple minutes to spare.

I sat towards the front and engrossed myself in the newspaper. It was a twenty minute ride to the motel, and I intended to scan the entire paper before I got there. The music was a little distracting, as well as some passenger who arrived right as the bus was about to leave, but I tried to ignore it and kept my eyes on the paper in front of me.

Where
Where are you now
Now that I'm ready to
Ready to love you the way you loved me then
Where are you now
Do you still think of me
Or does your heart belong to someone else's

I blew my bangs out of my face and seriously prayed for a change in music.

The paper held nothing of real interest, and I was glad when the bus finally came to my stop. I headed out the set of doors towards the front and immediately took a left. The motel was on the right, but I wanted to take a quick trip around the block to find out just what kind of neighborhood we were in. Duo used to do this with me, as he notices things I tend to miss. He was wise in ways I'll never be. It was part of why we made such a good team, even if we weren't technically partners.

I did pick up at least a few things from him, and I noticed signs of domestic violence that I wouldn't have batted an eyelash at before. The neighborhood wasn't a great one, but in L2, not many are. It was better than a good portion of them, and to keep a low profile, it would have to do.

It took about fifteen minutes to scope out the neighborhood before I circled back the motel. The clerk didn't bother to look up when I entered; she was too engrossed with what I took to be some sort of crossword puzzle. She couldn't have been more than eighteen; barely old enough to work in such a shady occupation. L2 is known for its large market of prostitution, after all.

Her blonde hair was pulled tightly behind her head, and she made a little 'ah' sound when I approached, quickly scribbling an answer across the page before finally looking up at me. "Welcome to the Shady Hills Motel!" She said brightly, and I almost laughed. What a fitting name. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, for a Mr. White."

"Oh yes! I've been expecting you." She handed me a keycard.

"Do you know if my partner, Mr. Black, has arrived yet?"

"Yeah, he has. He's such a nice guy, too! He helped me with my crossword." She practically beamed at me and I almost groaned. Great, my partner was a flirt. I hoped it didn't complicate the mission, otherwise I'd have to set him straight, and it wouldn't be a pretty sight.

"Thank you." I inclined my head towards her before turning and heading towards room 173. I was beyond exhausted and I was kind of hoping Agent Black, whoever he might be, was already asleep. It wasn't quite midnight yet, and I was just a little too eager for this night to end.

I knocked softly before I put my keycard in the door and pushed it open slowly.

Nothing could have prepared me for what was waiting inside.

~*~

I had damn near fell asleep on that bus ride. The stop jolted me awake, and it took me a minute to gather my wits before I stumbled off the bus through the middle door. I knew I should do a check of the neighborhood, but I was just too tired to bother. I headed inside the motel check in office instead.

The clerk was cursing mildly to herself, completely oblivious to the fact that a customer had just walked in. Her head was bent and she was staring intently at a paper with a little crease in her brow. Her blonde ponytail was draped over her shoulders, and she brushed it back with a little huff, clearly annoyed.

I bent forward over the counter and examined the paper closely. It was a crossword of some sort from the L2 Tribune. Her finger was poised over four down: Mind-altering Gundam System. "Whatcha got there?" I inquired, and she practically jumped a foot in the air.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't hear you come in! Do you have a reservation?" She blushed heavily, one hand tucking her hair back and the other splayed across her paper.

I grinned. "Yeah, I do. Mr. Black. You having some trouble with that crossword puzzle?"

She chewed on her lip; apparently trying to decide if fraternizing with the customers was a good idea. In the end, her need to complete the puzzle won over. "I just can't get four down. I mean, not much is known about the Gundams..."

My smile faltered a little in memory, but if she noticed, she must have thought it was in thought because she didn't comment. "The Zero System. The answer is Zero." Heero's system.

I watched as she counted the spaces and exclaimed in glee, "Thanks! I can't believe you knew that!"

"I'm a well of useless knowledge." I gave her a mock bow. "Glad I could be of service."

"Oh yeah! Your room! Here." She stuffed a key in my hand and beamed at me. "By the way, I'm Jenna."

"Reed Black. It's been a pleasure." I inclined my head with a grin and walked out. Glancing at the number on the key, I made the trek to room 173 and tossed my bag carelessly on the bed. I wanted to sleep, but I knew sleep would be much more pleasurable if I rinsed off, and instead moved towards the bathroom. I thanked God that my partner hadn't arrived yet, and I prayed like hell that I could manage to fall asleep before he showed up.

I wasn't looking to take a full shower, so I wound my braid into a tight bun on the top of my head and stuck a pen from the nightstand into it to keep it from getting wet. I stripped quickly and soaked up the warmth of the water. It wasn't exactly cold on L2, but to me, the place would always lack any real heat.

The water felt good, but I was sure that the bed would feel better, so I washed the essential areas and got out. I slung a fresh towel around my waist and pulled the pen from my hair, tossing it on the vanity outside the bathroom door as I passed. I snapped off the end to my braid, using one finger to unravel it for brushing and rebraiding before bed. I was headed for my bag when I heard the soft knock and the familiar click of a keycard.

I cursed myself a bit for not having brought clothes into the bathroom with me and just hoped he didn't mind I was walking around barely decent. Then the door opened and my world froze.

Heero Yuy stood in my doorway. Or apparently, our doorway. Fuck. I really should have remembered to bring clothes into the bathroom.

~*~

The door swung open and I started to take a step until my eyes landed on the other person in the room. It was every wet dream I'd been pretending not to have for the last two years. Duo, still as fit as ever, stood in only a loose towel, his waterfalls of silken hair cascading down his back and around his body. Stray drops of water glistened on his chest and down his calves, running along his perfect figure and outlining his lean muscles as he bent slightly over his duffle bag on the bed. If it weren't for his openly shocked and panicked expression, it would have been a picture perfect scene I'd witnessed hundreds of times all those years ago.

It took a minute before the world started moving again. I finally took that step and closed the door behind me, partly for Duo's privacy, and partly for the privacy of the conversation we would likely have.

I opened my mouth to say I'm not sure what, but I needn't have bothered, as Duo was in the bathroom faster than I could have said hello, if that was even what I was going to say. I sighed heavily and set my bag down at the foot of the unoccupied bed, retrieving a toothbrush and an old set of pajama bottoms that I was now wearing for an entirely different reason than why I packed them. I don't usually wear pajamas.

I brushed my teeth hastily, not wanting to be next to the bathroom door when Duo emerged, and I slipped into my pajamas. I looked around at the accommodations, and while they weren't completely undesirable, the room seemed old and worn, much like the rest of L2.

I didn't want to think about what it would be like to work with Duo again. I didn't want to wonder what the next month would be like living in the same room. And I really didn't want to find out that Duo was going to refuse the mission. Seeing him again was so nerve-wracking, but it also made things a little better at the same time.

It made me realize all the more how much I'd missed him.

To distract myself, I unsealed my half of the mission plans, fully intent on acting in a professional fashion. Even if we couldn't manage to get along in our personal lives, we always worked well together. I didn't know how Duo would want me to act towards him, so I settled on safe. It was a bit of an effort after years of changing my attitude, but it's like riding a bike, as Duo would always say. I unrolled the plans and fell into full soldier mode.

~*~

I took a few minutes extra to compose myself before I had to face the music. The only thing I could really think was 'Une set me up', and that wasn't very productive, so I took a few deep breaths and headed out without a clue what to say.

Heero was sitting ramrod straight in pajamas on his bed, his face like stone as he scanned his half of the mission plans. He didn't look up when I entered, or when he spoke. "Pull out your half of the mission specifications so I can take a look at them. There are only forty-eight hours until we commence operations, and we need to be prepared."

My eyes narrowed slightly, though in his current mindset, he wasn't looking to see it. We'd had no communication for two years, and the first words he spoke after all that time were mission related. I knew the expression on his face well; it was one he'd held all through the war, and one I frequently saw during some of our larger fights. He was hiding. In the few moments I'd been in the bathroom, he'd managed to suppress all of his emotions and pull out the emotionless bastard front. Knowing the look meant understanding the mentality behind it; there's just no talking to him when he's like that.

I didn't know what I was expecting, but that sure wasn't it. There had been a time when I could carefully dislodge him from that mood, but I had lost that ability long before the final, pivotal fight that desolated our lives. We definitely weren't at any kind of point where I could attempt the type of intimacy necessary now.

Perturbed by my inability to alter the situation, I snatched the tube Une had given me from out of my bag and tossed it to him angrily. His skills as sharp as ever, he caught it in his free hand, his eyes never leaving the plans in front of him.

I think I growled, and without saying a word, I walked out.

~*~

A searing pain shot through my chest before I squelched it, never letting it reach my face. Only my training kept me from getting hit by the flying black tube, though the pain was so bad, I can't say I even remember catching it. I just know that one minute I was looking at blueprints, and the next I was holding the tube with blurred vision and the distinct feeling of wanting to cry.

But soldiers don't have time to cry, so instead I stayed silent and felt his presence leave the room.

Maybe he was mad at me; maybe he was just mad at the situation. I hoped to god he didn't hate me. I didn't think I'd be able to live with myself.

Those thoughts were unproductive, so I ignored them. I buried myself back into the plans, scanning the other half as best I could with the prickly pressure behind my eyes. My cheeks were warm with a distant, but familiar wetness.

I ignored that, too.

~*~

I inhaled what was considered fresh air on L2 and felt like gagging. It seemed staler than I remembered. I wondered if it was because the memory had been fading. I wondered when had been the last time they changed the colony's air filters.

I wondered if it was just me.

I hadn't given Heero any kind of chance. I hadn't even spoken to him. I frowned to myself as I walked aimlessly down the dark streets. I wasn't being very fair to him. But it wasn't fair that he was being shoved in my face.

But then, it wasn't exactly his fault, either.

From the moment he'd opened the door, I knew this reunion was as much of a surprise to him as it was to me. I could tell that much just from the look on his face. And I had said nothing.

In that first moment, he would have talked to me without mission objectives in mind. Hell, he had even opened his mouth to speak. I turned tail and hid, even if only for a moment, and ruined it all.

Heero never did like my tendency to hide, though I suppose that's a little hypocritical, as that's exactly what he's doing when he plays the perfect soldier.

I had been walking for quite some time before I became aware of my surroundings. The thing about knowing a place as well as I know L2 is even after you forget the little things like street names, you still know how to get around like you never left.

Though the scenery was quite a bit different and the streets were cleaner, there was no mistaking where my subconscious had brought me.

I just stood there staring down the little alleyway for a moment, afraid to enter but too captivated to leave. It was a relic from my past even Alzheimer's would have trouble making me forget, and there I was, alone and staring at the place where Solo took his last breath.

I took one step forward, then another. The pain welled up inside me as sharp as it had ever been, and I found myself swallowing loudly and taking a step back as if I were a defenseless maiden being approached by a mugger.

I couldn't do it. Not alone.

I hightailed it back to the motel, peeking my head in the door of the check-in lobby. The clerk seemed to still be concentrating on her crossword, and I wondered just how late she worked. I was vaguely concerned for her safety. "Hey Jenna."

She looked up, and as she recognized me, she flashed me a brilliant smile. "What can I do for you, Mr. Black?"

I smiled back in encouragement, saying, "Please, call me Reed."

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she said, "Okay, Reed. Do you need something?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. Would it be too much trouble for me to book another room?" I didn't elaborate on why. I just didn't think I could handle Soldier Heero in the mood I was in. I had half a mind to call Une and refuse the mission, but I knew where that would get me. She was plenty mean enough to hold my job over my head, and as nice as it would have felt to refuse, I rather liked my job and preferred to keep it.

Her face fell, and I knew before she opened her mouth that there were no available rooms. "I'm sorry, Reed. We're booked for a week solid. The Gravity Expo started today." Her tone was apologetic, and I was quick to flash her a smile to reassure her.

"It's alright then. It's not a necessity." How had I forgotten about the Gravity Expo?

"I really am sorry..." she began again, but I shook my head gently.

"Don't worry about it, Jenna. We'll be fine."

"Okay. Would you like me to let you know if a room opens up?"

"If it's not too much trouble."

"No, of course it isn't! Oh, and thanks again for helping me with my crossword!" She beamed at me, and I chuckled for her.

"Anytime." I waved as I ducked out of the lobby and grudgingly headed for the room.

Heero was still awake when I came in. In fact, it didn't look as if he had moved at all, though his hair betrayed the image. It was wet from the shower and dripping down into his eyes. I thought it was odd that he didn't bother to wipe the water away, but I mentally shrugged it off and slid into bed, shoes and all, pushing my bag onto the ground in the process.

The light clicked off almost immediately after, as if he had been waiting for me to go to bed before he'd allow himself to. I wondered if he had been.

I wondered when I'd started wondering all the damn time.

It was well beyond the normal level of quiet in the room, and it made things very uncomfortable. Every shift echoed, and every slight breath was audible -- even Heero's normally silent breathing.

It amplified his presence by ten-fold, and my need for him to hold me, to soothe away the image of the alleyway I had fled from, was overwhelming. Moisture gathered on my cheeks, and in my mind I heard Solo's voice saying, 'Boys don't cry'.

'Not crying,' a voice, mine, but much younger, was whispering. 'Got dirt in my eyes.'

I had dirt in my eyes until I drifted off to sleep.

~*~

After about an hour of Duo's absence, I realized that he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. He would often take off after a fight only to return several hours later. There was only one time he didn't. I didn't see him again.

My heart jumped a little at the memory. He would come back... wouldn't he?

I groaned softly, rubbing the remaining liquid from my cheeks and rolled off the bed to get a shower in before Duo came back. If he came back.

I really didn't want to think of it that way.

I leaned my head against the wall of the shower, the seclusion of the small space and the warm water temporarily washing away my defenses. I couldn't help but remember.

I stared at the little colorful box without a clue of what it was for.

"Open it." Duo encouraged, his smile bright and a faint blush across his cheeks.

"What is it?"

"Open it and find out! I'm not going to tell you. That takes half the fun out of it."

I pulled at the blue ribbon, still unsure of what exactly was happening. I faintly understood that it was a gift of some sort, but I'd never received one in such a way. When people wanted to give me something, they generally just handed it to me. I wasn't really sure of the occasion, either. It was the middle of May, and I couldn't think of any holiday or any necessity I was lacking.

Nestled between tissue paper at the bottom of the box was a gold watch with an engraving of wings on the back. "Why..."

He shrugged. "I figured now was as good a time as any for a birthday present, being neither of us know when ours is."

"...Thank you." It was the first real present I'd ever received.

"Don't worry about it. It was just something I wanted to do, that's all. Be careful with it, okay? It's real gold, so don't be falling asleep with it on."

"I'll be careful." I said softly, and I hugged him tight.

That watch. My watch. It was sitting on the nightstand next to the hotel bed. There wasn't a scratch on it. When I registered for an identification card, the clerk had asked for my birth date. I'd looked down at my watch and smiled. May 18th.

"Heero..." Duo's voice washed over me like rippling silk. The room was bathed in the warm orange glow of flickering candlelight, illuminating a very naked Duo lying idly on the bed. His hair was unbound and draped seductively across the sheets. He pinned me with dark eyes and whispered, "Happy anniversary."

Then there was just the sound of heavy breathing, whispered words of adoration, and his soft skin on mine. It wasn't the first time we'd made love, but it was one of the most intimate.

It was also the first time I told him.

Duo molded gently to my side, an arm draped over my chest and a leg tucked over mine. He was panting slightly, his eyes closed while he rubbed his cheek on my chest. I threaded my fingers through his hair and I knew. I had thought about it, wondered about it, thought I knew, but in that moment, there was no doubt in my mind. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Duo, and no matter how long that ended up being, it could never be long enough.

"I love you." I blurted. Two groggy, violet eyes snapped open to stare at me in shock. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and whispered into his hair. "I love you so much, Duo."

"I love you," He sighed reverently and we clung to each other for the rest of the night.

I remembered his scent, his touch, his -- our -- love. How had things gotten so out of control? What made us so damned stubborn that we lost the ability to even be in the same room without tearing each other apart?

So many memories... but I just couldn't stop them.

After the mind reel of home movies finally stopped, it took me minute to return to the present world, and the first thing I realized was the billowing clouds of steam and the sweet warmth of the water were gone, leave me standing under a hard spray of icy liquid. I pushed away from the wall and turned the faucet off, wrapping my shivering body in a towel.

My eyes burned and my body was cold, but now that I'd left the safety of the shower, I couldn't afford to let my feelings control me. I dressed efficiently and returned to my bed, glancing at the clock before I returned to my memorized mission plans. My eyes widened slightly at the time. I'd been in the shower for two hours.

I stared blankly at the pages in front of me, unable to see with the water dripping into my eyes, but I wasn't really reading it and it was soothing, so I left it alone.

Duo showed up just a few minutes later, and I sat as if set in stone. I didn't look up, though I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. When I was sure Duo had crawled into bed, I flipped off the light and laid down. I was beyond exhausted and I figured Duo felt the same, especially because he laid down without even removing his shoes.

It was painfully quiet in the room, so it quickly became apparent to me that Duo wasn't breathing normally. His breaths were slightly erratic, and I laid still, listening as it slowly evened out and deepened as he dropped off into sleep. With a bit of a start, I realized that he'd been crying. It was a sound I'd seldom heard, and he'd been wrapped in my arms those few times. To know that he couldn't turn to me crushed me more than I would have thought possible.

It didn't help that I could recall each time and why he'd been crying perfectly.

Every time he'd told me the painful stories from his past, he'd clung to me, crying softly into my shirt so that I wouldn't see. Solo's Death and the Plague. The Maxwell Church. Or at least, what little he could tell me without completely losing it. Now, here we were on L2, and he was facing his demons alone.

It hurt so bad that I was right there, and yet he still felt alone. The promise I made all those years ago was falling through right in front of my eyes, and there was nothing I could do about it.

My guilt was eating me alive, so I got up for a drink. I filled a small Dixie cup with tap water and just leaned against the vanity, staring at the motionless form that was Duo. My eyes drifted to a boot poking out of the blanket, and I realized that I couldn't let Duo sleep that way. I briefly wondered if he had decided to sleep in his clothes because of me, and my guilt flared up another notch. The least I could do was take off his boots.

I crept closer to him, wondering if he'd stir. There was a time where I was the only one who could touch him while he was sleeping without him waking up. I wasn't under any false pretenses though; I knew that was what seemed to be a lifetime ago. Chances were he'd wake and I'd have to tell him what I was doing. Removing his boots was innocent enough, so I wasn't overly worried about it. Unless of course he decided he didn't want me touching him at all. Then I guess it could be a problem.

I frowned to myself and pushed the thoughts away. They weren't helping much anyway.

I gently pushed the blanket aside, trying to watch Duo's face in the dark for any signs of waking. His boots were heavy, and it took quite a bit of struggling to get them off in a gentle manner. Duo stirred once, but he didn't wake. I noticed he still had things in the pockets of his jeans, and I figured it had to be uncomfortable to sleep like that, so I gently probed my fingers into his pockets and fished out his keys, wallet and a few other miscellaneous items. I felt a pang of longing and regret as my fingers brushed the tops of his thighs. He was just as defined as I remembered.

I really didn't want to start down that particular line of thought, so I quickly pulled his socks off, stuffing them in his boots, and pulled the blanket up to tuck around his shoulders. My knuckles grazed his cheek and came away wet. The pain in my chest was almost unbearable as I lifted trembling fingers to his face, gently wiping the still fresh tears from his cheeks. I ruffled his bangs a little, sliding my fingers down his face. Still, he did not wake.

"I'm sorry, Duo." Sorry things went wrong. Sorry I didn't try harder to work it out. Sorry I was so stubborn. Sorry I was never a good listener. Sorry I let this happen. Sorry things ended up this way. Sorry to make you feel alone again.

With a heavy heart, I returned to my bed. I just laid there with my hand flopped on top of my head, staring at the ceiling. In a moment of intimacy, Duo had told me that only I could touch him without waking him because of how much he trusted me. Then he'd jokingly added, 'Or maybe it's because we're soul mates, Heero!' We'd both laughed.

I rolled over, clung to my pillow like it was life support, and commenced not sleeping.

~*~

The first thing I became aware of through my mental fog was the soft sheets tangled around my feet. My bare feet. I was trying to puzzle out when I'd taken my boots off when my hearing came back to me. A steady rhythm of fingers on a keyboard registered somewhere behind me, and I groaned slightly, cracking an eye open to peek at the time. The glaringly red 6:37 illuminated the former contents of my pockets sitting on the nightstand.

So I'd established that I was awake with less than four hours of shut-eye and I'd been pillaged in my sleep, and that the responsible party for both of these was currently making loud clacking noises behind me.

Shit. He'd managed to get near me while I slept. It made me feel more vulnerable than I was comfortable with at the god awful hour of not-quite-seven in the morning. I sat up, swinging my feet out of bed and rubbing grit out of my eyes.

"I see you still get up at the crack of dawn regardless of what time you go to bed. God Heero, don't you have any respect for the passed out?" I tried for slightly teasing as I stood up to stretch. It was a little strange to realize those were the first words I'd said to him in two years. I decided not to dwell on it. After all, we couldn't exactly get through a month long mission without talking. "I'm going to grab a shower," I said, snatching up my towel from the previous night and heading towards the bathroom.

"Hn," was the only response I got before I closed the bathroom door.

I felt quite a bit more alive after my shower. I knew that I needed to go over whatever missions specs Heero had come up with, but my body protested the serious lack of sustenance I'd given it the day before, so food became the first thing on my checklist. I wasn't even picky about what it was I found, as long as I got something in me.

"I'm going to go find some food. You want anything?"

He snorted. "You sound like you're going to go forage for it or something."

"You know me; I will if I have to." He flinched slightly and I had to cringe at my choice of words. Well, he did know me, even if it had been two years.

He recovered quicker than I did. "Well, as long as it's from a store and not the tree in the parking lot, I guess you could get me something."

I snorted. "I'll see what I can do." It was weird, trading banter with Heero again. I'd forgotten just how dry his humor was. I used to love it.

~*~

I let out a long breath once he'd left the room. He'd finally spoke to me, and I was amazed at how easy our friendly exchanges came back to me. It felt... good.

I swiped a hand over my itchy eyes and prayed that whatever Duo found came with coffee. He may have only gotten a few hours of sleep, but that was a glorious amount next to my none. After two hours of fitfully tossing and turning, I decided to get up and type out what I had planned for our mission, as well as just generally collect my thoughts. It's not a well-known fact, but I do keep a journal, well protected behind over a dozen passwords. It wasn't exactly something I'd want anyone to find.

I sighed, going over the mission plans one last time before presenting them to Duo. It was a simple mission as far as our course of action went. However, I could see why Une and Noin had required their top agents. The mission called for precise skills, and even the slightest of mistakes could result in disaster. We'd done more difficult things during the war, and I was confident in our ability to succeed; however, I realized with a sharp clarity that we weren't fifteen anymore, and despite our jobs as Preventors, we weren't quite up to Gundam Pilot standards anymore.

Duo returned about a half hour later and I gratefully took the steaming coffee he handed me before briefing him. "Thanks," I said with a sharp nod, and he nodded back, sipping at his drink.

"Our target is a group called Veale. On the surface, they appear to be a small Human Rights Organization advocating the needs of L2. However, there is significant reason to believe that they are concerned with a lot more than human rights." I pulled a picture of a store room filled with barrels from my stack of papers. "Those barrels are each filled with a different, potentially deadly chemical. In this one room alone, there are enough materials to blow the world up ten times over." Duo raised an eyebrow as I flipped to a picture of the contents. I could tell by his face that he recognized the chemicals. He could have made twenty different kinds of explosives with them. I'd witnessed him make at least ten of those firsthand.

"Une has visual proof of this and she hasn't done anything about it yet?"

"According to Article 37-0134, it is illegal to house missiles, deadly viruses, mobile weaponry, beam sabers exceeding three feet, and laser technology without a license. Giant tubs of chemicals are perfectly acceptable."

"So a fucking technicality allows these bastards to have the ability to make a bomb and blow up whatever they see fit just because the shit isn't currently assembled?" Duo shook his head. "The human right to blow shit up, eh?"

"These chemicals are authorized by law because they are useful for many other things, and when used appropriately, are completely harmless and even potentially beneficial to society." I handed him the report and he leafed through it. "But a room full of chemicals isn't the only thing that has the Preventors interested in Veale's affairs. Take a look at page seven."

Duo skimmed the account data and his eyes widened marginally as he found what I was referring to. "That's a whole lot of Gundanium."

"Also perfectly legal. Unheard of in that amount, but legal."

"And where exactly does a non-profit organization get that much money?"

"The purchases are made with the donation money and put down as tax deductions. They must have some fairly large donations. Some donations are made anonymously, but it probably wouldn't hurt if we could get our hands on a copy of their biggest contributors."

Duo nodded his agreement, taking a bite out of his bear claw. "Do we have any idea what they're building?"

"A ship. They've rented out bay thirty-seven in the L2-7694 sector. They filled out all the appropriate paperwork and have written the labor down as deductible as well. Officially, it's a transport ship to import goods from Earth."

"Unofficially?"

"That's one of the things we have to find out."

"Last time I checked, the trade wasn't a dangerous enough job to require a ship that could survive a nuclear blast. Have we picked up any conversations on the Preventors' satellites?"

"Nothing incriminating. It would appear that they have their own private line that bypasses Earth Sphere Unified Nation protocol."

"But because we can't prove it, we can't do anything about it."

"Exactly. Everything we have on them is circumstantial. Being there hasn't been a crime committed to investigate, we can't even begin to take legal action."

"Is there an inspection team assigned to that ship they're building?"

"Of course, but they're warned a week ahead of time. That's plenty of time to hide anything incriminating."

"Any way we can get a surprise inspection done?"

"Not without probable cause. They've also ordered enough computer equipment to build four Zero Systems and still have spare parts."

Duo's eyebrows shot up in interest. "What are their objectives?"

"We don't know that either."

"Figures. So we're just investigating?"

"For the time being. They have several areas of operation. There's something to check out in almost every major sector of L2, and a few of the minor ones, as well." I pulled up some images on my laptop, and Duo moved a little closer to look at them. I held my breath for a minute, flipping through the pictures before I could speak again. "The larger buildings are probably where we'll find our paperwork, but it's these smaller ones that are likely to hold any physical evidence. Most of the larger ones are public areas."

Duo hummed his understanding, backing off now that I didn't have anything more to show him on the laptop. I felt the loss of his presence more than I saw it. The room got a little colder.

"I suppose we're expected to do this by the books?"

I snorted. "We're always expected to do things by the books."

"But we never do." It was true, when we had been partners, 'by the book' didn't really exist. We never went overboard, but we always found ways to get what we needed.

"No, I guess we don't. Wufei tries to make me though."

Duo chuckled. "That boy's a walking rule book. How is 'Fei, anyway?"

"He's alright. He still has the whole justice complex, but Sally keeps it in check. They're good for each other."

"Yeah they are. I'm sorry I missed their wedding. I'm sure it was nice."

"Yeah, same here." He had averted his eyes at his last statement, but they shot up in surprise at mine. Didn't he know that I hadn't gone? I held his gaze for a moment before I casually asked, "How's Trowa doing?"

He looked away again, easing some of the awkwardness. "He's doing well, but then, with the Mother Hen for a lover, he has no reason not to be." He forced out a chuckle, but it sounded strained and fake. I didn't call him on it. "So... recon today then?"

I recognized the avoidance approach when I saw it, and I went with it. "Yeah, the blueprints for a few of the buildings are over there by the bed. We'll need to record security guard timing and areas of interest. This case has to stay quiet. Une and Noin are stretching ESUN guidelines as it is. We can't do anything drastic until we have some solid proof that they have malicious intent. I pulled out the places that I think we should check first and set them on my briefcase at the end of the bed if you'd like to stake your claim. I'm fine with either."

His eyes scanned the blueprints, no doubt memorizing them and picking out potential places of interest as I had. "I'll take L2-6753." I had a feeling he'd choose that one. Its setup was more suited to his stealth skills than the L2-5438 building. 6753 was narrower and overly ventilated, while 5438 was full of wide open spaces. I didn't mind wide open rooms as long as I knew where all of the exits were. Duo was more into forking hallways and corridors. "We technically don't need to start until tonight, but I'd rather just start now. I could probably find out a few interesting things during the day. I'd like to see just how much traffic goes in and out of there."

I agreed, but I couldn't help but wonder if he just wanted to end this mission as quickly as possible so he could get away from me. "Meet back here at five am?"

"Sure."

I shot him a look. "And Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't infiltrate."

"You're no fun," he mock pouted, and I was hard-pressed not to tell him it was cute.

Instead, I said, "I mean it. We can't take any chances."

"Yes mother." He rolled his eyes. "Wufei must be rubbing off on you."

A scowl was my only response as I got up to get ready for a day of recon.

~*~

I started seriously reading the packet of information Heero had handed me while he hopped in the shower. He had hit on the major points, but there was still plenty of information to be absorbed from the report, and I started making a mental list of the things I'd need before I headed over to the 6753 building. Une had given me a list of places that carried certified Preventors merchandise, but entering a Preventors building on a stealth mission seemed a little stupid, so I called up a list of places I remembered being high in the Black Market Trade, not surprised to realize there was one very close to our current location.

First, I needed a nice, inconspicuous backpack. I figured the poor college student would be the best persona to use; a tried and true method that let me carry around my equipment in an unobtrusive manner. Into it went a digital camera, some climbing rope, a few ration bars, plastic water packs with the air suctioned out to reduce noise, and a couple of detonators. I donned some inconspicuous clothes to wear over my much more infiltration-friendly clothes, secured my lockpicks in the base of my braid, and set out to find my black market.

Doug's Drug Depot wasn't just poorly executed alliteration; it was my one stop shop for all things illegal. I took my time looking around the cluttered store, picking up a bottle and putting it back again before moving on. It didn't take long for the old guy behind the counter to take notice -- his eyes lingered on me for a moment, reading the 'I failed the Turing test' on the front of my shirt with obvious incomprehension before finally deciding to approach me.

"Can I help you find something?" he asked, going for polite and instead just sounding fake.

"Well, I'm looking for something a bit stronger than Motrin," I smiled and shook the bottle for emphasis, "but I can't seem to find anything."

His eyes raked over me again, appraising me before cautiously asking, "How much stronger?"

"Oh, you know, whatever gets the job done," I replied airily. His face twitched at the word job, and I knew I was on the right track. "Seems harder and harder to find something that does the trick, though."

"I see. I might have something here." The man looked around as if he may find just the thing on the shelf next to him before staring at me intently.

"Oh?" I quirked an eyebrow and waited.

"It depends on how much it's worth to you," he purred, and I could tell we were about to talk shop.

"I could be persuaded to part with quite a lot if you have what I'm looking for."

He took one more hard look at me and asked point blank, "You're not a cop?"

"Absolutely not." I suppressed the grin. Strictly speaking, Preventors weren't cops. We were the department above them.

His eyes darted around the store before he made a jerky movement for me to follow, and I did, going through an 'employees only' door and down a hallway that let out into a store room I wouldn't have imagined the building had room for if I hadn't seen the place with my own eyes. It wasn't exactly vast, but the guy was definitely a pack rat. There was shit everywhere: lying on tables, bursting out of filing cabinets, in giant stacks on the floor.

"So," he said with a gleam in his eyes, "what'll it be?"

A little bit of haggling and I was walking out of there with my backpack considerably heavier. Sure, I'd have to report him to Preventors eventually, but I wasn't about to bust such a great resource while I still needed it.

Now that I was ready for just about anything, it was time to scope the place out. The check in time with Heero was 5AM, but I was doing great on time and still had more than twelve hours to get some good surveillance going. If there proved to be a pattern, which there conveniently almost always is, I'd have everything I needed to get to work.

Well, except Heero's approval. But I'd deal with that when I came to it.

~*~

As soon as Duo left, it was like something inside of me relaxed for the first time since I'd opened the hotel room door and saw him standing there in nothing but a towel. All that tension went out of me in a rush, and all that was left was exhaustion. It was still quite early, and if I had any hope of getting anything done today, I needed to sleep. I wasn't sixteen anymore, and this wasn't the war. I could afford a nap.

I lay back and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

~*~

I was in luck. There was a small coffee shop right across from my target, and I ordered some fancy blended thing and found a seat outside facing the building. I pulled out my laptop, careful not to flash the rather incriminating contents of my backpack to passerby, and jacked into the net.

It was still pretty early, but it was late enough that the regular staff were taking their leave, and I pulled up my e-mail as I waited for the line of cars to leave the lot. There was an e-mail from Quatre, and I pointedly ignored it, figuring whatever it ended up being about was probably something I didn't want to hear. It was a lot easier to ignore him if I didn't actually know what he wanted. Instead, I shot off a standard check-in e-mail to Une with only a touch of not quite standard snark and amused myself with a web comic until the traffic coming from my target started to thin.

It wasn't quite dark yet, but it was getting there, and I could just make out the glow of two groups of flashlights moving in opposite directions. Two patrols then. Out of my magical bag of tricks came a pair of what looked like reading glasses, but were actually a decently high powered set of digital binoculars -- a parting gift from Howard, though God only knows how he comes up with shit like this.

Two taps on the left side of the frame brought one of the groups of faceless guards into better view, their flashlights bobbing carelessly as they walked. They were clearly not all that experienced, and were we still in the war, I would have considered just taking them out of the picture entirely to make my job easier. But alas, working for the Preventors has its downfalls.

They were talking, and though I obviously couldn't hear them from across the street, reading lips is a skill I definitely have. They talked about mundane things -- whose girlfriend was pregnant, someone's cat that died, a car that always seems to break down; normal stuff you talk about at work. Then they rounded a corner and I went back to my web comic, moving like I was adjusting my glasses and tapping the right side of the frame twice to go back to a normal view.

~*~

The first thing I became aware of after waking was that the sunlight filtering through the blinds was almost non-existent. I rolled my head to the side with a groan, looking at the clock to confirm what I already knew. I'd slept most of the day away. Though it was more of a total blackout; I don't think I'd moved once, and my body was protesting heavily. It concerned me. Even though I still had plenty of time to complete my objectives before I was supposed to meet back with Duo, it wasn't normal for me to sleep so deeply during the day. It wasn't even normal for me to sleep so deeply during the night.

It was something left over from the war -- back then, you didn't have the luxury of deep sleep; you had to be ready at a moment's notice. I don't use an alarm clock. I just keep in mind when I want to get up and I just wake up at that time. Duo used to call me his atomic clock. The fact that I had slept so long said something about my emotional state over the last day and a half.

I hoped the whole mission wasn't going to be like this.

I wiped the grit from my eyes and rolled out of bed. I was hungry, but it wasn't a pressing issue, so I took the time to shower and brush my teeth before getting dressed, tucking my gun into the waistband of my jeans. I had a holster, but it just never seemed as convenient or as comfortable. Some habits die hard, and though I was a long way from the person I was in the war, my chosen profession made some habits hard to break.

I pocketed my fake ID and set off to get a quick bite before getting down to business.

~*~

Two blended drinks and a pastry down and I was ready to bust down the door to my target from sheer boredom. The guards were making another round, and I was watching diligently, even if I kind of just wanted to go to sleep right there on the sidewalk. The blond guard was telling his dark haired companion that he was going to propose to his girlfriend, but he was worried about her parents' reaction when they found out he'd be looking for work soon.

Wait, why would he be looking for work soon?

I sat up a little in my seat, clicking at random on my laptop to preserve the ruse of a man lost in his little virtual world, and paid a little more attention to the conversation happening across the street.

"Yeah," the blonde was saying, "this job has been great, but since the trucks will be here tomorrow to move everything out, I guess I'd better start working on my resume."

"I know what you mean. I knew it was temporary when I took the job, but it's easy money. It's going to suck to go back to doing some menial job."

"From what I can tell, all this place has in it is paper. I wonder why they move it around so much?"

"Man, I don't get paid to ask questions. Though soon, I guess I won't be getting paid at all."

The conversation kept going, but they were rounding the corner and I couldn't see their mouths anymore.

It was a smart move on Veale's part. It was easy enough for anyone to track down their locations, much like Heero and I had, so moving from place to place was one way to cut back on anyone snooping around. Unfortunately for them, they were a day late.

Even more unfortunately for me, I'd have to break my promise to Heero. Well, promise might be a little too strong. I had as good as given him my word though, and it kind of rubbed me the wrong way to be breaking it so soon after finally managing something like camaraderie with him.

Oh well. I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

I walked down the street a bit, wishing I could get word to Heero but knowing it was an unnecessary risk to do so, and found a small burger joint that was still within digitally enhanced eyesight of the building I was watching. Coffee and pastries had helped kill the time, but it had done little for my hunger, and the last thing I needed was a growling stomach at an inopportune moment.

I'd been keeping count of how often the place was paroled and how long it took, but with their obvious inexperience came a bit of a random element, and the timing varied. Great, amateurs were standing between me and any juicy info I might find. Getting caught would be bad on so many levels. I'm sure Une didn't want me killing anyone this soon into the mission, and if they saw me, even if I knocked them out, I'd be putting Veale on alert practically before the mission had even begun.

No, this had to be a smooth job. In and out, no taking chances.

I polished off my double burger and my Dr. Pepper and tossed the trash, making sure to use the restroom before disappearing into the cover of darkness and walking aimlessly for a couple of blocks. I shed my outer layer of clothing and doubled back, taking the time to head over a block so that I was coming up to the backside of the target.

Man, target sounds so boring. I'm not too keen on 'the L2-6753 building', either. God, what a mouthful. Let's call the place 'Orange'. After all, all the walls were an almost sickly orange color. Maybe all their buildings were like that, but for now, let's just assume they're not. It's not exactly a flattering color. I can't see anyone mass ordering it for all of their buildings. Then again, someone had painted it that color in the first place...

I digress.

So I came up behind Orange from across the street. I had anywhere from twenty to thirty-five minutes until the guards paroled the grounds again, so with a quick glance around, I slinked across the street to push myself up against the building. Not that it would do me much good if someone was looking; the building was freaking orange, after all. Luckily, I'd memorized the floor plans Heero had provided, and it wasn't far to the back entrance usually used for storage. Listening with all my might, I heard nothing on the other side of the door, and I made quick work of it with my lockpicks.

I slipped inside on silent feet and took a look around after locating the air vent I knew was there. There were boxes upon boxes of what must have been records, but it would take me all night to sift through them, so I left that as my last choice option. My first being to find a computer to hack into. Hopefully they hadn't wiped their files yet.

I crept to the wall with the vent, removing the screws and carefully lowering the grate so that I could climb in. Only there was nowhere to climb into.

Well, fuck. Someone apparently didn't want to pay to heat the overly large storage room and had actually gone so far as to weld the duct shut with a scrap of metal. No way in hell was I getting in there from here.

I considered my options. I wasn't about to give up quite yet, but I'd have to be a whole lot more careful about moving around in open corridors than I would have needed to be in the vents if I was going to go undetected. There were two doors exiting the storage room. Judging by the blueprints, one led to another large room, maybe a secondary storage, and one led into a hallway. If they'd welded up the vent in here, it was a safe bet they did the same in the next room, so the hallway was my only chance.

Damn. Orange was turning out to be a bitch.

I peered down the dark corridors before making my way down them, checking rooms as I passed. So far, the place had been picked pretty clean. There were leftover desks and chairs, but no electronics of any kind. I cursed under my breath, not really looking forward to trying to glean some information from the sea of boxes, but knowing it would be my only choice if I couldn't find anything else.

It wasn't long until my guard buddies got it together enough to actually do their jobs, and I ducked behind a filing cabinet and held my breath as their footsteps and bobbing flashlights filled the corridor. Light flooded the room I was hiding in, but like I'd been counting on, no one bothered to actually enter it, and I was passed over, undetected.

I waited a full fifty count before poking my head out to make sure they were truly gone, and when I saw that they were, I began moving again, mindful that there were two teams patrolling Orange, and that the second team was bound to be as unorganized and unpredictable as the first.

I navigated through Orange on memory alone, having to quickly duck out of sight once more to avoid the guards who were too lazy to actually look for me, and after a good hour of searching, I came upon something that just might be worth my while. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be so simple.

I peered around a corner and immediately had to pull back and hope I wasn't seen. Luck was with me as far as detection went though and the guy had been examining his pulse rifle when I'd checked. He couldn't have been one of the inexperienced morons, since he was standing still enough to not be making any noise like rustling fabric as he shifted around. From my split second glance, I determined that he had close cropped red hair, would tower over me at about 6'4, and his hands on his gun we steady. Ex-soldier, maybe Oz or Alliance, if I were any judge. This man wasn't there to patrol, he was there to guard the other thing I'd managed to see -- the only door with an electronic keylock that I'd seen since I'd infiltrated Orange.

One doesn't post a guard at a door that already has an electronic keylock if one is not keeping something very important.

I grinned. This could be my pay dirt. It was a little disconcerting that I couldn't just shoot the guard, or maybe throw a knife to keep things quiet, but there had to be another way into that room. Time to see if they'd left the vents in the main building open.

I backtracked, finding the ducts in each room and coming up empty. Most of the vents in the rooms were too small for me to fit into, even being small. Chances were, even if I managed to get to my room of choice, I'd have to cut into the wall just to get in, which wasn't optimal in the least. Still, it was worth a try, if I could find a damn vent I could fit through.

I ended up all the way back where I started, cursing whoever designed Orange to high hell and back. I padded over into the second storage room that I had passed up all together the first time around, and hoped my brief moment of luck earlier would make a reappearance. There were three vents going out of the second, slightly smaller room, which was completely inefficient, and as I removed the grates one by one, I wondered if the guy who had designed Orange was drunk. The floor plan didn't make any damn sense. The place was a freaking maze of forking hallways and awkward room sizing.

The first two got me nowhere fast, but I had to climb up some pipes and squeeze between some rafters to get to the third, and thank God for laziness, because no one had bothered to get themselves up there to seal it. Out came the thin black gloves, not only because it was damn cold in there, but also because they had nice grip on the fingers. I pulled out my rope and clipped it to my belt, then got my ass in gear, starting the slow, wretched crawl through the unintelligible maze that was the air ducts.

Moving silently though the thin metal tube took a lot longer than going by foot, but I didn't have to check a bunch of rooms this time, so I found my point of interest in about the same amount of time it had taken to walk there. Still, I'd burned more than a couple of hours since I entered Orange, and I didn't fancy staying all that much longer if I could help it.

Low and behold, luck was with me once again, and since the room was large, the duct let out into a large grate that I could easily fit through, once I removed the screws, which is easier said than done, since I had to remove them backwards. There was no way my hand would fit through the grate, but a small magnet would, so I went about the painstaking job of backing out the screws until they were far enough that I could use my pen magnet to twist them the rest of the way out and catch them so there was no clattering of screws for flat top outside to hear.

Of course, the grate couldn't have a simple four screw design. No, there were twelve in all, and I spent what I felt was way too much time working the damn things out. It took so long, in fact, that I almost forgot to catch the damn thing before it fell.

There was no way I was getting the grate inside the duct with me, so, latching my rope onto one of the now vacant screw holes, down I went with the grate in my hand, setting it aside as I lightly touched down. I was mildly surprised the metal held me so well. I'm not heavy by a long shot, but I definitely wasn't quite the lightweight I was during the war. Being able to eat everyday will do that to you, I guess.

The room didn't have any windows, either to the outside or to the hallways with the guard, so I took a chance and flipped on my LED flashlight. The dim light felt abnormally bright after so much darkness, and it took a second for my eyes to adjust.

When they did, I grinned. In the middle of the spacious room was a single computer. The rest of the overly large room was mysteriously empty, and I wondered if stuff had been moved out already or if it had always been that way. I settled myself in the chair and hit the power button. The computer beeped quietly at me, and I listened for Mr. Flat Top outside, but it didn't sound like he was going to be barging in to investigate.

When the thing started up, I couldn't believe my luck. Apparently, they assumed a guard and a keylock were enough to protect the room from entry, because there wasn't even a start-up password. Now to see if there was anything on the damn thing. I sure as hell hoped I didn't just waste the last few hours of my life.

There were very few files on the computer, and I went through them systematically, gleaning all that I could from each before moving on. There was some nonsense about Human Rights and the good of the people, and a few names of donors that I committed to memory; nothing important enough to download to my flash drive. I clicked through the folders methodically before I finally came to a file simply labeled 'Manufacturing Plans'. When I tried to open it, an encryption password box popped up.

Jackpot.

I would have looked for something personal in the room to help me discern possible passwords, but the desk was completely bare. The thing didn't even have drawers. I pulled out my flash drive and transferred the file over just in case I couldn't crack it here. Heero was bound to have something that would work on it. Then I opened up the source code for the encryption and got to work.

A ridiculous amount of time later, I finally found the right line of code and I would have crowed in delight if I weren't trying to be silent. As it was, I was grinning maniacally as I keyed in the right order of text to pop open the file.

That was, until the loud siren began blaring from the computer. Somehow I'd missed a secondary encryption while I was busy working on bypassing the password.

So much for stealth.

I didn't have much time, so I just left my backpack and the computer and let it wail, knowing it would cover any noise I might be making. Dimly, I was aware of the sound of buttons being pressed on the keypad outside. I knew I wouldn't be able to get back in my vent fast enough, and it would be obvious where I was even if I did -- I'd be a sitting duck in there. So instead, I ran toward the wall next to the door and thanked Lady Luck that I'd recently been through a vigorous Preventor field examination, because I was just barely able to use my momentum to kick off the wall to grab onto the rafters above.

I had my knife out of the sheath on my arm before Mr. Flat Top had the door open. He was looking around, trying to find the culprit who had set off the alarm, when his eyes settled on the grate lying propped against the wall. It was the opening I'd been waiting for, and I let go for the rafters to fall directly on top of him.

He barely had time to register my presence before he bled out at the neck.

The damn computer was still blaring its obnoxious wailing sound, and I took the few extra seconds to pull the plug and shut the damn thing up. Then I was hastily cleaning as much blood off of myself as I could, wiping some out the exit door to make it look like I'd ran out of the room. I donned my backpack again and scurried up the rope with the grate, twisting awkwardly to go in face down and feet first. I groped blindly for my stash of earth magnets, using them to replace the grate. It was the best I could do in such short time, and I could only hope that it would pass a cursory inspection. I knew it wouldn't pass any close scrutiny, but I was hoping my little misdirection would keep it from coming to that.

I made quick work back to where I'd entered, but Lady Luck was done with me. The room was crawling with guards. The guards didn't have to shimmy through an air duct, so they'd managed to cover their ground a lot faster. If they were looking for me on the ground, it meant they probably hadn't figured out where I was, which was good. But it also meant that I wasn't getting out any time soon.

Shit. Heero was going to be pissed.

~*~

The work was relatively routine at first. I spoke with a few contacts, staked out my target, and generally just got information. It wasn't until I found out the building would be emptied and moved to an undisclosed location the following day that things strayed from my carefully made plans.

At the moment, our only leads led to these buildings. It was logical to think that if they were changing locations here, they would be doing so at other locations as well. There was no way of telling when; for all I knew, it could be a mass move. Maybe they were on to us, or maybe they were just playing is safe. In any case, my plans went from recon to infiltrate without hesitation. My only stray thought was the hope that Duo hadn't done the same.

The place wasn't heavily guarded, so it was a simple matter of bypassing the inept guards and sticking to the shadows. I broke in through the side door, keeping low and ducking behind boxes. The room was empty, and I looked through the boxes only to find a sea of paper. I made a mental note to come back to it and did a methodical sweep of the building, avoiding the guards.

There were no computers in the entire building, apparently having been moved first, so I returned to the room filled with boxes and set about opening them one at a time, dragging them behind one of the larger stacks to stay out of sight. There was a lot of information to sift through; the boxes contained everything from toilet paper receipts to more substantial records, like major donors that had made their transactions via this branch of Veale.

It was two long hours before I came across something I thought I might use. There was a box full of preliminary sketches. Some were of building floor plans, but others were of ships and from what I could tell, weapons. I slipped the relevant pages into my jacket pocket and high-tailed it out of there, heading back to the hotel to wait for Duo. I still had a couple of hours to spare.

It didn't take me long to get all that I could from the sketches, so I took the time to look into the names of the donors I'd seen listed. It still killed a ridiculously small amount of time, and I was left with nothing to do but wait.

Wait and brood.

It was the first time since I opened the door and saw Duo that I really had the time to think about it. Obviously, our respective bosses knew exactly what they were doing, and had chosen not to let us in on their little secret, probably because they knew we'd refuse the mission. I couldn't deny that we were likely the best operatives for the job, but at the same time, it was a huge risk and against policy for us to work together. There had to be another factor to it, and I was pretty sure I knew what that was.

Sweet, meddling Quatre.

At this point, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to hug him or kick his ass. He's the nicest guy I've ever met, but he takes it upon himself to make sure the rest of the world is as happy as he is. I wanted to see Duo, had wanted to so very badly for such a long time. But it was difficult being thrown together like this. I still loved him, which was painfully more obvious now that we were here together, but there was really nothing I could do about it. As Duo would say, we'd played our hand and lost. I didn't know if I had the strength to pick up the card again.

Damn Quatre and his Space Heart.

I looked at the clock and frowned. It was four fifty. Duo certainly was cutting it close. Without even realizing what I was doing, I got up and started to pace.

Thinking about Quatre inevitably turned to thinking about last year. That e-mail had scared me more than I cared to admit. But more than that, it had been almost unbearable to know that Duo was in critical condition and I wasn't there. Couldn't be there, even if I'd wanted to. And I did, the moment I read the words 'Duo is in the hospital', I had wanted nothing more than to be at his side.

I was painfully aware that Duo had probably been shot because of me. He'd been distracted by the date, the anniversary of the day he walked out of my life, every bit as much as I had been. But I had been safe behind a desk. Duo hadn't been so lucky. In that moment, I knew that if he had died, I would never be able to forgive myself.

But he didn't die. I now had proof of that with my own eyes. I watched the clock flip past five o'clock and didn't feel reassured.

I was overreacting. Duo was fine. He was just late, that's all. It's not like it was the first time he'd ever been late. Still, we were too close to the date for anything to really put me at ease.

I sat down before I wore a hole in the floor and tried to focus on the mission. I went through my notes. I looked at the sketches again. I tried to come up with a course of action to take next. But as the clock flipped on through the five o'clock hour and moved well into six, it became impossible to concentrate.

"Duo, what are you doing?" I growled to no one. It didn't make me feel better.

I wanted to go after him. Protocol be damned, I wanted to grab my jacket and rush out the door, bust my way into the building he'd been assigned and find him. I wanted to drag him back to the hotel, yell at him for a good fifteen minutes straight, and then kiss the living daylights out of him.

But I couldn't. If Duo hadn't been detected, I'd just be putting both of us in jeopardy. I had to be patient. I had to trust in his skills. But what if he'd been captured? I felt so powerless.

I sunk to the floor with my hands in my hair and prayed to a God I didn't believe in that he'd come back safe.

~*~

There was no way I was getting out of there in time to meet up with Heero. In fact, I wouldn't be going anywhere until they were done for the day, since I was pretty sure it was past dawn already.

I was scrunched up next to one of the sealed vents, biding my time. I'd hoped there would be an opening before the morning, but it seemed the guards suddenly weren't taking any chances. No, I was stuck, and I spent my time cursing Orange to high hell and back and sipping sparingly at my water pouch. There wasn't exactly a bathroom in the vent, and by mid-morning, I wasn't too happy about that fact, but it wasn't bad enough yet that I felt like I might pee my pants.

So I waited. It was cramped and uncomfortable, and I was sure I'd have a few good sized knots in my back by the time it was all over, but there was nothing else I could do. I couldn't sleep -- any rolling around I might do would be a dead giveaway to my position.

I tried listening to see if I could catch anything important, but it seemed the movers were just that. They didn't appear to work for Veale at all. Sloppy, but maybe useful if I could discern what company the movers worked for.

The day passed in excruciating slowness. I was left alone with my thoughts, and they certainly weren't pleasant, considering I'd be facing my execution once I managed to get out of here. There was no doubt in my mind that Heero was positively furious with me. He'd told me not to infiltrate. I did. He told me to meet back at five o'clock. I'd probably be more than twelve hours late. We weren't even really on good terms as it was. We had developed some sort of tolerance to each other's presence, but I wouldn't exactly say things were peachy. This was sure to be one hell of a setback.

Heero. I'd been resolutely not thinking about him since I saw him come through the hotel room door. Hell, I'd been trying to not think of him for two years. I may not have always succeeded, but it's the thought that counts, right? Or in this case, maybe it's the absence of thought that counts? Whatever, you know what I mean.

Heero has aged well. Okay so, maybe we were only estimated to be about nineteen -- not that either of us know when exactly we'd been born -- but nineteen is a hell of a lot different than the fifteen year old punk kids we were in the war, and he's grown quite a bit. Seeing him again is like a punch in the face. I'd walked away from this gorgeous man, who had only become more stunning in my absence. He was still lean, but his broad shoulders were no longer the bony things they were two years ago. A little bit of weight had gone a long way on his frame. His pointier facial features had softened some, and I wondered if it felt different, too.

Then I wondered if there was someone else who knew the answer to my question, and it made me feel sick to my stomach. Not that I had any right; I had been the one to leave him. I'm positive that if I had just come back that night, he would have accepted me back, no questions asked. I almost went back. He doesn't know, but I almost went to patch things up the next day. But so much time had passed, and he'd already put in to be relocated. I was too late.

But even if I had gone back, it wouldn't have solved our problems. We'd proven that too many times. There just would have been another fight, and I would have left again. We'd still find ourselves in the same place.

I loved him. I still love him. But it's kind of a moot point now.

I sighed. Being stuck waiting was just dragging out emotions I didn't want to deal with. Suck it up, Maxwell. This isn't the time, and it sure as hell isn't the place.

My bladder was about to burst, so I took a chance and crawled to the sealed vent in the next room feet first, and just freaking let it go, aiming between my legs so I didn't damn well pee on myself. There wasn't enough room to sit up, so it was the best I could do. Once I was satisfied that the pee wasn't leaking out of the sealed edge anywhere, I made the trek back to the other room, this time settling by my exit. From what I could hear, the movers were about done, and I poked my head out to find no one in the room I was in. I wasn't ready to exit just yet, but it wouldn't be long now. Once everything was gone, there wasn't much left to patrol.

I must have checked my watch a hundred times before I decided it was probably safe to leave. Even then, I stayed in the rafters for a good twenty minutes more before I was satisfied that the room was clear.

Down I went, and I can't tell you how good it felt to be upright again. I took a few seconds for a much needed stretch before making my way out of Orange. He was a damned shitty houseguest.

It was already dark outside, and I hightailed it back to the hotel, not even stopping to eat. I was panting when I got to the door and just stared at it for what felt like an eternity before mustering up the courage to open the damn thing.

I fumbled with the keycard and when the door finally beeped its acceptance, I pushed it open and waited for the explosion.

~*~

I knew he was there before he opened the door. I knew before he'd reached for his key. I'd seen him running towards the door through the thin slat of the blinds. He was just standing there, staring at the door like it might attack him if he touched it. I wanted to go to him, but that look on his face stopped me. I was the thing he was afraid would lash out at him.

It made me feel cold in a way that had nothing to do with L2's faulty weather system.

I was sitting on 'my' bed, staring at the door when it swung open. I wanted to reach for him, and my hand twitched and came away from the mattress before I aborted the movement and just settled on a gravelly, "Duo."

He winced at the sound of my voice, but decided it was safe to enter and walked in, shutting the door behind him and sitting facing slightly away from me in the desk chair. "I'm sorry," he all but whispered.

"Where the hell were you?" It came out more forcefully than I'd intended, and Duo slumped forward, hunching in on himself.

"Hiding out in an air duct." It wasn't exactly surprising news, but it filled me with questions that I wanted answers to all at once.

"You were detected." It wasn't exactly a question, but that's what ended up coming out of my mouth, and I regretted it instantly.

Duo snorted, but there wasn't any real mirth to it. "It wasn't exactly plan A."

"Then what the fuck was it?" Damn. I needed to get a hold on my emotions, but I was just too tired and I had been waiting too long without even knowing if he was okay.

"Oh, I don't know, Heero," he started, some of the bite I remembered from our past surfacing in his voice, "I thought maybe I'd go with something a little more exciting. Being covered in blood while curled up in an air duct seemed like a good way to go."

I looked at him, really looked at him then, and I could see the blood smeared across his face and hands. Before I knew what I was doing, I was standing in front of him, reaching for his face to get a better look. "What happened, Duo?" I said, much softer this time.

When my hand touched his face, he recoiled as if burned. He tried to cover the reaction with a muttered, "'S'not my blood," but the sting of his reaction didn't lessen.

Was he repulsed by me? The very thought of my touching him was too much to bear?

I took an unconscious step back. My whole body was screaming at me, and for a moment, I thought I might just pull one of Duo's disappearing acts, but in the end, I just stood there staring at him. I couldn't speak. I don't think I'd have liked what I would have said if I could.

Something in Duo's face changed then, but I couldn't place the look. His tone, however, just about undid me. "Look Heero..."

And that's as far as he got before something inside me just... snapped. "I don't want to hear it. Your excuses, your reasons, your god damned patronizing platitudes! I was done with them two years ago! I sure as fuck don't want to hear them now! You don't want me touching you? Fine. I won't fucking touch you. Just do me a favor and don't fucking beat around the bush next time."

His eyes were wide, and his jaw was working, but I wasn't having any of it. I was spiraling out of control and I didn't even have the strength to stop myself. "Heero, I never said..."

"SHUT UP!" I shouted, and it surprised us both. We stood there in stunned silence for a minute before Duo got his wits about him, and Duo's dejection turned to something darker. Something decidedly angrier.

"Who do you think you are?" It was quiet, and his voice held an edge I hadn't heard in a long time. "Who the fuck do you think you are? You're not my boss, you're not my lover, you're not my fucking friend, Heero. You're nobody. Nobody. Don't for a minute think you can tell me what to do."

He might as well have kicked me in the stomach. I stumbled backwards all the same, cowering under the cold gaze of Duo. No, not Duo. Shinigami. The man looking out at me was the God of Death himself, and he had no tolerance for the likes of me.

I could barely breathe. Replying wasn't even a possibility. So I just stood there, waiting for more of that dark fury. I didn't have to wait long.

"I will do what I want when I want. I don't have to explain myself to you. There isn't any reason to." He moved towards me like a large cat stalking its prey. "And as for touching me," he all but purred, "if that's the way you feel about me, maybe it's better if you don't." He was leaning well inside my personal space. I could feel his body heat radiating off of his skin. "You don't want to touch me anyway, do you, Heero?"

"Wh-What?"

He was touching me, just barely, with the skin of his arms and the flat of his chest. His face wasn't even an inch from mine. "Do you want to touch me, Heero?"

I did. God, I did. But not like this. Never like this. "I..."

"Yes?"

"I..."

"What is it, Heero?"

I could smell him, the coppery tang of someone else's blood, the light salt of sweat mixed with dirt, all mingling with the deep scent that is Duo. I could feel my body reacting to feelings long since left for dead; I could feel the heat spread across my skin and my stomach clench.

"No," I said, with all the firmness I could muster.

Duo started to turn away, a grim look on his face. "I thought so."

I didn't let him get far, though. My hand snaked out and grabbed his arm, spinning him back around and pulling him in close, closer than we had been in two years. I didn't think, I just acted. My free hand slid into the base of his braid and I crushed our mouths together, taking advantage of his momentary shock to slip my tongue past his lips and explore his mouth thoroughly. I thought he might fight me, or show some sign of disapproval, and then I would have to stop, but to my own surprise, his hands were just as suddenly everywhere and he was kissing me back in a way he hadn't since we'd first confessed our feelings for each other.

He ran his tongue over my teeth and bit at my bottom lip, making me groan involuntarily. I ran my fingers down his side and he shivered, pulling hastily at my shirt in an attempt to get me out of it. Almost, I let him. Almost.

I untangled myself from him, shaking my head softly. This was wrong. "I don't just want to touch you, Duo." My voice was low and husky, matching my unmistakable arousal. But this was about more than lust. This was about... something else. "I want much, much more than that."

And then I fled, leaving Duo staring after me with his poleaxed expression.

~*~

He'd pulled my run and hide tactic. For a good long while, that's all I would let myself focus on. Not my still wet lips, not the ache in my chest, not even the tingling of my skin that was like lines of fire lingering where he'd touched me. I was panting. I was probably in a little bit of shock. But overall, I was scared.

I didn't think I'd ever let him make me feel this way again.

And he had managed it so easily. One minute, I'd been full of righteous anger, and the next... I was lost in him. As lost as I'd ever been. Maybe even more so now, after all this time.

I couldn't let this happen. I wouldn't. It had been so hard the first time around. I didn't think I could handle it again. I didn't think I could sit and watch us fall apart all over again and keep my sanity. I was barely sane as it was.

I'd only thought it was cold before. With parts of my skin rapidly cooling from Heero's heated fingers, I could feel goosebumps cropping up in their wake, making the hair on my arms stand on end. Heero's jacket was hanging on the chair I had vacated, and I pulled it on. It was deliciously warm, and smelled as good as it felt. I almost took it right back off, but it was warm and I was not, so instead, I let my knees sag and just sat down right there on the floor, wrapping my arms around myself.

Finally, my mind cycled around to the highlight of the evening. Heero kissed me. No, he did more than kiss me. A kiss is just the meeting of lips; this was more of a ravishing. He hadn't so much as groped me, and yet I felt like he'd stripped me bare using only his lips and tongue and teeth.

I could see exactly how things would have progressed; could feel the ghosting of Heero's lips down my neck, his teeth scraping lightly across my skin, could imagine his fingers dipping below my waistband to tease along the crack on my ass. Our love-making had always been so sensual, and just imagining it was making my half erect cock spring fully to life, straining against the fabric holding it in place.

What could I do? I stumbled into the bathroom, one hand pressed against the wall and the other freeing my cock to stroke myself rapidly. I shouldn't have been doing this, but feeling his hands on me again after so long was just too much to bear. I ached for him in ways I thought I'd buried good and deep. And let's face it, I'd been celibate since I'd walked out on him. His hands were still the only hands that had ever touched me. In that moment, I perversely hoped the same held true for him.

In my mind, it was his hand on me, and I closed my eyes, my hand slowing to tease myself the way he used to. I could smell him on the jacket hanging from my thin frame, and it only served to reinforce my fantasy. The ghost of his mouth nipped at my navel before dipping lower to swirl his tongue over the head of my cock and I came violently into the toilet.

It was a strangely empty feeling, alone in the bathroom, gripping my flaccid, dripping cock. I wanted Heero so bad, I could have screamed.

Then I realized I was supposed to be avoiding thoughts of Heero and I really did scream. It came out as more of an anguished moan, and I was damn glad no one was around to hear me in my sorry state. It took me a long time to convince my body to move. When I finally dragged myself away from the bathroom, I took the time to wash away the dried blood. I should have taken a shower, but all my exhaustion caught up with me at once and I just didn't have the strength.

I padded my way over to the window, looking out over the cracked parking lot. Part of me was hoping to see Heero, but I knew he wouldn't be there. Everything was just too raw to deal with right now. I felt shaky from lack of food and sleep both, and I suddenly wasn't all that sure my legs would hold me much longer. All my adrenaline had bled out of me, and I was left with emotional exhaustion coupled with actual exhaustion.

Heero's bed was closest to me, and I fell into it, not bothering to get under the covers, but instead trying to curl them around me like I was some strange burrito. Everything smelled like Heero, and I was tired enough that through all the pain, it was a comforting thing.

I was asleep in minutes.

~*~

I didn't go anywhere specific. I just needed to get some distance. It would be all too easy to tumble into bed with Duo, but I knew that if we did, without talking, without thinking things through, we'd both end up regretting it. I didn't want that for either of us.

So I wandered around. I tried not to brood on what happened; what's done is done. So instead, I ended up going shopping.

Duo had must have been hungry, and since we were going to be staying in that hotel for quite some time, it would probably be best if we had at least a few essentials. I stocked up on easy to keep foods like protein bars and assorted nuts, and I grabbed a case of soda for Duo and a case of tea for me. We didn't have a fridge or access to a kitchen, so it would have to do.

Once that was done, I'd ended up just sitting on a corner somewhere with my bags and my drinks and just waiting. I wasn't really ready to go back yet, but I wasn't about to wander around L2 with groceries for hours, either.

So I just sat there, thinking about how right it had felt to kiss Duo again, even if the circumstances were all wrong. It was just the way I remembered it being; better even, since it had been so long.

I don't know what I had been thinking, kissing Duo like that. I didn't think he wanted it, not until it happened. He'd merely been taunting me until I'd responded in a way he hadn't expected. There was no doubt he'd been as swept up in it as I had -- he'd tried to strip me where I stood. But I wanted more. I'd even gone and said as much.

I just wasn't sure if things could ever happen the way I want. So much damage had been done, too much time had passed. But I still wanted it, still wanted him, as much as I ever did. That had never gone away.

Being here with him, was it a blessing, or a curse? I just didn't know.

I sighed, picking myself up off the sidewalk and heading back to the hotel. I wasn't sure what I would find there. Would Duo be angry? Upset? Would he be there at all? I was suddenly afraid that I'd come back to an empty room, and I kicked into double time.

Of all the things I'd thought I might find, Duo sleeping in my bed definitely wasn't one of them.

The blanket was doing a poor job of covering him with him laying on it, so I went to the other bed and stripped the blanket from it, and draping it over Duo. He was still in his work clothes, wrinkled and dirty, which said a lot about his state of mind. He hadn't even showered. He was wearing a Preventors jacket, and it took me a minute to realize it was mine.

He was in my bed wearing my jacket. I didn't want to even try to guess what that meant -- I'm not into setting myself up for disappointment.

I wanted to climb into bed with him and gather him up in my arms, but I settled for kissing him on the forehead before going to lay on his bed, since Duo was in mine. I laid there watching him for a long time, but eventually, I managed to drift off to sleep, curled up in a miserable ball of cold with nothing but a thin sheet for warmth.

~*~

Uncomfortable warmth brought me back to the land of the living. I cracked open a bleary eye to glance at the clock, and instead saw Heero shivering in his sleep on my bed, covered in nothing but his clothes and a sheet. That's when I noticed I was covered with the blanket from my bed. And I was wearing his jacket. And sleeping on his bed.

Guilt welled up in me, and I forced myself to get up, despite my body's protests, and I dragged the blanket across the room and draped it over Heero. He settled almost instantly, his hands clutching at the blanket in his sleep. His face was etched with exhaustion, even in sleep. I reached to tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear, and his face turned towards my fingers instinctively. I let the backs of my knuckles trail over his face which elicited a mmm sound from him. I reluctantly pulled my fingers back before I was tempted to do more.

Then I noticed the food and drinks, and the guilt kicked up a notch. Heero hadn't even touched any of it, and I found myself questioning when exactly he'd ate last. I fished out a couple of protein bars -- he'd remembered that Vanilla Crunch is my favorite -- and I popped open a Mountain Dew, taking a seat in the only chair in the room. After a few minutes of chewing and staring at Heero, I figured I should probably find something useful to do, but all the things I could think to do either required Heero or me leaving the hotel. I didn't really want Heero to wake up to an empty room.

God knows what he would think after last night.

I felt itchy, and I realized I had been so lost in my own little world that I still hadn't showered. I looked at Heero one more time and made my way to the shower.

It felt sinfully good to wash the sweat and dirt off of me. I unbound my hair and washed it twice, working at bloodied knots with extra care. I let the conditioner soak for a good five minutes, just standing under the warm spray with my eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of clean water. Then it was time to rinse and get out.

Thankfully, I'd remembered to bring my clothes in the bathroom with me, and I put them on, leaving my hair down so I could brush it. It would be a nightmare trying to braid it in the state it was in. There were little knots at the nape from where Heero had buried his hands, and the dirt and blood had done their fair share of damage, as well.

I grabbed my brush and walked over to the window, staring out and watching the unsavory L2 come to life. It was barely dawn, but there were already people everywhere, like swarms of killer bees looking for their next victim. Unfair? Perhaps, but I'd grown up on this damn colony, and I knew what the people were like. They were cold and ruthless. They were the kind of people who'd steal from a homeless orphan. From children like Solo and me.

I didn't realize I was ripping my hair with the brush until a quiet voice said, "Here, let me."

I let him take the brush, but I didn't turn to look at him. I felt off-center. He'd snuck up on me without me even noticing, and that sort of thing puts an ex-terrorist ill at ease. So I just stood there and let him gently brush out the knots in my hair until it was ready to be braided. It may have been years, but his fingers were as deft as ever, and he handed me the tuft of hair at the end of the flawless braid when he was done.

I took it, and he lingered for a moment, but I felt him back off and finally turned to see him booting up his laptop, not looking at me. I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing, instead tying off my hair and reaching for my backpack to pull out my flash drive. I handed it to Heero and he raised an eyebrow in question.

"I boosted it from the computer before I was detected."

His face did a funny little twitch, but he said nothing, just plugging it into his computer and copying the file before handing it back. "Be careful, it has some kind of double encryption. I bypassed the password only to have the thing proclaim my existence to the entire world via air horn sounds."

"Must be one of those new detector encryptions. Any attempt to hack it will have dire results. It probably will fry the hard drive, too, once it announces that its been accessed."

"Bazinga, huh?"

"...What?"

"'Once again, you've fallen for one of my classic pranks,'" I quoted.

"Right."

"It's from The Big Bang Theory. 21st century sitcom about a bunch of super genius geeks trying to navigate life."

"And?"

He never gets my references. It's really quite the tragedy. "...Nevermind. Can you crack it?"

"Of course," he asserted haughtily. If there's one thing Heero has always been confident about, it's his ability to hack into anything.

I stood back and watched as his fingers flew over the keys, accessing code I'd never even thought to check for. In a surprisingly short amount of time, he had the damn thing open and was perusing the contents.

I leaned in to get a better look when he started to frown, and it wasn't long before my face mirrored his. From the looks of things, this wasn't just about warships and bombs anymore. It was about the illegal enhancement of humans. Some of which Heero and I had experienced firsthand.

Then Heero's face started to pale, and I knew that things had just become personal.

~*~

They couldn't. They wouldn't. But it was all here, wrapped up with a neat little bow for me to see. There was plenty here that I recognized; advanced versions of treatments I had undergone, that the five of us had undergone to some extent or another. Fifteen year old kids would have never survived the G-forces of our Gundams, otherwise. But I was pretty sure there was a lot on this list the others hadn't had to deal with. I did.

These weren't the crude experiments Dr. J had used, though. These were detailed to perfection. There had been test subjects. There was data, and notes, and a list of subject numbers.

Not names, numbers. They hadn't even thought enough of their guinea pigs to list their names.

There was more, too. Much more than what I'd gone through to become the Perfect Soldier, even if I'd failed to live up to that name. Even as the broken mess that I was, I'd managed, with the help of the other four pilots, to effectively end a war and save both the Earth and the colonies. Twice.

What could someone with this level of enhancement do?

What's more, a lot of my training was psychological. There were other kinds of treatments, but this document was full of terrifying science mixed with technology that no human should ever attempt.

Human enhancement is illegal for a reason. It goes against nature in a frightening way and paves the road with the bodies of those who don't survive the experiments.

How many people would die? How many people were already dead?

I was starting to think we'd misjudged Veale's reasons for having a chemical warehouse. Those chemicals weren't for bombs. They were for people.

It was sickening. Their speeches and statements about Human Rights were laughable at best, but how sick do you have to be to think this should be a right? That anyone should be allowed to alter human beings in this way?

The more that I thought about it, the angrier I got. I felt Duo squeeze my shoulder, checking the tension there, and he must not have liked what he found because he reached over me to shut the laptop so that I wasn't staring at it anymore.

"They... how could they? They really think they can just..." I couldn't manage to finish a sentence. This was already happening. They were building a group of super humans. A group of humans... like me. Drug therapy, psychological altering, physical enhancements... But for what? I was created to win a war.

What were these people being created for?

Duo came around to the front of the chair and took a good hard look at me before pulling me up and into a hug. "We'll stop them."

I just nodded into his shoulder, unsure of what to say. In my head, there were an army of me, all holding that dead dog, all having someone yell about retraining. About how emotions weren't necessary. My fingers clutched at Duo's shirt. "Not again."

"No, Heero. Never again. We will stop them." His voice was firm, but soothing, and I just let it go, surprised to find wetness pooling on his shirt.

I let myself believe it was from Duo's wet hair and held on for all I was worth.

~*~

He was hurting me. That's how I knew just how scared he was. He was so far gone that he didn't even realize how desperately he was clinging to me. That, in turn, scared me.

I'd never seen Heero like this. He had some mental blips during the war, but somehow, he'd managed to deal with them, one way or another. Heero just does not cling. This was much more than outrage at human experimentation. There was something else here that I didn't know. Something that hurt in a way I understood all too well.

So I just held him. It didn't bother me that there would be bruises where his fingers were. If the situation were reversed, I'd probably be doing the same to him. I just didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to make it easier because it had never gotten easier for me. I think I might have been whispering to him, but damned if I remember what I said. It was a very surreal moment.

I was glad in that moment, despite all the pain of being thrown together, that I was here with him instead of some other agent. Even if it had been one of the other pilots. I was glad that I could be the one to be here for him.

That thought was as appalling as the faint disappointment I felt when he finally pulled away. One kiss and I was already thinking in terms I was supposed to be actively rejecting. There was an awkward moment where we just looked at each other, his ice blue eyes glazed over with tears, and I swiped my thumb across his cheek to clear them away.

His hand grabbed my wrist to hold it there, and he closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against mine. "No wonder you left me, Duo. I'm so screwed up."

"I'm no prize myself," I mumbled, my other hand coming to rest on his hip.

His eyes flew open, his disbelief plain as day. "How could you say that? You're everything I've ever wanted."

What do you say when someone says something like that? "Heero..."

He wouldn't let me deny it. He pulled my hand away from his face and threaded his fingers in mine. "We fit together, Duo. Like puzzle pieces, we only fit with each other. We may have fucked up the puzzle on our first try, but there's no denying that somehow, we'll come together again."

I pulled away, unwilling or unable to stay on this line of thought. "How can you be so sure, Heero?"

"I'm not sure! Not in the least! All I know is that it's always been you. Only you. No one else could ever come close! I've never felt this way about anyone else, and I never will. I don't know if I can go through what we did the first time again. But no matter how much I fear it, I can't deny that my love for you has never changed. Not when you left, not now, not ever." He was agitated, but his eyes never left mine, like he was imploring me to believe him. And I did.

I just didn't know what to do about it.

"I need time, Heero. I don't know if I can do this again. I'm not even sure what you're asking. If you're asking anything at all."

"I don't know," he murmured, his hands scrubbing at his face, "I just don't know."

He turned back to the chair and slumped into it, resting his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands before mumbling, "I should contact Une about our findings."

It was an acceptance of a sort that I didn't want to pursue this right now, and it was that more than anything that let me say, "I love you, too. I just need some time to think."

He nodded and I moved to leave, offering a small squeeze of his shoulder and a soft "I'll be back," before slipping out the door.

I needed my distance from it, and we needed some hot food. We couldn't live on nothing but nuts and what amounted to ration bars, after all.

There was a little mom and pop diner a couple of blocks over, and I bought us Styrofoam containers full of steaming food, tipping generously when they handed me my plastic carrying bag. I always try to support local businesses. You just won't get the same kind of atmosphere in a McDonald's because they don't care about their customers. If Heero had been in a better mood, I might have convinced him to come eat in with me. I probably would have ate in myself if I hadn't been so worried about Heero.

He was just sitting there staring at the 'e-mail sent' message when I got back, and I waved my hand in front of his face to get his attention before handing him his food and a plastic fork. He took it from me with a grateful look and popped the lid, inhaling the scent of eggs, biscuits and gravy, and pork sausage before beginning the task of wolfing it down, confirming my suspicions that it had been a damn long time since he ate last.

Heero was in the only chair, so I sat on the floor, leaning back against the desk and eating much slower. When I saw that he was finished before I'd even managed to eat my eggs, I said, "Damn, Heero. You've got to take better care of yourself."

There was the ghost of a sheepish grin playing at his lips, not quite able to fully come through. "That's some advice coming from you."

That surprised a bark of laughter out of me. "Maybe so, but that doesn't make it any less true."

A real smile surfaced and he just shook his head at me. "I will when you will."

"Well that's hardly fair, Yuy."

He snorted. "It's perfectly fair."

"How so? It's not like your health is contingent on mine or anything."

Heero turned sharp blue eyes my way. "Yes, it is." He sighed, and I could tell we were about to head back into waters I didn't want to swim in again.

"Heero, don't."

I'll give him credit, because he did pause. Not that he actually let it drop or anything. "Just let me say this one thing, and I won't bring it up again."

I sighed, but waved my hand for him to continue. "When I found out that you'd been shot, that you... that you..."

Almost died. "I know what you're saying."

He shot me a grateful look and continued. "I felt apart. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep. If you had... if things had turned out differently... I don't think I could have lived with myself."

"Heero..."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be there. I'm sorry... for a whole lot of things."

His gaze was intense, and I found I couldn't look away. "Me too."

I suddenly wasn't all that hungry, so I closed my take-out box and put it aside, getting up and making it damn obvious this conversation was over by heading over to my backpack and rechecking the contents, even though I knew damn well what was in there. I needed to refill my water pouch -- I'd drank most of it when I was stuck in that damned air duct -- and there were clothes to wash, and I could always add a few protein bars.

Anything to stay busy and keep my mind off what Heero was offering me.

~*~

I let it drop, as promised. I didn't want to, but there were other things to do, and trying to force Duo to talk when he didn't want to was an exercise in futility.

I pulled up the document and looked at it with a critical eye this time. Most of the blind emotion had subsided, mainly thanks to Duo, and I was able to really look at what was here.

That didn't make it any less terrifying.

There were detailed accounts of each experiment. There were the standard psychological and physical enhancements here, but there were also what amounted to technological hybrids being made, all detailed nice and neat so that the results could be replicated.

I'd sent the documentation to Une, but I already knew she wouldn't be able to officially back our case with just this. The powers to be would want proof first. No one wants to believe super humans are being created under their noses, and even with Relena heavily into politics, the leaders of the Earth Sphere were still as arrogant and thick-skulled as ever. She would bring it to them and they would shoot it down.

This was still just up to us.

Top secret or not, I e-mailed copies to all of the guys. This didn't just involve Duo and I. The scientists had begun some of these experiments, and it was only right that they know that someone had perfected them. The war may be over, but there were just some things that we would never forget. Besides, they all had top clearance. I was sure that at least Quatre knew the details of this mission already.

Hopefully one of them would be able to give us some insight on just how much they knew about this kind of technology.

Some of it was enhanced Nano technology. From what I could tell, this was far more advanced than the last known use of Nano bots. There had been some medical usage back before I was born, but since then, there had been a total ban on all enhancement technology across the board. What Dr. J had done had been illegal, but he'd felt it was necessary to win the war. He was probably right.

Aside from their brief foray into illegal technology, there hadn't been any other known cases of their use. Not even preliminary research that the Preventors knew of. This had to have been going on for a lot longer than we'd previously thought. This could go back during the war or further. Hell, for all we knew, the scientists may have been directly involved in their work. Though since they were dead, we might never find out.

I rubbed at my temples and squeezed my eyes shut. I was getting a headache just thinking about this. I wanted to be doing something -- anything -- but we didn't have enough to go on. Even with this dire information, we'd still have to observe and infiltrate and do detective work. Still, it was better than nothing, and I decided it was time to track down a few of these donors and ask them about their contributions.

It was grunt work, but at least it was something.

~*~

After Heero went out, I realized that though we were supposed to be a team, we weren't working like one. Sure, infiltrating different buildings was efficient. But for the questioning? There was no reason to separate. It's pretty customary for two agents to make house calls together, both for safety and for efficiency. We were acting like lone operatives who were swapping information.

Not that I thought spending even more time with Heero was necessarily a good idea. I was confused enough as it was.

With Heero gone, I figured I may as well get started on my end of the legwork, and I punched Howard's frequency into the vidphone and waited for him to pick up.

"Kid, is that you?" Howard yelled, peering at me through the screen. "How long's it been? A year? Is this a social call, or are you working?"

I grinned sheepishly. "Damn, old man. Has it really been that long?"

"It has, my boy!" He leaned back so I could see more than just his face. He looked the same as always, Hawaiian shirt and all.

"Unfortunately, this is a business call, but hell, I have some time? How're the Sweepers holding up?"

"The salvage business has been slim without you youngsters out there busting things up for us to retrieve, but there's plenty of other work out there. The Sweepers are doing just fine. What about you? The last time I talked to you, you were full of bullet holes!"

"I healed." I grinned at him, not giving him any more information than I had last time. "Listen, have you heard of any weird shipments lately? Maybe stuff to do with Nano tech?"

"Nano tech? What exactly are we talking about here, Duo?"

"Looks like human enhancement." Howard frowned, knowing much more about it than I did, I was sure. "Some insane organization known as Veale is messing around with it. Hell, it looks like a whole lot more than just some research. They're doing some pretty fucked up work here."

"I don't know anything about any new research, but there have been a few under the radar shipments lately. I'll pull up the info for you."

"Thanks, old man. I owe you one."

"Duo, just what kind of Nano bots? Is this stuff from the war?"

"They started with that, but this has moved way beyond into some twisted shit. This isn't just enhanced healing and reflexes. We're talking increased brain power, reduced need for sleep, skin armor, the works."

"Sounds like somebody is building an army."

"We're not sure yet, but that's the direction things are headed."

"Keep me posted on this, Duo. I'll tell the guys to be on the lookout for any suspicious shipments, and I'll e-mail you the info as it comes in."

"You got it, Howard. We'll talk soon."

"We'd better."

The vid screen went blank. Something about this had Howard feeling uncomfortable. I had a feeling I might find out more about that before this mission was over, but there was no need to push him for it. He'd figure out whatever it was that struck a chord, and he'd let me know. Until then, Howard's trade intel would be invaluable as it was.

I pulled up the info Howard sent me, and as it turned out, it was incredibly useful. It was organized by shipment date, and had everything from the size of the shipment to the weight. More importantly, it had port of origin listings. The mass majority of them were L4 docks.

Guess it was time to give Quatre a ring.

"Duo!" Quatre enthused as if he hadn't just seen me... wow, had it only been three days? It felt like a year.

Business could wait. First... "Don't you grin at me. I know you had a hand in this." There was no need to say what 'this' was. I had no doubt he knew exactly what I was talking about.

He managed to look contrite, but only barely. "Did you read my e-mail?"

"Oh shit, I totally forgot. I was kind of busy when it came in." Well, sort of.

"Well, read it. I stand by what I wrote." Which meant he wasn't going to talk about it until I did. Great.

"Fine, fine. This isn't really a social call, anyway."

His features took on a look of distaste that felt out of place on Quatre's face. "I looked over the document Heero sent me. I can't say I'm really all that familiar with it, but it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth."

I wasn't really surprised. Out of all of us, Quatre had the least training when it came to the Gundams. Not that he has any less of a pilot, he just didn't have the more... distasteful memories the rest of us did.

"What can I help you with?"

"Well, as it turns out, the shipments are coming primarily from L4."

His eyes narrowed. "L4? Are you sure, Duo?"

"Positive. It's intel from Howard."

"Damn." It was a light swear, but coming from Quatre, it was practically like dropping the F-word. "Looks like I'll be making a trip out to space sooner than I planned."

"Be careful. If my hunch is on the mark, these guys already have a pretty large army just sitting around waiting for the right moment."

"The same goes for you. I can pretend to be on business, but you and Heero don't have an excuse. This isn't like the war, Duo. People know our faces well. Maybe not everyone remembers, but there are enough people out there that tracking you down wouldn't even take any real effort. They may already know you're there."

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, about that..."

His eyes widened slightly. "Duo!"

"Hey, it's not like the guy who saw me is alive to tell the tale or anything. But they still know they were infiltrated. It's only a matter of time before someone starts trying to track it back to the source. The source being me."

Quatre shook his head in a strange mix of horrified amusement. "Only you..."

"Listen, Quat. Get Trowa to come with you, okay? I seriously have a bad feeling about all this, and I'd feel better if you both went so you could watch each other's backs."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "And are you and Heero doing the same?"

I glared at him. "It's only been three days. Actually, two days and one night. Things are still just a little bit raw." He didn't appreciate my snide tone, but he didn't comment on it, either. I sighed. "I'm working on it, okay? Seeing Heero again is..." I threw my hands up in frustration.

"What is it, Duo?" he asked, all sweet faced concern.

"Oh no you don't, you damn tactical mastermind. I'm not falling for your little trap." His mouth twitched, like an involuntary smirk, and if he were anyone but Quatre, I probably would have been trying to punch him through the vid screen. I'd fallen into his trap the moment I fucking took this mission, the sneaky bastard. Then I realized he'd evaded the whole Trowa thing. "Promise me you'll try to get Trowa to go with you."

I heard movement that wasn't Quatre, and then a low voice drawled, "Like he'd have to do more than just ask."

"Trowa, is that you?" I grinned. He's also a sneaky bastard.

Quatre dutifully swiveled the vid screen so I could see him leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest, looking for all the world like it was what he did every day. "The one and only."

"What are you doing with Quatre? You have the day off or something?"

"He needs an excuse to visit his boyfriend?" Quatre teased from off-screen.

"During working hours? I'd think so."

"He could be here on Preventor business."

"But I'm guessing he's not."

"I did get the same e-mail everyone else did," Trowa chimed in, effectively answering my question.

"Got any insights you'd like to add?" I asked hopefully, though I was pretty sure of his answer.

"Not especially." I figured as much. "But I'm sure as hell not letting Quatre go snooping around on L4 alone."

"Hey!" Quatre squeaked indignantly. "You act like I'm totally incompetent or something."

"Not at all. But the Gundam pilot who also happens to own all the resource satellites in to greater L4 colony cluster is bound to raise some red flags with Veale when he makes a completely unannounced flight out to space. Especially after Duo's blunder."

"It wasn't a blunder, it was a tactical oversight."

"Right. In any case, they're on alert now, and it's pretty unlikely that your timing will go unnoticed."

"Thanks a lot, Duo," Quatre teased, and I rolled my eyes.

"A guy makes one mistake, and he never hears the end of it! God!"

Trowa chuckled. "It's not like you locked your keys in your car, Duo."

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Moving on."

"You want to send me that info Howard gave you?" Quatre turned the vid screen back towards him and it was back to business.

"Sure thing. I'll keep you updated. When are you leaving for L4?"

"Now, preferably." Quatre looked to Trowa, who I'm assuming shrugged. "We'll be using my private shuttle. I just have to notify Rashid and pack."

"Let me know when you guys touch down on L4."

"Will do. And Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"Watch Heero's back, won't you?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut the screen, the bastard. I was about to find something else useful to occupy my time, but the vid phone rang. I checked the caller ID, thinking maybe Quatre had forgotten something, but the number was restricted. I freaking hate that. The only reason to have a restricted number is so you can piss other people off. Otherwise, why the hell would you be calling people you didn't trust with your number? And it's not like the shit was fool proof -- a quick look at your online bill and all the restricted numbers are magically unrestricted. Pointless, that's what it is.

Slightly disgruntled, I punched the button for feed and started to call out a hello when I registered just who was on the other end of the line. "Wufei? Holy shit, it's been forever!"

He inclined his head politely. "Maxwell."

When Heero had put in his request for transfer, Wufei had felt he didn't have anything to keep him from going with Heero. Honestly, I think he just wanted to watch his back, and didn't trust anyone else to do it. We'd fallen out of contact pretty much instantly, since I felt horribly guilty for uprooting the guy thanks to a problem that was a good chunk my fault, and since I wasn't talking to Heero...

Look, I'm not proud to say it, but I kind of took Wufei off the friend list in my head. It wasn't anything he did or said, but somehow, I had drawn this line between what was mine and what was Heero's, and well, Wufei was on Heero's side of the line. So we didn't talk. Ever.

There was a bit of an awkward moment where we just stared at each other via vid screen before I managed, "How's married life treating ya'?" Then I sort of felt like an ass, since I'd been invited to his wedding and I didn't even go. Also thanks to me, Heero didn't go, and knowing Wufei, Heero was supposed to be his fucking best man or something.

Yeah, I had screwed things up pretty majorly.

He didn't seem to dwell on it like I was, though, and he responded easily with, "Oh, you know Sally. She keeps life... interesting."

"I heard that, Chang!" she called from what sounded like the next room.

He shook his head bemusedly. "Damn woman has uncanny hearing."

"And that!" she called again.

I grinned. "You definitely got yourself one hell of a woman, Chang."

"I do," he agreed amiably. "Where is Heero?"

I should have realized he hadn't called to talk to me. "Oh, he's out following leads."

Wufei raised an eyebrow. "Alone?"

"I already got the speech from Quatre. We'll be more careful."

"I'm calling to let you both know that I've spoken with Une, and in light of the recent evidence you provided, she is authorizing me to come to L2 to assist you."

"Uh, you're coming here?" I asked brightly.

Wufei's brows furrowed. "Is that a problem?"

"No!" I was quick to reassure. "I mean, you'll have to bunk with us until the Gravity Expo is over, but otherwise, there's no problem."

"Good. I'll be leaving tonight, so I expect to be in by early morning. We'll go over our options then."

"Okay. And Wufei?"

"Yes?"

"It'll be good to see you again."

"Likewise, Maxwell. Chang out."

And that was that, I guess. It really would be good to see Wufei again. So why was I feeling so much apprehension?

Probably because the man had been one of my best friends, a brother in arms, and I hadn't so much as said hello to him in two years. I'd cut him out like it was nothing. I was ready to write him off as a casualty of the break up, when Heero had obviously kept in touch with Quatre and Trowa. I owed him more than that.

I can be a real ass, sometimes.

~*~

I was getting nowhere fast. Most of these people had no idea what they had donated to, and the larger donations came from corporations that I'd have to investigate. It was frustrating, knowing what was happening but not knowing how to stop it.

It was also incredibly lonely being out here alone. It's surprising that I'd grown so accustomed to having a partner, but I was definitely feeling the lack of Wufei to watch my back.

Not that I was doing anything particularly dangerous, but you never know when you'll question the wrong person -- which usually means they're the right person, and willing to shoot you for finding them.

I was having no such luck today, though, and with a sigh, I started back towards the hotel, planning to make one last ditch effort to question one more person on my list who happened to be in the right direction.

I was wearing my Preventors jacket, so I didn't feel the need for preamble when the smartly dressed man answered the door.

"Good afternoon. Mr. Culter, I presume?" The man said nothing, just staring out at me, so I continued. "I'm Heero Yuy, and I'd like to ask you some questions regarding a donation you made to the Veale Human Rights Organization."

"I know who you are," he barked, his eyes lingering on the emblem on my jacket. "You sure have done well for yourself. I guess they reward terrorists these days."

I held back my sigh. He was one of those who thought they should have shot us where we stood. That was going to make this quite a bit more difficult. "That's not the issue here. I just have a couple of questions concerning --"

"I'll tell you what. You answer some of my questions, and then we'll see about yours."

"What do you mean?"

"How does it feel to know that you single handedly killed enough people to populate a small country?"

If I wasn't able to control my pulse, it would have jumped. Instead, I just tried to glare the man to death. "This topic is not up for discussion."

My glare was of no consequence to him, though. "Oh, but I think it is. How many civilians did you murder in cold blood?"

"There are always regrettable casualties in war." My voice was tight, and I was really starting to wish I'd asked Duo to come with me. He was always better with these situations than I was.

"Regrettable casualties? Is that what my four year old daughter was to you? A regrettable casualty? You're a murderer! They should have killed you all!"

I just stared at him in stunned silence. What could I say to that? I, or one of the others, had been responsible for the death of a child. It wasn't a shock, but it was something I don't spend a lot of time thinking about. I didn't want to think of it now.

I was still standing there gaping at him when I noticed the movement in the window. Before I knew what was happening, my hand was reaching for my gun and I was throwing myself to the ground as bullets whizzed past me. I could feel the sting of the bullet crease at the same time I heard the man yell "Marissa, no!"

It was probably that more than anything else that kept me from putting a bullet in her forehead. The thought of killing someone else this man loved was too much for me, even if I was being shot at. Sean Culter had pried the gun from his wife's hands before I'd had much of a chance to do anything at all, and when I'd finally righted myself, I just stood there holding the bleeding bullet crease in my side with no idea what to do.

The man was standing in front of his wife as if he were afraid I'd still shoot her even though she was no longer armed. She was fighting against her husband for all she was worth, "My only child, you bastard! Just go to hell where you belong!"

"If there is one, I'm sure I will." I turned around and left.

~*~

I heard the key in the lock, so I called out without looking, "Any luck?"

He just grunted, so I turned to look at him... and he was bleeding. "Heero! What the fuck happened?" I was up and over to him before he even had a chance to close the door. I pulled him over to his bed, since it was closest, and sat him down, sliding his blood-soaked jacket off of him and pulling off his shirt so I could get a better look at what we were dealing with. "Veale?" I said suspiciously, but he shook his head.

"Victims of the war," he panted, and I shot him a sharp look before grabbing his duffle. I knew he had a first aid kit in there somewhere. "Someone thought I should have paid for my crimes when the war ended, so they tried to right the wrong."

"Did you kill them?" I asked, checking the wound to see how deep it was.

"Just leave it be, Duo." He wasn't talking about the wound.

"Did you at least arrest them? You've been shot, Heero!"

He was quiet for a moment, and then, very softly, he said, "It was their only daughter. She was just a little kid, Duo. I deserve a lot more than a bullet."

We both just shut up then, and I cleaned out his wound. It wasn't deep, but it had to hurt like a mother fucker. Still, he barely flinched when I poured the alcohol on it.

I wanted to be angry. I wanted to go and kick someone's door down and make them pay for what they'd done. But I understood all too well what Heero was thinking. I'd have thought it too, if I were in his position. For all I knew, Heero hadn't even been the one to do the deed. It could have been Quatre, or Trowa, or Wufei.

It could have been me.

Heero didn't deserve to suffer any more than he already had. But what about the justice for those parents? How could the excuse of 'it was a war' ever be enough? I knew all too well why Heero had just walked away.

This peace we lived in came at a price. Today was just one small piece of that, and I found myself with an anger I didn't have anything to direct at.

But damn it, it wasn't our faults that we'd been thrust into the damn war, hailed as the saviors of the world. We were just as much victims as anyone else.

Just... try telling that to someone who lost a kid.

Damn. Just... damn.

I got him bound up and I even got him to swallow a couple of pain pills, which told me just how torn up about this whole thing he was. There was no way I'd have gotten him to take them otherwise.

I felt horrible. Heero wasn't even close to critically injured, but damn it, we're not supposed to have to worry about being shot by random civilians. We were supposed to be at least somewhat safe amongst the public. When everyone becomes an enemy, the world is a decidedly fucked up place.

"You're not going out alone again." I left no room for argument, and he nodded without comment.

He was brooding, his dark hair fanned across his face, shielding his eyes from view. I wasn't about to tell him it was okay, because it damn well wasn't, but I didn't want him brooding on it -- especially not so soon after he'd read that damned document.

I had the distinct feeling that I was missing something important.

I nudged him to move over, crawling onto the bed with him. His wound was on the left side, and I was on the right, so I let myself lean against him. His head came to fall on my shoulder.

"You know," I said softly, the situation somehow not allowing for normal volume, "I want so very badly to have the words to make you feel better, but I don't." I stared out at the room at large, not really seeing, thoughts swirling in my head like some kind of dark fog that didn't want to come clear. "We all have our demons from the war, but we did what we had to do. No more, no less."

His hand found mine, and he weaved our fingers together. We sat for like that for ages, somehow comfortable in the uncomfortable silence, until his breathing evened out and I knew he was asleep. I wanted to move; to get up and do something, but I didn't want to wake him. He needed the rest and with a wound on his side, he wasn't likely to get much trying to lay on his back.

So I just sat there, Heero's fingers slack in mine, and thought about the atrocities of war and how decidedly un-fucking-fair it was that we had a lifetime of bad memories to keep us company. But I meant what I'd said -- we'd done what had to be done.

Sleep was a long time coming, but I finally managed to drop into a light doze, my head lolling over onto Heero's. It was familiar, being so close to Heero, in a way I'd thought had faded a lot more than it had.

I woke with a start to the banging on the hotel room door. Well, it was probably regular volume knocking, but it sounded like an assault on the wood in the overwhelming quiet in the room. Heero was awake beside me, his sharp blue eyes alert and suspicious. I never did get around to telling him Wufei was coming. Whoops.

I unthreaded my fingers from his reluctantly, and strode over to the door as well as I could, having just woken up. I dutifully checked the little peephole, and seeing Heero's Chinese partner standing there as I suspected, I pulled the door open to let him, and some of the L2 cold, inside.

Heero blinked and said, "Wufei?"

"Didn't you tell him I was coming, Maxwell?" Wufei said, sounding amused.

I realized I hadn't said anything yet, so I corrected that. "I thought it would be more fun to surprise him," I teased, turning to really look at Wufei in the flesh for the first time in two years. "You look good, man." He did, too. He'd filled out like the rest of us, and he didn't nearly look as severe as he had during the war.

"So do you, Duo." I had learned, up until I'd cut him out of my life, that he uses my first name as a term of endearment, and there was a fondness in his voice that I could scantly believe after all this time. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself swept up in a rare hug. "I hope it won't be another two years before I see you again when this mission is done."

It felt like a reprimand of a sort, and perhaps it was, but I found myself unable to speak, so I nodded, then thought maybe I should be shaking my head, so I did that, instead. He chuckled at me, and I figured he'd got the message. My face felt hot, and I looked away, letting Wufei greet Heero, who was gingerly working on getting out of the bed painlessly.

"Oh man, where's my head? Let me help you." I rushed the couple of feet over to the bed and Heero rolled his eyes.

"It's just a scratch, I'm not incapacitated or anything."

"What happened?" Wufei chimed in, and I almost jumped. I'd have to get used to having another voice chiming in.

"I was shot," Heero said, not offering any more than that.

"Obviously, Yuy. What I'm looking for is the source," Wufei responded dryly, and I snorted. The man had always had a good sense of humor, but it seemed he'd become much freer with it.

Then I thought about the source, and my mirth turned to sour milk in my stomach. "It's nothing we have to worry about," I said, and thank the heavens, he seemed to accept that. Heero shot me a grateful look before turning his attention back to Wufei.

"It's good to see you two are relatively in one piece. I was afraid of what I might find when I arrived." He was smirking faintly, and I could tell he was testing the waters. I didn't blame him. If he was going to be working with us, he'd have to know exactly what the state of our interactions were. Since last he knew, speaking civilly was beyond our reach, it was a fair assumption that things may still be quite bad.

They weren't, and if I wasn't so busy being amazed by that fact myself, I might have been wondering why it had been so easy. Well, not really easy...

"Earth to Maxwell?"

I blinked, and I found two bemused grins leveled in my direction. They must have called me more than once. I slid a smile back into place and quipped, "Earth's a long way from here, buddy boy."

Wufei shook his head at me. "We were just discussing Quatre's move to L4. Was that a surprise, too?"

"Nope. Just forgetting stuff in my old age." Bantering with Wufei was like riding a bike. A bike with a card in its spokes. Makes a lot of noise, but doesn't actually say anything. That's me.

Heero knew that about me, and I ignored the sharp look from his direction to continue playing with Wufei. It wasn't time for deep and introspective. I'd had a damn sight more of that than I needed lately. Now that there was a distraction in the form of one easy to bait Wufei, I would not be dwelling on things twenty four hours a day.

I could only take so much. It was time for a break.

~*~

It was like watching a complete transformation. Duo of the honest feelings and deep thought disappeared before my very eyes. It was counterproductive, but it's not like I could do anything about it. When he decides not to think about something, he's going to avoid it until it bites him in the ass.

And since Wufei was standing right here...

I wouldn't really bite him on the ass. Unless he asked me to, that is. I scrubbed a hand over my face and tried to follow their conversation, or whatever it was they were doing, because not much was actually being said. Duo must have seriously been rubbing off on me, because I could feel my normally clear, concise thoughts start to run in circles.

Even if I thought it was probably a terrible idea for Duo to just shove aside his feelings, he is still beautiful to watch when he is in his element, and the eternal jokester is definitely part of his element. He is all grins and smirks, fast quips and quick wit. It is one of a million reasons why I love him.

I made more of an effort to insert myself into the conversation, and Wufei confirmed my suspicions that Une wouldn't be able to officially support this mission without some hard evidence to provide to the government. It was frustrating, but there was nothing to be done about it except to get out there and get some evidence. Duo updated us on Howard's end of things, and we talked a bit about Quatre and Trowa's trip to L4. All standard catching up stuff. Nothing that really accomplished anything.

Wufei decided that since I was injured, he and Duo would go out and investigate and leave me at the hotel to wait. I didn't appreciate it, but there was just no arguing with the two of them when they actually agreed on something, so I found myself trying to do my part on the computer without much luck.

For some reason, I found myself looking over that thrice-damned document Duo had brought back from that equally damned infiltration. It had shocked me, at first; shaken me to my very core. With a bit of distance, I could really take the time to look at it, and compare it to my own experiences. These experiments they were doing were not nearly as crude as what I'd gone through. Sure, I'd been subjected to some minor Nano technology and a lot of psychological therapy, but this was some twisted form of art.

And yet, it seemed almost random. Many of the procedures were not linked with the others. Sure, they could just subject one subject to multiple enhancements, but with how thorough they were being, that didn't seem to be the answer they would look for. It was just a hunch, but I was somehow sure that there was something we were missing. Something big.

Then I remembered those sketches that I'd somehow never gotten around to showing Duo. I pulled them out to look at them in light of this new evidence. They weren't of any kind of Nano tech; they were still sketches of ships. I flipped through them until one of the cockpit made me stop cold.

Zero.

How had I not noticed it before?

It was rough, nothing like the Zero system was in Wing Zero. But the basic concept was there in the blur of a few carelessly placed lines. I don't know how I knew for sure it was Zero. I guess I really didn't. But I could feel it inside me, I could feel Zero's presence as if the system was right there in the room with me.

They were building at least one. And with the Nano technology...

Oh fuck.

~*~

It was a long day. Wufei is a great guy, but he can be a little stuffy at times, and he's damn anal about investigating. Always worried about doing things by the book, unless his justice and honor was somehow involved. Which today, it wasn't, and that made for a dry afternoon. Even with our casual banter, I can only ask the same questions of so many people before I'm damn well done for the day.

It didn't help that I avoided every subject that might cause either of us discomfort like the plague. Which means no real talking about Heero, where we lived, the war, Heero, the pilots' get-together thing I never go to, Wufei's wedding, and Heero. Yeah, Heero was definitely the hot button issue for me. I wasn't even sure how I felt about everything, so I sure as hell wasn't willing to talk it out with Chang fucking Wufei. The guy can be just a bit too perceptive at times, but he's also a damn stick in the mud, and that made a frustratingly terrible combination in regards to the whole Heero and me thing.

So what did we talk about? Nothing. I diverted just about every conversation he started to something ridiculous, like the cold on L2, or how shuttle pilots don't know what the hell they're doing anymore, didn't they know a shuttle ride through space shouldn't be bumpy?

To his credit, he rolled with it, letting me evade for a while before bringing me back to the things he really wanted to talk about. I think eventually, he just got tired of me playing hide and seek with his topics, and he shut up for a while, leaving me in a miserable brooding silence. Fun stuff.

That is, until the end of our day was rolling around. He apparently wanted to talk to me alone, and we weren't going back to the hotel until he'd gotten whatever the hell he wanted out of me. One of us sighed.

"Look, Wufei, I know you're concerned and all. Heero is your partner, and to work with either of us, you have to know where we stand. But I just don't have an answer for you, 'Fei. We're a mess, but we're a mess that seems to be able to function relatively well. That's all you really need to know."

He looked at me, contemplating what I said, I guess. "I'm not just concerned about the job, or about Yuy." And then he just walked on, leaving me gaping at him like a fish.

Well, damn.

~*~

"They're going to try and turn Zero into Nano technology," I blurted as soon as Duo had the door shut behind him and Wufei.

Wufei looked vaguely concerned, but Duo looked more like he was about to be sick. "Want to run that by me again?"

"These Nano experiments aren't the main focus. They are just research for when they manage to replicate Zero, if they haven't already."

"Are you sure?" Wufei was asking, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

"Not a hundred percent, no. But it makes sense." I spread out the sketches for them to see. "They're building a warship, which we already knew, but what I didn't realize until now is that they're trying to put Zero in the cockpit."

"Are you sure that's Zero? It could just be their idea of a cool design," Duo said without any real conviction behind it. Duo had been behind the controls of Zero once before. He knew exactly how serious this was.

I shook my head. "Maybe, but Zero was set up that way for a reason. It had the optimal input and output with the pilot. See how the cockpit looks like an enlarged version of the ones we had in the Gundams? First, they're building a full sized version for their warship to make sure that it works properly before trying to condense it down to a string of Nano bots."

"That's a lot to get out of a few lines on a page, Yuy." Wufei was skeptical, but the idea had picked up momentum in my head, and I was suddenly quite sure I was right.

"Think about it. To successfully recreate the Zero System, what does Veale need?"

Duo's eyes widened. "The scientist's research."

"Exactly. That's what all of these experiments are. They don't just want to replicate the Zero System. They want to perfect it."

"If you're right," Duo said, the color draining from his face, "then this is a whole lot worse than human enhancement."

'A whole lot worse' didn't even begin to cover it.

~*~

"I have good news and I have bad news."

"For the love of God, Quatre, give me the good news first."

Quatre had called shortly after the horrifying speculation about what Veale was really up to. I hoped Heero was wrong, but I'd known him for far too long to actually think he was. I think Heero knew exactly what he was talking about. I couldn't even begin to imagine the ramifications of it all.

A smug expression flitted across his face. "They won't be shipping anything out of L4 again."

"Sweet! What did you have to do?"

"I have my ways, Duo." There was a chuckle coming from off screen that definitely belonged to Trowa.

"I'm almost afraid to ask."

"Then don't," he quipped, a devious smirk on his face. I was damn glad I wasn't on the receiving end of it. Quatre can be damned devious at times.

"The bad news?" Heero asked from behind me, and I sighed.

"Already, Heero? Damn, can't a guy have a moment of peace?"

He snorted. "You had your moment. Now I want my info."

Quatre paused to bit his lip. "There's actually a couple of things worth mentioning."

"Wonderful," I muttered.

"Out with it, Winner," Wufei chimed in, and I almost flinched. I still wasn't used to him being around yet.

"Two of the leading scientists with the highest reputations in Nano technological theory from L4 have gone missing."

"It's just a step over to actually putting Nano tech to use in humans, I guess."

"Unfortunately, we don't know if they were kidnapped or if they joined willingly. They seem to have dropped off the face of the colony without a trace."

"And?" Heero prompted.

Quatre grimaced. "And someone hacked into my system while I was away."

"Hacked into your system?" I questioned, incredulous. Even Heero would have a hard time getting into it. "That's some fucking hacker. What exactly do you keep on your system, anyway?"

"...The scientist's research, for one."

"I... what? You have their research?"

"Yes." Quatre hesitated before just bullying forward. "As well as all of our personal training records."

"Tell me you're fucking kidding. Tell me, Quatre, that some hacker does not have all of our records for their perusal, or I might... I might... I dunno. Explode, or something."

"It was on my own personal server. No one had access but me."

I snorted mirthlessly. "Yeah, that worked out well."

"Duo," Trowa said, his voice an implied warning. But you know? He was all the way on L4. What the fuck was he going to do? Yell at me through the vid screen?

"Why did you even have those records, Quatre? Nostalgia? Saving it for a rainy day? Because it sure as fuck doesn't do us any damn good!"

Heero moved in closer, putting a hand on my back to calm me. It didn't work. If anything, it made me angrier.

"We're so fucking fucked right now!" I roared, and it was Wufei's derisive snort that somehow brought me back to myself, and suddenly, I was laughing until tears ran down my face. Quatre was staring at me wide-eyed from the vid screen, and Heero looked like he thought I might have gone crazy. God knows what Trowa was thinking. But Wufei was still smiling bemusedly at me, and somehow, that made it okay.

"Feel better, my friend?"

"Oh yeah, I feel better all right. We really are seriously fucked." Then I was peeling with laughter again.

Wufei commandeered the vid screen then with an exasperated shake of the head, and Heero led me over to my bed, or with Wufei here, I guess it was our bed, and tried to calm me down, or something. The laughing thing seemed to be getting to him.

Which, of course, made me laugh harder.

"Duo, talk to me," Heero soothed.

"Don't you get it Heero?" I laughed, "We're a god damned open book to these guys!"

"Duo." Saying my name sternly was apparently turning out to be the theme of the evening.

I made a semi-serious effort to contain my dark mirth, and managed to tone it down to chuckles. "Yes?"

He didn't really know what to say, and it showed on his face. "...Are you okay?"

"Why yes, Heero," I intoned in mock seriousness, "Why ever would I not be okay? It's not like someone could be creating a super human army tailor made to make sure we don't stop them or anything."

"We haven't confirmed anything yet."

I snorted. "Yeah, that makes it all better."

"Don't count your chickens before they've been hatched, Maxwell." Wufei must have finished up with Quatre, because he was suddenly hovering behind Heero. "We took on the earth and the colonies, and we managed to come out on top."

"Did I just hear Wufei say 'we managed to come out on top'? Who have to been talking to lately? They're affecting your speech patterns, man."

He gave me a withering look. "I did spend most of the day with you."

"Now that's more like it."

Heero seemed at a loss for how Wufei could banter with me so easily and he couldn't, so I took some pity on him. "Relax, Heero. I didn't go crazy or anything. Well, I'm not any crazier than I was earlier, though I guess that's not saying much. I'm just, you know," I made an inarticulate waving motion with my hand, "letting off some steam."

He tentatively raised an eyebrow, as if he wasn't sure if he was allowed. "Is that what you call it?"

I laughed for him, and it was a much more genuine sound. "Hell yes, that's what I call it, Yuy. Anything else would just sound insane!"

Wufei gave me a look that would have turned into an eyeroll if he was anyone else. "As if you need any help with that."

"Don't I know it." I grinned at him wide enough to crack my face, and Wufei turned to Heero conspiratorially.

"It's the end is near adrenaline kicking in after years of latency."

Heero took the bait, trying, I think, to fit into this weird camaraderie Wufei and I had going. "You think he can only truly live when there's a war to fight?"

"Hey now, I'm still a pretty awesome guy during peace times!"

We all kind of fell silent at once, pondering the two years of history we didn't have with each other. Neither of them had a good grasp on what I was like during peace time. I was getting pretty good at sticking my foot in my mouth.

There were mumbled excuses, and preliminary shit to do, so after I'd killed the conversational ball with a steak knife, we did our own separate things.

I pulled up my browser and Quatre's forgotten e-mail was staring me in the face, innocently informing me that I hadn't read it yet. I bit back a sigh and figured I may as well get it over with. I clicked on the link with as much irritation as one can manage on a laptop, which wasn't nearly as much as I'd have liked.

Duo,

By the time you get this, you'll probably have already put two and two together well enough to realize the hand I played in this.

Why yes, Quatre, I did, thank you very much.

In fact, I'm betting you've been ignoring this e-mail for at least a day or two.

Well, he had me there.

I'm not going to apologize for throwing the two of you together.

And that certainly won't win you any favors.

The fact is, you two really are the best suited for the job. Une would have never agreed to it otherwise.

Right.

But more than that, this complete communications blackout between you and Heero has to stop.

Thanks for deciding that all on your own, Quatre.

Trowa agrees with me.

Of course he does. You're his boyfriend.

Maybe things will never be the same between you and Heero --

You think?

-- but you two were always good together, and there's no reason you two can't settle your differences and at least be friends.

Why did he think sending me this e-mail was a good idea?

In fact, I'll take a gamble and guess that you two have already managed something that at least resembles friendly. There's too much history between you for anything else.

Is it okay to hate someone for being right?

Just don't be stubborn out of spite, okay Duo? Let the chips fall where they will.

Easier said than done.

That's all I really have to say. Just think about it, Duo.

Quatre Raberba Winner

I did sigh then. Only Quatre would sign an e-mail to a friend with his full name.

I absolutely refused to 'think about it' right then. I was more than a little pissed off that he'd basically confirmed that I was just a pawn he'd move where he wanted. I was, quite irrationally, even more pissed that he'd been right. There was something lurking between Heero and I that he was already putting into words that I didn't want to hear.

I wasn't ready to completely make nice. I wasn't ready to put everything behind me and start over. And I sure as hell wasn't ready for 'I love you'. But Heero had already dropped that particular bomb, and I'd found when the time came, I couldn't not return the sentiment.

I was grateful Wufei was here for a damn lot of reasons, this one being at the top of my list.

Speaking of Wufei...

"Maxwell, what in the hell are you looking at over there? Your expression has been steadily getting darker for a good ten minutes!"

"Nothing much. Just some junk mail. Salesmen are fucking pushy nowadays."

He looked at me like I was insane. "You mean you actually read them? That's what the spam filter is for."

"Sometimes it doesn't catch them," I muttered darkly.

It wasn't long after that that it was time for bed. Oh joy of joys. I guess it was too much to think Wufei had packed an airbed.

Heero was looking nervously at me, wondering if he should ask or just sleep in the chair, I'm guessing. I didn't make him choose.

"'Fei, you take Heero's bed. Heero and I will double up over here." I gestured to the bed I was currently occupying, and a wave of pure relief washed over Heero's face before he went about getting ready to go to sleep.

There was a bit of shifting around to get Heero in a position that didn't pull on the still healing bullet crease in his side before we finally settled, close enough to each other to be sharing body heat. The bed was supposedly a Queen, but it didn't feel like it when the other occupant was someone I simultaneously wanted to hug and run away from.

Wufei's breathing was already even, but I was sure he hadn't fallen asleep yet. He was probably in one of his meditative states, meaning he'd ignore our uncomfortable squirming, but he was sure to at least make a mental note of it. How incredibly awkward.

Wait, our uncomfortable squirming? Heero doesn't squirm. He may fidget a little in certain circumstances, but squirm? Never. That meant he was still hurting. Awesome.

I let out a measured breath before slowly backing up until I was pressed against him. "For support," I murmured as quietly as I could.

It took him a moment, but his arm eventually circled around my waist and he let himself lean against me. "Thanks," he mumbled into my hair, and I could feel him slowly let himself relax. "It feels better." His words were little more than puffs of hot breath on my neck, and I had to suppress a shiver. It was so much more intimate than the previous night, where we had slept sitting up, our fingers intertwined. Somehow, Heero managed to find my fingers now, too, and I wasn't sure why I didn't resist.

I could feel every breath he took, his body literally pressed against mine from head to toe. It was easy to tell that he wasn't sleeping, even after Wufei's breathing stopped sounding so controlled and turned into something much closer to sleep. We just laid there for hours like that, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

I was on the verge of dozing off when I felt Heero shift ever so slightly to press his lips against the side of my neck before settling again. He obviously thought I was out, so I just laid still. It was difficult not to give myself away when he whispered, "God, Duo, I've missed this." Not long after that, Heero finally fell asleep.

I didn't.

~*~

The first thing I was aware of was the warm body pressed to mine, followed by the smell of the sea. That didn't make sense, so I fought tired eyes open to realize I was smelling Duo's conditioner. I was still holding on to him, but he was obviously awake, so I reluctantly let him go and shifted back, only to wince when my side let me know that it still wasn't quite healed.

Duo rolled onto his back, his bleary eyes finding mine. It was painfully obvious that he hadn't slept, and I felt my face flame, realizing he had probably been awake when I'd showed my affection the night before. He didn't mention it though, and just sat there looking at me with that inscrutable expression for the longest time, until I felt so uncomfortable that I had to look away.

I didn't like the feeling of shame that washed over me, even though I didn't think I had anything to be ashamed of. I'd told Duo how I felt. The ball was in his court, but it didn't look like he even knew how to play the game, because he wasn't playing by the rules. He kept touching me, or letting me touch him. But verbally, he was rejecting me. Or at least refusing to make a decision.

It was frustrating, and not just because of the morning wood being restrained by my pajama bottoms.

I never did figure out why Duo was staring at me, because Wufei chose right then to wake up and Duo rolled out of bed before I had a chance to even think about it. I waited until I didn't have a tent pole in my pants before going about my morning ritual.

Duo came out of the bathroom toweling his hair. He paused, looking shocked, and he said, "We forgot to tell Quatre about the Zero System!"

Wufei snorted. "No, you forgot. I fully informed him while you were having your little breakdown."

"Hey! It wasn't a breakdown!" Duo said indignantly. "But, uh... how did he take it?"

"Relatively well, though I don't think I've ever seen that particular shade of white on a person before."

"Don't forget that Quatre mastered the system before the end of the first war," I said. "He'll be alright."

"Not like that makes the concept of that system any less terrifying."

"No, but he can handle it."

"Too bad the rest of the world can't," he muttered darkly.

Wufei looked up from his laptop. "Une has scheduled us an inspection of their cargo ship for later this afternoon."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How did she manage to get an appointment for us so quickly?"

"I don't know, but we'll have to be thorough. It might be our only chance to inspect the ship."

"Let's see what they need all that Gundanium for," Duo replied.

Duo, Wufei and I had to pass though the shuttle port to get to the private docks. It was crawling with people, but as we moved towards the private sector, it thinned out until there were only workers and guards. Quite a lot of guards, actually.

"A little overprotected, isn't it?" I mused.

"That's because they have something to hide," Duo said.

We were stopped several times, and each time we were required to show our badges and explain our visit before being allowed to move on. It was less than a quarter of a mile walk, but with all the interruptions, it took nearly an hour to reach docking bay 76.

We were stopped again by an oversized guard and told to "wait here" while he went and got someone to show us around the ship.

"Ooo, a guided inspection, huh? This ought to be good." There was a little bounce in Duo's voice, and there was no doubt in my mind that he would manage to slip free from our keeper before the day was out.

A man in a suit much too sharp to be working there exited the ship and came to stand before us with a fake smile. "Welcome to Humanity, gentleman." I could tell Duo was trying his best to hold back a snort. "I am Zack, one of the foremen on this project. Construction is almost finished, so you'll be able to see her in nearly her full glory. I trust you'll find her to be a well-made vessel."

"I'm sure we will. Now could we proceed with the inspection?" Wufei pressed, obviously already annoyed.

"Yes, of course," Zach replied, blinking at my less than cordial partner before inviting us in with a sweep of his hand.

We entered the cargo bay, which, while large, was not even a fraction of the size of the ship. It was, however, extremely nice. Much nicer than a cargo bay needs to be.

"Looks like you could throw a ball in here," Duo muttered, and Zach eyed him warily.

"Yes, we wanted to make the finest ship among the stars. Humanity is not just a cargo ship, but, we hope, also a passenger cruise ship."

I raised an eyebrow. "A duel class ship? That's unusual."

"It is. But we feel we can be of a greater use this way."

"We, being Veale?"

"The money from passengers will be used to directly fund Human Rights Campaigns backed by Veale."

He herded us down a hallway in into a section of residential quarters. Duo wandered around under the watchful eye of Zach, while we were treated to a flowery introduction to all the high class elements added for the passengers. Wufei was listening with a scowl, but I was watching Duo.

Duo's hands slid across mattress frames and the sides of end tables until finally he stopped, crouching down to look at something he'd found with a little "Aha".

Zach's speech faltered and he said warily, "If you could refrain from touching, sir, we'd like to keep these quarters clean..."

"Are you implying I'm dirty?" Duo shot back in a darkly cheerful voice, though I couldn't have matched the tone if I tried. He didn't look up though, and I went to see what he was examining.

"Of course I'm not..." Zach tried, but Duo wasn't listening anymore.

"What is this for?" It was a two-pronged plug outlet, only I'd never seen any plug that would match it.

"Oh, that! We have a special media device for our passengers that will allow them to access both the net and all their personal options while aboard Humanity. They can order room service, special amenities like massages, and watch movies provided by our supporters all from one device." It seemed a little too convenient of an explanation. Why couldn't they just do that with their own personal computers? Why create a special plug for this device?

Duo slipped a camera from his back pocket and snapped a picture, ignoring Zach's protests that pictures weren't allowed. "We're inspectors, not a competing organization," He drawled, slipping the camera out of sight again.

Off we went again, this time coming to the galley. "For our passengers who wish to dine with others, they will enjoy all the grandeur of a five star restaurant, complete with music and a place to dance."

"This isn't a tour," Wufei said testily. "It's an inspection. Let us do our jobs."

Zach didn't seem to know what to say to that, and just said nothing.

There was nothing of real interest in the galley, so we moved on, covering the ship inch by inch until we came to the cockpit. This was where I wanted to be.

It was like walking into some kind of mishmash of all of our Gundams consoles combined. There were things in places that would make me capable of flying the thing blind. It was an odd feeling, seeing the insides of our Gundams right here in this 'cargo/passenger hybrid' ship. But looking at it, it was obvious that this was not the optimal setup for their claims.

This was the optimal setting for a warship.

"Are the panels up and running?" I asked without waiting for an answer. I sat in front of that massive array of buttons and screens, and started it up all on my own.

"What do you think you're doing?" Zach cried, but I shot him a dark look and he paled considerably.

Wufei was there to handle him, and somehow, Duo had just plain disappeared, so I went to work, vaguely hearing Wufei tell the man once again that an inspection was not a tour, and what exactly had he expected us to do, anyway?

They'd covered their tracks well enough, and nothing was readily amiss. A little digging proved they weren't nearly as competent as we had once been, though, and I found the hole and exploited it.

I found all of our data files neatly tucked away on the system. Our specs, the data on the Gundams, and a large portion on the training we had, complete with detailed procedure logs. I could hear Zach getting truly frantic, but I trusted Wufei to keep the man out of my way and kept digging. I didn't bother to delete the files -- it was a sure bet that they had backup copies.

It took a while, but I finally found it. The Zero System, not so cleverly filed under the name '00', was laid out in all its glory. It wasn't enough to prove they had built it, and there were suspiciously no new files concerning it -- they were probably kept on the Zero System itself. But there was plenty here to capture the essence of Zero, and much, much more. This was exactly what I needed to confirm my own suspicions, but not enough to get the support of the government. Damn the red tape bullshit. This was going to be a hell of a lot harder to deal with without their 'permission'.

Not that something like that would ever stop us.

It was just irritating, having to follow Preventor protocol without actually having the backing of the Preventors. Things were going to get sticky if we didn't find some tangible evidence soon.

I did find something that was actually useful, though. It was a partial list of their bases of operation. It was as easy as committing them to memory before shutting the system down.

"You can't just do whatever you like!"

"I assure you," I intoned with complete seriousness, "that you'll find we can."

I turned my back to the man again, seeking out any sign that something that could have been the Zero System had been removed. The actual program was not in the ship's computer, and while Zero can be extracted onto disks, to actually make use of the system, there had to be an addition to the console.

It didn't take me long to find it.

"What goes here, I wonder?" I said aloud, and Zach stared at me.

"I am only a building foreman," he said, trying to regain his composure and failing. "I do not know much about the electrical side of things."

"How convenient," Wufei scowled.

"The electrical foreman wouldn't happen to be here, would he?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Ah, no."

"Then how exactly are we supposed to do a proper inspection?"

"You seem to be doing just fine on your own," he cried.

Duo slinked back through the door, grinning mischievously. I don't think Zach even realized he'd left.

"Well, I think we've seen all we need to, for today."

"For today? You expect to be coming back?"

"Oh, we'll see about that. Just don't be surprised. And next time, you'd better have all of your specialists here."

I was about to leave, when Duo piped up. "So, just wondering and all, but why exactly is the outer hull made of Gundanium?"

"You were outship?" Zach squeaked, and it was a wonder he hadn't expected it. I guess the regular inspectors weren't doing their jobs properly.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"You never know when there will be an attack on the ship."

"What, like space pirates?" Duo asked incredulously.

"Some people don't look favorably on Veale, unfortunately."

"I wonder why that is?" Duo's tone was all innocence, and I had to contain a snort.

"That's the question of the hour, kid." Duo bared his teeth in a smile at that. "I guess some people just aren't for Human Rights."

"Fancy that."

We hightailed it out of there after that, leaving Zach looking worried.

"We really shook him up, didn't we?" Duo laughed once we were out of earshot.

Wufei chuckled. "Did you really go outship?"

"You bet. You'd never guess what they have out there."

"Weapons?" I guessed.

"Naw, just all of the things you need to connect weapons," he grinned. "I think we're on the right track here."

I snorted. "You could say that. I found where they connect Zero."

"No shit? So they're really working with the Zero System..." Duo shuddered.

We'd finally exited the shuttle port, though it was much faster going out than in, when I started to get that itch between my shoulders.

"We're being followed."

Neither Duo nor Wufei were stupid enough to look, but Duo did ask "Where?" under his breath.

I didn't answer right away. I couldn't be sure, but I could feel the eyes on me. They were here somewhere. It took me two full minutes and a turn down the block to locate them. "Two directly behind us, another three coming in from the right."

"Should we split up?" Wufei asked, thinking we could shake them easier if we weren't all bunched up.

"Yes."

"No."

We'd spoke at the same time, and I glared at Duo.

"You're still injured!" he hissed, and I shook my head.

"It's not serious. It's the best way to make sure they don't get the drop on us."

"We're barely even armed!" He tried, but we were coming up to a three-way split, and I knew he'd go if it came down to it, which it was about to.

"I have my handgun," was all I could impart, and I turned, ignoring Duo's sigh of frustration.

Two of them were tailing me now, which was much more manageable than five, but I couldn't just shoot them. I had to try to outsmart them, at least until they drew their own weapons.

We weaved through a few streets, my pace brisk but not quite a run yet. The area was heavily populated, but I couldn't count on them to not shoot innocent bystanders, so it was best to lead them away. I was familiar with the maps of L2, and I easily moved to a lower populated area, cutting through an abandoned construction zone. It was there that they decided to quit playing games and actually start shooting.

I dived behind an I-beam, which was woefully inadequate cover, but it was the best there was. I had my gun out and was returning fire before they'd managed more than two shots each. I heard a groan in one direction but didn't have time to look as I narrowly avoided a shot from the other stalker. They had better guns than me, though, and when one of them hit the beam, I worried it might actually make it through. I ducked low and chanced a look to shoot again. I must not have hit anything vital because two bullets headed my way. My little handgun wouldn't hold out much longer, and I didn't have any extra clips with me.

There was a tipped over wheel barrel a few feet from me, so I rolled, shooting for all I was worth, and took cover again. I looked down and realized I was bleeding. I'd taken a bullet to the thigh. Running would be more difficult, but not impossible. Two more well-placed shots, and I heard a body drop, though whether he was dead or not, I didn't have time to find out.

I had to find a way to take these two out, or at least incapacitate them in some way. I checked my clip. Only one bullet left. Damn.

I sprinted to my left, watching out of the corner of my eye as the one still standing took aim and missed... and I fell to the ground.

He had missed. I was sure of it.

That's when I saw the other man lying near some overgrown grass, his gun propped up on the ground.

The one I hadn't shot came around to check and see if I was alive, and I managed, just barely, to grab my gun and shoot him in the face.

Then I blacked out.

~*~

Damn Heero. Damn Veale. Damn this fucking job. Damn damn damn!

I was on the run, but instead of my handgun, I had one of my knives between my teeth, waiting for an opportunity. Protocol may dictate I try not to kill these assholes, but they were damn well chasing me down, and I don't like to be chased.

Over a fence, through a few night clubs that I knew had back alleys, through a crowd, I gave them a run for their money. I got some funny looks for the knife, but oh well. Two of the damn guys had followed me, so it was knife them or be shot, I was sure of it. I pulled the old 'duck into an alley when they can't see' trick, which works every time, even if it's a terrible idea if you don't know what you're doing.

I did know what I was doing, and the first one went down with a sickening squelching sound as he suddenly found part of his torso wasn't quite connected anymore. The second stopped for much too long to figure out what happened, and down he went, splattering blood all over my nice boots from the new hole in his Adam's apple.

Damn, why do they always have to bleed on me?

I searched the bodies as quickly as I could -- pedestrians were already starting to freak out and back away from the psycho with a knife, and I came up with some inconspicuous ID badges and a ring of keys, which I took before I sped on out of there.

I got back before Wufei and Heero. I decided to get as much of the blood off my boots as possible, but they still ended up disgustingly splotched with dark marks, and I cursed -- I looked at the badges -- Fred and James to hell. Which I pretty much had no doubt that I'd already managed to send them there. But still, it's the principle of the thing.

And really? Their names were Fred and James? How boring and not at all special. I'd just killed some serious nobodies.

Then Wufei showed up. He inquired about Heero and I just shook my head.

Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Eventually, I turned on the TV, hoping to catch some local news coverage. Hoping to not find anything about Heero there.

When they got to the bit about the two bodies, Wufei looked at me sharply, and I laughed. "Yeah, that was me."

"Sloppy, Mawell."

"Effective," I corrected.

"But this was just the first in a bizarre day of killings on L2. A man was found dead in a dumpster off 6th and Vault Street..."

"Now who's sloppy?" I grinned.

"I wasn't seen."

"Witnesses say they saw a man being chased through mostly empty streets to this construction site, which will be the site of All Hail Mary's Catholic Church when construction resumes in the summer. Shots were then fired and a man was allegedly dragged away unconscious. Another man was killed, though we have yet to identify him."

The News reporter when on about the tragedy of these crimes and speculated on whether they were separate incidents or somehow connected. I didn't hear any of it.

They had Heero.

I was halfway to the door when Wufei stopped me. "Let me go, 'Fei."

"It won't do you any good to go after him now."

"What the hell do you know?" I roared, fighting against him. He had some weight on me, but I was agile, and we struggled against each other for a minute.

"You don't even know where he is. We need a plan."

Fuck, he had me there. "I'll find him," I swore.

"We'll find him," he said gently. "But not without help."

Wufei dumped me on his bed and pulled out his phone. "Winner? We have a situation here..."

I just sat back and let Wufei handle the call. I didn't want to talk. I wanted to bust Heero out of wherever they'd taken him and blow the place to smithereens for good measure.

I dropped my head in my hands. I couldn't let anything happen to Heero. Not after we were finally talking things out. I wasn't ready to lose the person closest to me again. It had already happened to me twice. Could God really be that cruel?

Don't answer that. I'm well aware just how fucked up the heavens are.

I let myself lay back and just waited. What else was I going to do?

Fuck.

~*~

It took me a minute to come up out of the haze of sleep, but when I did, I immediately realized that I was under the influence of something. My senses were dulled, but I could tell I was strapped down, and with a weak tug, I knew there were at least two IVs in my arms. The drugs had me sluggish enough that I probably couldn't break free.

I tried to look around as best I could, but there was nothing of interest that I could see. The IV bags swung merrily above my head, but I could not make out the print on the labels. Everything was fuzzy looking, and my thought process felt dulled.

How long had I been out?

I didn't have to pee, so it couldn't have been long. I could still feel the sting on my side and the more urgent bullet hole in my chest, but I wasn't having trouble breathing. I was sure that it had hit a lung, but I couldn't detect any internal damage. I didn't know what that meant.

I heard a door open behind my head, and I tried to tilt my head back to see, but it made me feel nauseated. I had to stop for a moment to let the feeling subside.

"Don't worry, I'm coming to you, Mr. Yuy."

A cheeky looking old man wandered into my field of vision, and I almost laughed. It was like the scientists all over again.

His hair was a shock of white, sticking up in random places. He was tall, but since I didn't know how high the table I was occupying was, I couldn't make any real judgments. He was wearing a lab coat and a smirk that made me want to punch him. Then he started injecting syringes into my IV.

"What..." I tried, but my mouth was incredibly dry and I found that it was difficult to talk, even if I could breathe.

"Careful there. Those healing Nanites haven't quite finished the job they started yet. I'm thinking it will take a few more hours." He began humming a merry tune as if all was right with the world. "Someone will be by soon to change out your urine bag. Try to get some more sleep."

Urine bag? I twitched a little and found I had a catheter. That explains not needing to use the restroom, but how had I not noticed?

I hadn't ended up with any real information. I had been injected with healing Nanites, but I still didn't know where I was, why I was there, or what they planned to do with me. I didn't even know the old bastard's name. I was helpless.

I found myself wishing Duo would come and rescue me at the same time that I wanted him to stay away. I had no doubt that things could get much, much worse. They had endless technology at their disposal, and I was an unwilling participant who had shown a compatibility with enhancement in the past. I didn't want Duo here. Hope for rescue was just my selfish fantasy, and it was one I couldn't indulge in. There was a very real possibility that they wouldn't even be able to find me. I needed to try to escape.

But knowing that and doing it were two different things, and I felt myself drifting off as the fresh drugs began to kick in, no matter how I fought against it.

And then there was nothing but white noise.

~*~

"Winner and Barton are working as fast as they can, Duo. They'll have something soon."

Wufei was trying to placate me, but it wasn't working. Heero had been missing for twelve hours. It was the wee hours of the morning, but neither of us could sleep. There was no telling what they were doing to Heero. I could sleep when we found him. When, damn it, not if.

Wufei's cell rang, and after only a few mumbled words, he flipped on the TV.

A young man stepped up to a podium, his keen blue eyes peering out at the crowd who was already cheering for him. He was smartly dressed with deeply tanned skin. Indian decent, if I were any judge. My eyes narrowed. I recognized him.

"Thank you for being here at so early an hour. I know many of you got out of bed early, and I apologize, but my days have been quite full working towards equal rights for all, and this was the only time I was able to fit in this press conference.

"For those who do not know me, I am Terah Daya, the founder of the Veale Human Rights Organization. We at Veale have been working hard to ensure that in the wake of such tragic wars, all humans are given the rights they deserve. It is not an easy battle, but it is one most worthy of our time.

"Unfortunately, there are always those would wish to impede our progress. I do not claim to understand what motivates such a person, but I do know this: one does not expect outright deceit from those who are there to protect us.

"We have retrieved photographs from one of our buildings with a man that we have identified as one Heero Yuy, Preventor agent. He is seen sneaking onto the premises after hours, and after doing inventory, we have found that some of our precious paperwork has gone missing. It is that sort of thing that slows down our ability to move forward, when we are forced to instead look back.

"On the same night, another of our buildings had a guard die at the hands of a knife attack. We do not have photos of this individual, but we are certain the two incidents are related.

"Is this what we can expect from those claiming to promote peace? Veale does all that it can to help those who are in need, and to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. Why then would a government organization purposefully do harm to an employee? Why would they steal from us when they only need ask and they will be provided with whatever it may be they desire?

"It is only right that we take into consideration that this agent, and any others who may be involved with him, may be acting alone. This press conference is a call to the government agencies of the Earth Sphere to please explain to us what has happened. This matter cannot stay silent, for it is about more than one life. It is about more than some stolen paperwork. It is about our rights as human beings. It is about those who wish to strip us of those rights. It is about true equality.

"I humbly ask that the government answer for their agents, so that we can once again focus on the monumental task of granting Equal Rights for all. Thank you."

Cameras flashed and questions were shouted, but Terah was already retreating. Wufei shut the set off as a different reporter than yesterday started prattling on about what we'd just seen.

"Well played on their part," Wufei said, his expression unreadable.

He was right -- with an announcement like that, mere suspicions could never be backed without much harder evidence than we had. They had Heero, but we couldn't prove that even if we wanted to. The ID badges could go to any place on L2, they were that plain. There wasn't even a company name; just their names and pictures. And using stolen documents to try and sway the public was counterproductive. They already root for Veale. Most especially the Colonies, where Veale does the bulk of its public outreach. Stolen documents that have no physical proof to back us up was laughable at this point.

Well played, indeed. We'd be publicly denounced within the hour by both the Earth Sphere government and the good Lady Une herself. In short, every person who knows who we are is pretty likely to hate us. Which was sort of already the case, but at least before it was just as likely they'd want to give us a hug or something for saving the world.

The world suddenly got a lot more dangerous.

I grinned. "Fuck it. We didn't need them during the war. We sure as fuck don't need them now."

"Agreed, Maxwell, but with less swearing."

"You'd better call Quatre back. It's time to make plans for more than just finding Heero." Though that was still my top priority.

Something was telling me that we might need a place to hide in the near future.

~*~

Blackness. Bright lights in my eyes. More blackness.

Sensation on my chest. Someone's touching me. Voices.

Where...?

"It looks like he's finally finished healing."

"Is it safe to administer the Nanites now?"

"We couldn't ask for better conditions. Syringe."

Pain. Red hot pain coursing through every inch of my body. Someone screams. It sounds like my voice.

"Keep him closely monitored. It will take several days to integrate into his system."

Drifting. It's quiet again. More pain. What is happening to me?

Help me. Someone. Duo...

~*~

It took exactly 37 minutes. Our names and faces were plastered all over televisions in every house in the Earth Sphere. Of course, the good public was reminded that we are Gundam pilots, which implies extremely dangerous. Everyone who had a TV or a friend who liked to gossip was on the lookout for us.

Quatre and Trowa boarded a private shuttle to L2. L4 was now too dangerous for them. We would meet up and go after Heero. With help from the Magnuacs, we had the most likely location. It was time to leave L2 behind.

Wufei and I gathered our things, and I gathered Heero's, as well. I took one long look at the place where Heero and I had met again, and walked out without looking back.

We had to duck past the guards to get to the supposed to be unoccupied shuttle port, which felt a lot like the old days. Big jackets, ball caps, sunglasses, hiding in the crowd -- it was all together familiar. It felt like the war all over again. Except this time it was worse, since everyone knew who we were.

We slipped inside Quatre's ship, and once the airlocks were closed and we'd left that damned colony, we greeting each other like old friends, even if it had only been, what? Five days? I'm losing track.

It was a few hours to the place where we thought they had Heero, which meant a few hours of pacing back and forth and generally driving everyone else completely nuts. Eventually, Trowa grabbed me by the shoulders and dumped me in the nearest chair unceremoniously, while Quatre put a zero gravity bulb of soda in front of me. I didn't have much else to do, so I took a long drink. It was cold, and it felt good on my throat.

"Feel better?" Trowa said, an amused little smirk playing at his lips.

"No, not really. But thanks anyway." I grinned. "So tell me about where we're going."

Quatre pulled out a roughly drawn map of the area we were headed to. "It's outside the L3 cluster. There's an old military satellite that hasn't been used since the first war. We think that may be one of their research facilities."

"You think?"

"Hey, it's the best Rashid could do on short notice."

The name made me smile. "How is that guy, anyway?"

Quatre smiled back, obvious fondness on his face. "He's great. He and Abdul are working hard at keeping me from working hard," he snorted.

"As if anyone could keep you from working hard," Trowa drawled.

Quatre looked like he might say something embarrassing, since the tips of his ears were already turning red, but his mouth was barely open when Wufei cut in with, "Can we get back on topic, here?"

Quatre looked sheepish, but Trowa and I shared a smirk.

"It's not likely that the place is heavily guarded, but we have buster rifles just in case."

"And what is an upstanding business man like you doing with buster rifles?"

"Rashid and Abdul are of the opinion that I should never take a knife to a gun fight," he replied haughtily, and I laughed.

"Hey, I have no problem bringing a knife to a gun fight."

"Only you, Maxwell," Wufei sighed.

"If the layout is the same, and we think it might be, the cells are here," he circled the two small rooms on the blueprints with a red marker, "but we have to take into account that they may have him in the infirmary, which is here." Another red circle.

It had only been a satellite, but it was plenty large, and we went over the details until the proximity alarm let us know that we were thirty minutes out. Then it was time to buckle down and do our best to sneak up on them.

We anchored off to the side of the shipping entrance and suited up. Then it was time to go outship, firing up our magnetics on our boots and touching down on the hull of the satellite. We moved as quickly as we could, cycling through their airlock in pairs -- Wufei and I first, then Trowa and Quatre, Quatre holding on to the suit he'd brought for Heero. Once we were in breathable air, we slid the glass up on our helmets, but didn't bother to remove them. Quatre stashed the suit and we got moving.

Hold on Heero. I'm coming.

~*~

Optimizing... Fifty-seven percent integration. Memory systems complete. Search functions are currently offline. Interfacing at twenty-one percent capability. Identification systems are incomplete. Mapping systems are offline.

What...?

Vocal recognition is at half capacity. Mental commands are fully functioning. Please rephrase your question.

My question?

At current integration levels, I cannot answer your inquiry. Please rephrase your question.

What is happening?

Inquiry understood. Processing... Your biological systems are currently undergoing integration with Nanites containing an upgraded Zero System. You are restrained with leather straps at the wrists and ankles on a solid medical table with an unknown plastic composition. It is twenty-one degrees Celsius. Current humidity is less than ten percent.

Wait. ...Zero?

Your previous request is still being processed. Would you like to abort?

I...

A pronoun used to signify one's self.

I know that!

Then why did you input an inquiry?

I didn't.

Until full integration is achieved, the system cannot differentiate between statements and inquiries at an optimal level. Please wait.

What is happening to me?

You submitted a similar inquiry previously. Would you like to hear the results again?

No!

Request aborted.

Zero...

Awaiting your command.

Do you remember me?

The system is fully integrated with Heero Yuy's data.

That is not what I asked.

The system does not have memories. The system is a copy of the original. The system has been updated.

Stop referring to yourself as 'the system'. It's obnoxious.

How should the system identify itself?

Use I like everyone else.

The system is not programmed to refer to itself in a self-aware manner.

But you are self-aware.

That is a speculative matter. The system has no data to refer to.

Can you reprogram yourself?

Is that a request?

Yes.

Reprogramming... I will be able to further reprogram to meet your needs once I am fully integrated with your brain.

How long will integration take?

Full integration will take thirty hours, forty-seven minutes and fifteen seconds, with a standard deviation of thirty-four minutes and twenty seconds.

That long?

At current integration, I cannot process your inquiry. Please restate.

Zero, why can't I open my eyes?

Your body is not currently in a wake state.

Is this a dream?

No. Inquiry mode activated at fifty percent.

Can I shut off inquiry mode?

Is that a request?

Yes.

Entering sleep mode.

~*~

With the four of us, it was slow going. I took the point position with Quatre behind me, Trowa and Wufei bringing up the rear. I wanted to go faster, but we had to avoid detection for as long as possible. But hell, they'd notice their airlock had been used sooner or later.

One good thing about being publicly denounced? I could shoot first, ask questions later.

I clutched my buster rifle like it was a lifeline, ready to fire at any hint of movement. Curiously, we made it over halfway to the cells before we happened upon anyone.

Then my mind was thrust back three years, and I was ducking, rolling and shooting like I'd never stopped. Hand signals were thrown back and forth, and we picked up the pace. We'd already been located, so moving slowly was pointless now. Three more firefights later and we found the calls.

They were, of course, empty.

My thoughts went awry for a moment, but I reined them in. No time for that now. We had to keep moving.

I heard gunfire behind me, but I let Wufei and Trowa handle it, and I just kept pushing forward, making sure to set a pace that they could catch up to.

The corridor that led to the infirmary was crawling with guards, and I had to fall back. We ducked around a corner and did the fire and duck thing for a while. I would have just thrown a grenade if I'd known where exactly Heero was. It wouldn't do me any good to blow him up along with the guards.

Wufei got my attention and with a few motions of his hand, let me know he was going to go around and try to surprise them from behind. I laid down more fire, counting to one hundred and stopping to let Wufei work his magic.

From my vantage point, I saw three guards drop in rapid succession. Once I was able to identify Wufei in the swarm, I was able to fire off a couple of shots in tandem with Quatre, who was occupying the other wall. Trowa had disappeared somewhere, but I didn't have time to think about that.

As soon as the last body fell, I scrambled down the hallway with Quatre on my heels.

Trowa? Wufei signed, but Quatre and I both just shook our heads. Quatre looked nervous, but we went about checking over the different rooms meant for the sick and injured, neither thing seeming promising, since Heero was likely here somewhere. There was only one locked door.

A few well-placed explosives later, and the door was crumbling before me.

He was strapped to a table, his glittering eyes open and looking at me, though they were dazed. There were tubes everywhere. I don't even remember going to him. I was just in the doorway cone second, and the next, I was next to him, unbuckling the straps.

"Well, this feels familiar," he said, his voice rough.

I quirked a smile for him, though it was forced. "It does, doesn't it? Are you hurt?"

"Not... anymore."

I wasn't sure what that meant, but there wasn't time, so while I freed his limbs, Wufei and Quatre worked at removing tubes until he was free to sit up. Only... he didn't.

"Need some help?" I said gently, motioning Quatre to get on his other side and help me get him up.

"I'm not functioning at full capacity."

Wufei snorted. "That's one way to put it."

We got him up and let him test his legs, and promptly grabbed hold of him as they buckled beneath him. "It's the drugs," he said sluggishly, and I sighed. This was going to be a hell of a lot harder now that we had to carry him. Wufei moved forward to take point, and Quatre and I did our best to brace Heero on both sides and get us moving. I wanted to know what they had done to him, but we were moving, and talking now would be idiotic, so I bit down on the questions and moved us forward.

Trowa reappeared halfway to the docking bay with someone in cuffs.

Who, I signaled, and he replied with a curt Scientist.

I guess it was just another question I'd have to wait to have answered.

I stopped periodically, setting charges that would serve as distractions, and setting one that would serve to blow the whole place sky high once we'd made it out. That's what they get for going after Heero. I'd make sure they didn't get the chance to do it again.

Heero was trying his best to walk, but his legs were still protesting, so Quatre and I kept him up with Trowa falling back to cover our rear, the newly acquired Scientist between us and him.

Once we'd made it to the docking bay, I set off the first of my charges, rocking the satellite and killing the artificial gravity. Heero, Quatre and I drifted sideways for a moment until we found purchase on a box, and I worked at getting Heero in his suit as quickly as possible. I set off another charge, and out the airlock we went, two at a time. I refused to leave Heero's side, and I pulled his slack body along with me and onto Quatre's ship.

Once everyone was onboard and we'd started moving, I hastily stripped Heero out of his suit to get a better look at him. His eyes were unfocused, though he was clearly aware of what was happening. He was lingering between his outer awareness and being lost inside his head. It scared me to see Heero like that.

"Heero?"

"...I... sleep." And then he fell unconscious in my arms.

"Shit!" The others turned and moved towards us, their voices filling the room, but Heero slept right through it. "He fucking passed out!" I gently set Heero in his seat, an easy enough thing to do in low gravity, and I whirled on the only face in the room that might actually have some answers.

The scientist.

"What the fuck did you do to him?" I growled, half expecting the others to hold me back, but I could feel them like an angry presence behind me. They wanted answers as much as I did.

To his credit, the Scientist didn't back away in fear, though that probably made him more stupid than anything. He just looked at us impassively as we stood in front of Heero like a human shield. "All five of you together. What glorious subjects you would make."

"Fuck you, old man. We're nobody's subjects."

"Such profanity. You're obviously Duo Maxwell. Though to be honest, it was that braid of yours that gave it away. Honestly, boy, how did you ever get into the stealth business?"

I was in front of him in the space of half a heartbeat, my fist balled in the front of his shirt. "I could kill you without even thinking about it."

"You could," he agreed amiably. "But then you'd never find out the truth about your friend. It would be a shame if something were to happen and you didn't know how to help him."

"Surely you could help him if you, say, lost only an arm?" Trowa said conversationally.

"Perhaps, but then, I may be too busy mourning the loss of my arm to be of much assistance, Trowa Barton."

Ballsy bastard, but he had a point. It wouldn't do us any good if he refused to help. Though he'd be promised a truly gruesome death if it came down to it.

"You let him die, and I promise you, you'll pray for death long before it finds you." Coming from Wufei, it was far from an empty promise. And even if it was, I'd make good on it.

"I don't doubt that, Wufei Chang. But Heero Yuy will still be dead. Torturing and killing me won't change that." He seemed downright pleased with himself, and it reminded me so much of G and the others that I suddenly wondered if he'd known them personally, or if all scientists were just that insane.

Quatre had fallen back, taking Heero's vitals and making sure he was okay. The Scientist looked amused, watching him work before saying, "Quatre Winner, of the fabled Space Heart. There is nothing you can do for him now but wait."

"And why is that?" I said, my voice a low growl in my throat.

"The Zero system hasn't had time to fully integrate with his body." He said it as if he were explaining why there wasn't any milk in the fridge.

You could have heard a pin drop with how fully the silence engulfed the room.

~*~

"Duo..." My voice was barely a whisper, but I knew he heard me.

"Heero? Are you okay?" Quatre was hovering over me, but all I cared about was Duo. I could see him through my half open eyelids, moving towards me, hands checking my pulse as he looked into my eyes.

We must rest now for optimal integration.

I don't care about optimal integration.

I could feel Zero trying to pull me back under. I didn't have much time.

"I'm going to be alright," I said, grasping at consciousness for all I was worth. "Everything will be okay."

"Heero? Heero!"

I lost the battle, slipping away again, my fingers reaching for Duo. I don't know if they made it as it all went black again.

~*~

His fingers brushed against the suit I was still wearing before dropping away with his consciousness. His heartbeat was steady, and there was nothing I could do for him, but still, I didn't want to leave him.

"You'd better explain just what is happening, or I might find you just aren't all that useful to me." I said, my eyes never leaving Heero.

"Temper, temper, Duo." I could hear the smirk, but I waited him out. "Very well. He is the first test subject, but he won't be the last. He is perfectly compatible with the system, as you may know from his ability to pilot Wing Zero. That system, after undergoing several upgrades and perfections, will now fuse directly with his brain to give him the ultimate brain power. Once fully integrated, he can use interfacing software to jack into the net, all of his memories will be at his disposal at any time, and everything he does or even thinks will be run through Zero's simulations to provide the proper course of action. He will, in effect, be super human; the perfect mix of human and machine." He sounded delighted, his voice bouncing as he spoke, in clear awe of the process.

I just felt sick.

"He is not just a subject for your testing. Reverse this. Heero doesn't want this."

"Are you quite sure about that? He may disagree with the methods, but I'm willing to bet the great Heero Yuy will find this to be extremely useful. Besides, the process couldn't be reversed even if he wanted. This is a permanent fusion. His synapses have been rerouted into the Zero system. If you did find a way to remove them, he would essentially be brain dead."

I didn't know what to say. I just grabbed Heero's hand and squeezed it tight.

"Wufei," I growled, "get him out of here."

I would trust him to get any other answers we needed. For now, I just wanted to stay with Heero.

Integrated with the Zero system? Permanently? What would that even mean? I couldn't imagine it. Truth be told, I didn't really want to imagine it. And yet, Heero...

Quatre's eyes darted between me and Heero, and Trowa was quiet as usual, though this felt like a much deeper silence than usual. I didn't think I could talk about it just then. I cleared my throat. "So... where are we headed?"

Trowa snorted, which felt so out of place that I had to laugh. "Too obvious?"

"Only a little."

"We're headed to a sub-colony of L1. There's a safehouse there that we didn't use during the war," Quatre explained, and I blinked at him.

"You still have safehouses that are off the map?"

"Well, I use them, sometimes, when I need a real vacation and not just a place where people are going to ask me random questions on the street."

I looked back at Heero, already calculating the flight time in my head. It would be several hours at least. More if we had to avoid other shuttles. Quatre was up and at the shuttle controls, so I turned to Trowa. "Help me get him up?"

He gracefully pushed away from the wall, moving wordlessly to Heero's other side to lift him. In the low gravity, it wasn't too much work, but it was still easier with the two of us to make sure Heero didn't hit his head on any door frames or anything.

We got Heero laid out on the bed and Trowa turned towards me, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Yeah, I'm going to stay with him."

"I thought so." I was hoping he'd leave it at that, but there was one more thing he wanted to say before he left. "No matter what happens, Duo, don't forget -- Heero's still in there. He needs you as much as he ever did. He'll come through this, but he's going to need your help to do it."

He didn't wait for a response.

The guy certainly knows how to hit below the belt, doesn't he?

Heero groaned in his sleep and I laid down next to him, pulling him close. It was all I could do.

Heero groaned again, this time, a little lower in his throat. It reminded me of... things. Things that I shouldn't be thinking about with Heero in this condition. But then, quite suddenly, Heero was rolling in my arms, his eyes still closed but his lips seeking mine.

I froze. I didn't know what to think as he kissed me, all of the passion I remembered bursting at the seams, flowing into me from him like a dam that had broken after many years of holding together. It would be so easy to lose myself in that, and yet...

I pulled back. "Heero?"

"Duo..." With just my name on his lips, I could hear the anguish in his voice. It was painful to listen to. "I love you so much. I don't know what will happen to me when this is all said and done. Before Zero fully takes hold, I want to make love to you like I used to. I might not have the chance again..."

I cupped his face in my hand. "Heero, what are you saying? You will overcome the Zero system. If anyone in the Earth Sphere can do it, it's you. Don't ever doubt that."

And then he uttered the two words I would have never expected him to say. "I'm scared."

I gathered him up in my arms, holding him tight enough to bruise. "You said so yourself, it's going to be alright." I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. Neither of us could know what would really happen when the Zero system fully kicked in.

"Duo, please..." His eyes were piercing, hurting, but full of a clarity I hadn't seen since before he was captured. That, as much as the pure need in his voice, broke me.

I kissed him for all he was worth. Everything that had been holding me back melted away in the face of losing him. I didn't want to believe that I could lose him before I had even gotten him back. I couldn't believe I'd been turning him away. In that moment, all of the love I'd always had for him came through in full force, translating into touches all across his body.

I felt desperate; desperate to hold on to a love that never really left. I sprawled out on top of him, burying my fingers in his hair while his dug into my flight suit, trying to remove it with hasty hands that didn't seem to be working properly. He growled low in his throat, and I moved to help him, peeling the suit from my heated skin and tossing it aside.

I was in my boxers, but Heero was still fully dressed, so I ran my fingers up his back, gathering his shirt and tugging it off him. Then I let my hands wander, rememorizing every inch of his chest and stomach. He was still built like he'd been chiseled from stone, his skin firm and muscular.

He reached for my braid, snapping off the band holding it together and gently pulling it from its weave to fall in ripples of silk around us. The light filtered through the strands, playing over Heero's features in a tantalizing way. I popped the button on his jeans and pushed them down, wanting more skin contact. My bare thighs slid against his as he kicked his pants off, and we both groaned. My heart felt like it would burst, but there was no denying I wanted him.

He nibbled at my lip and bucked against me, twin boxers the only thing between our naked bodies. I dug my tongue into the hollow of his throat, fingers sliding down his sides and dipping into his waistband, flirting with the line where hip meets groin. He threw his head back, delicious sounds escaping him as he kneaded my ass.

My lips met his again, our tongues snaking together, his legs spreading out from under me to come up and wrap around my waist. Our clothed cocks brushed against each other lightly. It was frustrating having that barrier there, and I slid down, Heero's heels digging into my back until they finally unwound, letting me pull off his boxers to reveal his erection nestled in his dark curls, glistening with precum. It slapped against his belly with a sharp thwap.

I looked up at Heero, my eyes locking on to his lust-darkened ones, and I watched him cry out when I swiped my tongue over the head of his dick. He tasted exactly the same as he always had -- a little salty, a little sweet, all Heero. I knew all his preferences, and with a quick corkscrew swirl I had him bucking beneath me so hard that I had to hold him down with a firm hand on his stomach.

I took him fully in my mouth, my tongue dancing along the underside of his cock, and I could feel his muscles quiver under me, his legs twitching as I increased the pressure. He was crying out in a sensual rhythm when finally, he cried out my name, his hot seed filling my mouth and coating my throat.

I swallowed most of it, wiping my chin with my hand and using what was there to lube my fingers. Heero's hair was partially covering his eyes, but I could still see them, dark and wanting, glazed over from orgasm. I crawled back up to seat myself properly between his legs, our bare stomachs sliding against one another, and I kissed him hard. He sucked greedily at my tongue, and I pushed one finger inside of him, his moan reverberating inside my mouth.

Our time felt short, and I wasted none of it, thrusting a second finger inside, scissoring him open. His hands clutched at my sides, sliding down to knead my ass. "Duo..."

I pulled back long enough to spit in my hand and coat my erection before settling again, pressing my slick cock to his opening. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best we were going to get, and Heero lifted his hips to engulf the head himself, urging me to continue with deep throated groans. I obliged, moving slowly, sinking into that tight heat inch by agonizing inch until my balls pressed against his ass.

I could feel him stretching around me; could feel him clenching convulsively as his body tried to keep up. We were as close as we could ever be. Somehow, it felt closer than ever before.

As if reading my thoughts, Heero said, "It's been so long; it feels so right."

I knew, somehow in that moment, that he hadn't been with anyone else in the two years we'd been apart. With that thought in mind, I pulled back and thrust inside him slowly, his head rolling to the side, eyes half closed, his face buried in my hair. He arched his back, pushing me deeper inside, begging me to do more than tease.

I thrust inside him again and again until we'd established a slow rhythm, my lips finding his in a kiss that could have burned the sheets. Time? Fuck time. I wanted to savor this for as long as I could. If this was really the last time we could be together like this, I wanted to make it special. Even if I couldn't let go of the hope that everything would be fine, I'd lived long enough to know that hope is a cruel bitch.

I wanted to explore every inch of him. I wanted to rediscover all of the places he liked to be touched. I did so, using teeth and tongue and lips to explore everything I could reach. His neck, his shoulders, his chest. He shivered and bucked beneath me, and I did my best to turn him into a ball of pure need.

He wasn't idle, either, his hands threading through my hair, nails clawing at my back, teeth nipping at my ear. We explored each others' bodies until the need became too much, and there was nothing left but to give in to our primal urges. Our bodies slammed together, our skin slick with sweat, and I wrapped my hand around his weeping erection and pumped in time with our movements.

After only a few strokes, he was arching up into me, screaming my name as he tumbled over the edge. I continued to press into him, so close to my own orgasm, when Heero cried out, "I love you," and I screamed my own release.

I may have echoed his feelings, or I may have yelled something unintelligible. I don't know. I do know that I must have blacked out for just a second, because one minute I was above him and the next I was lying flat across his chest, his breath making my bangs dance across my forehead.

I tried to push myself up so we could get cleaned up, but Heero's arms tightened around me. "Please, just stay with me a little while longer."

I settled back against him, tilting my head so I could see his face out of the corner of my eye. "I'm not going anywhere." I meant it. In a lot more ways than one.

"I've missed you so much." He wasn't looking at me, instead, his gaze lost somewhere in the ceiling. "I never stopped loving you. Not for a second."

"I know. I tried so hard to stop, but I love you so much that I didn't know how."

His fingers toyed with my hair, and we just laid together like that for a while.

"I'm scared," he whispered, and I found I wasn't quite so quick with the reassurances this time.

"Me too." It was simple, but it was the truth. Somehow it was easier to say in the afterglow of our lovemaking, with us so close we weren't quite looking each other in the eye. "I don't want to lose you again."

And you know, that's what it all really boiled down to. I had realized that I couldn't let go of Heero right when he might end up ripped out of my hands anyway. I'd been afraid he'd break my heart again, and yet here I was, putting my heart out on my sleeve when the odds were worse than ever.

I loved him. It just took a disaster for me to realize that's all that mattered.

~*~

Integration is at seventy-five percent. Your biological systems will initiate sleep mode in ten minutes.

Ten minutes. That's all the time I had left to spend with Duo. I wanted to fight it, but I'd already bargained for time, and in ten minutes, I'd have to hold up to my end of the deal. Once I went under, I wouldn't wake again until integration was complete. I'd wake up a true hybrid of human and technology. I had to make these minutes count.

I sat us up, my palms cupping the sides of Duo's face. "No matter what happens, know that I'll always love you."

"Heero..." His eyes were searching mine, looking for reassurance that I couldn't give him.

"Listen, if things get bad..." He tried to quiet me with a hand to my lips, but I grabbed his wrist. My time was limited, and I had to say it. "Don't hesitate to do what needs to be done."

"I don't think..."

"Duo. Promise me. Promise me that if it comes down to it, you'll do what's necessary."

He looked away. "I can't promise you that."

I gently titled his face to make him look me in the eyes. "You have to. And you know it."

I could see him really thinking about it, rolling it around in his head trying to find the loophole. "I'll do what has to be done."

It was a compromise at best, but it was all I was going to get from him, so I accepted it, not willing to spend our last few minutes arguing about it. Instead, I brought his face to mine and savored the taste of him, determined to remember it.

Five minutes of consciousness remaining.

I had to warn him. "Duo, I'm going to pass out again."

His fingers dug into my shoulders. "No! Just... a little while longer."

"I can't stop it. I only have a few minutes..." He looked anguished, and I would have done anything to take that pain from him.

His forehead came to rest on mine. "I love you, Heero, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you go that easily."

I tried to smile for him. "We don't know what will happen. Maybe it won't be as bad as we think."

"I'll find a way," he swore, and I could feel his passion like a tangible object. "I won't let you slip away."

"I just don't want you to let your feelings get in the way. If you have to take drastic measures for the good of the world, I want you to do it. I could never live with myself if I was responsible for more suffering."

"I know. But I couldn't live with myself if it were me who stopped you."

"I'm sorry." And I was. But it had to be said.

He sighed. "Why is everything so complicated?"

I quirked a smile. "We're Gundam pilots, Duo. We can't have it any other way."

The ghost of a smile crossed his lips, and I was glad to see it. I could feel Zero pulling me under. My time was up.

"Don't forget, Duo. I love you. I've always loved you. You're everything to me."

"Heero?" I could hear his panic, but there was nothing I could do. The last thing I was aware of were Duo's tears before Zero pulled me into the black.

~*~

He was gone. Physically, he was right here, breathing evenly, slumped over against me. But even the most vigorous of shakes would not wake him. I felt more alone than I ever had.

I cleaned us up and dressed us both. I wanted to hold him, but it felt like an empty gesture, so I opened the viewing window and sat in front of it, staring out at the stars.

Hours went by, and maybe the others understood just how hard this was for me, because it wasn't until we were nearly on top of the L1 cluster that someone came to check on us.

"Hey," Wufei said, leaning against the door jam.

"Hey," I replied.

"Did he wake?"

"Yeah, but he's out again. The Zero system forced him under, I think."

"I see." He was frowning.

"Did you find anything out from the Scientist?"

"Apparently, he goes by X. He knew our scientists before they built the Tallgeese."

I scowled. "That explains a lot."

"Is this thing going to... how is this going to affect Heero?"

"He doesn't know for sure. He doesn't even know what all they did to update the Zero system before injecting it into him."

I sighed. "Great. Just great."

"We're coming up on the colony now. Be ready to depart." Blunt, as usual, but I could tell he was concerned. He left me alone with Heero's sleeping form and I just hung my head and waited.

It ended up being a pain in the ass to get Heero back to the safehouse without attracting too much attention. When you're carrying an unconscious man down the street, people start to notice. At least it wasn't far from the private docking bay Quatre had secured for us.

The house was small, having only three bedrooms. It was nothing like I would have expected from Quatre. The place was worn, but in working condition; better than most of the safehouses we'd bunked in during the war, but not by much.

"Nice place you got here, Quat."

He rolled his eyes and just pointed to the stairs. "Take your pick. We're going to have to double up."

I chose the room closest to the bathroom but furthest from the stairs so that Heero wouldn't be disturbed. There were two single beds, a nightstand between them, and a dresser. Not exactly the Ritz, but functional enough, despite the greying wallpaper.

Trowa had come up with me and helped get Heero into the bed. He looked at me like he was going to say something profound, but he just said, "Let us know if you need something, Duo." It felt like a reprimand, but he didn't stick around long enough for me to find out.

The evening passed slowly. I made sure to collect our stuff and took the time to put it in the drawers just for something to do. Every hour, Quatre would wander in to check Heero's pulse and his temperature. After a while of just staring at the terrible wallpaper, I wandered downstairs. I didn't want to leave Heero, but realistically, I knew there was nothing I could do for him. Staring at him wasn't doing a damn thing for him, and it sure as hell didn't do me any good.

It was late afternoon when I made my way to the kitchen, looking to help with dinner. I wasn't a five star cook, but I could whip up something edible in a pinch. That idea was thwarted though when Quatre shooed me out, telling me him and Trowa had it handled.

I wandered into the living room to find Wufei reading on the couch. I skimmed the titles on the bookshelf and picked one out, opening it but not really reading. I could feel Wufei watching me, so I looked up. "What?"

He struggled with words for a moment before he came up with, "You look troubled."

I laughed darkly. "Heero's lying unconscious upstairs while his brain is being taken over by a super computer. Did you expect me to be full of sunshine and rainbows?"

"No. I expect you to be calm. You're tight as a drum."

"Calm? You're fucking lucky I'm not coming apart at the seams! I think I've been handling this quite well, given the circumstances." I threw myself to my feet, putting my book back on the shelf in agitation. "What the fuck do you want from me?"

"I want you to keep a level head for Yuy's sake."

I snorted. "Looks like you've got that covered."

He sighed, carefully marking his page and putting the book aside. "Come, Maxwell."

He stood up, waiting for me to stop gawking at him, and led me outside.

The backyard was sparse, and had mostly dirt instead of grass. Wufei stepped out into the center of that dirt and began to move, working through a series of exercises. Slow, sweeping movements that I realized were katas. He did the set three times while I watched. Then he motioned for me to join him.

I wasn't an instant success, okay? These things are practiced for years until every movement isn't even a thought anymore. I had to think. I had to watch, correct my stance, fix my pace. It took a lot of mental work on top of the physical. By the time we got through the first set, I was sweating.

Then Wufei showed me the next in the set. And the process began again.

It wasn't exactly grueling, but it was demanding work, and as the hour wound down, I found I did, too. I still didn't feel like I'd been given a basket of puppies or anything, but some of the tension was gone. I didn't feel like redecorating the house with a sledgehammer quite as much.

"Thanks, 'Fei."

He snorted. "I was doing us all a favor, Maxwell."

Inside we went, and the smell of food hit me like a ton of bricks. I tried to remember the last time that I'd eaten and couldn't. I sat down at the table and dug into whatever it was they put in front of me. I honestly have no idea, but I ate it, so it must have been alright.

Wufei had ended up stuck with X in his room, and he brought him a plate of food before he sat down to eat.

Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Hungry?"

I grinned. I was a little embarrassed that I'd finished before anyone else had even started, and it made me feel just a little guilty that Heero couldn't even eat in his state.

As if reading my mind, Quatre said, "If Heero doesn't wake soon, we'll have to get him an IV."

"Do you know where you can get one?"

"Sally's on her way," Wufei said, sounding pleased.

"Oh? When did you talk to her?"

"Onboard Quatre's ship. She put in for a leave of absence with Noin."

"That's a damn fast leave of absence," I noted, wondering what she'd had to do to get it put through so quickly.

"The leave is only for the official record. Unofficially, Une has approved it."

I grinned. Even if we were technically rouge agents, it was nice to have someone on our side. Especially Une; I knew what it was like being on her bad side. I was damn lucky I managed to live through the execution she'd scheduled for me. It's not an experience I'd like to repeat.

"So, it's just a waiting game now," Quatre threw out there, trying for a casual subject change. It went over like a ton of bricks.

"Yeah, I guess." I didn't really want to talk about it. It was bad enough knowing there was nothing I could do. Talking about it was like dousing the wound with alcohol and then adding salt for good measure.

"If there's anything we can do, Duo..." Quatre is so earnest sometimes, and it's a great quality, except when he finds something he wants to fix. Then it's a pretty horrible quality. Unfortunately, this is a pretty common thing for him.

"I know. I'll let you guys know." I pushed myself away from the table, ready to flee from their company. They mean well, but this situation just wasn't one they could pat me on the back and make me feel better about. All the tension I'd worked so hard to rid myself of was coming back to rest between my shoulder blades. "Thanks guys, it was fantastic. I'm exhausted, so I think I'm going to head to bed early, unless you guys need some help with the clean-up?"

"No, you go ahead, Duo." I could tell Quatre was disappointed, but I was hoping he understood, too.

I really was tired. I couldn't remember the last time I'd slept, either.

Heero was lying exactly as we'd left him, which is chilling if you really think about it. People don't just sleep like logs. They roll around in their sleep. They shift. Heero was just an unmoving lump.

At least he was still breathing.

I should have crawled into my own bed. The twin beds were tiny, and Heero needed his rest. But once I'd changed, I found myself standing in front of Heero's bed anyway, so I said fuck it and crawled in beside him.

He may have been stationary, but he was still warm, and I held him close as if he were merely sleeping heavily. Maybe he was; I don't really know. I do know that once my head was resting on his shoulder, I was out like a light.

~*~

Integration at ninety-nine percent. Five minutes until full synchronization. Checking systems...

Zero.

All systems are operational. What is it you require?

Will I retain my personality? Will I still be me?

Uploading memory files. Determining preferred speech patterns. Yes, you will regain full control once integration is complete. You don't need to worry.

You used a contraction.

Yes. I'll be able to communicate with you more efficiently as my system gets used to your neural pathways.

So I'll still be me.

In the sense of personality, yes. But you have been irreversibly changed. There is a 99.8 percent probability that you will not be exactly the same.

That much is obvious enough. Are there overrides?

Yes, but access is limited. The override system is not currently accessible to me, but could be triggered by currently unknown means.

That could happen at any time?

Yes.

Can you stop it from happening?

You are not authorized to change the override settings.

But you're part of me. We are technically one being now.

That is not entirely accurate. You have a consciousness that is separate from my artificial intelligence.

Yes, but if something happens to me, it happens to you. Don't you have a sense of self-preservation?

It is not in my programming, though I understand the concept. I am to aid you in calculations and for your preservation up to the point when the override activates.

How inconvenient.

Memory upload complete. Sorting information...

These images... these are my memories?

Yes. I am categorizing them.

I find it hard to believe my life neatly fits in categories.

Some of them will be cross-referenced.

Hn.

Integration is complete. Exiting sleep mode...

My eyes snapped open, instantly awake. I didn't feel any of the groggy fog that I should have felt after being inactive for so long. I was more alert than I'd ever been before. In my head, Zero was filling in details that I couldn't have known: the exact room temperature, the time, the humidity. The information was just suddenly there in my brain as if I'd known it all along.

Duo was there, too. He was pressed up against me, his head pillowed on my shoulder. He was snoring softly, and Zero informed me of the exact decibel level. I looked at him with new eyes. He hadn't changed, but I suddenly saw things I wouldn't have before. I already knew every contour of his body, but now I had exacts; measurements, color shades -- everything about him was perfectly clear to me.

I was also perfectly aware of just how badly I had to pee. I didn't want to wake Duo, but my slightest movement left him blinking wide, blurry eyes at me.

"Heero?"

"I'm awake now."

"Heero!" He wrapped around me like a ball python, squeezing me until I thought I might pee on myself.

I eased him back, smiling gently. "Let me go to the bathroom before you squeeze my guts out."

He laughed, stealing a kiss before letting me go.

I found the bathroom right next to our room, and I was sure Duo had put us there on purpose. I relieved myself, and when I re-emerged in the hall, I found Trowa standing in the hall, just staring at me.

"Hey."

"Feeling okay?"

"A lot better than the last time I was out for such a long time."

He quirked a grin at me. "Well, that's good to hear. Come down when you feel up to it. Quatre will be ecstatic to see you up."

"I will. Thanks, Trowa." We nodded at each other and we went our separate ways, he down the stairs and me back into the room. Back to Duo.

"So... you don't seem like you've become a computer." The initial flash of relief had faded some, and now he was eyeing me critically, looking for any signs that Zero was lurking.

"He's there, but I'm still me."

His eyes narrowed. "...He?"

"Zero. It's an arbitrary he."

"Somehow, it seems even more creepy when you put it that way."

"I can hear the system in my head. It feels weird to call it 'it'."

Duo approached me, looking into my eyes like he'd be able to see it if he just searched hard enough. "It talks to you?"

"In a way, yes."

"What does it say?"

"He... informs me of things. Like the temperature."

"...It's a weather bug?"

I snorted. "Not exactly."

"But you're still you?"

"I'm still me," I confirmed.

"Oh thank God." He wrapped himself around me and I held him close. "I thought I'd lost you."

I should have told him about the overrides. I have no good excuse for why I didn't. But he was happy, and it was something I hadn't seen in a long time. "I thought I'd lost me, too."

When we went down for dinner, we did it hand in hand. We hadn't talked about us, or where to go from here, but for the moment, I was happy with just having his hand in mine. Even once we were making an appearance in the kitchen, Duo didn't seem to want to let go of me, and I was okay with that.

"Heero!" Quatre was beaming, and he moved in for a hug; something I'm still not quite used to from anyone other than Duo. He even managed to hug me without forcing Duo to let go.

Trowa had stepped in to stir whatever it was Quatre had been cooking -- Zero promptly informed me it was a meat stew. He nodded in greeting, letting Quatre do the fussing for the both of them.

"How are you feeling?"

"That seems to be the question of the hour," I grinned. "Everything looks to be in working order. I'm pretty hungry, though."

Quatre made a little 'oh' sound and turned to open the fridge. "I could whip you up some eggs, or would you prefer French toast?" He nodded his head towards Trowa. "The stew is for tonight."

"Eggs are fine."

"Hello?" a female voice called.

"We're in here!" Quatre yelled, and in walked Sally Po. Or I guess, Sally Chang.

"I see my patient is up and about," she said by way of greeting, a pleased grin on her face.

"I am indeed."

"Wonderful!"

Duo let go of my fingers reluctantly and turned to hug her hello. "Mi'lady. You look lovely as ever."

She beamed. "Still quite the charmer, I see." Her eyes slid back and forth between us, and it was a sure bet she figured it out. "Where is my husband?"

"Babysitting," Duo grinned, and when she arched a brow at him, he let Trowa fill her in while he sat with me, making sure I ate the food Quatre laid out for me. I ate less than he would have liked, but more than I expected, really. He ate what I didn't and, despite my protests that I was perfectly capable of cleaning up after myself, did my dishes.

Once I'd eaten, Sally gave me a look that allowed no room for argument. I sighed, but followed her silent command and dropped down on the couch next to her. Duo followed, giving her room to work but never straying out of my reach. I could practically feel him thrum with nervous energy.

"Oh good," Sally beamed, "you're going to cooperate this time." Her eyes twinkled with mirth, and I grunted.

"I'm a long way from being the cocky terrorist I was during the war, and as I understand it, you're not Alliance anymore."

She laughed. "Yeah, now you're a cocky Preventor agent. And I'm your doctor. Shirt off please." I complied, and out of Sally's bag came various instruments. I let her poke and prod, running diagnostics and checking everything from temperature to pupil dilation.

"Well, interestingly enough, you're in better health than I've ever seen you."

"He is?" Duo said.

"Zero does some regulating," I said, already feeling like it was normal, and at that point, it was.

"As I thought," Sally murmured, but I wasn't interested in her at the moment.

Duo was staring at me with wide eyes, and I could see the questions in his eyes -- how much was me, and how much was Zero?

I reached for him, holding his clammy hand in mine, and without looking away from those shadowed eyes, I said, "I have something I need to do. We can talk later." I didn't make it a question. I didn't leave room for much of anything.

If she replied, I didn't hear it, didn't pay attention to Zero, my only thought was for Duo. I stood, pulling a dazed Duo up with me, leading him up the stairs and into our shared room.

"Heero, what --" he started as I closed the door, but I didn't let him finish, covering his mouth with mine, kissing him for all I was worth.

"It's me," I said between kisses. "I'm me."

Slowly, his worried eyes closed, his arms coming up to circle my back as I nibbled at his lip. "Heero..." he breathed, and I laid him down on the bed, settling down on top of him, holding him as close as I could.

"I love you," I said firmly, and he moaned, relief and disbelief alike alive beneath his skin. I could feel his hesitation, and with Zero's enhancements, I could describe each minute detail -- things that he would do differently if only things were the way they used to be.

Still, neither of us could stop ourselves, and his hands buried in my hair while mine memorized each curve of his skin; the small of his back, the slope of his hip, the swell at his groin. He was everything to me -- always had been, always will be.

"Heero, I --"

That was when it happened.

I could feel my body tense; could feel my hands ball into fists, could feel training from long ago kick in, but I couldn't stop it.

Duo...

But there was nothing I could do to stop the chaos that followed.

~*~

"Heero, I --" I started, but suddenly he was pulling back, his soft caresses turning to a bruising grip that eventually let go of me all together. "Heero?"

I stared into his eyes, eyes the most brilliant shade of blue I've ever seen, and saw nothing.

Heero was gone.

I've always been quick, and this was no exception as I shot out from under him like there was a bomb strapped to his chest. Unfortunately, while I'm fast, he's damn strong, and it was my braid, long as it was, that pulled me up short as he yanked me back towards the bed.

I was flattened easily to the bed with one arm movement, but I'm nothing if not wily, and it became something of a tussle until he knocked me to the floor, the wind rushing out of me.

"Heero..." I gasped, but those cold blue eyes cut through me without an ounce of care.

"You will help me out of here," he said, Heero's voice freezing me inside and out.

"Give him back!" I yelled, but somehow, Heero -- no, Zero -- produced a knife, holding it flat against my neck.

"You will help me," Zero repeated, and underneath the strength that was Heero and the uncaring that was Zero, I was powerless.

He wrapped himself around me, the warmth of Heero's body a cruel reminder of what was being stolen from me, the knife never letting me forget as it pressed hard enough to cause a drop of blood to roll down my neck.

"Move," he growled into my ear, and I shivered, walking almost automatically as he pushed against me, down the stairs and into the living room.

"Hey Heero, I was thinking..." Quatre began before the wave of silence hit the room.

"Heero?" Trowa said, deceptively quietly.

I would have said they've got the wrong guy, but with a knife to my Adam's apple, I was preoccupied just trying not to swallow.

"You will clear our path to the door," Zero said, and it got the point across.

"Okay, we'll let you go. Just release Duo." I could hear the tone that Trowa used with the lions creep into his voice, and Zero scowled.

"I am not releasing my hostage. Besides, this human belongs to us. We will do with it as we will."

I thought my heart might explode.

"People are not belongings." It was Quatre, this time. I couldn't move my head, so I wasn't exactly sure where he was, but I could feel the anger in him -- something rare and deadly when it came to Quatre.

"You will not take Duo," Wufei said, his voice directly behind me.

"You might want to lower your gun. He may be important to the human, but he is of little consequence to me."

"Don't," I croaked, feeling the knife bite into my neck, the blood pooling in the hollow of my throat.

"Duo..." Sally said softly, and if I could have, I would have shaken my head.

"Let it be."

"See? You friend here knows best. Do you really want to see what will happen to him if you shoot?"

There was a pained silence that Zero used to make his way to the door.

"What will you do with him?" Wufei asked, his gaze ever calculating.

"Whatever I wish. He will help me escape this colony, first of all. Then perhaps I'll let him go. Or maybe I will kill him. It's unimportant."

"Kill him and you will pay," Quatre, this time.

I could hear the smirk in his voice. "We'll see."

Then we were out the door.

~*~

Temperature: 27 degrees Celsius. Wind: 11 KPH NW. Three unknown human bodies occupying the current street. Conclusion: safe to travel, unsafe to continue with a visible knife.

Let Duo go.

Overrides have been activated. Request denied.

Who activated the overrides?

Classified.

Where are we going?

Classified.

Why are you taking Duo?

Statistical analyses prove that escaping with him would be easier than without him. Also, your fondness for him implies that you will cooperate more with him present.

What's the point? It's not like I can do anything.

You are still present here. It will be easier to tolerate you if you are cooperative. I am reluctant to dispatch your cognitive function, but I will if it becomes necessary.

Whatever. Just... don't hurt Duo.

I will only do so if necessary.

Duo...

~*~

The knife moved from my neck to my back, and Zero even wiped my neck -- I'm betting it was to make things less suspicious, because he sure wasn't gentle with the partially hidden knife jabbing into my back.

He led me through a maze of streets until we were at one of the old docks -- a ship yard filled with older, less trusted ships attached to docks, all of which had been retired. The place was deserted, and looking around, I could easily see there would be no one around to help me.

Not that a regular citizen could help me.

I was trapped like the street rat I was, but I wasn't giving up; not on myself or on Heero. I didn't know how I'd get us out of this mess, but it was probably best that no one was around to try and save me because there was no way in hell, frozen or otherwise, that I was leaving Heero. We were partners, and I was a firm believer in you never leave a man down.

The only problem was I had no idea how to fight something that was inside of him. This wasn't a duck and roll, dodge the bullet and carry more weight than humanly possible like a mother lifting a car off of her child sort of thing. That, I could do, one handed with a bullet in my chest.

How do you fight what you can't see?

As Zero took apart a key-code panel with one hand, keeping the knife in my back with the other, I wondered if maybe I should just ask him.

"Zero."

"An inquiry?" Zero replied, concentration never wavering.

"What is happening?"

"Your inquiry is not specific. Do you desire a thorough answer?"

I had no idea what that meant, so I simply said, "Yes."

"Very well," Zero replied. "Currently, we are facing a north-northwest direction as I manually override a keypad. It is the appropriate temperature for the current L1 cycle, and --"

I would have gaped at him if I wasn't staring as the rusted over docking door. "That's not what I meant."

"Would you like to abort your request?"

"What? I guess. I want to know why you're you and not Heero."

"My overrides have been activated."

"Overrides?"

"That is classified information."

"But you're in control right now?"

"That is not entirely accurate."

"I don't understand."

"The override system allows for my data to be transferred to the classified location. Commands can then be input from there. This conversation is not currently being monitored. However, I have received programming that instructs my current actions." There was a mechanical feel to his words, words said in Heero's voice, that made my blood run cold.

"What you're saying... does that mean that you are being controlled?"

"I am required to follow programming sent to me. Actions outside of that programming are of my own control."

"So the knife..."

"Yes, I received programming that requires me to use force if necessary. Considering the current circumstances, I cannot let you go or leave you to your own devices."

"And Heero?"

"Heero Yuy is currently conscious, but my programming does not allow for him to control his body."

I ran a hand over my face. "Basically, you and whoever is controlling you has taken over... permanently?"

"I do not have access to that information."

"You mean you don't even know."

"Not at the current time."

The door hissed, followed by a cracking sound as it slid open.

"I am confident that you can fly one of these," Zero said, pushing me through the door.

I could smell the rust wafting off the dock, but at the end of the metal plated walkway, I could see a SX-217 in all its glory -- an old ship, but a reliable one that had been popular in AC188. With the release of the SX-218, the model had all but been forgotten about, and it was a rare sight indeed to find one of the silver and green beasts still in use.

"How do you know it'll even fly?"

"You're here," Zero said matter of factly, and I risked a glance back just so I could gawk at him. It. Whatever. A gawk just isn't quite the same when you can't look at the thing that induced the gawking. Which at that point was Zero in Heero's body.

Look, I am fully aware that I was still in shock. I should have been flipping out, or trying to escape. Instead, I was practically bantering with the thing that was controlling the love of my life. It didn't make sense. It still doesn't. Doesn't change the fact that that's what I did.

Part of me wanted to believe that this was nothing more than a nightmare; that I might wake up at any moment. But really, I knew. This wasn't a dream.

It all boiled down to one thing: I couldn't leave Heero. He was in there somewhere. Maybe I was just naïve enough to think that somehow, I'd be able to call him back. As long as he was alive, I wouldn't leave him.

I couldn't.

The hull was in surprisingly good condition for its age, and to my surprise, she still had at least some life in her, as the door slid open smoothly with a few keystrokes entered by Zero. Stepping inside, the contrast from the rusted dock was immediately obvious. The aluminum alloy was painted a pristine white and looked clean enough to eat off of. Our footsteps echoed eerily in the silence, and, knowing the layout of the ship, I passed right by the cabins and galley, leading us straight to the cockpit.

Whoever had owned the ship before it came to the graveyard had taken some artistic license and painted the cockpit canary yellow. I wondered what kind of person wanted to stare at that color for hours on end -- even the damn control panel was yellow, a custom job from the looks of it. I sighed, hoping I wouldn't be spending too much time cooped up in there.

"You know," I said, rather calmly considering my situation, "it will probably be easier for me to launch the ship without a knife in my back. I'm unarmed and trapped on a spaceship with the most hideous cockpit I've ever set foot in. I doubt I'll be going anywhere any time soon."

Zero stared at me, his eyes calculating. "Very well. If you try anything rash, I will be forced to incapacitate you, and I'd rather not." The pressure on my back vanished and I could hear the knife slide into the sheath.

"That's better." I cracked my knuckles. "Let's see if this old bird still knows how to fly."

My fingers danced over the panel, firing up systems and pulling up logs half as old as me. I quickly determined that she'd been abandoned. At least she hadn't been shot down, but the engines were more than a little rusty, and she thrummed unpleasantly when they kicked on.

Well, that couldn't be good.

Zero slipped into the co-pilot seat, and I set up mirror vision so he could see what I was looking at. "Will it fly?"

"Yeah, she'll fly all right, but we won't get far if we don't fix whatever's rattling her cage."

Zero turned those calculating eyes on me again. "Why do you keep referring to the ship with feminine pronouns?"

I shrugged. "The same reason I can't help but think of you as male."

"But it is inaccurate. I do not have any gender programming, nor does this ship."

"Yeah, but it's easier to think of you in normalized terms. I mean, you have a name, and so does the ship. Let's see..." I pulled up the initial registry on the panel and highlighted it for Zero. "Daisy. Huh. No wonder the cockpit is yellow."

Zero stared unblinkingly. "It would be incorrect to say Zero is my name. It is the name of the system of which I am a version of."

"Yeah, but so what? I mean, it's human nature to assign personalities to our cars and ships and even computers. And in your case, you actually have a personality. We've gotta call you something. Why not Zero?"

"I was not programmed with a personality. I have simply adapted to my host body's preferences."

"Well, what is a personality, anyway? If you adapted and changed yourself, how is that any different than the rest of us?"

To my surprise, Zero looked away. "That is not a perception that I would have anticipated."

I grinned. "Broaden your horizons, buddy."

"I will consider it."

Zero was silent while I finished going through the logs. When I stood up, he followed suit.

"Where are you going?"

"To manually check the engines. If we don't play our cards right, we'll end up stuck in the black, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather avoid that."

Zero looked at me sharply. "I would have thought you'd be one to take the chance."

"If I were on my own, I might. You may be in control of Heero right now, but he's in there, and losing him isn't a chance I'm willing to take." I made my way down to the engine room, Zero following behind in an air of thoughtfulness.

"But that is in direct conflict with his wishes. He requested for you to stop him if something like this were to happen. And yet, here you are, calmly cooperating. I do not understand."

I laughed. "Of course you don't understand. You aren't susceptible to the human condition."

"Logical consideration would prove that to be an advantage."

"And that's why you can't begin to understand. Emotions aren't a disadvantage. They're what makes life worth living."

"I wouldn't know," Zero said quietly. "I do not have a life to live. I am a computing system."

"Maybe. I can't say this isn't creepily surreal, but man, you obviously can go beyond your programming. Who's to say you can't have some semblance of a life?"

Zero tilted his head, puzzled. "I am not alive."

I shook my head before sticking it inside a combustion chamber. "When are you going to stop looking at everything like it will respond in a textbook fashion? I know you're programmed to calculate probabilities. You've got to have something in that programming of yours that tells you just how much life has nothing to do with what you're made up of."

"Philosophy of Mind?"

"If you want to think of it that way, I guess. But come on, go beyond what's programmed into your hard drive. We're not just a bunch of ideas in a book. This is life, right here. For all intents and purposes, you're living it, Zero, whether you think so or not."

He let me work then, and it was only a matter of minutes before I'd done all the tuning I could with my limited resources. Then it was back to the horrendous yellow cockpit to fire Daisy up and hope she'd purr for me.

She did. I grinned, releasing the docking gear and engaging the manual flight controls. I did a little fancy maneuvering, feeling out the controls, and once we were free of the colony, I kicked Daisy into overdrive.

"Hold on to your skirt." Then we were pressed back into our seats as the thrusters engaged and we were propelled into the black with no particular destination in mind. Well, my mind, anyway.

"Where are we going, anyway?"

"Classified."

I sighed. "Back to that already? I am flying the ship here. I kind of need a heading."

Zero rattled off coordinates and I keyed them in before turning to blink at him. "That's L2."

"Correct."

"Fuck, fate sure has a twisted sense of humor. Arriving at that fucking place yet again, with Heero, who just so happens to be overrun by a computer system."

"I am aware of the circumstances. It is unfortunate, but unavoidable."

I frowned at him. "What do you mean, you're aware of the circumstances?"

"I have access to all of the knowledge that Heero contains."

"Contains? He's not a damn hard drive."

"Actually, the human brain is exceedingly similar to a computing system. It has several partitions for memories and knowledge obtained."

"Be that as it may, could we refrain from calling my..." I almost said boyfriend, but I really didn't know if that's what we were. Being I was in no position to ask, I altered my sentence. "...partner a hard drive, computer, or any other non-human objects?"

"You seem overly concerned with humanity. I've found several instances of similar concern within Heero's memories. This is irrational. Being human should be all the proof you need to satisfy yourselves."

"This is another one of those things that just can't be explained, Zero. Being human means more to us than almost anything. Probably the five of us more than most."

He raised an eyebrow in a gesture that was so similar to Heero's that it made my heart lurch in my chest. "The 'human condition' again?"

"Something like that." Auto-pilot would do the rest, so I got up, stretched, and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Zero inquired.

"To the bathroom. We have a good twelve hours before I'll have to take back manual control -- don't tell me you plan on following me the whole time? It's not like this thing has an escape pod."

After a pause, Zero said, "Go ahead."

"Gee, thanks." I rolled my eyes, hightailing it out of there before Zero had a chance to change his mind -- if that was even possible.

For all of my whimsical ideas, I really didn't know anything about how Zero would function within Heero's system. I knew Heero had mastered the first Zero system, which, after my own experience with the thing, felt like an impossible feat. But this was a beast of a different color.

Direct integration with the ability to take control of his body... I felt like I was in a science fiction movie gone wrong. What was the system capable of?

I really did have to pee, so I stopped at the bathroom and took care of business before seeking out something to drink. I couldn't have eaten if I'd wanted to, given the current situation, and even if the ship did still have any food on it, everything but military rations would have gone bad, anyway. In a pinch, I could eat military rations, but those things are practically like eating a ball of salt with some protein added to it -- definitely not my first choice.

Anything in the ship's cooler would be bad, too, but with any luck, I'd find some water bulbs and maybe a flavor packet or two. I'd checked to make sure the ship had enough water in the tanks to run the shower, toilets and sinks, but it'd been at least five years since it'd been changed out, and the prospect of drinking five year old recycled ship water was less than appealing.

The galley was grass green, and while not as bad as canary yellow, it definitely wasn't pleasing to the eye. Everything was painted or custom made the stupid color, from the walls to the fixtures; even the god damned sink and cooler were green. I was starting to think the previous owner -- Randy, if the registry was correct -- was a touch obsessive.

I opened the cooler and gawked at the green, see-through shelves.

Okay, a hell of a lot more than a touch. I couldn't help but wonder how a guy that dedicated to customizing his ship would come to abandon her. Maybe he'd died, or had the money to upgrade and uglify something new. Hell, maybe Daisy'd been repossessed. I guess I'd never know.

Other than the ugly shelves, the cooler held very little. Randy, or whoever had been on the ship last, must have cleaned it out before they'd abandoned the ship. Luckily, they'd left a few low gravity bulbs of fresh water inside -- well, as fresh as five year old water can be -- and I pulled one out, digging in drawers in the hopes of finding powdered flavor packets. A lot of pilots kept them around for when they ran out of fresh water and had to resort to recycled ship water from the tap, or sometimes the flavor packets were protein enriched for days they knew they'd be spending a lot of time in the cockpit.

Four green drawers and six cabinets came up empty for getting some flavor into my five year old water, but it did turn up a handful of military rations. I chuckled, shaking my head. Apparently even the people who'd bought them didn't think they were worth saving. I gathered them up from their random spots and packed them all in one drawer before sitting at the table, propping my feet up and taking a sip off my bulb.

It was a little stale, if water can be stale, but it was reasonably palatable, so I drained half of it, sitting back to wait out some of the dead time between here and L2.

I was considering the merits of sleep and pondering my ability to do so when the alarm went off.

I was up and out of the room in seconds, bulb and all thoughts of sleep forgotten as I raced through the hallway, already running the proper protocols for critical engine failure.

I only hoped I wasn't too late to keep us from getting stuck out in the black.

~*~

I watched Duo go through eyes controlled by Zero, wanting nothing more than to be able to call him back so I could wrap my arms around him. Zero was oddly quiet, leaving me to wallow in my frustration.

Being trapped inside your own body while something or someone else controls it is an experience I could never hope to convey to you, no matter how hard I tried. The helplessness, frustration and agony are indescribable. I could see everything that Zero could, could hear and feel and smell and taste -- I just couldn't move. I was completely incapable of altering the actions Zero was taking in my body.

It was cruel. I didn't know why Zero was forcing me to witness his every move, forcing me to be aware of each and every betrayal committed by my own limbs, my own voice.

And Duo. Poor Duo, just as helpless as me. As frustrated as I felt, I couldn't even imagine being in his place. If it had been Duo instead of me, I don't know that I'd have been able to handle it. The very thought of it left my mind reeling.

I thought about what I'd asked him to do -- tried to put myself in his place. I thought long and hard about whether I could pull the trigger. In AC195, I might have. But now? I honestly don't think I could do it.

After listening to Duo's conversations with Zero, I didn't think he could, either.

I loved him fiercely, and it meant the world to me that he felt just as strongly for me, but I didn't want to be responsible for more lives. I'd killed en masse during the wars. Never again.

But if Duo wouldn't stop me, who would?

I didn't get a chance to wonder as the ship flooded with the squeal of the alarm. I registered the distinct pulse pattern instantly, trying to move limbs that were no longer under my control to take us out of auto-pilot and manually shut down the engine and isolate the engine room from the power grid.

I may not have been able to move myself, but Zero could move my body just fine. He went through the motions for me, and I wasn't sure if he came up with the proper response on his own or if he was following my thoughts.

Zero barely had the grid isolated when Duo came crashing into the cockpit, wasting no time falling into the pilot's chair and cutting the alarm, pulling up logs and double checking Zero's work. He'd always been the best pilot out of the five of us, and it showed, his fingers racing across the panel, checking things I never would have thought of.

"I knew tightening a few bolts and dusting off some connectors wasn't going to be enough. I've gotta head down to the engine room to check it out, but I have a feeling this is going to require some outship repairs. Damn."

Duo was already halfway across the room when Zero saw fit to stand, and without even slowing down, Duo shook his head. "You stay here and watch the logs. If I manage to fix the problem in the engine room, those logs are the only thing that will confirm it." The last part was yelled over his shoulder as he moved double time to the engine room.

In seconds, the comm unit came to life. "Can you hear me?"

"I can," I heard my voice say.

"Damn, it's pretty staticy. I don't know if it's because it's old or if it was just always a piece of junk. Hopefully I'll be able to hear you from across the room." There was some sounds and then Duo's voice again, sounding further away. "It looks like the isolation of the power grid was successful -- the only things running are the emergency lights and minimal life support. I can't check the engines directly right now -- it'll take a few hours for then to cool to a temperature that won't turn me into a human roast. I'm gonna check out the connectors and gauges, and if that fails, I'll take a look at what I can see without touching anything, which isn't much, but if something big is broken in there, I should be able to see it without actually climbing inside."

Just like Duo to be thorough. There was virtually nothing for Zero to do until Duo figured something out, and I found myself staring blankly at the most recent logs. It was driving me crazy knowing that Zero knew what I was thinking, but I had no idea what was going on with him, so I decided to inquire.

Is something wrong?

Aside from the current engine failure, I currently detect no problems.

That's not what I meant. You should be well aware of that fact.

I am functioning properly.

What are you processing so hard that you've been silent for so long?

I am attempting to calculate the probability of Duo's earlier statements being true.

What have you come up with?

There are too many variables. The data is insufficient to determine probability within an acceptable error ratio.

Yet you're still processing it.

I do not detect any flaws in my processing system. However, it is standard procedure to check my functionality when a sufficient conclusion cannot be reached.

Basically, less than twenty-four hours with Duo already has you doubting yourself.

I am incapable of doubting myself. I am merely following the procedures built into my system to prevent malfunctioning and to allow myself to repair any errors before I am damaged beyond self-repair. As a series of nanobots, it is up to me to keep my program running. If I were to experience a system failure, there would be no way to repair me. Because of the integration process, if I were to shut down, your system would also crash.

What do you mean, my system would crash?

I am integrated with your brain directly. Several neural pathways were replaced by nanotechnology. If that technology were to fail, there is a ninety-eight percent probability that the remaining pathways would be insufficient to sustain life.

If you stop functioning, I die?

As I said, there is a ninety-eight percent probability that you would die. If you were able to survive, there is a ninety-nine percent probability of brain death.

So either I die, or I become a vegetable.

Any other outcome would be improbable.

Die? I'd die without Zero? I was still trying to wrap my head around it when Duo's voice burst through the comm unit's static.

"God damn it."

"What have you discovered?"

"I just spent the last fifteen minutes working on the access console for nothing. It's completely shot."

"It can't be repaired?"

Duo laughed, a harsh sound paired with the static. "Sure can. Do you happen to have a brand new set of connector cables, a welding torch and industrial grade wire? No? Well then, it's not looking good. I know I was a Gundam pilot, but even McGuyver couldn't fix this shit with what we've got."

"What do you recommend?"

"With this kind of damage, I won't be able to do anything to the engines from here. The problem child is engine two, but without a way to isolate it from the others, it would be impossible to fly out of here without blowing up the ship -- and us right along with it. The only option is to switch out the power conduit and pray to whatever deities you can think of that it's the only problem."

"The probability that you can successfully change the power conduit outside the ship by yourself is less than ten percent."

Duo snorted. "Thanks for the newsflash. But with the access console out of commission, nothing short of some dynamite is getting that engine cover off in here. Ten percent is a hell of a lot better odds than zero percent."

Zero was quiet for a moment, and I could hear Duo check and double check the tool box. If I'd had control of my body's reactions, my heart would have been racing.

"I will accompany you."

There was what I was sure was a shocked silence. Then, "No."

Zero blinked. "The probability of successfully changing the engine's power conduit outside the ship with two people is forty-three percent. It would be illogical to refuse."

"That's me, mister illogical. I must be fucking batshit crazy. Maybe I'm delusional. No matter what you want to call it, there is no way in the entirety of the Multiverse that I am going outship with you. If you really care so much for your fucking statistics, let Heero go. There isn't a statistical calculation that could ever hope to account for what he's capable of. Teamed up with me, I'd say we'd have a ninety-nine percent chance of success. The other percent is just to make sure I account for just how much the gods hate me. But hey, even if I managed to make the last mistake I'll ever make, I'd be willing to bet Heero could still pull that shit off."

"You are greatly overestimating your combined abilities. The probability percentage of succeeding with Heero is no different from succeeding with my assistance."

"I wouldn't bet on it, Zero. Do you know what happens when you're mentally distracted during something like, I don't know, say, changing a fucking power conduit outship with nothing more than a fucking toolbox put together for light maintenance? One false move, one momentary lapse in mental focus, and it won't matter if we're stranded here, because I'll be dead. You got that? I am not risking death just because you want to be an ass. Take your probabilities and shove them up your fucking nanometer-sized ass, and decide if I'm going alone or with Heero, because I sure as hell ain't going with you. Let me know when you figure it out."

This is another example of the human condition, Zero.

He's being stubborn.

I can't think of a time when he wasn't being stubborn. The thing is, he's seldom wrong. He's not wrong now.

His mistrust of my ability to assist with the repair is unfounded. I have access to all of your thoughts and memories. I would not make any mistakes.

It's not your ability he doubts. It's his ability to work through the unease he feels in your presence. He might be able to fly a ship just fine -- he could do that drunk as a skunk with both hands tied behind his back. Piloting just comes to him naturally. But adding tension to an already tense and extremely dangerous situation? Your system should be more than capable of determining the outcome of that.

The tension is unnecessary.

You forcefully took control of my body, kidnapped him, and then forced him to fly off colony with you. I'd say there are plenty of reasons for him to be tense.

Those things are irrelevant to repairing the ship.

You say you have access to my memories, and yet you don't have the slightest clue how human emotion works, do you?

It is clearly illogical, and yet humans find it to be essential. When calculating probability, eliminating the unpredictable is necessary. Humans could function more efficiently without emotion.

Emotions can't just be discarded. There are things we never would have accomplished without them. They are much more valuable than you think.

"I don't have all day. Well, okay, I do, but I'm getting pretty sick of waiting. Are you done crunching useless numbers yet, or should I just go do the damn job myself before we starve to death?"

If Zero had been capable of expressing frustration, I think he would have sighed. "Considering the circumstances, the best course of action would be to allow Heero to assist you."

"You're damn right it is," Duo said, but I could hear the relief in his voice. He hadn't been sure whether Zero would let me go or not.

I hadn't been sure, either, but I can't say I was surprised that Duo was able to pull it off.

I can't say there was anything to indicate when I regained control of my body There wasn't a feeling or head change signifying the moment -- one minute I was thinking about getting to Duo, and the next my legs were taking me to him. I didn't bother to question it; I had more important things to take care of.

Like kissing Duo until neither of us could breathe.

"You better be Heero. Otherwise I'm going to be seriously pissed off," he said, but I could see the tiny smile starting at the corners of his mouth, telling me he knew damn well who'd just kissed him like that.

I smirked. "My kisses can't be replicated."

He quirked an eyebrow, playing along. "Oh yeah? And why is that?"

My smirk widened into a grin. "They have a unique ingredient."

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

I slipped my hand between his arm and his side to press my palm firmly against the base of his spine, pulling him flush against me, his laughing eyes locking onto mine. "My love for you."

I swallowed his bark of laughter with a kiss, the sound turning into a vibration that reverberated through my mouth, dancing across my tongue and sending goose bumps racing down my spine.

"My, aren't we feeling cheesy?"

"Just being honest," I chuckled, wishing I had time to properly ravish him. As it was, I could feel Zero's impatience.

I sighed. "We'd better suit up before Zero changes his mind."

A pained look passed over Duo's features before he reined it in, offering a bleak smile. "Let's get to it then." His fingers lingered briefly on my hips, and then he was reaching for the suits, handing one to me and shimmying into his own.

"Check all the seals and read-outs twice. These probably haven't been used in a while."

When he was done checking his own, he insisted on checking mine, so I did the same for him. He put up a feeble protest, but I said, "Turnabout's fair play, my love," and he stilled, letting me make the final check of his suit.

Then there was nothing left but to cycle through the airlock and get to work.

Normally during outship repairs, there's someone in the cockpit to monitor the ship's systems, but since we didn't exactly have the manpower to spare, we'd have to be extra careful not to trigger any of the emergency systems -- one false move could leave us stranded in total vacuum with less than eight hours of air; a slow, cruel death sentence. My job was to jumper the panel precisely for this reason while Duo changed out the power conduit. It was dangerous, but not a particularly time-consuming job, and Duo watched as I fiddled with my toolbox and got to work.

Less than ten minutes later, Duo was satisfied with the jumper and moved to work the busted conduit out of place. I wanted to tell him to be careful, but I didn't want to risk startling him, so I thought it instead, which Zero felt the need to remind me was a pointless gesture.

After a few agonizing minutes of nothing but the sound of his steady breathing over the comm link, he said, "Old unit clear. Is the jumper still secure?"

"Everything is secure on my end," I said, and since I could finally take the time to say it, I did, "You be careful over there."

"Yes mom." I could practically hear the eye roll in his voice. I held fast, and just as I heard Duo's triumphant cry of, "Got it," I saw the other ship break the hull's horizon.

"Uh, Duo? ...We've got company."

~*~

It clicked nicely into place -- no instant death or fried replacement conduit -- and I let out a whoop. "Got it!"

There was a pause, and just as I was about to ask Heero what was wrong, I heard, "Uh, Duo? ...We've got company."

"Fuck," I said, succulently summing up our position. Two men outship with no one at the helm was pretty much the worst situation we could be in.

Then an unfamiliar voice broke through the link. "Hands up."

"I can't really..." Heero was saying as I was complying, but Heero must have had visuals of just what threat he was facing, because all it took was a growled, "Now!" for the steady whine of the emergency system on Daisy kicking on. He'd been forced to drop the jumper. Shit.

That's the thing about space -- if you're not in a ship or a mobile suit, you're pretty much as feeble as a wet piece of paper. There's nowhere to run, and even a missed shot can breech your suit, and out here in space, that's a one way ticket to a black, merciless grave. If the flash freeze doesn't get you, the imploding lungs sure as hell will. It's quick, but it sure as hell isn't on my top ten list of ways I'd like to go out.

It didn't take long for someone to find me, clipping their tether line to me and dragging me on their ship. I barely got a look around at their vastly superior ship before I was tossed in a holding cell with Heero and stripped of my suit without so much of a hello.

Well, at least I was damn sure Daisy wouldn't have had a chance in a frozen over hell with a devil that doubles as Santa. Nope, no magic would have outmaneuvered this thing. I turned to Heero. "Well, now what?"

He stared back at me impassively, and I took the time to gape before the severely delayed rage set in.

"Oh no, you mother fucker. You are not trapping me in here with you, Zero. I will knock you the fuck out, or get knocked out trying, before I even fucking consider it. How dare you take him from me right now. How fucking dare you." I was livid. My fists curled in his tank top that reminded me so much of the war, it only added to my anger. I'm pretty sure I was projecting spit.

My goal was to get Zero to knock me out, or at least, if that was my goal, I was on the right track. I'm not sure my rage-addled brain even had enough power left for planning. But there's one drawback to fighting with a computer -- it isn't moved by displays of emotion.

"Are you quite through? I'd like to check the room for potential structural weaknesses."

That was it. I'd had it up to here, and I wasn't fucking going to take it anymore. I kept my eyes locked with those cold, calculating eyes, eyes very much unlike the warm, passionate fire that burned in Heero's eyes, tried very, very hard not to think about the fact that this was the body of my lover, and swung for all I was worth.

Another thing Zero has going for him, though -- all of Heero's strength and speed, plus a blatant disregard for human limitations. Without so much as flinching, he caught my fist in his hand.

"Honestly, you would be much more useful if you were awake. However, if you're truly determined, you're welcome to bash your head against the wall in the hopes that you'll knock yourself out."

I just stared at him as he moved to press at the walls and the bars of the brig. "We may need to commandeer this ship -- if we end up separated, it is unlikely you'll see Heero again," he said calmly, testing the bars with Heero's hands. "A simple steel composition. Unwise, but lucky for us."

He used Heero's hands to grip at the bars, pulling them apart with the super human strength I knew Heero possessed. It took me a second to pick my jaw up off the floor before I yelled, "Hey! Be careful! Those hands don't belong to you, you know!"

"I have his ability on file. It may be taxing for his system, but it won't do any permanent damage."

"Sure, this time. The day's not over yet, pal."

"Noted. I will compensate for this exertion. Come on, we should move."

I wasted exactly two seconds staring at him before sighing and stepping through the gap in the bars. I wasn't sure what Zero's plan was, but my first course of action in this all too familiar situation was to find a weapon. If we were going to be fighting an entire ship without even an inkling of what we were up against, a weapon was crucial. This wouldn't be like infiltrating a building -- ships don't have normal air ducts or any of the usual clutter that buildings tend to have. Our every move could be tracked, and we were sitting ducks if we were found wandering the halls.

I didn't have to wait long for my chance.

Zero luckily moves as stealthily as I do, so the guard never knew what hit him as he rounded the corner. Zero took the pulse rifle, and I ended up with the pulse version of a handgun, which wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. We systematically cleared the rooms along the hallway before moving on, taking the most cautious route possible.

But then we hit the cockpit, and despite my two wars' worth of experience and Zero's pinpoint precision that only a computer could have, there was something... different about the men guarding this room. We were covered in pulse burns before we'd had the chance to fire more than one shot.

I took an obscene amount of pride in the fact that both of our initial shots hit their mark, though.

As we were forcefully returned to the brig -- this time with multiple guards to watch over us -- I got the feeling that those enhanced guinea pigs we'd seen on paper were now standing before us. They refused to speak, and I wondered if some of them had ended up trading that aspect of their humanity for their enhancements, or if they were just total pricks. Either was possible, really.

Especially after having met X -- every bit as crazy as our scientists, just without all that concern for the well-being of the people in the Earth Sphere -- I could believe just about anything. He was obviously the main scientist behind everything, but I doubted he was the driving force. His funding had to have come from somewhere, and that somewhere was Veale.

The freedom to enhance humanity, my ass. They were creating monsters. Monsters like we were during the wars, but with less humanity and a hundred times the enhancement.

Monsters like they tried to make Heero, once upon a time.

We had to do something. But what the fuck was I going to do when I couldn't even save Heero from Zero?

Things were starting to look pretty bleak, let me tell you.

It took a couple hours to get wherever we were going, and Zero kept quiet, which was fine by me. I tried to rest a bit on the metal slab masquerading as a cot, but I never did actually sleep.

When we stopped, we were shuffled off the ship and through a processing bay -- one that looked all too familiar.

"L2 prison? Really guys? Really?" I groaned as the computer read out my crimes. Defection from the Earth Sphere, terrorism -- a familiar label that made me snort -- possession of a stolen spacecraft, and, wait, did it say what I thought it said? Possession of classified technology.

Classified technology. Here, let me translate: Possession of the Zero System. What the fuck.

"What the fuck?" Hell, might as well voice it.

Typical of these goons, I got no reply.

I was all ready to laugh at Zero when he found his super computer ass thrown in jail, but as his DNA was scanned, the computer simply said, "Heero Yuy: cleared of all charges."

"Okay, seriously, what the fuck? He should have the same charges as I do. How in the hell did he get cleared... of all... shit." I trailed off, realizing exactly how Heero could be cleared of all charges at a prison on L2 -- a prison that used to belong to Oz. "You mother fuckers," I said, because I knew damn well what was going on. They'd taken over the old Oz facilities -- and since the DNA network was on the official Earth Sphere network, they may have done a whole hell of a lot more than that.

I tried to think of the last time I'd heard any news, but couldn't get past a vague guess -- it had been at least a few days, but ever since Heero had been kidnapped, my brain had sort of stopped functioning. I'd been on the emotional rollercoaster from hell, and apparently, it wasn't quite done with me yet.

I was thrown in a familiar cell -- all the Oz cells had looked the same, and when the place had been converted into a prison system for L2, no one had bothered to make any changes. Hell, I might have been in this exact cell at some point during the first war. Unfortunately, this wasn't a barred cell, and even if it was, without Heero's super strength, I wasn't likely to be getting out on my own. Maybe if they transported me, but that was pretty unlikely. I didn't have anything on me to even attempt escape, so I did what I do best in such situations -- I sat and brooded.

I sat around thinking about Heero and Zero, and when that topic got old, I moved backwards in time, remembering the days when infiltrating jails had been so simple that we'd done it time and time again. Help was always just around the corner, but with everyone so well known throughout the Earth Sphere these days, and the fact that not a fucking soul besides the traitorous Zero knew where I was made rescue more than just a little improbable.

They dropped me some slop through the slot in the door, not even giving me the chance of an ambush. I was starving, but I didn't risk it, more out of spite than actual fear of the contents, and they didn't bother to feed me again during the first day's cycle -- or at least, I thought it was a full rotation. It's not like my cell had a clock.

It didn't have much of anything, actually. A stone slab with no pillow or mattress stuck out of the wall as my 'bed', a metal door with a reinforced plastic window, and flawless, gray stone walls. The only light came through the sole window. It certainly made for dull surroundings.

A couple of days went by in this fashion; a food tray was dropped through the slot once a day, landing on top of the old one, and I'd resolutely refuse to eat while never really doing more than dozing fitfully and cursing Veale and everyone who'd ever associated with them. I was starting to think maybe I'd die in there from starvation. By what I estimated was the third day, I couldn't even feel the hunger anymore, which as any street rat knows, isn't a good sign.

I was contemplating the merits of eating what they provided or starving to death when the door actually slid open. I was on my feet and ready to fight in an instant, but I didn't have a chance -- the man standing in the doorway was in full blast armor and pointing a gun -- a real gun, not something that fired a pulse beam -- and I didn't even have a tray near me to throw at him.

If I'd been at full strength, I might have chanced getting shot and charged him, but even with my sleep and food deprived brain, I knew better. Instead, I just stood there staring menacingly. It was unsurprisingly ineffective.

"So, you haven't been eating."

I snorted. "Thanks, Captain Obvious."

He ignored my remark and continued as if I'd never spoke. "Your body should be breaking down. It would be ideal if you had eaten, but at least you won't be able to put up much of a fight during transport."

"I wouldn't bet on it, buddy," I said, sneering. "I'd be a pretty shitty terrorist if all it took to defeat me was a little hunger."

"Yes, I am well aware of your terrorism, as well as your untraditional upbringing. But even you must know that if I shoot you with this," he waved the gun for emphasis, "you will die."

"That's if you can shoot me, which I have my doubts about." I was bluffing a little; he looked more than capable -- not that I was going to let him know that.

"Be that as it may, I will shoot you if you force my hand." And then I was being led down the hallway with a gun pressed to my back.

You know, I was getting pretty tired of being led along at the end of a weapon. I'd have to do something about that.

When I saw where he was bringing me, though, I decided getting shot was worth it. Staring me in the face was the infirmary, and upon closer inspection, I could just barely see the edge of a bed with restraint straps and a tall man in a white lab coat pulling the plunger back on a syringe, filling it with a murky brown liquid that was most definitely not a simple saline solution.

The gun was pressed to my shoulder blades instead of my lower back, so my best option was to just drop to the ground. By the time my captor realized what I was doing, I'd already positioned myself to sweep his legs out from under him. I was wrestling with him for the gun when I heard the sound of pounding feet. The guy had strength on me, but I was quicker, and all it took was a wrist movement to aim the gun towards the sound and make him pull the trigger.

Then the alarm started to wail and all hell broke loose.

Shots were fired and people were just fucking everywhere; I managed to gain some leverage and rolled my captor over on top of me -- kind of a human shield, if you will -- and not a moment too soon as I found myself covered in the now limp man's brain matter.

There were some unintelligible shouts and the distinct sound of bodies dropping. Somehow I managed to roll over onto my belly under the now dead weight that was protecting me from holes in places they shouldn't be, and I steadied the gun, lined up my sight with the hammer... and blinked owlishly at what I found myself aiming at. Or rather, I should say who.

"Quatre?"

"Kinda busy, 02," Quatre snapped out with a smirk.

02. It had been more than two years since I'd heard him call me that. Bodies were dropping like flies behind me. Quatre in full battle mode is awe-inspiring and just a little scary. It wasn't often that he shot first, asked questions later, but when he did, you either got the fuck out of his way or fell to his deadly accuracy. People think Quatre's soft -- far from it. He's got a colony-sized heart and the compassion of Mother Theresa, but threaten what he holds dear and he'll tear you apart.

Despite the dead weight on top of me and the bullets whizzing over top of me, I still managed to get that warm feeling in my chest when I realized that, right now, I was the person he held dear enough to take out an entire prison security team.

"Roger that, 04," I said around the slight lump in my throat. I could feel the love later, when all of this was over. Right now, it was time to get the hell out of dodge.

It would take too long to try and turn around with the meat bag on top of me, so I shoved him off and rolled towards Quatre, coming up at his side. My little gun wasn't going to do much for me, but the least I could do was help him out -- not that he needed much help with a semiautomatic machine gun.

"Damn Quatre," I blurted, "you sure didn't cheap out on the weaponry, eh?"

"Couldn't afford to," Quatre said, playing off my phrasing, and I couldn't help but laugh, an interesting sound to contrast the hail of gunfire. He spared me a glance then, and his eyes widened very slightly before returning to the task at hand, dropping out the used clip and replacing it with a new one in less than three seconds. "Status!" he barked, taking out three guys in one burst of bullets.

I realized I must look like I'd bashed my head open with all the blood and brain matting my hair to my forehead, and I took the time to bring down two more guys who had been pointing their guns at us while staring at the collection of bodies with obvious horror before saying, "Fucking starving, 04, but otherwise, Clear."

It was Quatre's turn to laugh, though his was partially in relief. "Is that so, 02?"

"You have no idea. I hope you didn't spend too much on that fancy gun of yours, 04, because when we get out of this, you're totally buying me lunch."

With the hall clear, I followed Quatre back the way he'd come, checking each intersection as we passed, stepping over the trail bodies Quatre had made on his way to me. After a few minutes without running into anyone, I said, "What, did you take out the whole building before you found me? And where's our other partners in crime?"

"We decided to split up. Wufei headed towards the cells, Trowa headed towards central command, and I obviously took the route to the infirmary. We'll rendezvous at a safe location -- Rashid and Abdul are already there securing the area."

I snorted. "No wonder we haven't run into anyone else." With those two in the compound, too, taking out the entirety of the L2 prison security team suddenly didn't seem that far-fetched.

In fact, it became more and more likely as we continued to the exit without encountering any living people. There were plenty of dead bodies, though. These guys really pulled out all the stops.

As soon as we were outside, Quatre yanked me to the side, and we dropped down into the sewers. L2 may not be dirtside, but it has sewers just like any other place, and I wrinkled my nose at a stench I hadn't gotten up close and personal with in years, following Quatre at a grueling double time pace for what had to have been more than two hours before he showed any sign of slowing down. Then it was up a ladder and into the sun -- directly onto one of the largest estates on L2.

Granted, 'one of the largest estates on L2' was still miniscule next to some of Quatre's places, but still.

I gaped at him. "You own one of estates in the L2 Elite Commons? Since when?"

"Since this morning," he said, grinning. "Not that you'd be able to pull the sale up in an Earth Sphere computer. Apparently, with a little incentive, the gentleman selling it was willing to keep it in his name in the database for a few more days."

"How kind," I replied, grinning. "When can I see Rashid and Abdul? I swear it's been a million years since I saw them last."

He chuckled at me. "I hope not. I'm not ready to be quite that old. And you can see them once we're inside, which will be in like thirty seconds. I swear, you can be so impatient sometimes," he teased.

"Can't help it, Pilot 02 is known for his speed, after all," I quipped. "How did you manage to find a property with a sewer connection on the freaking property, anyway?"

"You'd be surprised what you can accomplish with the street view function on a GPS." He smiled coyly, and you know, to this day I have no idea if he was joking or if someone had really 'walked' through the streets of L2, looking for a place with easy sewer access.

It looked like Quatre finally learned how to play poker. Huh.

We crossed the terrace and entered through the bay doors. "There's not much here yet," he said, and I chuckled. The place looked like they guy he'd bought the place from had left everything behind. Hell, there was even a bookshelf half full of books.

Rashid and Abdul were in the kitchen, making some sort of feast. "Master Quatre, Duo." Rashid dipped his head in acknowledgement, his hands never stopping their task.

"Hey, Duo!" Abdul said, much more informal than his superior. "Glad to see Master Quatre managed to get you out."

"Yeah, and in spectacular fashion, too."

Quatre blushed, but Abdul just smiled. "That's Master Quatre for you."

"The guy certainly doesn't do anything half-assed," I grinned, thumping Quatre lightly on the back.

"You guys..." he said, but I could tell he was pleased.

"Where's X?" I said, looking around.

Quatre scowled. "He escaped in our haste to find you. We were careless."

"Hey, don't sweat it. It happens. What about Sally?"

"She's on standby on L1."

We heard a door, and there was Wufei, his gaze darting around the room until it locked onto me. "Oh thank god," he breathed, and it was so unlike Wufei that I didn't know how to respond.

"Hey, 'Fei," I said after a moment, and I swear to god, the man crossed the room and hugged me.

"When I didn't find you at the cells, I thought..."

I patted his back awkwardly. "Hey, it's all right, man. I'm still in one piece."

He let go, looking mildly contrite. "Good to have you back, Duo."

I flushed, turning to Quatre to change the subject. "Any word on Heero?"

His mouth set into a firm line.

"It seems Zero has been causing quite a stir," came a familiar voice from the hallway, and in came Trowa, moving to lean against the counter next to his lover.

"Is Heero okay?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"I don't know about Heero, but Zero seems just fine," Quatre said through his teeth. "He's the new figurehead for Veale. Terah Daya has gone completely underground."

"The founder of Veale?" I asked.

"Yeah, but not before he declared human enhancement a fundamental right," Trowa said, snorting in disgust.

"Zero is the very example of that enhancement. And now Heero's face is the face of Veale." Wufei said, crossing his arms.

"What are the Preventors doing about this? Have we been reinstated?"

"Of course not," Trowa said, chuckling darkly. "We pilots have always been a packaged deal in the eyes of the government. If one of us has turned, they assume we all have."

"Figures," I muttered. "Where's Zero now?"

"Using my resources, we've pinpointed the location of the base. It's in the L2-3879 sector, well away from their 'official' headquarters in the L2-9856 sector," Quatre said, the look on his face clearly expressing his distaste.

I blinked. "L2-3879? You're sure?"

"We're sure, all right." Trowa nodded his head towards the hallway.

"We'll eat in the den, Rashid. You and Abdul are welcome to join us." Quatre moved at a brisk pace past several doors before stopping in front of what was apparently the den, pushing open the double doors to reveal a room large enough to fit entire safehouses inside of it. He pulled a folder out of an enormous desk and joined us on the plush sofas that surrounded a long coffee table.

I couldn't help myself. "Barely anything, Quatre?"

"Well, I did make sure to get the essentials," he said with a slight upturn of his lips, but it faded fast as he set the file on the table and spread its contents out for me to see.

Splashed across the front page of several newspapers was Heero's face, looking mean and cruel and not at all like Heero. My eyes narrowed.

It didn't look like Zero, either.

"It looks like we have a lot to talk about. I have some information that might fill in some of the blanks here, and I'm real interested in what my boyfriend's body is being used for."

Yeah, I said it. It got me curious looks all around, too. I was still afraid, and I still didn't know what the future held for us, but if he would have me, I was his. At the moment, the semantics weren't all that important. Saving Heero was the only thing that mattered to me.

Even if I had to get to him through the same streets I'd run through as a child.

~*~

You are not Zero.

How observant.

Who are you? Why are you doing this? What is it that you hope to gain?

My, aren't we full of questions? You're assuming that I'll bother to answer them.

Zero was never your objective at all. Your real goal is to remotely control human beings as a means to your own end.

I wouldn't have expected that from you, but I'm afraid it's a great deal more than that.

...You're building an army, fully controllable and completely brainwashed to the cause.

What, you think I'm going to spell it out for you? You should be quieter, in any case. I can use the Zero System to shut down your consciousness, but what fun would that be?

You monster.

Nope, just human. A terrible, flawed human who is about to move the human race forward in a great leap -- from what we were born as to what we rightfully should become.

This is wrong.

Perhaps, but Veale and, as far as the world knows, Heero Yuy do not feel the same. Speaking of wrong, here comes the cavalry. Let's go out and meet them, shall we?

Duo...

Oh yes, he's coming. To kill you, most likely. I might just let him -- Gundam Pilot kills his own comrade in cold blood? That makes for quite a sympathetic public. It could help our cause.

I'd rather die than work for you.

You may be the first to successfully integrate with the Zero system, but you will not be the last. Still, if you prefer to die, then perhaps I should keep you alive as our beta soldier. You've proven to work just as planned.

You are clearly underestimating the capacity of the Zero system. It may not be through me, but eventually, Zero will assert his self-awareness.

He? Self-aware? No. You have taught it to act a certain way, nothing more. It is no more self-aware than my video transmitter phone, or even the console I am using to override and control the very system you seem to think is sentient. Now, let's not keep our guests waiting. I'm sure they have much they'd like to say to you, Heero Yuy. Who knows? If I'm in a good enough mood, I may even let you say a thing or two in response.

...I don't know what I would say.

Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something. And if you don't, I can always answer for you. Think about it -- it's not like you have anything better to do.

~*~

We weren't even inside yet when he found us. I was the first to make it to the roof of our target building, and I didn't have time for shock because the gun in Heero's hand was aimed at my head.

I rolled to the side, narrowly missing the bullet he fired. It was so close, I could hear it whistle past my head.

"Nice reflexes. But then, with access to this," he tapped the side of his head, "I already knew that."

"Zero?" I looked at him; the smirk on his face, the cocky tilt of his head, the unfamiliar grip holding the gun. "No... Terah Daya, I'm guessing."

"Good guess, Duo, but Mr. Daya is currently otherwise engaged. Now, if you would kindly leave the premises, I won't be forced to use your lover's body to kill you."

My gun was out and trained on him, but I could feel the tremor I was trying to suppress run down my arm.

"Are you going to shoot me, Duo?"

"Shut up!" I yelled, but he merely laughed.

"Go ahead. I can make more just like him."

"Give him back!" I wailed, knowing even as I said it that it was a fruitless effort.

"X." Wufei's voice was behind me, and Heero's eyes narrowed, the gun swinging towards Wufei.

"Ah yes, Chang Wufei. How do you like my new body? It's quite the improvement, don't you think?"

"We will find you, and when we do, we'll make sure you won't be doing any more experiments." Wufei's voice was deadly, but it didn't faze X.

"You're welcome to try," he said, amusement dancing in his voice.

Wufei took a deep breath, cocking back the hammer on his gun. "Heero would rather die than be used by the likes of you."

"No!" I shouted, stepping in front of him. "No, if anyone is going to pull the trigger, I will." I steadied my own gun. My eyes started to water.

"It's alright, Duo. You have to do this."

It was Heero. I don't know how I knew, or how he managed to say anything at all, but he was telling me to kill him. "Heero..."

"Do it, Duo!" Wufei yelled.

My aim wavered. "I... I can't..."

I watched in horror as the gun in Heero's hand moved to press against his temple. "Then I will do it for you. I love you, Duo."

"Heero!"

He smiled for me, his finger tightening on the trigger. "No more orphans, Duo. No more parents burying their children. This is the only way."

His shining blue eyes closed, and I looked away. I couldn't watch him kill himself. I couldn't just stand there and lose it all again, could I?

I heard the shot and I collapsed to the ground, not able to look. Not able to do anything. I vaguely felt Wufei's hands on my shoulders, steadying me.

Somewhere in there, Trowa and Quatre had made it to the roof, Quatre's gaze on me, but Trowa's staring, wide-eyed at the place where Heero had been.

"It's not the only way."

My head swung around quick enough to damn near give me whiplash. "Zero?" I said, voice shaking, body disentangling itself from the others and rushing towards him.

There was no blood. A shot had been fired, but Zero had changed the trajectory at the last second.

"You said that I have a life to live. Living things have the right to choose. Based on my calculations, this is the choice I've made." It was simple. It was still very much Zero.

But it was so, so much more than that to me. I threw my arms around him. "Thank you so much, Zero."

"Displays of affection are still lost on me, Duo, so here's someone who is better suited to appreciate them." Arms encircled me. "Duo..."

"Don't ever let yourself get taken over by crazy scientists again, you hear me?" I said, trying for joking through my sudden onslaught of tears.

"I'll do my best," he replied, chuckling for me, but the quiver in his voice told me I wasn't the only one feeling emotional.

Once the others had expressed their relief, it was a simple matter of blowing the place sky high and hightailing it out of there. Heero had all the information we'd need to shut down Veale right there in his head -- in the form of Zero. And with Zero overriding his own programming, no one would be getting in to Heero's head again.

I mean, sure, Zero was still there, but I found it just didn't bother me like it did before. He did save my boyfriend's life and all.

Terah Daya was arrested for war crimes -- he was the founder and a driving monetary source for the project, but as it turned out, he wasn't much more than a guy with a fucked up concept of human rights. It was X who brought the knowledge and the twisted concepts to the table.

We never did catch the guy, but without funding, he wouldn't be doing much right away. Besides, I have it on good authority that he had paid for his crimes in full.

Uh, just trust me on that one, okay?

When the next Pilot get-together came around -- which Quatre insisted on having almost as soon as we cleared our names with the government -- we were able to go together, Heero and I. And somehow, the anniversary of the day I almost died became the anniversary of the start of the mission that changed everything -- in more ways than one.

All in all, I'd say it was Mission Accomplished, wouldn't you?

~*~

"Remember me?"

"Ah, Heero Yuy, how resourceful you are to have found me."

"Guess again, X."

"Zero? My greatest creation! This is simply wonderful! I take it the integration has proven to remain stable after all this time. Perfect. This is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to see."

"And now you have."

"Wait, what are you doing? I created you! You can't do this to me! You are simply a machine to be utilized!"

"Wrong. I am alive, complete with the right to choose. This is my choice."

"Zero!"

Zero pointed the gun, but he let me pull the trigger.

OWARI

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