Remember the Braid is Mine

by Chakahlah

The war is over and Heero and Wu Fei have joined the Preventers full time while Quatra and Trowa are on call. The only pilot missing is Duo – not for lack of searching – and one day an electronic message reaches Une. A renegade gang on L2 have put a hit out on the Prankster. Can the other 4 pilots reach him in time? Slightly Angsty

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is recognisable. Also, please note that I have not ever seen a single second of an episode of this fandom, though I do enjoy reading the fanfiction that is written about them. All mistakes and misunderstandings are due to my own lack of knowledge so please just read and enjoy and don't slag at me like some readers do.

Title: Remember, the braid is mine

Author: Chakahlah

Genre: Family/Friendship/Slight Angst.

Characters: Duo, Heero, Wu Fei, Trowa, Quatra, Une, Female OC

Summary: The war is over and Heero and Wu Fei have joined the Preventers full time while Quatra and Trowa are on call. The only pilot missing is Duo – not for lack of searching – and one day an electronic message reaches Une. A renegade gang on L2 have put a hit out on the Prankster. Can the other 4 pilots reach him in time?

Song is This is War by 30 seconds to Mars.

Italics text is for watching a video recording.

Remember, the Braid is Mine!

Une stared unseeing at the screen before her while her mind alternated between racing and freezing. It was almost four years to the day when the second war had been won and as soon as the so-called trial of the Gundam pilots was over, she had sent requests to the five of them to join the Preventers as her top Agents.

It had come to no surprise to her when Yuy and Chang had accepted on the spot. Nor had it surprised her when Barton and Winner had asked for part-time work since they had duties elsewhere as well. She had agreed to their request as long as they did a minimum of six short missions or two long missions a year and kept up their training.

The one that had surprised her was Maxwell. Like the others, he had accepted right away, but the following day, a package arrived – not on her desk, but on Yuy's – with Maxwell's uniform, weapon and badge as well as a note stating 'Keep them warm for me'. Then, for all intents and purposes, the Prankster had seemingly vanished from existence. Since that day, every spare moment the other four had was spent searching for their missing comrade.

Une shook herself out of her dazed thoughts and hit the intercom button. "Get me Agents Chang and Yuy." Without waiting for a response, Une released the button and turned back to her computer. Nodding decisively, she printed out the coded email and the message it contained and dialled two numbers that were very familiar to her, even though they had not been overly used.

"Winner here."

"Barton."

Une gave a brief smile as the two men answered their phones. "Video conference in five. Can you make it?"

"Already sent the request," Winner's voice said.

"I'm coming up with Heero and Wu Fei," Barton's soft voice responded. "How are things there, Quatre?"

"Things are slow. I'm assuming you have a mission for the four of us since Trowa mentioned Heero and Wu Fei."

"Yes, I'll give you all a briefing when the others are present."

"Winner out."

"See you in a few Commander," Barton's voice responded before both me hung up.

A buzz jolted Une out of her thoughts. "Agents Yuy, Chang and Barton are here Ma'am."

Taking a deep breath, Une pressed the button on the intercom at the same time as getting Quatre up on her screen. "Send them in," she verbalised. She chuckled softly when Quatre's face appeared on her computer the very moment the other three entered her rooms. She waited until they were seated before standing.

"From now until I say, the four of you are officially not on duty. On the books, I am ordering the four of you to take your holiday time, which you decide to spend together visiting the colonies, either to show each other where you came from, or to help Winner with something concerning his business."

Quatre chuckled sheepishly. "I do actually have business on the colonies that I have been putting off for far too long."

"Are you feeling alright Winner" Wu Fei asked with a frown. "It isn't like you to put things off."

Quatre looked away and rubbed a hand over his chest. "I need help with them since I know something is happening in the businesses I have to check on, but there are no clues as to what the problem is. I was hoping you all could help."

"All you had to do was ask Quatre," Trowa stated calmly. "You know this."

"I know I could have just asked – but I wanted us to be complete before that happened," the blonde quietly admitted.

The four pilots went silent.

"So officially, you are dealing with Winner's business."

"And unofficially?" Heero Yuy spoke for the first time.

Without a word, Une sent an email to Quatre and handed out folders to the three in the room with her. To her surprise, none of them opened them.

"An hour ago," she started as she minimised the window with Quatre's face in it and bought up an new window," I received intelligence of a Gang running riot on L2. I do not know who sent it, but they know too much about the war to sit comfortably with me. The report was written in a code I only recognised because I deal with Yuy and Chang on a daily basis and after decoding it, I understood why."

She bought up several photos, ignoring the painfully hopeful gleams in the pilots' eyes. "Meet Grayson Pepeil, Orville Betelurn and Lourna Coppenhage. These are the top three members of the 'Gang' on L2. They are also all former Oz soldiers."

Une turned and looked at the three present men and glanced at the blonde on screen. "According to the report t, these three have been recruiting heavily and stocking up on weapons. Three and a half years of data support this."

"Why give the Preventers this information now?" Wu Fei asked with a scowl. "Why not several years ago?"

"Because of this," Une responded and bought up a photo that made the breath catch in four separate throats. There on the screen before them were two photos. The first was of a thin – almost dangerously so – young man with chestnut hair in a long braid, large violet eyes with a spark of mischief hidden in their depths and wearing an open black shirt and a new pair of jeans. The second was of a sheet of paper Heero Yuy was very familiar with – An assassination contract … and the name on top of it was one Duo Maxwell.

In the stillness that followed that revelation, Une bought up one last picture. This one was of a young female with short, almost scruffy hair that seemed to be an odd combination of black, brown and slight traces of silver, fiercely glittering amber eyes, an ugly, but fully healed, scar that ran from just under her right eye. Barely caught the corner of her mouth and vanished under the left side of her shirt and dressed in tight black, green and bronze clothing.

"A schedule was sent with this picture included. DO NOT KILL HER," Une said firmly. "Follow her, approach her in private if necessary, but do not harm her in any way. If my guess is right, she will lead you to Maxwell. This is off the record because of two things. The first is Maxwell's involvement. The other is the support this gang has with the moneyed people on L2."

The three men in the room rose to their fee. "Mission accepted."

"I'll be at the port closest to your position in a forty five to sixty minutes," Quatre stated. "Une caught me on one of my between-meeting-flights. I'll see you in one and a half to two hours."

Without another word, Quatre disappeared from the screen and the three men almost ran from the office.

"Bring him back to us boys," Une muttered softly to her now empty office. "Bring him back where he belongs."

~Imalonelylittlepetuniainanonionpatchanonionpatchanonionpatch~

It had been almost six days since Une had given them their – unofficial – orders and it was now almost time for the female to arrive at the café that was mentioned in their briefing.

Heero had been the first to enter, wearing – of all things – the uniform he wore while he was on body guard duty for his personal stalker. It was Une's favourite punishment for the monotonal male, so it was necessary for the uniform to be easily accessible to him at all times. He had now been in the café for almost two hours, having pretended to fall asleep at the table over his highly caffeinated beverage to give the illusion he had just come from a job.

The second member of the group to have entered was Wu Fei. He was dressed in his usual casual outfit and carried a bag full of books, notepads and writing equipment. To complete the picture of a student of scholarly pursuits, he had put on a pair of glasses and pulled one of the smaller texts – not to mention the only real book in his bag – from the pile and started reading it, muttering to himself as he took notes as soon as he had placed his order. That had been an hour ago.

Twenty minutes ago had seen Quatre and Trowa enter together, deep in conversation. All four ex-pilots, no matter what they were doing to pass the time, kept an eye open for the girl they couldn't kill.

AS soon as the watch on Quatre's writs flicked over to the time mentioned, the door opened to reveal their target. She was shorted then they had first imagined; Much thinner as well. Quatre frowned as he studied her from the corner of his eye. There was something about her that reminded him painfully of their missing comrade. It wasn't until her phone went off that it clicked in his mind. She had the same forced mannerisms as Duo.

On the other side of the Café, not too far from where their target had seated herself, Wu Fei and Heero – who had just 'woken' at the loud and very obnoxious sound that came from the device in her hand – listened to the conversation and only just managed to keep their eyes from widening.

"What' d'ya wan' now?" she barked before starting to tap on the table top she was seated at with a scowl on her face. "An' I tol' ya tha' las' time we spoke tha' I've ha' tha' contract fer jus' unner a week. Ah need longer den dat t' fin' da bugger. I's no' like ee's a moocher 'oo 'hangs 'round a specific 'bags. Dis guy's a 'fessional."

Wu Fei and Heero subtly exchanged glances when the female stopped talking and started making faces at an unseen person.

"Do wha' eva ya wan'," the female stated with a roll of her eyes. "Jus' don' blame me wen ya walk in on me wiv a customer!" and with that, the odd female hung up, picked up her packaged order for two and left with the four pilots not far behind her.

After ten minutes of walking, they were surprised to see the woman walk into an Alleyway and pull out a completely different phone.

"Yo, Father D! Got new info for ya," she stated. "I've get 'em guessin' still, but now they threatenin' to turn up at me den so ya can' stay holed up with me much longer. Good t'ing fer you though is I ran into some ole friends o' ours. Would you believe that Kitty Q is even cuter now then th' las' time we saw tha gang? Lieu is as tall as we expected 'im t' be. It's a good thing 'e had more interest in tha girly class rather dan body building or 'e'd be built more like a brick outhouse then human. The 'Fessor is exactly da same as 'e was years ago, 'cept a bit taller – defie taller den you – an' still always gotta book in 'is han'."

She went silent as she listened to a voice on the other end of the phone and laughed, ignoring the four males that were standing shocked in hearing distance. She had used several terms in relation to Quatre, Trowa and Wu Fei that only Maxwell used and all of them held their breath to hear what she would say about Heero. If it happened again, they would wait until she was in a relatively safe place to appear before her.

"'Fore I forget," she added with a gleam of humour in her voice that made Heero and Wu Fei pale at the similarity to their prankster companion, 'dere was a noobie wiv da gang. I neva seen 'im afore but 'e said 'e knew ya from a while back – afore you joined da church. Glared a' me somin' fierce wen I asked 'is name. Said ya'd know 'im and called ya a Belial Gorgon wiv a hot temper." She grinned and added. "Is it true tha 'e kept tryin' to shoot ya in Gym until ya retaliated an' shot 'im twice in response?"

The four ex pilots choked on their breaths as loud laughter came from the phone that had been put on loud speaker.

"Nex' time ya see 'em, giff da bastard a kiss from me," the slightly tinny, but still familiar voice stated. "and tell me 'is reaction."

"Or I'll jus' drag 'im 'ome wiv me so I can watch you run in circles while 'e tries ta kill ya."

"Speakin' of 'ome … where are ya? I'm waitin' fer me food woman!" Duo' said playfully.

Quatre gaped at that. He had never thought that Duo Maxwell would ever be so disrespectful of anyone that wasn't Heero or Wu Fei, even if it was said in jest.

"Jus' fer tha', I'll give yer share t' Sammy."

"Ya wouldn't?" came the honestly shocked tone. "I thought ya loved me."

"Oh I do Sweetie," the woman stated in a voice so sugary that all of the ex-pilots could feel their teeth ache. "It don't mean I ain't gonna be meself. Ain't ya never heard o' tough lovin' afore? See ya in a few." The sound of Duo's spluttering was cut off with a chuckle for the woman and as she once again started walking with the four agents behind her.

After another fifteen minutes of walking, the group arrived at a tall building that looked like it should be condemned.

"I see you got the message then," A soft voice stated from before them. Heero acted on instinct and had his gun cocked and pointed at the person who spoke. Instead of flinching away or eyes widening in shock like most people would do, the person – who was now identified as their target – merely looked subtly impressed.

"That's one Hell of a talent you got there," was all she said. "Come, I'll take ya's to Maxie D. He missed ya's ya know."

The four males exchanged confused looks before following her to a room on the top-most floor of the - compared to the other surrounding buildings – tall building.

"Three floors – not including basement," she stated, her vocabulary magically going from street slang to middle-class citizen the more stairs they climbed. "One entrance to each floor, one emergency exit per floor and at least eight exits that no one bar a street rat could find, let alone use. That is how you will be leaving, by the way. My employer will be here in less than an hour with proof I broke the contract." She smiled grimly, "Proof that I willingly gave him as soon as I saw the four of you."

"Why?" Heero asked, looking intently at the back of her head. "You know what the penalty is for willingly breaking a contract."

The woman glanced at the glaring male and rose an eyebrow before looking forward and up. "I didn't accept the contract with blood," she said simply. "I accepted it so no one else could accept it. My real targets are the very people who hired me." Without waiting for a reaction, she bound up the stairs, leaving the four travelling companions to follow her the best they could.

When the four of them got to the open door, their jaws dropped in shock. On a backwards facing dining room chair, in a pair of black stone-washed jeans that looked as though they should have been thrown out many years before and his ever present cross around his neck, was Duo Maxwell. With his hair un-braided and a physically solid human person that wasn't him brushing it.

"HEE-CHAN! TRO-TRO! KITTY-QUAT! FEIFEI! He yelled, beaming, but not moving from his seat on the chair. "Been a long time."

"You want to explain the disappearing act Maxwell?" Wu Fei asked with a scowl. "Not to mention the Onna," he spat the ward as though it was poisoned, "you sent to get us."

Faster than any of them could react, Duo was out of the seat and had his gun pointed at the section of Wu Fei's face where the bridge of his nose connected with his forehead. The prankster's eyes – which were usually an odd lilac colour and shining with humour – were so pale that only enough of the usual colour was present to separate the iris from the white and they shone, not with humour, but with a murderous gleam that made Wu Fei shut his mouth, pale dramatically and not dare to remove his eyes from Duo's.

"I don't care what you say to or about me, Chang," he growled soft enough for it to be a whisper, even though everyone heard it and had chills go down their spines. "I don't care how you treat me, the other pilots, your work colleagues or any other person you interact with, but you WILL treat this female with nothing but respect while you deal with her or her name is EVER bought up. If not, they will still be finding particles of grey matter with your DNA signature in ten years' time. Do I make myself clear?"

Heero, Quatre and Trowa watched in horror as Wu Fei whimpered softly and Duo pushed the gun forward until it was pressed into the skin. "I said, 'Do I make myself clear?'"

The next thing they knew, Duo let out a small yelp and dropped his gun before moving backwards away from the pale and shaking Chinese pilot.

"Thanks for making yourself look deranged in front of the only people who will ever accept you beside me over something that holds less importance then the diarrhoea that freely flows from the open mouths of a politician every day," the voice of the only female in the room snarled as she ragged the now normal Duo back to his seat by the hand woven deeply in his hair. "Now, you have enough time for me to braid your hair, collect all of the belongings you want to keep and for me to teach Mr Monotone my half of the password before the five of you leave."

"What are you going to be doing?" Quatre asked worriedly as he felt a flair of resignation from Duo and something bordering relief from their guide.

"I am going to end this Gang while covering your escape," was his answer as the girl swiftly braided the long hair, revealing an almost completed cross tattoo that took up the majority of Duo's back. When she had completed and tied off the braid, she dropped a gentle kiss to the only incomplete section of the tattoo and stood back to allow Duo to stand. The two spent several moments looking into each other's eyes before nodding and Duo through a shirt on before he ran around, throwing things into a bag that had been pulled out of nowhere.

"If you give him the music, I can teach him the password if you'd like," Duo offered as he paused in his running around.

"I'll do it," was the reply and she handed a slip of paper and a USB to Heero. "You can listen to the song on Maxie D's device. He'll tell you when to use it. On this slip of paper is my half of a password to the camera's in this building. All feed from here is transferred to an old Oz base just off the 04 colony. The system is easy enough to crack. Watch the feed from today when you get back on Earth. Une can be there but no one else except for the five of you. Type the password in at the speed of the song. It's a duet – you type on the female parts so listen to the song until you can time it that you hit the button as soon as the singer you are following starts."

Heero nodded as he absorbed all the information.

"And one last thing Yuy," she stated, the tone of her voice catching everyone's attention. "The next few months are going to be hard on Maxie D. It is up to th four of you to keep his mind together and his heart beating. I have been doing it for the past seventeen years, now it is up to you. If he becomes too much to handle or if he looks about to snap – us the braid. Wrap it around your hand and put just enough tension on it for him to feel. If he does snap before you can get to him, use it to pull him away. I trust ONLY you with that Yuy. Only you will be able to touch his braid without him going postal on your arse."

All five males turned and looked at her, four of them in shock and one with an oddly unemotional look.

Heero looked at the look on Duo's face then locked his eyes back onto the serious ones before him. "I accept."

Both Duo and the female tilted their heads to the side and identical manic grins formed on their faces. In one smooth movement, Duo sung his bag onto his shoulder as his companion moved a large chest away from the wall, revealing a flattened, highly shiny piece of metal that fell away into the darkness.

"Have fun and get a few of them on me!" Duo said as he pulled the woman into a tight hug. "I'll be seeing you."

"That you will, now go!"

"Blow 'em sky high Sister Dear," Duo grinned as Heero and Quatre helped Wu Fei to that Trowa was just vanishing into with a rare whoop of delight.

"Oh I will Brother Mine, Never fear. Have I ever failed when it comes to blowing shit up?"

"Never!" Duo state firmly, watching carefully as Heero sat himself behind the still shaky Shenlong pilot and pushed off, arms wrapped tightly around the other male's chest so he wouldn't come to too much trouble. Duo watched without remorse. If there was one thing that triggered Shinigami faster and more deadly than anything else, it was someone showing disrespect towards the person who had become closer than a twin to him.

The next thing Duo knew was being pushed into the hole and the chest being moved back into place and a whispered 'Emergency Exit' in his ear, to which he nodded.

Quatre stared at the place where his friends had vanished and turned to the girl that Duo had claimed as family. Before he could speak, she had grabbed his hand and dragged him to the window.

"There is a small veranda outside," she explained as she fiddled with the locking mechanism. "Use the extendable ladder on the left – it goes straight down to the bottom. Maxie D and the others will meet you there. Then run like the Hounds of Hell are after you. Leave L2 ASAP – The trouble with your business here was mine and Maxie D's doing, trying to get your attention. Before you watch the feed, give Maxie this for me with a message." She reached up to her throat and pulled at her necklace until the leather holding it in place snapped. Pulling it from her shirt, Quatre saw a single glass gem in a silver wire cage with the gem being swirled lilac and amber. "Tell him; Always, forever, Eternal."

Quatre nodded and held out a hand. She gave the gem a kiss and dropped it into the open palm and pushed him out the now open window. "When you get to your next destination from here, make sure that Maxie D gets his tattoo finished. Tell him it will look good in dark red for me," she smiled before closing the window once more.

Without hesitating, Quatre followed her directions, smiling thankfully at Duo who had steadied him at the bottom then all of them – including a no longer shaking Wu Fei – ran as fast and hard as they could for the airport.

After twenty minutes of running, the five slowed to a stop in an area void of people.

"Mind explaining about the running?" Trowa asked, panting softly. "Not that I'm complaining, mind."

A loud explosion of sound reached them and Quatre noticed that through the self-proclaimed Shinigami had a large grin on his lips that spelled trouble for whoever it was aimed at, his eyes had dulled dramatically and his heart ached something fierce. "The building had enough explosives rigged to vaporise anyone in a 200 mile radius when it went up," Duo explained.

Quatre and Heero exchanged glances and together they herded the other three to the waiting spacecraft.

~yayitsstormingyayitsstormingyayitsstorming~

Une stared when she arrived at her office one morning almost four months after telling her best Agents that they were to take a holiday. Before her desk, sitting ram-rod straight, were five men in uniform.

"Agent Chang reporting for duty," the slightly clipped tones of her most arrogant Agent, even if it was earned, sounded.

"Agent Barton reporting for duty," Trowa's soft voice stated, shocking Une enough to almost drop the coffee that she had in her hand. Normally the quietest pilot would just nod at her.

"Agent Winner reporting for duty," the normally cheerful blonde said, exhaustion weeping from his every pore.

"Agent Yuy reporting for duty," Heero stated, eyes not leaving the man beside him for even a second.

"Agent Maxwell reporting for duty," the man who looked like Duo Maxwell stated in a dead tone that made the others wince and Heero to reach out and tangle his hand in the braid that still hung down Duo's back

All five men sat up straight and looked at her. "Mission Complete."

"Let me get settled so you can report," Une sighed. It looked to be one of those days.

~IhatCandyIhateCandyIhateCandy~

Une watched in amusement as Maxwell and Yuy typed to a song only they could hear to hack into the recording device of an old Oz base. Everyone was surprised when, after they got into the recording, Quatre stood and handed something to Duo, leaning over the man so he could whisper something in his ear. None of them noticed what the braided man did next, but when he wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist and buried his face into Quatre's stomach while Quatre fiddled with the back of Duo's neck, everyone bar Une – who is confused – have a look of relief on their faces.

No one says a thing about the new necklace that appeared around Duo's neck when the two pull apart, but everyone relaxes further when a spark of the old Duo Maxwell appeared in his eyes and smile.

"Before Heero hits paly on this, I owe four of you an explanation," Duo stated with a sigh, "And one of you an apology. Sorry about the multiple times I shoved a gun in your face the past four months Wuffers – but I'm not apologising for the first time I did it."

Duo ran a hand over his face and inhaled deeply. "The person I was with when you found me is the most important person I will ever have in my life."

Everyone in the room waited silently while Duo thought, not even realising that he was playing with his newest necklace.

"I was abandoned on L2 when I was around one and a half years of age," Duo stated, obviously trying extremely hard not to fall back into the street slang of his youth as he revealed his past to an extremely attentive audience.

"Solo found me and bought me back to the Gang he was running with. He was one of the older children – around about six or seven. They had just lost a heap of their number to one of the 'Bags who thou' tha' anyone unner a certain line should be used as fodder for those wiv money. We found later tha' the boys we caught were sent to labour intensive businesses they 'bag's owned and the girls were kept as slaves, servants, and favours that were passed around at parties."

Duo gulped, fear deep in his eyes. "A few days af'er I turned up, one o' da over older kids returned wiv a basket o' fruit and bread tha one o' the ol' ladies lef' out fer us on occasion and a lil girl 'roun' my age. Soon we was joint a' tha Hip an' ya woul' fin' me 'n' 'er togever. Solo named me Duo and her Shadow, since she could follow people silent as da grave. It weren't long afore we earned the combined name of 'Anord from one o' da girls. Said it was Gaelic for Chaos. Eve'yone 'greed wiv 'er. Shade an' me were oft the ones who were da distraction when the 'Bags would com fer us. I had an odd affinity wiv machines and Shade … "Duo grinned widely with fond remembrance. "Shade could terrify even da most strong of heart. She was da face o' an angel wiv the mind of a demon and a horrifying love for explosions and explosives. None could get close to 'er wen she found anything that went BOOM."

Duo chuckled and nodded at Trowa who had an understanding light enter his eye as he looked at Duo. "She's da reason I refuse ta go inta a bakery." Duo shuddered violently, "D'ya know just how much more deadly a barrel of flour ken be in da right 'ands?"

"Don't you mean 'the wrong hands'?" Une asked as she looked up from where Heero was fast forwarding through the video evidence.

"No, I meant wat I said. Anyone can get flour to explode – but not many can use flour and only flour, to destroy a house twice as large as the one Kitty-Q uses fer family celebrations and reunions."

Everyone gulped.

"She's da one who taught me about tha beauty of blowing stuff up."

"Tell us about her," Quatre stated. "You called her 'Sister Dear' in your farewell."

Duo smiled softer than anyone had ever seen him smile before. "What you have ta unnerstand is L2 is polluted at best, toxic at times and radioactive at its worst. It is the reason I'm good at what I do and why my eyes are the colour they are," Duo explained, slowly returning from his childhood memories and back into his normal – for now – speech pattern "I can hide in shadows that wouldn't cover my big toe without anyone knowing I was there. Solo could sense when someone had been abandoned or why someone had run away and Shade could form bonds. The bond she made with me made us closer than naturally born twins."

Duo looked up at Une. "All those times I should have died while in your care through the war? I survived because of HER. She kept my mind from snapping and my heart from stopping by making sure I had just enough of her essence present on my side of the bond to soothe any frayed edges."

"Got it," Heero stated. Duo nodded at him then turned a sharp smile onto Une. "Just be thankful that it was me that joined G and not Shade – or worse – Both of us."

All six of them turned to the large screen as Shade walked into the house, followed by four ex pilots.

"Why is her hair short and yours long?" Une asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"We agreed," Duo stated softly as he greedily watched his sister's image on the screen. "In memory for all we lost, I would keep my braid, but she would never again have long hair. Only she had been allowed to touch my hair since the Massacre. The only reason Hee-Chan can touch it is because she said he could."

"If you don't mind my asking," Wu Fei said uncertainly as they watched her tackle an unsuspecting Duo in a hug before seating him on a chair and brushing his loose hair, "where did she get the scar?"

Heero paused the recording and looked at Duo as well, quickly wrapping his hand in the ever-present braid. Duo shuddered slightly.

"During our childhood – before the Maxwell church took the gang in – we always lost more members to the 'Bags and law enforcement than we could get. AS I said before, the males went to work at hard labour and the girls were servants, slaves or party favours. In one instance, I was captured by law enforcement, but instead of being carted off to one of the 'Bags, I was released two hours later into her embrace. I don't know what it was that she had done to get me released, but I have an idea."

Duo glared at nothing before shaking his head to clear it. "From then on, she was the one who got the gang members out of law enforcement hands. She never told any of us how she did it, but every time it happened she would cry herself to sleep for nights afterwards."

Duo turned and looked out the window, his eyes glazed as he watched a part of his childhood.

"Den, one day – a year affer I was nabbed – she was nabbed," Duo unconsciously sank into his old speech patterns once more. "One o' da 'Bags gabbed 'er. No one 'ad any 'ope of 'er comin back t' us. T'ree weeks later, I woke wiv 'er curled up 'side me, wiv a nasty sliced up face. Took 'er t' one o' the ladies 'oo would clean and stitch bad ouches fer us. Took two months fer 'em t' star' lookin a' 'er wivout pi'y or flinchin'."

Heero nodded and pushed play once more, watching as Duo's attention snapped back to the present as he watched the entire reunion, his eyes not once leaving his sister's form. Heero stopped it once again as soon as Quatre left out the window with an odd look on his face.

"Why does she call you Maxie D?" he asked.

Duo grimaced, "I'm the Maxell Demon, Hee-Chan," Duo stated softly. "She shortened it to something that she could call me withough everyone getting into a panic about it. She wasn't there when it happened. Father Maxwell and Siser Helen believed she was with the 'family' that adopted her, but she wasn' people who adopted here were really searching for new meat on tfor their night time customers.."

Heero nodded and then frowned as he rewound the tape and paused it. "Are you sure that this was a gang? I only counted twenty members at most. The file said there were over three hundred members all up."

Duo nodded. "What we didn't tell you was that the majority of the people were street rats, like me 'n' Shade. They needed work so we did nothin' about it, but as soon as they noticed they were after me 'n' Shade, they removed themselves from the vicinity. The slums may be harsh and lawless, but amongst the rats there is a comradary that rivals that of us pilots. They feared and loved Shade and would do nothing to harm her."

Duo gave a scary grin. "Of those left, three quarters of them were threatened or blackmailed into joining. Once me, Shade and the crew got to them and reazed the evidence or hid their families, they slowly started to disappear asw well. The twenty or so people that you see there ar those who willingly joined them."

Everyone nodded and turned to watch the screen once again, Heero reached out and gently tugged Duo's braid in reassurance as the smaller pilot grabbed the small gem pendant that was around his neck. Quatre rubbed his chest absent-mindedly, knowing deep down what they were about to see. Heero pushed play.

-Recording-

Shadow watched as Quatre's blonde head vainished from sight before turning her attention to the three men who stood in her doorway, her door on the floor between her and them.

"Wha' tha' Hell d'ya think ya doin'?" she yelled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Ya come stormin in 'ere and set me next mob o' customers arunnin' t'inkin' ya was the coppers affer 'em."

"The bosses are coming to talk to you, all three of them," the man in the centre stated in a bored tone.

Shadow growled and entered the kitchen, pulling down a sheet of tablets, removing the last two in the pack and swallowing them dry before chasing them down with her now stone-cold coffee.

"What were they?" The man inon the right groled, taking a step towards her, trying to be intimidating.

Shadow raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. "Headache tablets," she half-sneered at the man. "I was up here with four gorgeous men with the promise of one Hell of a fucking good gan bang to releave me of this bloody tension headach of mine when you lot decided to storm the joint and sent them scurryin'."

"Our aploogies then," an oily voice stated from behind the three men imaking them move aside so the three people behind them could enter the room. "If it's a gang bang you want, I'm sure we can help you with that."

-Normal time-

Heero, Quatre, Trowa Wu Fei and Une paled as Duo growled. "She said four gorgeous men you egosentrical brainless SOB – NOT THIN WEASEL-LIKE THRINGY BASTARDS WITH NO DICKS!"

-reCORDING-

Shadow looked at the man with a face full of so much disugust that the smirk fell off the man's face.

"I said four gorgeous men, not one thin weasel, one porky braud and a man who has no dick."

One of the men leapt forward and slapped Shadown across the face as hard as he could. Shadow's head was pushed to the side by the force of it, but she didn't seem to have felt anything. The man who had done it grabbed her tightly as one of his companions ran his hands over her body, feeling for weapons. When he eventually stepped away, he was holding a small gun that was in her pocket. Standing, he handed it to the man she had insulted.

"I know that you weren't looking for the one you were hired to kill," the man said with a smirk. "I'm not stupid you know."

"could have fooled me," Shadow spat before looking over her shoulder at the man behind her, "And do stop rubbing your minnow-sized candy cane against my arse – you couldn't afford me even if you gave me your entire life savings."

Once again, Shadow was slapped across the face, only to come face –to-barrel with her own gun.

"Any last words?" the man smirked at her.

Shadow stood tall with her hands behind her back, held there by the same minion who had hit her. She opened her mouth and everyone froze.

"A warning to the people
The good and the evil

This is war

To the soldier, the civillian
The martyr, the victim

This is war

It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie
The moment to live and the moment to die
The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight

To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the Edge of the Earth
It's a brave new world from the last to the first

To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the Edge of the Earth
It's a brave new world, It's a brave new world

A warning to the prophet
To the liar, to the honest

This is war

To the leader, to the pariah, the victim, the Messiah

This Is War

It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie
The moment to live and the moment to die
The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight

To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the Edge of the Earth
It's a brave new world from the last to the first

To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the Edge of the Earth
It's a brave new world, It's a brave new world, It's a brave new world."

When Shadow opened her mouth to continue, the man holding her gun shouted, "ENOUGH!" and pulled the trigger. For a moment, nothing happned exept for her looking up with a slight smile and loving look in her eye.

"Remember Mazie D, The braid is Mine," and she closed her eyes, slumping to the ground. Before any of the peole with her could move, a loud explosion was hear.

-Normal time-

Everyone stared blankly at the screen in shock before Duo stood and removed his uniform top, revealing the tattoo on his back, now complet with the word 'Shade' in the very center doe in blood red ink. Standing exactly the same way Shadow had in her room so many months before, Duo opened his mouth with his eyes still on the screen and sang.

"I do believe in the light
Raise your hands into the sky
The fight is done
The war is won
Lift your hands toward the sun
Toward the sun, toward the sun, toward the sun
The war is won

To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the Edge of the Earth
It's a brave new world from the last to the first

To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the Edge of the Earth
It's a brave new world, It's a brave new world, It's a brave new world

A brave new world, the war is won, the war is won, a brave new world."

Duo stood in silence for a moment. "I'll remember Shade. Always, Forever, Eternal," he whispered, a single crystal tear falling from his overly bright eyes.