-1Title: Understudy

Author: bikkothewriter

Pairings: None yet, leaning towards 1x2x1

Warnings: Language, Yaoi, Blood, (maybe squick depending on where the reviews and the muse lead me)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the voices in my head and even they are suing for copyright infringement.

Summary: He's lived his life as Zero One's understudy. Now free of an evil doctor's machinations what will he make of his new life? (will work on random summary)

***

Chapter One

He'd dreamed of this day, to see Zero One brought low before him, to one-day stand over his dead body knowing that he was finally free. Instead, it was painful to watch the man his entire life was based around being hurt, to see him strapped to the upright gurney, spread eagle, his head hanging low in pain. Zero One wheezed through a swollen mouth, chest battered with broken ribs from the harsh beating the orderly was giving him. Each blow that landed on the shackled man's body reverberated through him and he wished for it to stop, for Zero One to stop being so stubborn and answer the damn question.

"Where are the plans for Wing Zero?" Dr. Faust asked, standing before Zero One. The man's head lolled but he did not answer. "Give him another injection."

"He's already had five," Faust's assistant said even as he began to prep the needle, filling the syringe with the murky blue fluid.

"Zero One is very resilient but he'll break eventually," Faust said cheerfully.

He could only watch in silent horror as the doctor grabbed a handful of Zero One's hair, pulling, exposing a neck bruised from the five injections of Faust's serum. Zero One whimpered as the needle slid home, the liquid filling his veins leaving him panting harshly.

"I wonder how many more of these injections you can take, Zero One, before they kill you. I'll give you time to think about it," the doctor said patting the man's cheek as he released his grip on his hair.

Faust turned away from Zero One, walking to the trash container tossing the used needle inside. He felt nauseous, staring at the thin slice of metal decorated in Zero One's blood. He forced him self to look away finding Faust standing just before him. He resisted the urge to retreat knowing he'd only back himself into the wall.

"You know, Zero," Faust said to him conversationally, "You're very lucky. If Zero One hadn't come here on his misguided mission to shut us down, it would have been you I'd be testing my serum on. You should thank him."

He stayed silent looking at Zero One instead of the doctor's smug, calculating face. He'd suffered pain, been shot, stabbed, even forced to blow himself up under Faust's care and he knew that if Zero One survived he would go through the same torment. He was not lucky, he simply knew what was coming, and unless Zero One died, he had nothing to thank him for.

Faust, his assistant and the orderly left the cell, left him alone with Zero One and he walked over to the bound man, looking into the cloudy blue eyes, the battered face, uncertain. For years, he had waited for this moment, to meet the man who caused him so much pain and suffering, who's every scar was mimicked on his own body, whose every deed he was forced to accomplish. Looking at the man before him, seeing himself mirrored there he felt ashamed that he ever entertained thoughts of killing him. Zero One was a prisoner to Faust's machinations just as he was and would continue to suffer as long as Faust willed it so.

"Are you…my brother?" Zero One whispered, his gaze focusing on him. "My twin?"

"No," he answered, not understanding why Zero One would ask him such a stupid question, thinking perhaps the serum had made him delirious.

Zero One moaned, a sad and mournful sound filled with pain, "No family. I have no family."

"Where are the plans?" Zero asked wanting to finish Faust's painful experiment before he went any further with this torture. Zero One pressed his lips tight together forcing himself not to answer. "He won't stop until you give him what he wants. I know from experience."

"Can't. No more war."

"How do you plan on winning the war without a Gundam? Have you given up?" he asked both hopeful for the chance to take over and disgusted with Zero One for abandoning the mission.

Zero One's head rose as he cast a confused look to Zero. "The war is over. Has been over for three years."

"That's not…" he started stopped short. Three years. Three years trapped in this hellhole and for what, he thought. To be Faust's guinea pig when he could have been free. Instead he'd been lied to, believing that the war still waged outside the compound's walls. Angry, he looked at Zero One, "Did you come here to kill me?"

"Didn't know," Zero One said shaking his head, "Didn't know you were here. Didn't know I had a clone."

Zero had always believed that Zero One knew about his existence, knew that he was being kept underground forced to go through the same missions, suffer through the same injuries to become his replacement should Zero One die in battle. Now, pumped so full of Faust's truth serum that he was barely conscious, Zero was forced to believe his counterpart. Forced to realize that the last three years had been in vain and all the anger he felt at Zero One was for nothing. He wasn't taking his time to end the war, putting himself in unnecessary danger without regards to Zero's own health. The war had been over and won and Zero One had gone on with his life unknowing. More painful yet to realize that Zero One believed him to be his missing family and not just a clone.

"Why did you come here?"

"Intercepted transmission. A trick. Thought J was alive. Here. Building a new Wing."

He clenched his fists, rage coloring his vision. He'd had enough of the lying, living under someone else's thumb, under someone else's rules. It was time to do what he wanted, to take control of his life and make his own choices, be his own man.

But first, he needed to take care of Zero One.

***

He cocked the gun, pressing the barrel against the small man's head as he kept his grip on Zero One's sagging body. Escaping the compound had been simple; adding Zero One to the equation had been the problem. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, with broken ribs and dried blood on his face and clothing. Maneuvering him through first the compound and then the streets without being caught was beginning to wear on Zero's body, though following his directions had proven useful as he'd found the doctor, catching him just as he was leaving his clinic for the night.

"Open the door and go back inside," Zero ordered keeping his voice low and steady.

The little man turned to look at the two, eyes widening behind his thin, framed glasses. "Dear Lord, there are two of you."

"Open the door," Zero hissed, pressing the gun harder against the man's head. He wanted to be off the street and in the safety of the small building. Zero One had managed, in fractured sentences, to give him the location of an old wartime doctor who would keep his mouth shut and help patch up the damage done to Zero One for a price.

The doctor blinked, looking between the both of them and it annoyed Zero. He was not a fan of being looked at, being studied but was saved from further scrutiny as the man opened the door, ushering them inside, through the darkened hallways of the small clinic and into an examination room. The doctor flicked the lights on, directing him to help Zero One sit on the examination table.

"Now which one of you is Heero?" the doctor asked rooting through a draw for a clean pair of latex gloves.

"It doesn't matter," Zero said wanting to be off the asteroid before the end of the night cycle.

"Not you then," the doctor said cheerfully. He turned to Zero One taking his face in his gloved hands looking into his eyes. "What happened?"

"Drugged and beaten. Found my clone. Escaped. Ran away," Zero One answered still under the effects of the serum and unable to keep his mouth shut to Zero's chagrin.

"I think that's the most I've ever heard him say at one time. What were you drugged with?" the doctor asked pullig Zero One's drooping eyelids apart, shining a penlight into his eyes.

"An experimental truth serum," Zero One answered again.

"Stop talking," Zero ordered, upset that the Wing pilot was spilling information with little prompting. "And stop asking him questions."

"A truth serum? I'm surprised such a thing would work on him." The doctor turned the light out, stuffing it back into this coat pocket.

"I don't need to hear you talk. I need you to bandage him up."

"I see his personality carried over into you. How hurt is he?" the doctor asked, turning back to the cabinets against the wall pulling materials out.

"At least three broken ribs," Zero answered. "And a few cuts and scrapes."

"Get his shirt off,: the doctor said absently as he laid out materials on a rolling cart.

Zero glared at the man, unhappy that he was finally free and still taking orders. He holstered the gun moving towards Zero One keeping the doctor in his line of sight as he helped the dazed man out of his shirt. His chest was already a dark and angry color of fist shaped prints. In a few spots, his skin had swelled and split in inch long tears where blood had clotted leaving a red and tacky mess smeared on Zero One's skin.

"Will any of these scar?" Zero asked staring at the cuts intently.

"Mmm, they shouldn't, they're very minimal. If they do they'll fade quickly."

More cuts, more scars, he thought to himself even as he tried to remember that he no longer needed to mimic Zero One. The war was over, he'd seen proof of that as he'd carried Zero One through the darkened streets, had forced Faust to confess the truth before he'd shot him between the eyes and yet he was overwhelmed with the need to match. His mind already coming up with quick solutions do mimic the cuts should they scar.

Zero One took a staggered breath as the doctor cleaned the cuts, the right side of his chest rising while the left side fell. A chest flail. He'd been right about the three broken ribs though it was hard to be wrong when he'd heard them snap. He'd watched Branson throw the punch and felt his own ribs twinge in pain, as if in sympathy for the pain he knew Zero One was suffering. Thankfully, his lungs hadn't felt as sentimental and he was not struggling for breath the way Zero One was.

"Stay with me now, Heero," the doctor said, steadying the man as he lolled, body slumping. "Climb onto the table and keep him upright."

Zero grunted but did as he was told, further crumpling the white sanitary sheet as he climbed behind Zero One with his knees on either side of the injured man, cupping him under his arms to hold him upright. Zero One moaned in pain, trying to twist away from the pressure the position put on his chest and lungs.

"Hold still now and I'll give you something for the pain."

"No," Zero said, "No medicine."

"Do you want him to suffer?"

"No," Zero One said and the doctor looked down confused even as the man continued, "I don't want him to suffer."

"We aren't talking to you Heero, just about you," the doctor clarified. Looking to Zero he asked, "Why can't he have any medicine?"

"He was given six injections of the serum," Zero was forced to explain, "I don't know what another drug might do to him."

"Six? That's an extreme amount even for him. I know he has a high tolerance but…we need to counteract it. He's overdosed on it and it could be killing him as we speak," the doctor said his voice lowering, words hurried as he turned back to the cabinets, searching for more supplies.

"I don't know what's in the serum. Only that it's meant to make the victim tell the truth. Faust said it would wear off eventually."

"I trust this Faust about as much as I trust you," the doctor said looking back at him. "Who are you?"

"I don't know," Zero One answered.

"I told you to stop talking," he said to Zero One and to the doctor, "I told you to stop asking questions. If you have ideas on how to help save him without more drugs then do it."

"How sure are you that it'll wear off?" the doctor asked looking unsure.

"I don't know," Zero One answered and Zero resisted the urge to shake him like a rag doll, annoyed with the situation and Zero One's loose lips.

"Ninety percent. It wouldn't be the first time Faust has lied to me."

"I'll bandage his ribs. You'll need to keep a close eye on him. Check his pupils every hour and ask him questions to check for brain damage."

"What?"

The doctor stopped looking at him over Zero One's shoulder. "You can't leave him alone like this. There are a thousand secrets floating around in that head of his and in the wrong hands…" the doctor trailed off not needing to elaborate.

"I can't."

"You got him this far."

"I've waited my entire life for him to die so I could take his place," he said angrily, "I only changed my mind today when I realized he didn't know anything about me. I'm not the best choice for this job."

"Do you still want him die?" the doctor asked.

"Never wanted him to die. Thought he was my brother. My family," Zero One whispered.

"Shut up," Zero said his heart clenching in pain. His brother. The fool thought they were brothers.

"Do you want him to be your brother?"

"Stop it."

"Yes."

"He doesn't just have to answer truthfully, he has to speak truthfully. Could you really leave him like this?"

"No," Zero One said. "Can't leave him. He's all I have."

"I'm not your brother," Zero said angrily because once the drugs wore off Zero One would take back what he said, would abandon him in the world on his own. He didn't want to form that sort of attachment to the man he both idolized and hated just to be cast away when he came back to his senses.

"Why not?" the doctor asked and Zero One was blessedly quiet.

"I'm just a clone. They made me to replace him incase he died in the war. I'm not really his family."

"The war is over."

"I know that now."

"You could be brothers. You share the same blood and DNA. Some people have less and claim to be related."

"Just shut up. I want off this asteroid tonight and I don't to think about being anyone's brother."

"Will you stay with him? Until he's better?"

"Yes," Zero One answered.

"Yes," Zero replied.

"Yes," Zero One said blissfully as he slipped firmly into unconsciousness, head dropping heavily against his chest.

***

He dumped Zero One on the squeaky hotel bed, albeit gently, arranging him on top the covers on the left side of the bed, saving room for himself. The hotel was cheap, the covers faded, wallpaper peeling, and the carpet threadbare but he had little money left after paying the doctor for his time and his silence and for the supplies he would need to take care of Zero One until he was mobile again.

His entire stash of escape money gone in only a few hours and none of it spent on the liquor and hookers he'd promised himself upon his escape. Years of careful pick pocketing wasted on Zero One, who he should have dumped in the first crater he found. He could be living life as Heero Yuy, working his job, rubbing elbows with his friends, fucking his girlfriend except he didn't know anything about this post-war Zero One. He didn't even know if the man had a job or lived his life as a bum on the street.

He needed a computer. He needed to know everything there was to know about Zero One. His knowledge of the other man was sorely lacking and he wouldn't be able to rest until he knew that he could replace him. He'd been bred for it, trained for it. He couldn't imagine another purpose for himself besides being Zero One's understudy while the other man was still alive.

He was free and yet not free. The compulsion too strong to resist, he head towards the door.

"Don't go," Zero One called and he pulled up short, turning back to look at the weak and crumpled figure on the bed whose hand stretched towards him. "Don't leave me."

"I'm not. I need to find a computer. I need to do some research. I'll be back soon."

"Don't leave me. Please, don't leave me," Zero One pleaded his voice soft and painful to hear.

Zero swallowed roughly, the fear he heard in Zero One's voice resonating in him, imagining what the other man must be seeing. Being left in a foreign, unknown room, with no lights save those coming from under the door and through the shuttered blinds, laying weak and disoriented on a bed while the one person you believed you could trust walked away leaving you alone. But not for long, because once he left that's when they would come. They would come to teach him how to be strong, how to take pain without crying, without begging for mercy even as he was being torn apart.

His stomach rolled as he raced back to the bed, taking Zero One's hand in his clutching it tightly as he lay beside him as close as he could without injuring the other man further.

"I'll stay," he told him, "I won't leave you alone."

"Thank you," Zero One murmured sincerely drawing Zero's hand close to his chest, holding on with both hands as he drifted off to sleep again. "Aniki."

Zero lay quietly beside Zero One listening to his unsteady breathing, contemplating the turn in his life. The doctor was right; he couldn't leave Zero One in such a perilous situation no matter how much he had prayed for his death at one time. He would stay beside Zero One as long as he was needed, until the other man sent him away.

And up until that point, he would do everything he could to prove to Zero One just how good a twin brother he could be.

***

Aniki technically means older brother (couldn't find the word for
twin brother) and I thought it was cute for Heero to say.