A/N: Before you get to the original A/N; this was to be posted long before Danger Down Below; Shinigami's Cross; Crossing The Line; and I Get A Kick Out Of You. I just forgot to bring it along with me that particular day. On this day; I will post another one-shot A Very Shot Lemon. I hope you'll enjoy this and the other one-shot.

This is just something I thought of while scanning through my biology book just for the hell of it. For some reason there is this certain part of the book that I love to go to. What can I say? I'm hooked on that kind of stuff. Anyway, this is NOT an OC. The last time I tried that no reviews were showing up. So I've decided to stick with the original characters.

Vitality Compromised

Duo shivered under the thick quilts, burrowing deeper into their snug depths, hoping to find the warmth that seemed to elude him once again for the past few nights. He wasn't sure what was going on. He'd never gotten sick in his entire life; including the time the plague was having its demented fun with the people of L2 all those years ago. And he was sure he hadn't gotten it from any of his co-workers. Sally had forbid anyone who was sick to linger around the workplace and getting everyone else into the same predicament. How he'd manage to get into this, he was at complete loss. Had he gotten it from a recent mission? It may be possible, but he still highly doubted it. At this point in life he wouldn't expect his immune system to start slacking off so much.

Beeeeeeeeeep…….

Reluctantly, amethyst orbs peeked over the soft thick wall to look at the glowing red numbers on the alarm clock on the night stand. It was 5:00 a.m. Yet another night of sleep was lost to him; now leaving him to begin his usual morning routine his body did on its own volition. It was like it had a mind of its own. Duo was dead tired, so he was a little relieved at the prospect. Showering, brushing his teeth, drying, brushing and braiding his hair, getting dressed and making coffee; all that done respectively in that order just like every other morning. By then Duo was awakened a little more; albeit only marginally. But it was enough to get him in his car and drive to work without getting himself into any sleep induced problems. He looked at the Preventer Headquarters building and sighed. Bring on the heat.

Of course the building had central air conditioning with the setting at a constant temperature of 65­­­­­­­oF; and anyone who dared to touch it would have to answer to she-devil herself. It's just that while everyone else was cold and snuggling into their jackets, he was trying to fend off the incessant heat that had begun to plague him a mere few days before. Anyway, Duo nodded and smiled a good morning to everyone he passed as he did every morning, relieved that his body temperature was back to the way it should be.

Now if only we can continue this process…

The braided ex pilot walked into the office he shared with his friends and two other Preventer employees and sat in his now amazingly comfortable stuffed chair at his desk. He took his time and got settled, closing his eyes and taking a deep whiff of his third cup of coffee for the morning since he got up. He stopped, feeling eyes boring into him during his, private, 'moment'. Looking over the porcelain barrier between him and the rest of the office, intense lapis lazuli clashed with curious aubergine. After only a mere few seconds of holding the gaze, Duo squirmed under Heero's pointed glare.

"What do you want from me?" he finally asked, moving the cup away from his lips. Heero kept his glare firmly in place, his eyes seeming to do some sort of calculation as they trailed over Duo's face. It was rather disconcerting having Heero study you like that. Any other time, Duo would've relished the attention. But this one was different from the list of glares he'd come up with. It was a sign. Either he was going to kill you; or use you as a human punching bag. Or anything pain related; both emotionally and physically. And neither had eased his trepidation at all.

At that moment, Quatre walked in with a shit load of papers. He smiled in greeting to the braided man before doing a double take. A look of concern flashed across the adorable Arab's face. Immediately he went over to his own desk, set the papers down and walked back over to Duo. He leaned over the desk, palms firmly planted on the metal surface as sapphire orbs traveled over Duo's features.

This made Duo extra nervous. It was enough that Heero was staring him down for some reason; but having a worried Quatre examining you was not a good sign. If he could, he would've just backed away, grabbed his coat, and left. But he couldn't. The wall was directly behind him, all of the others were watching, and looked just about ready to stop him if he tried to make a move. Torn between freaked out and irritated by the penetrating glares, he put down his coffee and sighed.

"What?" he inquired. "Is there something on my face? In my hair? Or am I that gorgeous that you have to neglect your work to walk over and admire me?" he added as an afterthought to lighten the mood a little. He heard Wufei snort from the other side of the office. To his surprise, Quatre's expression hadn't changed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Duo blinked, not really sure how to answer that question; so he countered with another one.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Are you sure?" Quatre asked.

Damn, he didn't take the bait….

"You've been acting weird lately," said Trowa from the safe confines of his corner on the far side of the office.

"Is it even possible for him to act any weirder than he is?" Wufei snorted.

Quatre shot the Chinese a withering look. "This is serious Wufei. This isn't the time to exercise your newfound sense of humor."

Duo blinked and looked over at the equally astonished Asian.

So cold…

Soon he was face to face with a once again concerned looking Quatre. How he changes his demeanor so quickly, he will never know. Quatre studied him again, this time a little longer than he would've liked. It felt like the other was trying to burn holes in his face; which was actually working…. Wait. Crap his temperature was acting up again. Why now, of all times; while the others were fixated on him? Which, by the way, made his skin crawl; and not in a good way.

Would you stop that?! He thought, beginning to get annoyed by the scrutiny. It's uncomfortable…

Judging by the stunned looks on the others' faces, he'd said that first bit out loud. Well, what's done is done. You see, Duo rarely snapped. When he did, you knew to listen. Quatre stared at him with slightly wide eyes before regaining his composure.

"I just want to make sure you're alright Duo." said Quatre, standing up straight, obviously, not taking the sudden outburst into consideration. Duo really needed to get out of this. If he couldn't get himself out, then someone had better save his ass for him.

As If his mental plea was acknowledged, Une appeared on his vid screen.

"Agent Maxwell. My office, immediately." The line dropped. If he wasn't so drawn back by her tone of voice, he would've ran to her office and given her a wet kiss. He shoved the relieved grin threatening to take over his face back down and looked up at Quatre.

"Sorry. I'd love to stay and chat, but you heard the lady," He said, rising and grabbing his jacket. He shot them all a small smile and walked out. As soon as the door closed behind him, he practically raced down the hall and to the elevator to get to Une's office.

Yes! Victory is mine! Duo thought triumphantly. At least for now.

………………………….

Heero watched as Duo had walked in earlier and he noticed a few things. One, there was no bounce in the braided man's step as usual. Two, the circles under his eyes seemed to get darker and thicker by the day. Three, he seems to be the opposite of what everyone else is feeling in the building. If they're cold, he's hot. If they're hot, he's freezing. Something was up and Heero was going to find out what.

When Duo had left, Heero looked to Quatre with a quizzical expression. Quatre sighed, defeated as he turned around to the others and sat on Duo's desk. He looked up to meet the Japanese's gaze. Glancing to the others around the room, he saw that they were all demanding an answer. He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling a bit of sweat on his brow. Now, he wasn't one to get nervous about being stared down like that. Only when Trowa does it in that oh-so-sexy-way, then it would've been a problem. So why was he beginning to sweat? He glanced at the digital thermostat. It was normal, forever untouched as instructed. Could it have been someone else he was feeling? Maybe. Come to think of it, just before Duo had snapped, he'd felt the temperature rise considerably and unnervingly quickly. Was he…? No way, Duo never got sick… right?

Trowa must've read his expression and spoke up, voicing his concerns. "Maybe Maxwell's sick or something?"

Wufei snorted again, totally disregarding Quatre's earlier verbal bitch slap. "Wishful thinking, my friend. If Maxwell ever got sick it would be a blessing in disguise. Silence for a few days. And you know that's practically impossible. Any other assumptions?"

Heero'd had his suspicions, but wasn't going to bring them out into the open without confirmation. Until then, he was going to keep an eye on his best friend before anything bad happens to him.

………………………………...

TBC? YOU DECIDE.

A/N: Well, there you go. I'm not sure if I should continue. This was written in a sort of spur of the moment thing, just like I said earlier. I only wrote it because I was tired of not getting anything else on the other fic. Depending on how much support I get, I'll continue. Other than that I'll stick to random poem fics and single chapter songfics.

'Till next time! Lights out, kids.