Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own either the pieces of inspiration, or the characters from Gundam Wing, this is just fan-made fun… if you can call staying up 'till 4 am trying to get the damn fic typed fun… which sadly I kinda do, lol…

Anyway, this is just a quick story inspired by a pic of Heero and Duo by spodmaster-spiff on Deviantart. (You should definitely check out the picture, but I warn you it will serve as a spoiler.) I also listened to Mark Hildreth's "Little Life" about 30 times while writing this… lol, Heero Yuy singing… it would be really wrong, if he weren't so damned good at it...

Oh, and last but not least…

This fic is dedicated to my Heero… Because without her, not only would I have missed out on a crap-ton of good Anime, I'd still be holed up in my apartment doing nothing with my time... Seriously man, where would I be if I hadn't been through "Heero and Duo's Excellent Adventure," Lol. And really, the characters here are based just as much off of you and me as off the original Heero and Duo, so thanks for the inspiration ;) Love ya! *Hug-tackles*

Ok, now that the mushy stuff's over, dry your tears and read the fic… although you might need these *hands out tissues* ;)

******

After almost ten years of peace and quiet, some old friends came forward to ask a favor of the retired Gundam pilots. They could hardly refuse. As Duo had said while persuading Quatre to join the fun, "Life's too damn boring without Gundams anyway." This little mission was just infiltrating and destroying an underground weapons facility, but it was still more comfortable for most of them than the humdrum lives they'd been living since they'd given up on mobile suit battles.

The others had all had their parts to play, gathering information and weapons (which were becoming harder and harder to find). Not surprisingly Heero and Duo were the ones chosen to finish the job. They sat around a table at Quatre's rented hotel suite and planned the whole thing from start to finish in two days. There was a sort of nostalgia in the whole thing. Even though they'd never really planned their missions all together like this, this sense of camaraderie had been a part of their lives since they'd discovered each others existence. Not that Heero would ever admit this feeling to the others. As soon as he'd been contacted about this idea he had started reverting to his old soldier ways. But the past few years of peace had mellowed him out quite a bit.

"So you two will go in at 01:00," Trowa was reiterating one final time. "Just plant the charges and get out."

"We sure we trust our Heero not to blow himself up?" Duo joked with a chuckle.

"It's alright, if I'm going in with you the damn things probably won't even explode."

There was silence for a few seconds before Quatre and Trowa burst in to laughter. Duo tried to keep a straight face as he pointed an accusing finger. "That's not nice Heero… and when the fuck did you get a sense of humor?" He then proceeded to crack up along with the others, walking over to pat his friend on the back. "I'll forgive you this one, but you watch it, Yuy…Ya jerk" he shoved the other man, walking past him with an entertained smirk and disappearing in to one of the bedrooms.

The others headed off to bed soon after, and Heero was left alone. In truth, he was afraid to go to bed. He'd gotten too used to sleeping like a normal human being, and now he was worried he wouldn't be able to wake up on time. So he sat there looking over the plans and trying not to worry. He never used to worry. He'd never had anything to care about. But what did he care about now? Relena wasn't here, nor was she involved in any way, so that wasn't the problem. Was he worried about himself? Maybe he cared a little more than he used to, but not enough to make him worry like this. That left the other pilots. Should he call them his friends? Even if they weren't the text book definition of friends, they were the closest thing he had.

But, as much as he found himself caring about them, it didn't cloud his judgment. They had all been out of this kind of work for a long time. There was no doubt in his mind that the rest of them were as rusty as he was. There was no telling when one of them would make a major mistake, one that they would all pay for.

He must have fallen asleep while thinking about this, because the next thing he knew Duo was coming out of the bedroom half dressed to rustle up some coffee. Only after a good long chug of the stuff did he notice Heero looking a little off.

"You alright, Buddy?"

In response Heero began shuffling the papers in to a pile at the center of the table. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Duo yawn, stretch and head back toward the bedroom. Heero considered just sitting around and waiting, but then his stomach growled. He supposed a breakfast couldn't hurt. A quick scouting of the kitchen produced only some fruit, half a loaf of French bread and some of those ridiculous individually wrapped pats of butter. All leftovers from last night's room service, but better than nothing. He ate and waited for half an hour until Duo finally reemerged.

"Boy, it's hotter than hell in this place, huh?" He said as he pulled on a tank top.

Again Heero said nothing, but threw one of the backpacks full of explosives over his shoulders.

"I guess you haven't changed so much after all… I still can't get you to talk." The much more friendly man stuffed his feet into a pair of combat boots and yanked the laces tight. "What happened to that jokester from last night? He sure didn't last very long."

Heero, having had his own boots on all night long, sat silently watching his talkative comrade get ready. He never could understand how Duo could be so damn cheerful when so much was at stake.

Finally snatching up his backpack, Duo continued to talk. "Seems like we were just doing this kind of stuff yesterday..." He opened the door, knowing Heero would be right behind him as he stepped out. "Hard to believe it's been ten years already, huh?"

"Hey, Duo…"

The bubbly one stopped and sighed. "I know, I know, 'Shut up, Duo'… What the…" As he turned to face Heero, the quiet soldier tossed his comrade an apple and then walked past him out the door. Looking back and forth between the apple and Heero, Duo gave a surprised chuckle and whispered "Well I'll be damned."

"Hurry up," came the much more familiar call from the end of the hallway.

"Ah, see, now that's more like my buddy, Yuy. Hold your horses, I'm coming." He bit in to the apple and then jogged to meet up with his partner in crime.