Warnings: Same-Sex Relationships, Language, Child Abuse, Character Death, Adult Situations? (not really sure if this counts as Lime or not), probably OOC

Death's Angel

Chapter 2

Watching as Professor G trained Duo to be a weapon in his war was it's own form of torture. I was only able to watch as Duo slowly used his fake smile more and more. As the rest of the Sweeper crew accepted it at face value. As he kept a layer of separation between himself and others, not allowing anyone close.

I was only able to watch the first time Duo had to kill.

He simply stood there. Devil-may-care grin on his face. Smoking gun in his hand. He stood there and watched as that luminous golden glow slowly eased out of the body. As it floated its way to the heavens.

He stood there and smiled like it didn't affect him.

Later, in his cold, lonely bunk, he cried himself to sleep. I once again curled around him and offered him the warmth from my being. It was the only thing I could do for him.

I followed my charge as he descended to Earth with his Gundam. I felt completely useless. There was so much death surrounding Duo, and yet I still was stuck incorporeal. Duo was finding himself in dangerous situation after dangerous situation and I was completely and utterly useless in my current form. Death had done me a favor back in my first life, asking that I protect his son as repayment and I felt like I was failing both of them.

When Duo first came across the other Gundam pilot, Heero, I was instantly wary. The boy was strange and unnervingly quiet. Duo handled him the way he handled anything anymore, with a rictus grin and a boisterous attitude.

I of course tagged along, playing invisible lookout, as the two paired up to complete missions together. I was surprised the time I finally noticed that although the way the boy acted never changed, he was finding reasons to spend more and more time around Duo. And I felt untold relief the day I saw Duo smile a real smile once again. It seemed with the distraction of missions, he had forgotten to keep himself distant. My Duo once again had made a friend.

Flying, once I had learned I could do it, was surprisingly easy. The take off was the hardest part. It was more a mindset than anything else. You had to simply consider yourself no longer tied to the ground. Once you accomplished that though, the rest was just like flying a broomstick.

I flew alongside Duo's Gundam, Deathscythe, as he headed to his next mission objective. There were actually two objectives and he and Heero had divided them up amongst themselves. Duo reached his objective just in time to help another pilot. I quickly made a little jaunt over to his Gundam to find that he was a sweet looking blond, who seemed to be even smaller than Duo.

I then spent the time flying around completely useless yet again as Duo and the new pilot battled enemy mobile suits. When a broadcast started and the fighting paused to listen to the woman speak, I hovered outside of Deathscythe. I wanted to keep an eye on the enemy Leos in case any of them decided to make a move while Duo was distracted.

It happened sometime during the second broadcast, while an old man was speaking. I suddenly felt that pull. A feeling I hadn't felt since Solo died. The moment I felt it I immediate flew in that direction as fast as I could. I came up short when I reached my destination.

Noo… It can't be…

There, before me, was the Gundam known as Wing, surrounded by a crater scattered with its own parts and debris. And there, among the remains of what could only be an explosion, was the body of Duo's only friend.

Noo…

I slowly flew near the body. And body it must be; the pull got even stronger as I neared. I knelt next to the form. The pilot seemed so young. The boy had such a strong intimidating presence in life that I was almost surprised to see he was actually just a boy. But this had been my first chance in years; I couldn't turn it down.

I slowly reached my hand toward the corpse, and braced myself for the memories.

'I' followed behind the man, the man 'I' suspected to be 'my' father. 'I' listened attentively to all the things he taught 'me'. 'I' did my best to do well at the tasks he assigned to 'me'. 'I' stoically dealt with the way a small piece of 'myself' died each time he asked 'me' to kill. All because 'I' wished with all 'my' being to receive his praise.

'I' found myself lost and alone, wandering aimlessly around colony L3-X18999. The rain poured down around 'me'. "Hey…" 'I' turned to see an old man at the entrance of an alley. "You have good eyes. Want to become a Gundam Pilot?"

"That's not good enough!" 'I' barely even felt the pain as his hand hit sharply against 'my' face. It would just be yet another bruise to add to the collection. "Do it again! And right this time!"

"Retrain him at once! Our weapon has no use for human kindness!"

'I' met an enigmatic young man with alluring violet eyes. 'I' found myself curious about him. 'I' had never met anyone like him. 'I' felt my urge to be closer to him war with 'my' training to be emotionless.

'I' secretly relished the warmth of being around him. When he would drape an arm across 'my' shoulders. When he would call 'my' name. When he would treat 'me' like a normal human and not the emotionless killer that 'I' was.

'I' pushed the boundaries of 'my' training. 'I' tried to find the weak spots. The places where the rules could easily bend. 'I' did all this for him.

'I' sat on 'my' bed, looking across the small dorm room to the matching bed. 'I' watched as he slept. The boy with the face of an angel. 'I' wondered if what 'I' felt was love.

I awoke with a gasp. I could feel tears streaming down my face. A woman I didn't recognise mentioned something about going to tell someone named Trowa that I was awake.

I looked down at myself. I was now Heero Yuy.

Trowa ended up being yet another Gundam pilot. He was the one who helped nurse me back to health. A feat that he said took nearly a month. I felt fear clench my heart. I had been separate from Duo for an entire month. An entire month when he was in the midst of fighting a war. I tried not to think about how many different things could have happened in a month.

I stayed with Trowa as I tried to prepare for what I needed to do next. There was no word of Duo no matter how many times I checked the news websites. And thanks to Heero's memories I was now able to hack into OZ's files but there was no mention of him there either.

I slowly gathered supplies. I cursed the wizarding community for its continued secrecy. I knew there had to be one on this colony because I could Accio different supplies only sold at magical shops, but I had no idea where it was located. It would have been much easier to just go to the shop to buy supplies instead of exhausting myself with wandless casting to summon them all to myself, not to mention it would have been rather helpful to acquire a new wand, but I didn't have the time to walk every inch of the colony to try to find the entrance myself. And asking any stranger on the street would probably be useless since they would most likely be a muggle.

I finally had my emergency kit built up to my liking, sans wand of course. All I had left to do was locate Duo. The more time passed with no news, the more worried I became, and I no longer had preparing my kit to distract me.

Finally. There was finally word on Duo. But it wasn't good news. My Duo had been captured by OZ. He was being held for interrogation and pending execution. I tried to tell myself that it was better than news that he was dead, but it didn't help much.

I made use of every bit of Heero's hacking knowledge to find where Duo was being held. I had schematics of the base, and even the specific cell where he was being kept. I grabbed my kit, held the location firmly in my mind and Apparated.

I found myself in a cold grey box you could barely even call a room. When I saw Duo, my fists clenched in rage. Duo's right arm was bent in a place where arms weren't meant to bend. Even from my distance I could see his left ankle was swollen. He was covered in bruises. His left eye was swollen shut. And blood trailed from his nose, a cut above his left eye, and a split lip.

I could just barely make out the sliver of violet from his non-swollen eye. A resigned air seemed to fill him. "If I'm gonna die it would seem appropriate for you to do it. Just go right ahead and shoot me." It was then I noticed the gun in my hand. What the hell!? I tried to force the hand to lower. A small thought in the back of my head urged me to eliminate the threat to the mission. It seemed Heero's training was even stronger than I thought. "You're really gonna shoot me, aren't ya?" I looked into Duo's one surprised eye and was finally able to lower the gun.

I hurried over to him. I dug through my bag until I found a Wiggenweld Potion. I helped him drink all of the vial. It would help with some of the wounds and bolster him for the escape. Then I once again dug through my bag and pulled out a Sleeping Draught potion. The next spell would probably be pretty painful for him and I didn't want to hurt Duo. When he was lightly snoring, I held Duo close to myself and Disapparated from the base.

I laid him out on the bed in the simple hotel room I had booked using an assumed name. I checked to make sure the Sleeping Draught was still in effect and prepared myself for a major casting. I yelled, "Episkey!" and held the spell for as long as I could. I cringed at the sound of the bones grinding and snapping into place. Once it seemed like the majority of his wounds were healed, I passed out on the bed beside him.

I awoke to find Duo next to me, staring at his arm. He looked at me with wide eyes. "How long was I out?"

It seemed part of Heero's training was a rather detailed internal clock because I was able to answer "A bit over four hours" without even checking.

"Can't be. My arm was broken." He gestured with said arm. "Dunno 'bout what J did to you, but us normal folk take longer than 4 hours to heal a broken bone."

"I…" Should I tell him? Should I make something up? "I can't really explain right now, but I fixed your arm."

"Huh." He open and closed his fist a few times. "Well, guess I can't really argue with the result."

I got off the bed and located the bag holding my emergency kit. I dug through it until I found the small container of Urgent Unguent. I couldn't help the sad smile that formed on my face when I saw on the label that it was a product of Fred's Pharmacy. I remembered the day George decided to use his unique brand of intellect to branch out and had decided to name the new store in his twin's honor.

I looked back at Duo, still on the bed, and commanded, "Strip."

"Wha?" Duo's quick mind got over his surprise swiftly and he gave me a smirk. "Heero, buddy, you can't just take me to bed and tell me to strip. I'm a dinner first type'a guy."

I could feel a blush heat up my cheeks. But then the name he called me sunk in and I felt like I'd been dunked in ice water. Heero. Duo thinks I'm Heero. I don't know why that seemed to bother me so much. I was in Heero's body so it would be logical to think I was Heero. And when I took over Solo's body I just went with being called Solo.

But I had gotten so use to hearing Duo's sweet voice call me by name.

I mentally slapped myself. Not the time! I held up the small container of Urgent Unguent. "This heals bruising. I was more focused on the broken bones earlier. If you take off your clothes I can help with the bruises you can't reach."

Duo stripped down to his boxers and looked at me expectantly. I walked back to the bed. "Alright, lay on your stomach." Duo rolled over on the bed. One of his hands reached back to slide his braid off to the side. I looked at the delicate curve of his spine and the smooth expanse of skin. I gulped. Focus on the task! I crawled onto the bed and straddled his hips. I could once again feel a blush warm my cheeks.

I dipped my fingers into the small container to bring out a dollop of the salve. I set the container aside on the bed and placed my hand against Duo's back. I could feel a shiver run through his body, whether due to the coldness of the cream or from my touch I wasn't sure. I spread the salve across his back, lightly kneading it into his skin. I started around his shoulders and slowly worked down.

When I reached a spot near the base of his spine, Duo let out a low moan. I felt myself harden instantly. With me being practically pressed up against Duo's ass, it was very conspicuous. I lept from the bed. I was sure I was blushing all the way to my toes. Avoiding eye contact, I said a quick, "Y-your back's done. I'm sure you can handle the rest on your own," and then made my escape to the bathroom for a very cold shower.

Once Duo was fully recovered he insisted on continuing the fight. He heard about the scientists who trained us being captured and held at the Lunar Base to develop new mobile suits for OZ. He decided that's where he needed to go, and I of course decided that wherever Duo went, I would go as well.

Wing was burning up around me as I fell through Earth's atmosphere. I was sure that after this task I would once again be face to face with Death but it didn't matter, I had to do this to protect Earth. I had to do this for Duo.

The winds from my fall were turbulent. I had trouble stabilizing Wing's Beam Cannon. I ignored the sounds of pieces of my Gundam falling away with the force of the wind. I ignored the sparking of my equipment panel. I ignored everything except the weapon's lock display. The moment I was locked on to the fragment of Libra, I pressed the button to fire the beam. The fragment of Libra exploded into tiny bits that subsequently burnt up in the atmosphere.

I quickly shifted Wing into flight mode and fought the gravitational pull to make my way back to Duo. I almost cringed when I heard Duo's voice exclaim over the comm frequency, "You've done it, Heero!" The fight for peace among the Earth and Colonies may be finished, but I still had battles to face to obtain my own peace.

We all were shuttled back to Earth and passed out from exhaustion for a few hours while they quickly threw together the celebration in honor of the war ending. We were then woken and forced to get 'presentable' for the party. The celebration had been going on for a few hours when I finally lead Duo to a secluded room. It was time for me to face my last battle, and hope I survived it.

"Duo." His vivid violet eyes met mine. "I have something I have to tell you."

He must have picked up on my serious mood because he didn't give one of his huge grins when he replied, "Sure, buddy, go ahead."

"I'm not really Heero. I'm Harry. Heero died when he self-destructed Wing back during that mission in Siberia. I took over his body to be able to watch over you."

The words were barely out of my mouth when I felt Duo's fist connect with my face. Then I felt his arms around me and his face was buried in my shoulder. "You fuckin' bastard!" I heard a hitch in his breathing that sounded suspiciously like a sob. "You shoulda told me!"

"I was unsure of how you would react, and I couldn't have you push me away. I had to be close to you so I could protect you."

He pulled his head back. I saw the sparkle of tears at the corner of his eyes. "So, you didn't tell me cus you were worried how I'd handle Heero's death? To find out Harry was in Heero's body?"

I nodded.

"Did you even stop to think about how I'd handle Harry's death!? Yeah Heero was a friend, and I woulda been sad to hear he died. Am sad to hear he's dead. But I was devastated when my friend and constant companion of 8 years suddenly left me without a word!"

I was silent for a moment before I decided to just lay all my cards on the table. "Would now be a bad time to point out I was with you even before those 8 years?"

Duo simply gave me a questioning look. I felt my eyes shift to the side, unable to meet his gaze. "Solo actually died back when you were around one year old. The Solo you knew for most your childhood was actually me. And I watched over you in my incorporeal form even before that."

"So the Heero I've fought most this war with, and the Solo who helped me survive on the streets when I was a kid were all the Harry who followed me and watched out for me and was my only friend during some of my darkest times?"

I nodded again. Then I felt Duo's hands grip both sides of my head to force me to face him just before his lips crashed against mine. I was stunned immobile for a moment but then I burst into action. My lips slid against his soft, warm lips. My arms twined around his lithe waist. I pulled him closer against me.

He ended the kiss and pressed his forehead against mine. "I love you, Harry. No matter what form you're in."

I kissed away the remnants of his earlier tears. "I love you too, my Duo."

-x-

-Author's Note-

This feels more like a world introduction than a story. So I really wouldn't be surprised if there's sequels/side stories. I mean, Harry still hasn't even had the "I'm a wizard, Duo" conversation yet. Hell, I've already got another story started that takes place in this same universe from Heero's POV (but don't expect that one to be finished anytime soon). I need to come up with a better name though. In my head I've been referring to this as "Heerry 'verse". :3

So, I was trying to decide between having Heero simply be neutral toward Duo before he died or have Heero be a dick toward Duo and somehow make it that being brothers in arms could cause you to still be close to someone even if they're a dick. Then the little voice in the back of my head whispered, "What if Heero loved Duo before he died?" My mental response to that was of course a string of expletives because that's just plain mean, but I knew I'd do it anyways cus that little voice in my head is a convincing little shit.

And I'm totally not crazy. Really.