Well, heres chapter 2. Im glad to announce that i have now finished writing this fanfic, so there should be regular updates from now on, and no stumbling blocks! like ive said before, contructive riticism is welcomed, and ill try and edit following chapters if necessary to take it on board.

Thanks to wind dancer1981 for the review, and to all those of you who have favourited my fic, or added it to your alerts. every little thing like that is a confidence boost that people are actually reading this fic and care enough to do something about it! hope you all enjoy the update... =D

Chapter 2 – Lost memories

Back at the safe house, Quatre had started fussing over Duo almost immediately. Trowa and Wufei were on a mission and had not yet returned.

Heero had practically carried Duo into the safe house. The braided baka had seemed oblivious to his bad shape until he had awoken in the cockpit of Heero's Gundam. Despite his dislike of Quatre's fussing, Duo had not been able to deny he was in need of rest when he had nearly collapsed on Quatre, and had retired to his bed.

When Quatre asked him what had happened, Heero was unsure of what to say, Quatre worried about them all enough as it was, and Heero didn't think he needed something else to worry him. But he knew Quatre would be worse if he didn't tell him anything. So Heero recounted what he had seen and heard, his Perfect Soldier memory serving him well.

When Heero had finished, Quatre looked up at him, worry filling his wide eyes more than usual.

"What did that machine do to him…" he asked hesitantly.

"I don't know" Heero admitted. "But Duo is certainly not himself" Not that Heero minded the braided baka being quiet for once, not bouncing around the place like an annoying ball of energy, but he had to admit, he had grown used to Duo's antics, so much so that the place seemed eerily quiet without him bouncing off the walls constantly chattering away.

Quatre hung his head.

"What…do you think…is he…gonna be OK?" Quatre asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

Heero couldn't answer. He was unsure of what the machine had done, and of how he would fix it. He surprised himself when he found threads of worry forming in his mind. Since when had he cared about Duo?

Quatre correctly interpreted Heero's silence to mean that Duo was everything but OK.

"What are we going to do?" Quatre asked quietly, as if already beginning to admit defeat.

Heero hung his head. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do. He knew that time was of the essence here, but with no idea of what damage had been done, he had no clue as to what they could do to help Duo.

"I don't know Quatre, I really don't know". Heero replied, turning away as he felt tears form in his eyes. Tears? For Duo?

Heero didn't know what had changed in Duo because of that machine, but whatever it was, something had changed in him too.

When Duo awoke, his memories of the previous day were hazy. He remembered there had been a machine, and that at some point, Heero had carried him to his, Heero's, Gundam, presumably then carrying Duo's Gundam in Wings hands. He vaguely remembered Quatre fussing over him when they had returned to the safe house, and that he had gone to bed after giving in to Quatre's relentless worrying.

He could think of no explanation to piece together all this that made sense. The best he had was that maybe the machine had hurt him, meaning that Heero had had to carry him, and then Quatre had fussed over his injuries. But if that was the case, Duo would be injured, and he felt fine. More than fine even. He felt great. Try as he might, no other explanation came to mind, so he gave up trying. He'd get the others to explain when he saw them.

He got up, went to get dressed, and realised he had slept in the clothes he had been wearing yesterday. He looked at the clock. 8:30am. The others should be having breakfast now.

Sure enough, as Duo walked across the landing to go downstairs, the smell of Quatre's wonderful cooking reached him, and he smiled. Quatre was an amazing cook, and though he had never been officially named so, he seemed to be designated cook whenever they stayed together in the safe houses.

When Duo entered the room, a hushed silence fell upon everyone. Duo looked around. Trowa and Wufei, both sat at the table, were avoiding his eye. Quatre, who was stood cooking what he assumed would be his breakfast, had recently been crying, though he was trying to hide it. But it was Heero who surprised Duo, for he could clearly see worry shining in the perfect soldier's eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Quatre turned away, and Trowa and Wufei suddenly seemed to find staring at their empty plates an incredibly interesting past-time. It was Heero who finally spoke, after a short silence.

"What do you remember?" he asked, as Duo came to sit beside him.

"Well, I remember there being a machine" Duo began, taking the chair beside Heero. "But I don't know what it did or what it was for"

Heero said nothing, so Duo presumed he was to go on.

"I remember you carrying me to your Gundam Heero, but I remember nothing of the journey. And I remember Quatre fussing over me, and sending me to bed. Everything else is just a blur"

There followed another, longer, silence, in which Trowa and Wufei vacated the room, Quatre served Duo breakfast, and took the seat beside him. And Heero sat staring at the table. Duo could tell something was seriously wrong. He had begun to suspect things weren't quite right when he had walked in and seen Quatre's tears, and the worry shining in Heero's eyes, But now he was certain something was wrong.

"What happened?" he asked quietly, fearing he was not going to like what they told him. He had obviously missed a lot yesterday, and from the looks of it, very little of it had been good.

Heero was very concerned. Duo remembered barely anything of what had happened to him the day before. He was asking what had happened, but how much should he tell him? After a little deliberation in his own mind, Heero decided to tell him everything. After all, he had a right to know.

"You did your Shinigami thing when we were escaping" Heero began, "but the guards were stronger than you, and beat you easily. They began to walk away, carrying you by the arms between them."

Heero paused to make sure Duo was taking this in, and then continued.

"I followed from a safe distance. They took you into a small room, and strapped you to a chair under a machine. The machine was big, heavy duty, and I was sure it wouldn't bode well for you. That must have been the machine you remember."

Duo nodded, listening intently. Heero went on.

"I heard a guard talking to a man who seemed to be in charge. They were talking about the machine, and what they would do. The man in charge said they were going to 'alter the good side of your brain' using the machine."

Heero stopped. At the mention of altering his brain, Duo had begun to choke on his breakfast. Heero waited, while Quatre assisted Duo. When Duo could breathe again, he exclaimed;

"Alter my brain?!"

Heero nodded and continued once he was sure Duo was calm enough to listen once more.

"I knew there must have been a control room somewhere for them to control the machine, so I went in search for it, hoping I would be able to stop them before they could begin whatever maniacal alterations the machine would make. When I found it, however, they were gone, and the damage had already been done."

Here, Duo gave up trying to eat breakfast, as he began to choke for the second time during Heero's explanation. Again Quatre came to his aid, and Heero continued.

"I looked for a way to reverse the effects, but by the time I found one, the guard had already unstrapped you, and was carrying you to one of the containment cells. Again, I followed, and when the coast was clear, I came to rescue you."

Heero stopped. This was where he had begun to worry about Duo. He had not been himself. Should he tell Duo, or just tell him it was just a normal rescue. Again, Heero decided Duo had a right to know the truth.

"I began pulling the bars apart, so we could escape. When I came to take you out, you asked what I was doing. I told you I was trying to rescue you, to which you replied 'what if I don't wanna be rescued?' You sat glaring at me as if I was suggesting something horrible. In the end, I had to pick you up and carry you out. You were not acting yourself."

"I think I remember you coming to rescue me…" Duo muttered. Heero went on.

"At some point, you fell unconscious, so I carried you into the cockpit of my Gundam, and had Wing carry Deathscythe. You woke up about halfway through the journey, asking what had happened. You didn't remember anything. When we got back to the safe house, I had to practically carry you in. You were in a bad shape, hence Quatre started fussing over you."

At this point, Quatre took over the explanation.

"You had many bruises, and you needed help. Despite your protests, I cleaned you up, and told you to go to bed to rest. You protested still, but had to give in when you nearly collapsed. You fell asleep quickly, and none of us wanted to wake you, so we left you this morning so you could rest."

Heero watched Duo with concern. His eyes were wider than usual, and were full of horror and worry.

"What have they done to me…" he whispered, tears forming in his big violet eyes.

"We don't know Duo" Quatre told him quietly. "We don't know"

Heero put an arm round Duo, and pulled him close. Tears fell down the baka's face, and Heero held him tight, though he knew not why, rocking him gently, like a mother comforting a child. He would ask himself why later, but for now, he held him tight, waiting for the tears to stop falling.