A/N: Thanks for the reviews. It really helps to hear that people are at least a little bit interested. Believe me, I was wishing I could have borrowed Heero's gun to knock some sense into this damned site last night! Enjoy.


From the moment I'd heard the feet on the steps, I knew that it was Quat. It may sound odd, but I had long ago learned to identify the other pilots by the smallest of details. Call it a throwback to my childhood. Living on the streets, you learned young to be able know who was friend or foe long before you came face to face, because a split second could mean the difference between life and death. The war had only reaffirmed that. Quatre was the only one besides me who would be willing to run in the house until Oz was at the door, so I wasn't at all surprised to look up and see him standing in the doorway. His face was flushed and he was breathing heavily, and his eyes were locked onto me. I smiled back at him and that was all it took; he shouted my name and bounded across the room. He threw himself down on the bed and clutched at me, only because Heero was so close, he ended up grabbing onto both of us.

To their credit, Trowa and Wufei were only seconds behind him. I'll never forget the look of shock on Wufei's face when he saw that I was alive and kicking. His jaw just about dropped down to the floor. Even Trowa looked stunned, and he lifted his hand and brushed his bangs out of the way, like he was afraid that his one visible eye was playing tricks on him. I grinned at both of them and dropped my free hand onto Quatre's head, petting the soft golden hair. It felt soothing under my fingertips, and it must have felt good to Quatre, too, because he groaned and pressed closer.

"Maxwell?" Wufei said, sounding kind of dazed. "You're... alive?"

It was obvious that he and Trowa had come upstairs intending to find me dead. I grinned wider. "Didn't I tell you that nothing could kill Shinigami?" I asked smugly. Behind me, I felt Heero tense slightly, but I was trapped between him and Quatre and so couldn't twist around to look at him no matter how hard I tried. I would've given a lot to have been able to see into his eyes in an effort to find out what he was thinking, but Quatre was clinging to us like an octopus.

Finally, Trowa snapped out of his shock and stepped forward. He gently but firmly coaxed Quatre into letting go of me and pulled him off of the bed. Free, I shifted and curled closer to Heero without thinking about it. I was surprised that he hadn't pulled away when I put my head down on his shoulder in the first place, but if he was willing to stay, I was going to take full advantage of it. Heero Yuy was a mystery to me, and I had started out just wanting to know what was going on behind those cool blue eyes. Wufei once told me that I was my own worst enemy, and I guess in this case, it was true. Wanting to know more about Heero... teasing him, putting myself into those kinds of position where we spent time together and touched all the time, had had more of an effect on me than I wanted to admit.

"Duo, I can't believe it." Quatre lifted his hand and swiped at his eyes. "I thought for sure..."

"Never any doubt," I replied with a lazy smile. I was glad that I had gotten the chance to shower and re-braid my hair before I spoke to them. It was much easier to act like it was no big deal when I didn't look half dead. "You okay, Quat?"

"I'm fine." He leaned back against Trowa, who absently looped an arm around his waist, and absently rubbed a hand over his chest as I looked the two of them over carefully, wondering if things had finally transpired between them. Quat and I would have to have a long talk sometime soon.

"It's good that you're awake," Trowa said, speaking to me for the first time that he'd entered the room. His visible emerald eye swept over me, and I felt a chill pass down my spine at the intensity in that gaze. "We've received orders from the doctors. We have to move out."

Heero went stiff behind me. "Now?"

"They're issuing new coordinates to our Gundams as we speak. We have to go pick them up and make our way to a new safe house. Oz soldiers are getting too close for comfort." His hand tightened briefly around Quatre's waist. "We're leaving in twenty minutes."

With a sharp nod, Heero slipped out from behind me, leaving me wishing that he could have stayed just a bit longer. I was forgotten as the other four went into a blur of motion, packing up the two rooms that we had occupied and making sure that no sign of us would remain. Once or twice, I started to get out of bed with the intention of helping, but Heero - annoyingly enough - seemed to have developed a sixth sense and glared at me to the point where I knew it would be easier just to stay put every time I so much as touched the covers. Plus, I didn't want to admit it - not even to myself - but I was so tired that it was a struggle just to stay awake and watch them get ready to run. I wanted nothing more than to put my head down and fall back asleep, but I refused to look any weaker in front of the others than I already had.

When I knew that they were ready, I pushed the covers back and slowly got to my feet. Heero looked like he wanted to protest, but he seemed to know better. I was determined to make it down to the car under my own power. Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre went on ahead, while Heero stayed back with me. We moved at an agonizingly slow pace down the hall to the elevator, and I knew that Heero wanted to grab me and leave already, but he restrained himself, and I was grateful for that. Well, until the doors swished open and I caught sight of the three OZ soldiers in the lobby. I sucked in a breath sharply and his head turned, locking onto them instantly. Without a word, he scooped me up in his arms and was out the doors before they could catch sight of us.

The next thing I knew, I had been put into the backseat of a car beside Wufei and Heero was sliding into the driver's seat. On the other side of Wufei, Quatre was flipping through a book. Trowa was up front beside Heero. I wondered how Wufei had come to sit in the middle; normally, that was a spot he avoided at all costs, especially if I was going to be one of the people sitting beside him. He'd once claimed that I was worse than any interrogation method that Oz could come up with. I'm sure it was meant as an insult, but I'd taken it as a compliment. It was good to know that I hadn't lost my touch at annoying him, and judging by the warning look he shot me when I buckled my seatbelt, he didn't agree.

He didn't need to worry, though. Within about ten minutes of Heero driving, I could feel the desire to sleep tugging at me, like an annoying little kid who won't stop poking you. I tried to fight it, but eventually it washed over me, pulling me down into darkness. I woke periodically, never really comfortable with sleeping in a moving car, and found Heero's eyes on me every time I stirred. There was something comforting in knowing that he was watching over me. Maybe that's why Wufei hadn't put a bullet between my eyes when, at some point, I had ended up leaning against his shoulder. I swear I was asleep at the time, though I figured he probably thought it was done as another method of annoyance. I shifted, restless, and lifted my head to peer blearily around the car, squinting in the semi-darkness.

"Go back to sleep, Duo," Heero said quietly. His eyes were focused on me in the rear view mirror. No one else in the car was awake, and I wondered if he'd really spoken or if I'd dreamed it.

Regardless, I thought about ignoring him. I really did. I never liked to listen to Heero too much, just in case he started getting used to it and expecting it all the time, but it was like my body was two steps ahead of me and not listening to what I wanted at all. My eyes crashed shut and I didn't remember anything else until the car stopping woke me up again. I heard voices talking softly, but nothing really registered until a wave of cold air made me shiver. The voices stopped and then someone climbed into the car next to me. An arm wrapped around my shoulders and I was pulled snugly against a warm body. It felt nice. I didn't need to open my eyes to know it was Heero. I could tell by the scent that it was him. He seemed determined to stop me from freezing to death no matter what it took.

I drifted again after that. In and out. In and out. It was frustrating, not being able to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time. My memories were vague and disjointed, like a video that keeps skipping all of the important parts. To be fair, I wasn't really surprised - mortal bodies aren't really built to withstand a god's power, and back when I had been sick at the orphanage, it had taken me weeks to get back to normal after my I'd survived the sickness that had nearly killed me. I didn't have weeks now, though. I'd barely had hours, but it already felt like it should have been more than enough. I'd try my best to stay awake and focus, but before I knew it, I would be waking up all over again with no memory of closing my eyes.

In retrospect, I was fortunate that we'd had to move so quickly; I would have had to face some pretty uncomfortable questions otherwise, and I didn't know how to answer them without giving too much away. I had no clue how much I was even allowed to tell them, but I didn't think it was very much, so it was a mixed blessing in the end. It gave me a little bit of time to regroup. Too bad I slept through most of it.

In fact, I slept pretty much the whole way. Most of the trip was just a blur. Sometimes Heero tried to get me to wake up and accept food, but I always rejected it. Food turned my stomach and made me feel even worse than before. All I wanted to do was sleep. If a mission had come in for me, I doubted I would have been able to do it, and a part of me was truly surprised that the other pilots hadn't decided that I was expendable and left me behind. After all, I was one of the ones who weren't really cut out to be a pilot if you asked the others. Too cheerful, too annoying, too… well, let's just say I would have thought that they'd have been pleased to have an excuse to get rid of me.

But the next time I woke up was when Heero carried me into Wing. That shocked the hell out of me. All of us were very possessive of our Gundams and I couldn't remember ever having been inside another one, especially Heero's. I couldn't imagine even asking. I didn't understand why he hadn't put me in Deathscythe, but I didn't have the nerve to question him. He sat down in his seat and buckled himself in and then set me down in between his legs, so that my head was resting against his inner thigh. It was the kind of position that would have bothered me a lot more - or maybe I would've enjoyed it, who knows? - if I had been more awake, but as it was, the heat radiating off of him felt so delicious that I just closed my eyes again. The cockpits were really only designed for one person, so it was a good thing I was small, or I wouldn't have fit. Heero changed Wing into flight mode and grabbed Deathscythe's shoulders to bring her along.

I was awake during most of the flight, though like before, I drifted a lot. Dozing. I was tired of sleeping so much, though. I wasn't used to spending so much time resting, and I felt like I was in some sort of twisted prison. As soon as Heero set both of our Gundams down, I stood up and fumbled my way out of the cockpit. I actually almost fell to my death - my muscles didn't want to cooperate, and felt weak and rubbery when I moved - but I caught myself just in time and managed to climb down to the ground. It felt good to be vertical again, even if I couldn't quite keep my eyes all the way open as I walked over to Deathscythe. I examined her closely under the pretence of wanting to make sure that Heero's flight hadn't put any dents or scratches on her, but really, it just felt nice to be near her again.

Heero landed behind me and, without saying a word, started to cover our Gundams with foliage from the forest. I forced myself to help. He kept looking at me doubtfully, but I tried to ignore his piercing gaze. I needed to do this, needed to feel like I was pulling my weight and doing something – anything – other than sleeping all the time. Exhaustion dragged at my bones, and more than once I had to pinch the inside of my wrist to keep myself awake, but I kept going until not a single trace of Deathscythe or Wing remained. My knees were actually shaking by that time, and the world kept threatening to fade out, but I felt better than I had in days.

"Duo. Come on."

I turned and looked at Heero. I'd been leaning against Deathscythe's leg, now disguised as a bush, and trying to catch my breath. I'd forgotten about the walk to the safehouse, which could be anywhere from a mile to five or more. The mere thought made my legs threaten to buckle. I knew I'd never make it, but I refused to let Heero carry me. I pushed myself off and walked towards him. It was more work to walk in a straight line than I'd thought, and he reached out and grabbed my arm to keep me from toppling over.

"Baka," he said with a sigh. "You're still sick, you know. Don't you know your limits?"

I felt myself pout. "I hate being sick," I muttered childishly. It was the only thing I could think of to say. There was no way that I could explain my deepest fear; that he would decide I was expendable after all and leave me behind. A good percentage of the nightmares that I'd suffered during my illness were of being left alone, and it made me shudder just to contemplate.

Prussian blue eyes stared at me, though I couldn't tell what he was thinking. His face was a perfectly emotionless mask. I half-expected him to walk away from me, and was shocked when he suddenly turned and knelt, presenting his back to me. I just stood there for a minute, dumbfounded and a bit confused, until he looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. That patented 'you're being an idiot' look got me moving. I moved forward on legs that quivered and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He reached back and grabbed my knees, yanking me against him as he stood up in one smooth movement. The world fell away and I swallowed a yelp, clinging to his shoulders as he readjusted his hold, sliding his hands higher to grip my thighs.

I slept on the way back. I didn't want to – when was the next time I'd have the chance to wrap my legs around Heero Yuy's waist? It killed me that I wasn't getting to enjoy this – but I couldn't help it. I was vaguely aware of the others joining us at one point. I remembered hearing Quatre asking Heero if I was alright, and someone put their hand on my back to help steady my weight. If I'd felt threatened, or worried, I could have forced myself to stay awake. That I was willing to sleep and be vulnerable around not just Heero, but the other pilots, was a shocking thing to me. Somewhere along the line, they'd come to be important to me. All things considered, it shouldn't have been surprising, but… it was.

We reached the safehouse after a couple of hours. There were three bedrooms, meaning Wufei would get to sleep on a bed, not a couch. Heero took me upstairs to the one we would share and set me down on the bed. It felt wonderful against my aching muscles. He left the room and I thought he was leaving me alone to sleep, but no such luck. Strong hands shook me awake what felt like seconds later, and I opened my eyes to be confronted with the sight of piping hot soup. Steam rose and made my stomach curl.

"No, I'm good," I said instantly.

"You haven't eaten in days," Heero said. I recognized the stubborn look on his face. If I didn't eat, he'd hold me down and pour it down my throat, and I was so weak I probably wouldn't have been able to stop him. Reluctantly, I sat up and reached for mug. The first few sips made me feel like throwing up, but gradually my stomach grew more receptive to the idea of food, and the soup began to feel good. When I was done with that, he took the mug back and gave me a piece of dry toast.

"You make a good mother," I muttered, nibbling at the toast.

He just looked at me. I swallowed hard, unnerved by the force of his stare. Before I had the chance to think of some way to distract him, he leaned forward and said, "I want to know what's going on, Duo, and we're not going anywhere until I get some answers."


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