Disclaimer: standard, don't own, don't sue. The only characters that I own are Raven and Ivy Malachai, Heero's siblings (Keara and others to come), Paul (?), and the townspeople of Allora, ON (fictional). All other characters and ideas belong to the following: J.K. Rowling, Christine Feehan, Anne Bishop, Frank Herbert, the owners of Gundam Wing (whose name I can't remember).

Author's Note: I realize that it has been over a year from my last update, but this will generally be the norm. Due to school, work, and lack of motivation from no reviews, I find little reason to speed up my updates. Reviews do in fact help an author write, we need to hear what people think so that we improve our stories and get new ideas. I try and write reviews for most stories that I read, I would appreciate it if others would do the same as I know that my story is being read (this can be seen through the hit counter). PLEASE REVIEW THE STORY, IT DOES IN FACT HELP AUTHORS CONTINUE WRITING!

I would also like to make a brief shout out to a writer called Dark Dragon-Chick, this author is amazing (I highly recommend reading A Welcome Dark Dream) and we have encouraged each other to continue our stories by consistently reviewing each chapter on what we liked and found interesting about the stories we have written. It would be greatly appreciated if the rest of you would do the same.

I would also like to thank those who DID review:

Tati1: Thank you, I couldn't remember whose controller was whose.

SolitaryPoison: I'm glad you like it so far; hope you like this one as well.

DarkAmazOn: I'm still debating on the Dumbledore issue but definitely a bitchy Relena to be sure!

Mooneyoukai: I finally overcame my writer's block! Thank you for the vote on Relena, and I'm definitely considering doing an innocent/blinded Dumbledore.

Twisted Truth: Thanks for the review! Evil Relena and Evil/Blinded Dumbledore all the way!

Jewelle2: Sorry I haven't updated but writer's block is a pain in the ass. Hopefully you won't be confused anymore.

BabyShaylee: Girl, thank you so much for your support I couldn't do it without you.

//bleh// Duo's thoughts

Bleh Heero's thoughts

Bleh telepathy

Chapter Five:

August A.C. 195

Duo looked over at the Japanese pilot seated on the floor, watched the concentration on the teen's face as he deftly wove pieces of wire and cable threw a large piece of cedar they'd found in the woods earlier. A small smile crossed the American's features as he remembered the past few weeks.

FLASHBACK

Mere days after Heero had accepted Duo's offer to train him they were arguing over why they couldn't begin immediately as Duo steadfastly refused to teach Heero in close proximity to their friends as there was a possibly that Quatre or Raven would sense them, though why this was a problem Heero had yet to understand.

Luckily Heero and Duo had been sent to a new safe house in northern Germany to keep a running surveillance on a couple of arms dealers that were suspected of selling new weapons to Oz capable of destroying gundanium. Thankfully it appeared that the rumors were proving to be false. During that time Duo had agreed to start Heero's magical training.

They'd started small, moving objects and/or suspending them in the air, this Heero seemed to learn quickly though it took him longer to grasp the concept of passing one object through another.

END FLASHBACK

Duo gave a mental snort at that first lesson. It had taken him sticking his arm through his gundam before Heero finally got the idea. // Also took some heated arguments to convince him it was possible. Mind you it finally got through to him that I do have a brain. //

Throughout Heero's training Duo made sure that the Japanese pilot knew of ways to use his new abilities in battle without being detected by others like themselves. //Though I don't think Heero liked it very much when I used Wing to perform an aerial ballet in my first attempt to get him to realize I wasn't talking bull.//

Amethyst eyes turned to watch the wild-haired brunette as he wove and intricate pattern into the wood. //He looks so serious as he does that. And yet he's taking to the lessons like a fish to water.// Duo gave another smile and turned back to the book of Russian poetry he'd been reading. The last few weeks had allowed Dup to open up a bit to Heero and let more of his true self through; so far his partner had reacted amicably to it. Well, as much as Heero Yuy, Perfect Soldier, could.

The computer on the room's single table beeped, breaking the comfortable silence. Moving quickly to it, the two pilots scanned the details of their latest mission, a rescue one surprisingly. They were to retrieve the daughter of a prominent colony activist/engineer, two others had been kidnapped along with her but the daughter was their main objective.

Grabbing their belongings, they raced to their gundams.

"I'll send you the coordinates once we're airborne." Stated Heero as he climbed into the 17 meter tall gundam.

Shouting an affirmative, Duo began the launch sequence for Deathsythe. As he punched in the commands, Duo could feel the spiking flames beneath his skin, could see them moving.

//No! Not now! I can't afford to loose it now.// He cursed mentally, forcing the Phoenix part of his heritage back. Praying that he could hold out until the mission was over; Duo forced himself to focus on the readouts he was receiving from Wing.

//Darkness be merciful, let me make it through this.//

"Damn it! Where the fuck did these guys come from!" yelled Duo as he fired more shots into the corridor teeming with OZ soldiers. The mission had gone to hell in a hand basket far faster than either of them could have predicted.

"We have to find the girl. You got any tricks up your sleeve?" asked Heero, taking out four soldiers in quick succession.

Digging into one of his many pockets, Duo grinned wickedly and threw the homemade bomb into the corridor, pulling Heero back as he threw it. The explosion rattled the walls and cleared the hallway for the two pilots.

Moving cautiously through the halls, they quickly located the cell holding the kidnapped girl. Sneaking up on the two guards and neutralizing them in seconds, Heero took point as his partner knelt to pick the lock.

"Bloody waste. Lock's rusted. Don't these people know that a proper lock makes it easier for picking? Fuck it." Snarled the long-haired brunette, he stepped back, fingers weaving intricate patterns and forced the lock to open.

Peering into the cell, Duo could make out vague outlines of three people.

"We're not going to hurt you. We're here to take you home." Duo spoke softly, gently persuading.

A slim feminine hand reached out tentatively and grasped Duo's outstretched hand.

"Hurry up, soldiers coming." Heero said sharply.

The three figures moved towards the two pilots, two teenage girls and a teenage boy, all roughly the same age as Duo and Heero.

The oldest, a young Asian woman had long, wild dark hair and bright blue eyes. Duo was struck by how much the girl resembled his partner, she could have been his twin.

"Keara?" the shocked voice came from behind Duo, his peripheral vision showed his partner staring at the young woman.

"Heero?" the girl's eyse lit up when they came to rest on the Japanese pilot.

"Now is not the time, kids, time to go." Heero snapped back into soldier mode, scanning the hallway.

"We have to move quickly, company's coming." Stated Duo.

"They won't fit in the gundams."

"So we'll head for the hills, loose them in the caves." The brunette nodded, taking point with the three teens behind and Duo following in the rear.

The group raced stealthily through the compound, barely avoiding some of the OZ soldiers bent on discovering them but Heero and Duo managed to get the three civilians out into the base garage without any major confrontations.

Duo jumped into the driver's seat of the large personnel truck while Heero got the teenagers into the back and jumping in to guard their rear as they took off. The soldiers paid them no attention with the pandemonium happening and the other vehicles setting out at the same time.

The group followed other OZ vehicles for a time, staying to the back of the line of supply trucks before quietly falling back and moving off towards their rendezvous point as they got farther and farther from the base.

Day turned into night as Duo drove, they were in a relatively uninhabited area of northern Russia so there was little interaction with the locals, and as they had stopped to remove all monikers of Oz from the vehicle not long after separating from the supply pack, there would be a slim chance of being associated with the group.

The brunette looked into the rearview mirror at one point not long after the sun had set, a smile curving his features. Heero was sitting against one of the walls of the truck with the girl he had called "Keara" held snuggly against his side, the other girl beside her and the boy pressed tightly against Heero's other side. All of them were sound asleep, the signs of captivity still blatant on their features but peace as well.

Feeling eyes on him, the Japanese pilot looked up from his observation of the teens sleeping against him to look at his partner. Duo could tell, being an avid Heero-watcher in his spare and not-so-spare time, that his young friend felt at peace with the three leaning against him, that there was a connection between Heero and the teens that Duo could understand and yet not.

The American turned back to the road, only time would tell what would become of all of them. Wars changed people in a way that nothing else in the universe could, it changed the fate of people and the interactions they had with the rest of the population of their worlds, they met people they never would have met under any other circumstances. Perhaps this meeting would be one such event in the course of Duo and Heero's roles in the war. Perhaps these three youths would give a sense of worth to Heero's life as he obviously was feeling a strong connection to them. Duo smirked, only time would tell.

Duo drove until dawn through the snow drifts of Russia, memories swirling of times passed spent in this frozen land before the war. As the sky began to turn pink with the promise of day, the Sweeper ships came into view. The ancient Carpathian had contacted Howard not long after rescuing their objective, the head Sweeper had promised transport for the pilots and the civilians that they had rescued as well as the gundams to any place of their choice as it was far easier for the Sweepers to transport large shipments undetected than the pilots themselves.

Pulling into the makeshift camp the Sweepers had erected, shouts of welcome could be heard all around them. Howard came walking out of the main tent to meet the pilots.

"'Bout time you got here, kid! We were expecting you hours ago!" Seeing the Japanese pilot climb out of the back of the truck, the big man shouted a greeting to him as well, "Hey! Soldier Boy! Long time no see! You still in one piece?"

Heero gave a small lift of the corner of his mouth, a great feat for the otherwise stoic pilot, "No injuries this time, Howard. Few more to transport though."

The loudly coloured man turned to the long-haired brunette in question.

"There were two other teens there along with the daughter; we had to get them out as well. They seem to be rather taken with Heero." Howard's eyebrows rose at the American's words.

"You're shittin' me right?"

"No, take a look for yourself" said Duo as he pointed to the back of the truck where Heero was being uncharacteristically gentle and attentive to the three teens that they had rescued. They seemed to have attached themselves to the Japanese pilot with no intention of letting go anytime soon and surprisingly enough, Heero didn't appear to mind at all.

Seeing the teens start to shiver, Duo turned to another of the Sweepers nearby and asked if she could find some warmer clothing for them as they were all dressed in rather thin clothing.

A flurry of activity took place as the three civilians were escorted into the temporary buildings to warm up, though they refused to leave Heero's or Duo's side for the time being.

Later that evening when most of the camp was sleeping, Duo turned to his partner and asked the question that had been floating through his mind for nearly twenty-four hours.

"You know them don't you? At least the older girl, Cassandra."

Heero rolled onto his side to face the brunette. He stayed silent for a few minutes, contemplating whether or not to reveal the connection between himself and the girl to his partner.

"Yes. You know that I've always been able to communicate with another like myself, one that has been merged with me since birth. Cassandra or Keara as I have always known her is that person. Bronwyn, I am unsure of, I am drawn to her but not the same way that Keara does."

The Carpathian nodded, "Bronwyn has the psychic signature of a Blood Queen, of Witch" His thoughts turned inwards for a time before speaking again. "I think that she is the Queen that I was born to serve, the one that I have been looking for." Swirling amethyst eyes turned to meet the almond-shaped ones of his partner; the ancient could see the understanding in the sapphire depths, the recognition.

"Hai, I sense the same thing. "

"And the boy?" asked Duo, shifting on his bed to better see the emotions flitting across his friend's face.

Heero was silent, contemplating what he felt when he had first seen the boy, Aidan, that they had rescued. The connection between them was strange, it was like Heero had been waiting to meet Aidan all of his life, searching for him unconsciously though he was unsure of the reason for it. The pilot felt a very strong bond with the boy, he wanted to protect and care for him, be there for him in all things.

"There is a bond there. It confuses me. Like I've always been searching for him and now that I've found him, a part of me is finally whole and in balance."

"Sounds like an anchoring bond. It is possible that Aidan may be one of your anchors."

Heero turned Duo's statement over in his mind. "Yes, he is an anchor, but a stronger one than Keara, like he is a primary anchor but not at the same time."

"Strange." Stated the ancient. Comfortable silence reigned through the room, and before long, Duo could hear the soft, even breathing of his chocolate-haired partner. A soft look came over his features before Duo also settled down to sleep, his dreams filled with images of his partner in sunlight.

Early the next morning the pilots and civilians headed out for Allora, Ontario (AN: Canada for those who don't know) aboard one of the smaller Sweeper ships. During the ten hour flight, Duo and Heero got to know the three teens that they had rescued in Russia.

Cassandra, or Keara as Heero was constantly calling her, turned out to be the daughter of Raven's twin sister, Ivy. That little fact had thrown Heero for a loop with the prospect of having an actual family, and later, in the privacy of their own room as Heero didn't wish to alarm the teens, he told Duo that Ivy had also been his main architect while he was living with Doctor J and also his head surgeon. To say that Duo hit the roof was an understatement.

Cassandra was a very smart young woman who especially loved to dance, earning brownie points with Duo instantly. She was also the pseudo- mother of the children of the other families that all lived with her, her father, and her grandparents in Allora. All of the adults in the family had been close friends that had gone through traumatic pasts, they had chosen to live together and raise their families under one roof as it was too difficult to live under separate rooves due to the side effects of their pasts.

Bronwyn was a year younger than both Cassandra and Heero and seemed to be a rather eccentric young lady, which Duo only smiled at and said that all great Queens tended to be on the weird side of things. Though she wasn't related to Cassandra, it was obvious that the teens felt a strong sibling bond between them. Bronwyn was a singer and loved to play pranks on people but she also had a very strong protective streak that extended to beyond the rather large family she had been raised in.

Aidan was the same age as Bronwyn though again not related and appeared to be a quiet young man who tended to be classified as a loner by society though he warmed up to Heero, and Duo to some extent, very quickly. He was very smart but had little in the way of self worth or confidence but Heero had already made it his personal mission to draw the young man out into the world and help him to learn how to live alongside him. The boy was a talented artist and only seemed to have any presence when he was in Heero's company; otherwise he seemed to just fade into the background.

After a long but enjoyable ten hours getting to know the teens, who Duo and Heero had every intention of keep in contact with, the Sweeper ship landed on the outskirts of the small town of Allora.

The two pilots escorted the youths to the edge of their families' property, after a few good byes and promises to keep in contact, which Duo just smirked at when he commented that it might be impossible for Heero not to keep in contact with Cassandra, the pilots watched as the teenagers raced to reunite with their families.

Duo and Heero watched the reunion for a time before heading back to the ship to retrieve their gundams and move on to their next safe house in Jasper Park, Alberta.

Jasper Park, Alberta, Canada

Only three days had passed since they had reunited Cassandra, Bronwyn, and Aidan with their families when it happened. The fight wasn't even over anything major, a mere comment made by Heero that Duo seemed to have been PMSing that sparked the flames to fly.

"Where is it?! I told you not to touch it, Heero!" yelled the American pilot as he searched frantically for his journal which had gone missing, the nearness of his burning day making his temper extremely short.

"I didn't touch the thing, baka. You just forgot where you put it. Why would I touch it anyway?" Heero replied calmly, never ceasing his typing.

For some reason, which the only explanation was the shortened temper brought on by the repression of his previous burning day, the statement made the brunette pilot extremely angry. He could feel the fire inside of him building, seeking a way to get out from underneath his skin.

The fireplace not four feet away of the brunette suddenly lit. Neither pilot had been anywhere near it when it happened as it startled them badly.

The curtains on the other side of the room caught on fire as well. The long-haired pilot watched his partner try to put the curtains out and knew that he was loosing control of the Phoenix within him.

"Duo! Your hands!" cried Heero from beside the window, looking down the American saw that his hands were covered in blue flames.

He knew that if he couldn't get Heero out of the safe house soon, the Japanese pilot would be barbequed.

Amethyst eyes met sapphire; the only word to cross his lips was "Run". Heero grabbed their bags and ran for the door.

Run Heero; run as far and as fast as you can the American told his partner telepathically as he erected a shield around the house in an attempt to contain the flames that would soon burst forth. As soon as the brunette sensed that his partner was far enough away he stopped fighting the Phoenix and allowed the flames to consume him and everything they touched.

He screamed, not in pain but in defiance of his heritage, as the house collapsed around him in a fiery inferno. Then he knew only darkness.

From a mile away Heero watched the safe house burn with his partner inside. Anguish twisted painfully inside him but he trusted his partner and mentor that the brunette would survive the blaze intact and unharmed.

The Japanese pilot was unsure of why he waited until the house had stopped burning to return to the site, the shield had collapsed as the flames died out, a ring of burnt earth surrounded the structure but hadn't moved beyond it.

Moving cautiously, the wild-haired pilot entered the area that had been the bedroom, the last place he had seen his partner.

There in the center of the room, unconscious but completely untouched by the fire, was the brunette pilot. His clothes were smudged with soot and ash, but his hair and skin were unblemished. He has beautiful skin Heero thought as he stared at his friend.

Shaking the thoughts away he bent and picked up his unconscious friend and began to walk away from the site of the burned house. They would need to be a safe distance from it before OZ and the locals arrived.

Heero looked down at the pale face of his best friend and knew that there was much in store for them in the future, his only wonder was if they would be able to survive it as unharmed as Duo had this time.

October A.C. 195 Nashville, Tennessee, United States

It had been two months since the incident in Alberta and the discovery of Heero's magical abilities.

Over those two months, Heero had been exposed to a world that he had never believed could have existed, a world of magic and political intrigue between the races of magical races. He also came to know the real side of Duo Maxwell, who, in reality, turned out to be named Valkan Secundus, an ancient born of four races (the Carpathians, the Blood, the Tuatha De Danaan, and the Elves), and was only impersonating Duo Maxwell who had died in the Maxwell Massacre.

Heero had learned to control most of his powers but his visions had yet to be under any semblance of control. Though Duo's-Valkan's teachings were helping, Heero was forced to rely mostly on his mentor's (AN: this is Valkan) powers to shield his mind from the majority of the psychic energies constantly bombarding his mind. Not that Heero really minded this fact, but he would only admit that to himself under many mental privacy shields. Consequently, this constant mental merging had formed a bond between the two pilots, allowing them to grow closer and learn more about each other's pasts.

Duo (AN: I will be calling him Duo until at least the next chapter where it will switch to Valkan permanently) bound into their shared bedroom in the safe house they had been staying in for the last week.

Amethyst eyes landed on the Japanese teen typing away at his laptop. A mischievous grin came over the full lips; wheels began to turn in the strategist mind, planning the perfect prank to get his stoic friend away from that goddamned computer for a few hours. It's a about time the boy had some fun in his life.

Just as Duo began to sneak up behind his roommate, employing all of his inherited and learned stealth tactics, a voice stopped him, making him freeze in place.

"Don't even think about it." //Damn. How does he do that?! I definitely never taught him that// scowled Duo.

I know you, baka. It's not that hard Surprise washed through him at the sound of Heero's mental voice. Pride as well, at the accomplishments of his student learning to use his mental powers so quickly.

"You been holding out on me, buddy? I don't remember teaching you to do that."

Heero seemed to turn defensive and retreat from the camaraderie.

"No one taught me. I just know how to do it. Other skills are the same way; I just know how to do them before anyone teaches me."

"Heero, buddy, look at me. We're going to try something." The Japanese pilot turned around in his seat, laser like eyes watching his mentor.

"I need to look at your psychic signature. I believe I may know the reason why you just seem to know things. Will you let me in?" Heero nodded allowing Duo access to the physical characteristics of his mind.

Amethyst began to swirl as they analyzed Heero's psychic fingerprint, looking for specific elements- his primary and secondary magical elements, his magical and physical heritage, and so on.

A gasp was wrenched from the ancient's throat as they both came back to themselves.

"Preborn. You're preborn." Whispered Duo in awe as he stared at his partner.

"Preborn?"

"It means that you came aware while you were still in the womb. Born with all of the knowledge that your direct ancestors possessed. You remember everything your ancestors ever knew, everything from the time of your conception to the time of your 1st ancestor. " Duo's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "But how can that be? Preborns are always born in pairs….."

Keara? Are you listening to this?

Yes, it fits what information I have. Let him in, Heero. I think that he will be our strongest supporter if we let him.

Heero refocused to Duo smirking at him.

"The girl say anything interesting?"

Heero glared at his partner, "We were agreeing that the definition you gave for 'preborns' seemed to fit us too well. And her name is Keara."

"It explains a great many things, especially your intimate knowledge of the Blood and some of the jumps that you have made in your training. You already know most of the things that I have taught you, the training is more of a way to bring the memories forward and allow you to utilize the knowledge that is already there. However, being preborn will have consequences that will be far more severe when you come of age and receive the bulk of your powers. You will require anchors definitely, though I suppose Keara already acts as one, as does Aidan. We will see when the time comes I suppose."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not an expert on preborn development but I do have considerable knowledge when it comes to seers. I've raised four children that were seers. However-"

"Wait a minute. Raised four children?! You're only 15! How can you have raised four children!" demanded Heero, he could feel Keara's growing interest in the back of his mind.

The American pilot quietly regarded the teenager sitting in front of him. With a quiet confidence he replied, "Heero, you must learn very quickly that in our world, appearances are deceiving 99 of the time. While my appearance- which isn't my true body but a glamour- may appear to be that of a fifteen year old boy, in reality I appear much more like a thirty year old man from somewhere in Eastern Europe. And even then my appearance doesn't show my age, if it did I'd been nothing but a stain buried deep in the stratigraphy. I'm many thousands of years old and I have raised four hundred and sixty seven children in my lifetime. Now may I continue with my explanation?"

Numbly Heero nodded. Thousands of years old! Four hundred and sixty seven kids! Kami, he must this think that this whole war and every one of us pilots as nothing more than insolent children playing at war!

On the contrary, Heero, I see four young men forced to grow up far too quickly because their home countries were too cowardly to go to war themselves. I see boys that should be in high school worrying about homework and asking a girl out to the dance, not going on suicide missions that I would never send even the most experienced of soldiers on. No, Heero, I've never seen you, Quatre, Trowa or Wufei as children, but there are times when I truly wish that I could.

With those soul felt words, Duo continued his explanation of what Heero should expect to happen when he came into his inheritance in 7 months (AN: I'm making Heero's birthday to be the 1st of May).

Early December A.C. 195

For weeks Heero had been feeling like something big was coming, something drastic was going to happen. The tension in the air and the recent uneasiness that Raven had been displaying only served to heighten his suspicions.

Heero, Duo, Quatre, and Raven had moved into their new safe house in Brisbane, Australia- new if you could call the shack on the outskirts of town a safe house- mere hours before Raven's laptop had beeped with a new mission from their controllers.

The mission was to infiltrate a party given by a group called "Blood's Right" and kidnap a prominent OZ official, the controllers believed that the man held key information in on the new mobile suit army OZ was amassing in the Pacific.

Heero immediately got onto his computer to obtain background information on the group and schematics for the building the party was to be held in.

The mission parameters stated that the group was to be expecting a new male entertainer in three days, the doctors had decided that Quatre would be the pilot best for the mission as the group liked "innocent" looking men as their entertainers.

As Duo read over Heero's shoulder, he became more and more angry at the doctors for forcing him and Quatre into this position.

From the files that Heero had collected, it appeared that the women of "Blood's Right" were Blood witches- a group that had come from the same region of Kaeleer (Duo's home realm/planet) as Duo himself. It appeared that they were the descendents of the original group of witches that had enslaved Duo millennia ago (1), and by the looks of it, they were continuing in their grandmothers' steps.

//I'll be damned before I let anyone, especially Quatre, go anywhere near that group…Well maybe Raven, she'd probably end up as Queen there// thought Duo, mentally shuddering as memories of such past parties surfaced.

Heero could feel the tension in his partner as Duo leaned on his shoulder, continuing to read the data compiled. He must have some history with this group; I'll have to ask him.

Duo. You're aggravated. What's going on?

Heero could feel his partner mentally struggle to regain balance. Just the past coming back to haunt me, it's nothing. Don't worry about it.

Duo.

The dark brunette felt the American teen sigh. Can't keep anything from you can I? This group is descendents of the original "Blood's Right" group. They're into S&M games, focused heavily on the pain of the males that they use. The men that go into these parties never come out whole…..if they come out at all.

You were one of these men.

Yes, from the time I was five until Raven got me out twenty thousand years ago. This ends now. I won't watch good men destroyed by these things.

"What have you found Heero?" asked the blond as he went over the mission details.

" 'Blood's Right' is a group that deals in dominant/submissive fantasies for female and male clients, the women are the dominants while the male "entertainers" that work at the parties and the male clients are the submissive. The women there like to abuse the men, their slogan seems to be that men are for sex and the women rule. Most of the men that walk into these parties rarely come out sane after what happens inside." Said Duo bitterly as he stared out the window, trying to use the sandy rocks of the beach as a way to center himself.

"Duo?" Quatre looked at the braided teen but the window, worry apparent on his face. "Are you okay?"

Giving the blond a half smile, the American turned back to the window.

"Duo…realistically you're the best person to go on this mission; you know the culture, the politics. We couldn't train Quatre in only three days! It's impossible!" cried Raven.

"No". Cold amethyst eyes turned on the fire-haired woman. Quatre and Heero froze, Shinigami had come out to play and Raven was only stoking the fires. "I'm not doing it Raven. I won't to go back there; back to a life of wondering where the next beating was going to come from; which damn bitch I'm going to be forced to service; back to being drugged and tied to a bed so the woman could use my body as she saw fit. I'd rather die then go back there."

Dear Allah, how could someone do that to another human being? How did Duo survive?Thought Quatre as he sat in horrified silence.

Raven, however, wasn't deterred by his refusal.

As Duo reached the doorway to enter the kitchen, she called out to him, knowing her words would secure his compliance.

"They're using safframate (2)."

The brunette froze in the doorway, tension running through his body; ice began to cover the windows despite the warm climate (3).

"If I do this our contract is void." Cold eyes turned on their CO. "I want you gone by morning. Don't even think about staying in Sol system. You have 24 hours to be gone from the system, Lady. Get out." Shinigami's voice sent shills down the spines of all those in the room. The air was barely breathable from the heat when he left, though Quatre and Heero took little notice of it. They merely watched their fuming commander from outside the line of fire.

The next seventy-two hours were definitely going to be interesting.

And horrifying.

When Heero returned to the room that he shared with Duo, the sight that awaited him was beyond anything he could have ever imagined.

Duo had cut his hair. The sheared off ends barely brushed the back of his neck.

"Duo….your hair…..why?" he stammered out, shocked beyond belief that the American had cut off his yard long hair.

The American's darkened eyes turned to meet those of his partner.

"I won't tarnish Duo's memory by bearing his key feature on this mission."

Heero nodded, accepting the reasoning behind the move but disappointed at the loss of his partner's beautiful hair. It was the main thing that Wing's pilot had associated with his loud friend.

"Heero." Duo said softly, half turning towards the stone-faced pilot. "Need you to make sure that Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei aren't here when I get back. I don't want them to see me on safframate. Will you promise me? They won't be here?"

Heero nodded. "I promise."

"Thank you."

Nothing could have prepared Heero for the horror that was safframate. Nothing could have prepared him for what it would turn his partner into, what he would do while on the drug. That night would become one of many nightmares that would haunt both Heero and Duo for the rest of their lives.

Please note that in the summary it says that Duo is 50 000 years old.

Safframate is an aphrodisiac that when two or three seeds is used, it allows a male or female extended stamina. When crushed and used by the spoon full, which is what is being used here and will be explained later, it causes the body to go into over drive. The body is so sensitized that pleasure becomes pain, and orgasm is impossible. The effects of safframate will last as much as three days. All information about safframate and the Blood is found in the Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop.

When Blood males (like Duo) get angry, they'll go into 1 of 2 types of anger:

Hot anger: this is the emotional anger of the body.

Cold anger: this is the anger of the Jewels, the Craft, they wield and it usually means that someone is going to either get seriously hurt or die. Signs of this kind of anger commonly are: Ice forming upon surfaces or a room growing very cold despite the surrounding climate.