A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys. I hope the ending to this chapter gives you that warm, squeal worthy fangirl feeling. I know it did for me. Enjoy!


"Okay, Heero. I want to know what's going on."

To say that those weren't exactly the words I wanted to hear was an understatement. It was sometime early in the morning after the day when Quatre had ordered me into bed, only for me to be woken up less than an hour later by him screaming my name. I'd run into Duo's room and ordered Quatre out before grabbing Duo, who had been writhing in pain and unresponsive to anything I said or did. Gradually he'd become more lucid, though he hadn't wanted to explain why he'd been in so much pain in the first place. I remembered that he had turned the tables and started trying to ask me questions about what happened at the prison, but I didn't want to tell him much, and at some point we must have fallen asleep.

I woke up hours later to find myself on my back in Duo's bed with the braided baka himself curled up against my chest. My left arm had gone numb because he was sleeping on it, and I felt sticky and disoriented, but I was still reluctant to move. One of my guilty pleasures was watching Duo sleep, if only because he looked so peaceful in between nightmares. But then Trowa had poked his head in and warned me that Quatre was coming up the stairs to check on Duo, and that was enough incentive to get me moving. It wasn't a scene I wanted Quatre to walk in on.

So I'd reluctantly wriggled out of Duo's hold and left him in bed to sleep off the rest of the effects of Shinigami. After a shower, I actually felt human again. Now, as I sat at the table with two bright turquoise eyes staring me down, I wished that I had just stayed in bed instead of coming downstairs. I knew that there would be no escaping Quatre's third degree. He had that look in his eyes that meant he was going to stop at nothing to get the truth. I shifted uneasily, wishing that I could turn to Trowa for help, but he had his back to me and was trying to look busy with the pile of eggs that he was scrambling. There was no way he'd go against his lover for a second time in a row but I glared at his back anyway.

"Heero," Quatre said sharply, drawing my attention back to him. I made the mistake of looking him in the eyes, which he used to his advantage when he leaned forward intently. "After what happened at the prison, I think the three of us have a right to know what's going on with you and Duo. Wufei isn't here at the moment but he should return no later than tonight and we can fill him in then. In the meantime, I want you to explain this to Trowa and me right now."

I said nothing and contemplated my options. One: ignore Quatre and risk pissing him off, which would piss Trowa off and result in my having to watch my back for knives that were 'accidentally' tossed in my direction. Two: hope like hell that J made himself useful for once and called me out on a mission in the next two minutes. Three: hope that Duo would wake up and save me the trouble of having to explain for him. Four: run. Five: break down and explain. None of those options looked particularly attractive. Number one would only cause trouble, especially once Wufei returned, the chances of two or three happening were extremely unlikely, and four was useless because I was pretty sure Trowa could out-run me. That left me with five. Damn.

I sighed. "I don't know how much I can tell you. It's really Duo's story to tell. You should ask him." Okay, so I went with option six: stall tactics. I looked away from that penetrating gaze as Trowa set a plate of eggs and bacon down in front of me, relieved for the chance to distract myself. Quatre may not have been the strongest physically, but he had the mental willpower to more than make up for it.

"I'm not asking Duo. I'm asking you," Quatre said calmly, accepting his own plate with a warm smile of thanks. "Heero, I've tried talking to Duo, but he's completely out of it right now. I think he was having trouble following our conversation, and then he just started screaming." He paused, briefly, and I felt more than saw him wince. I hadn't been joking when I'd told Duo that he had scared Quatre. I haven't heard Quatre panic that badly for along time. By the time I was out of bed and made it across the hall, he was almost in tears.

Much as it annoyed me to admit, he had a point, and he knew it. With the way that Duo danced around things, it could be months before he broke down and told them the truth. I knew it was inevitable, considering what the three of them had seen, so I decided to just give in and fill them in on what little I knew. "Duo is Shinigami," I said shortly, cutting off a small piece of egg and lifting it to my mouth. I chewed slowly while I watched Quatre and Trowa for a reaction. Trowa frowned slightly while Quatre just looked confused. I elaborated a little. "Literally. All those times that we thought he had just given himself the title of Shinigami, well, we were wrong. It turns out that he actually is the god of death in mortal form."

"Yuy," Trowa said, staring at me. "Are you sick?"

I glared at him in response. "No, I'm perfectly fine and I'm telling you the truth. How else do you explain the scythe and the ability to kill people just by touching them with it? He didn't even have to use the scythe on them if you remember. And he broke those chains. Chains made of Gundanium. No human could do that. Even I can't." And sometimes I'm not entirely sure I'm even human, I added silently.

"But..." Quatre trailed off and furrowed his brow. Whatever he had been expecting, this clearly wasn't it. "But Heero... what do you mean, he's Shinigami in mortal form?"

I shrugged, enjoying their obvious confusion. They'd asked for it. "Exactly what I said, Winner," I said crisply, forking up another mouthful of eggs. "Turns out there's more than one god or goddess and every so often, they get born on Earth as a mortal to... Well, to help out, I guess." Duo had never really explained why Shinigami was here. I doubted that he even knew. "Duo is one of them. He's Shinigami in a human body."

"And the rest of us?" said Trowa, who clearly hadn't forgotten some of the more cryptic comments that Duo had made.

I paused and took a drink from the cup of coffee that had been set on the table in front of me, stalling for time. Honestly, Duo and I hadn't gotten that far yet. So much had been going on that I'd never gotten the chance to ask him to explain everything. I had the feeling that the answer that was staring us all in the face was the truth, but I wasn't sure they were ready to face it. I wasn't sure I was ready to face it. I hadn't forgotten how different I had felt after Shinigami kissed me on the side of the neck. Sometimes that spot burned, and it made the rest of my body tingle. And during those times, it was like I could feel a foreign power running through my veins. The implications of that was something I was still trying to ignore.

"I don't know," I said finally. It was the only honest answer I could give them, even though I know they were hoping for more. "Sometimes I don't think that Duo completely knows, either."

Quatre had fallen silent. I could tell from the look on his face that he was struggling with what I had told them. I knew that he had to have suspected what I was going to tell him, but suspecting and hearing the truth are two completely different things. I said once that J had not taught me a lot about religion, and that was true. But I did know that Quatre's religion only worshipped one god. This kind of information had to be hard for him to hear. I had no doubt in my mind that he was struggling to reconcile the evidence that he had been presented with to his upbringing. It was not an easy place to be in and, having been there more than once myself, I did not envy him. Yet at the same time, he had been the one to ask.

A few minutes of silence ticked by before Trowa spoke again. "Can he control it?"

It was an interesting question. I took my time answering. From what I'd seen, Duo did have some form of control over Shinigami. And for whatever reason, the god seemed to be willing to listen to me. Again, I answered as honestly as I could. "For the most part, yes. But when he's extremely ill or over-extending himself, it's easier for Shinigami to get free. That burns him out, though. I think… the prison was the first time he let Shinigami out on purpose."

Trowa nodded thoughtfully. I knew what he was thinking; he had come to the same conclusion that I had. Duo believed the rest of us were gods, too, and that we just didn't know it. But he didn't want to say anything in front of Quatre, who might find that one shock too many. Instead, he said, "Thank you for telling us the truth, Yuy. I trust you'll keep us informed as you find out more."

"I will," I said, grateful that he hadn't asked for anything more than that. I hadn't told them everything, but it was enough to sate their curiosity for the time being. It would be a while before they fully absorbed the shock I had just given him and I knew there was no point in saying anything more until they, particularly Quatre, were ready to hear it.

The rest of our meal was spent in silence. For someone who had been so eager to discover the truth, Quatre was suspiciously silent, focusing solely on his food and ignoring even Trowa. I locked eyes with Trowa and jerked my head over my shoulder towards the door, telling him without words that he and Quatre needed to go talk. Trowa nodded again and stood up, placing a gentle hand on Quatre's shoulder. He looked up in surprise and offered a weak smile that even I could tell was fake. Not a word was exchanged between them as Quatre stood up, put his still full plate in the sink, and followed Trowa out the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Or so I believed. No sooner had I stood up to tend to the dishes than I heard a familiar voice speak.

"You handled that well. Better than I thought you would've."

"And you couldn't have jumped in to help?" I said sarcastically, annoyed with myself for not having noticed that he had been standing there. And he'd been there for a while if he'd heard enough of the conversation to form an opinion.

Duo smirked at me and walked into the kitchen. He had changed his clothes and re-braided his hair, and now he walked over to the sink and picked up Quatre's plate. "I just thought I'd give you the chance," he said innocently, scooping up some of the egg with his fingers and popping it into his mouth. "I could tell you were looking forward to it, Hee-chan."

I glared at him. "Do not call me that," I ordered.

"Yeah, whatever, Hee-chan," he muttered with a smirk. I glared at him even more fiercely, wishing that he was close enough to punch. But that would have required moving, and I didn't know if I had the energy for that. Duo seemed to realize my dilemma because he stayed well out of reach as he devoured the rest of the eggs before putting the plate back in the sink and wiping his hands off. I thought he was going to leave after that, but instead, he looked at me again with a serious expression. I raised an eyebrow back at him, wondering why the force of his stare made me feel like he could see everything about me. Wondered why I liked it so much.

"What?" I asked finally, unable to remain silent any longer.

He started and blinked. "What? Oh, I was just thinking... I was being honest, you know. Thanks."

I shrugged tiredly, my anger leaving as fast as it had come. "I wasn't going to lie to them, though the thought did cross my mind. When they've had some time to accept what happened then you have to tell us the rest of it, Duo."

"Sure, on one condition." There was a spark in his eyes that told me I wasn't going to like what was coming. But my traitorous mouth opened and asked anyway.

"What would that be?"

He turned away and opened the fridge, mumbling something under his breath that I couldn't quite catch as he grabbed an apple. I raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed, rolling the plump fruit between his hands. A pink flush spread across as his cheeks. "I want you to brush my hair again."

I blinked, startled by the condition. I would have expected something embarrassing, but this was almost… sweet. I was flattered that he had enjoyed it enough to ask me to do it again, especially when was normally so protective of his hair. "Sure," I said, hoping that I didn't sound as eager as I thought I did. "Whenever you want." Too late, I realized from his surprised expression that he meant I'd only have to do it once, but my offer was already out there, and I wasn't about to take it back.

"Thanks, Heero," he said quietly. "I'm going to go check on my aibou."

"Alright." I thought about asking him if he felt well enough to be up and walking around already, but stopped myself from doing it at the last second. He might have been young, but Duo was not a child and he didn't appreciate being treated like one. None of us did. I was amazed that he had leaned on me as much as he had during the past few weeks and I knew that it wouldn't last now that he was feeling better So I remained silent as he walked out of the room, absently tossing his apple from hand to hand, and when I was sure he was gone I stood up and dumped the remains of my food into the garbage before heading back upstairs.

My laptop was running on my desk. I sat down in front of it more from habit than because I was truly curious to know what was going on and noticed immediately that there was nothing new from J. He was probably still angry with me for being foolish enough to get captured, as he'd never been out of contact with me for so long. I hadn't really spoken to him since before Duo got sick; the orders for the last mission had come in a short, perfunctory e-mail that could have been written by anyone.

I looked with disinterest at the screen, realizing that for quite possibly the first time in my life, I didn't feel like being on my laptop. There was some work that I could have done: J was likely expecting a full report on how we had escaped. Normally he wouldn't have cared, but the 'mystery' surrounding it would have been enough to make him curious. I knew that a report would have been enough to put me back in his good graces, but I was not inclined to give any of the doctors any more details than was absolutely necessary. Even just thinking about what J would do with the power of a god, especially the god of Death, was chilling.

I shook my head and pressed the top of the laptop down, wondering what Duo was doing to me. He had changed so much about me without even trying and sometimes I didn't even think he realized it. When I'd seen him being carried into that cell, it was like my heart stopped for a split second, and all I was able to think about was how much I did not want to see Duo die. That was not how the Perfect Soldier was supposed to act. When had Duo become more important to me than the lessons ingrained into me as a child?

Of course, there was one lesson I had learned that seemed to suit the situation perfectly. Follow your emotions. What were they telling me now? I hadn't wanted to risk paying attention to them before, but I knew I was at the point where I could no longer ignore them; I had to start listening. Everything in my life, somehow, had become about Duo. His health. His happiness. His survival. There were days that went by when the war didn't even cross my mind. That had never happened before and I didn't know what to do about it.

I stood up and started to walk over to my bed, feeling restless. As I passed by the window, a flash of color caught my eye, and I glanced out to see Duo and Trowa standing outside. Duo was saying something and waving his arms for emphasis, and there was the barest hint of a smile on Trowa's face as he listened. I leaned against the glass and watched the two of them, wondering why I felt such peace when I looked at Duo. It was something I'd never experienced, but I wanted more of it.

I wanted more of Duo.


Please review!