Disclaimer: This story is rated M for violence, blood, language, etc. We do not own Gundam Wing or profit from it. Trust me, we are far too violent and evil to make something like Gundam Wing.

Notes: This story is collabed entirely with Cltcmistress, who can be found on here as well. She writes every other paragraph, so credit is due to her as well! We have a joint account now... Kit-Cat and da Fox, so check us out there, as well. And please review, feedback is encouraging, but it also helps us write better.

WARNING: This chapter contains violence. Imagine that.


Zero strode down the hall, pausing every so often to catch her breath. Her initial report to her master hadn't been too bad. His knee in her back had hurt a lot, but she'd thus far excaped the beating she knew she deserved. So why did she hurt so bad today? Damn you Maxwell. You're going to be paying for what you've done for a very long time. She glowered at a trainee who lingered a little too long watching her lean on the wall. With a growl she pushed up and made her way to the interrogation room. She stormed into the room, using her anger as a brace to keep her up and going. "Fucking prick." She slapped him hard across the cheek. "Ready for another go 'round?"

Duo grit his teeth, tired of being hit and reach out grabbing her wrist. "Yeah, I am." He narrowed his eyes and stood.

"Mr. Maxwell, remove your hand at once."

"I said no." He studied her a minute. "You look... ill."

"Fuck off." She was in no mood to deal with his attitude today. She hauled back with her other fist and buried it in his gut. The action made her gasp on her own at the pain suddenly shooting through her side. With a snarl she stood straighter and prepared to follow her punch with a kick. She wasn't about to let him see her feeling weak just yet.

"Duo backed up releasing her wrist and prepared for the kick that was about to come.

She released the kick with a growl, snatching her arm back from him. "Sit down."

He dodged the kick easily, which was much considering he could barely stand. "No."

As her kick missed the pilot she stumbled, catching herself on the edge of the table. "Dammit, Maxwell." Using the moment to recover her balance she grabbed one of her hammers and turned. "Sit your happy ass down, now."

"No." He cocked his head to the side and grabbed the arm holding the hammer. "You need help." He gave her a good jab to her right side.

Her hand released the hammer and it tumbled to the floor. She gasped as he poked at her side. "I don't need help. Especially not yours."

"Yes you do."

"No." With her free hand she reached behind and grabbed the bat, swinging it at his head.

Duo stumbled a bit before he toppled to his knees. Maybe Quatre was right... why am I here?He glanced up as if he sensed the blonde touching his shoulder and jumped back. To his surprise only Zero stood before him. What the hell? She must've hit me harder than I thought.


It was dark, too dark to see, but he could make out a pair of violet eyes. They were frozen wide in horror, blood dripping from the temple and running into them, but they never blinked. The body laid in a crooked angle, as if was broken and destroyed. Blood pooled around it in a large puddle and he knelt his fingers touching it, and he knew it was still warm. He reach out awkwardly, pushing bangs out of the unseeing eyes, but there was no response, he knew there wouldn't be. He edged a little closer and pressed a hand to the neck, but the pulse was gone and the body was growing cold. He shivered and pulled away from the accusatory eyes, just as a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. "You let me die!" The figure sat up, started to slide towards him, still bent and broken, with bones sticking out of it. "You did this to me."

Terror tore through Quatre and he tried to scream, nothing coming out, until finally a strangled cry tore from him; full of terror and he started to flail violently backwards.

Trowa tossed in his sleep. Something wasn't right. Death could see him. He jerked awake at the sound of a scream next to him. Quatre flailed in the sheets, screams tearing from his lungs. "Quatre!" He shook the blonde, willing him awake. He had the strong urge to fight off something, but he wasn't sure what that something was. "Quatre, wake up!"

Quatre could feel the hands on him and he struggled to get away when he heard a voice calling to him. With a start he jerked awake and saw Trowa, but his mind was still sleep clouded and he jerked away, fist raised and panting, covered with sweat. He stared for a moment, then blinked before he lowered his fist. "T-Trowa?"

"It was a dream." He removed his hands and leaned back cautiously, giving Quatre room. "Are you ok?"

Quatre shuddered and ran a hand through his hair, wincing as he accidentally touched his eye. "I will be." He shook his head. "It was a premonition, of sorts."

Trowa watched him carefully. "What was it?" He took a deep breath of his own. Whatever it was that had him so shaken had come across and affected him as well. He knew Quatre was serious about that bond stuff, but this was a whole new level of connection.

"You don't look so well yourself." Quatre could feel the remnants of Trowa's dream on the edge of his mind. "You felt it, too, didn't you?" He turned away and frowned. "I told you, you can't get that close."

Scooting closer again he wrapped his arms around Quatre. "I've already told you it's alright." He rubbed the pilot's arms briskly, working to get blood moving again. "If it takes sharing in your pain as well as your pleasure to be with you, I'll do it gladly." He hugged him close. "What did you see? I only felt the tension and fear."

"Duo is in danger." He rested his head against the other pilot. "He... called out to me," Quatre winced at that, releasing how it probably sounded. "I can feel Zero through him. He was dead in my dream... " He shuddered at the memory of the broken body reaching for him.

Trowa winced slightly. He knew it shouldn't bother him that much but it did. Why was Quatre so insistent on keeping tabs on Duo, but pushed him away? "He chose to go back. It was his decision and his decision alone." He couldn't help the biting tone of his words. It hurt.

"It's not like that." Quatre looked up at him. "It's different, but Duo is in danger and he's one of us."

He sighed. There was no arguing against Quatre when he saw things a certain way. "Alright. What do you want to do?"

Quatre grabbed the taller pilot and pulled him down so their noses were touching. "I think I detect a bit of jealousy... it's not like you think, I promise." He smiled a bit, then sighed. "We have to get him out. He's our friend. And if we leave him there it only proves he was right."

Checkmate. "I'm never playing chess with you. You manipulate people too easily." He avoided the statement and stood to get dressed. "Fine. Let's go find Heero and Wufei. We'll start making the preparations necessary."

Quatre broke into a grin. "You are jealous." He covered his mouth with his hand trying to hide the smile.

Trowa frowned. He knew it was silly, but it was true. "Can you blame me? You bond with him then push me away." He turned his back to pull on a clean shirt then faced Quatre again. "Sorry. Come on, let's go."

Quatre reach out and grabbed his wrist, pulling Trowa back to him. "I told you it was different. The bond I have with Duo isn't permanent. With Duo it's more of a hold, with you..." He looked down. "We share. I don't know if it's..." He tilted his head to the side. "It may fade over time, but it will always be there. Unbreakable. I didn't know you were interested in something like that anyway."

"I..." He stopped and stared at the blonde before reaching up and running his fingertips over the bruised cheekbone. "I just care. It felt as though you wanted the bond with Duo more than any sort of connection with me." He shook his head and chuckled. "It's silly. It's just that when I feel you, I feel like I need to be next to you. If I'm not, I get edgy. Now stop stalling. If you want to save Duo we have to go."

"You're right." He stood up slowly. "I would lilke it if you stayed next to me." He linked his fingers with Trowa's. "Let's go."

Trowa smiled and pulled the dishevled Quatre out the door and right into another body. "Wufei." He wasn't sure which surprised him more. The fact that he ran into the pilot without noticing or that he had just seen the two of them coming out of his room together.

Quatre flushed as they ran into Wufei, staightening his shirt in vain. "We were just looking for you!"

Wufei suppresed a snicker at the two flustered pilots. About time. "What?"

"Its not how it looks, I can assure you Trowa was a total grandmother." He snickered. "It's about Duo."

Trowa frowned down at Quatre then looked up at Wufei. "Quatre says Duo's in trouble. He wants us to go get him."

Wufei frowned. "He chose to stay."

Quatre shook his head. "No, not by choice."


Zero watched the pilot drop to his knees. "I said sit down, Maxwell." She clung to the bat with one hand and the table with the other. Damn him. Why is he fighting me?

He struggled back to his feet and lunged at her, grabbing the bat. "This is over, now."

She stared at him in shock. He shouldn't be able to stand against her like that. "What did you just say to me?" His reaction startled her too much to do anthing but stare at him.

"You're hurt." He pulled the bat out of her hand. "And this is over."

Damn him. Damn him to hell for seeing through her. "It's over when I say it's over, Mr. Maxwell." She growled as she let him take the bat, then moved away from him. Her breath caught in her chest and she did her best to stand up straight. "Give that back."

"Take it out of my hands." He jabbed her side again.

She gritted her teeth and did her best to control the wince. Instead she lunged at his face with her fist.

He ducked quickly and swung her over his shoulder. "I said this is over."

"Ah!" Zero growled and beat her fists against his back. "Put me down this instant! Or have you forgotten all of those lessons we've learned? I'll teach you each of them again in one night if you don't drop me now."

"Not if you don't lay down and rest. You're too sick to do anything right now." He opened the door to head for her room.

As Duo hauled her out the door, Zero looked up to see the trainee who'd been lingering in the hall earlier. "Zero." He snapped to a salute despite her awkward position. "You've been summoned to his office. You're to bring the prisoner with you."

She growled back at him. Damn. That means my master has thought of something new. "Tell him I'll be right there. Dismissed." No need to further damage her image to the trainees. Giving Duo another punch to the back she squirmed. "Now put me down."

Duo sat her down and followed her up the hall in silence.

She paused outside his door to check over her uniform. Certain it was pristine and that Maxwell hadn't messed it she knocked, then entered. "You sent for me, sir?"

"Yes." He stood up and circled around the desk in front of her. "I've heard you were sick, sit, please." He motioned to a chair in front of him.

Damn. She hated to seem weak in her master's eyes. Without a word she sat on the edge of the chair, back straight and eyes on him.

Duo looked from Zero to the man in front of her. The way Zero reacted immediately set him on edge. So this must be who's running the show. He glanced down at the uniform he'd been wearing for two days now. It was hopeless to straighten it out. He was grateful however for the lack of blue or white to show the full extent of the blood he was covered in. Since he hadn't been told to sit yet, he stood and waited. If this man was enough to scare Zero into immediate submission he had no desire to get on his bad side at the moment.

As if Derek could sense his thoughts he turned to Duo. "Mr. Maxwell, pleasure to meet you finally. I need a favor of you this evening. You will do as I instruct or I'll make her lessons seem like child's play to both of you. Understood?"

Shit. "Understood, sir."

"I want you to hold her arms, as tight as you can. Hold her up to your chest, I don't want her to move. If she moves, I'll make short work of both of you." He moved to a small table at his side and started layinig out equipment. "And hurry up, I haven't got all day."

Zero looked from the table to Duo. Fuck me. He's selected the punishment... She did her best to control her heartbeat, but this was beyond what she expected.

Duo's eyes opened as wide as the swelling allowed. "Sir?" He moved to stand behind her chair and helped her to stand. Just what was this guy gonna do? At least he knew where Zero got her table of toys from.

"No question Maxwell. I don't like questions." Derek turned back slowly and tied a gag around Zero's mouth and smiled at her. "Not that I don't like that pretty voice of yours, but you'll need something to bite down on." With that he ripped her shirt in half, exposing her stomach only. He turned back to the table and selected a betadine swab and began to rub it on her stomach. "Now Zero, I must warn you, if you kick me, I will remove those pretty little legs. Mr. Maxwell, wrap your legs around hers, just in case." He moved back to the table again.

Not sure what else to do, he did as he was told. He took both her arms and locked his elbows through hers, pinning them behind her back. Then wrapping one leg around hers, he leaned back agains the chair for support. What is he going to do to her!? His mind was screaming at him that something wasn't right, but his body was too shocked to respond.

Zero bit hard on the gag. She gasped when he shirt was torn open, but didn't struggle against Duo's grasp. She continued to try to control her breathing, but kept her eyes locked on her master's every move.

Derek picked a scapel before studying it closely. "What we have here," He turned to face them. "Is a classic case of appendicitis. And what kind of person would I be if I didn't remove it?" He knelt in front of her pressing the scapel to the skin. "Don't you dare faint on me Zero."

Duo gasped when he realized just what was about to happen. He's serious! He's even more crazy than she is! He held tighter to Zero, praying for her sake that she didn't pass out.

Zero's eyes went wide and she held perfectly still. I'm going to kill Maxwell when I'm done here. She took a deep breath and waited. I'm going to kill him if it kills me...


Wufei entered the study to find Heero reading a book for a change. "Yuy." He ignored the other two following him and bent to whisper something to Heero before standing, a small smile on his face. "Quatre has something he'd like to discuss with us."

Heero looked up at Wufei and raised an eyebrow before looking up at Trowa and Quatre. "What is it, Quatre?"

Trowa rolled his eyes and pushed Quatre into the room and toward a chair. "Sit."

Quatre looked from Wufei to Heero before scowling a little. "You two are like a couple of old hens, I swear." He crossed his arms. "It's about Duo."

Heero's face returned to the blank slate it had been. "What about Maxwell?" He frowned.

"Zero is going to kill him."

"Hm." He put the book on the table. "You saw this?" Trowa glanced at Heero and nodded. Heero looked back at Quatre.

"No, I read it in a book." Quatre sighed. I've spent too much time with Duo. "His gundam is still in their hands."

Heero couldn't help the smirk at the remark before frowning again. "I know. But as long as Duo chooses to remain with them that's where his gundam will be. Until he dies or returns. He passed his opportunity to return."

Quatre put his head in his hands. "He didn't choose to, Heero." He rubbed his face wincing as he touched his eye. "Duo is still a part of this team. You can work with me or I'll go alone." He stood up and crossed his arms again.

Trowa placed his hand on Quatre's shoulder. "Quatre has a point. Besides, Duo did let him go." He squeezed gently indicating the blonde to sit back down. He took a seat himself on the arm of the chair. "Besides, Quatre's not going anywhere alone right now. And after seeing what that Sarin organization has done to two of our pilots, I don't think it's a good idea for any less than all of us to go back. If we do this, we do it together."

"I agree." Wufei crossed his arms. "Under the condition Duo see someone upon return." He turned to Heero.

Heero nodded. It was hard to argue with all three of them. "Fine. We get Duo." He looked at Quatre. "This time you can't defend him totally. He will get help."

"Agreed. Even I can see that."