Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Honestly, I've been trying to upload this for three or four days now and kept getting errors o-o; So.. sorry for the delay but it wasn't my fault! Enjoy the update, I must return to translating a terribly boring book ::sigh::

Apocryphal Reality: Unforgivable Sin

In barely a blink the devil was gone and for the briefest instant Heero was shocked at the abrupt departure. But in the next second he twisted to look back towards the room where his opponent was gazing momentarily and saw that he had returned to the small room. He stifled a bit of irritation at that; didn't they just leave to get away from the boy? Nevertheless he followed the other back inside and took in the situation with a careful and precise eye.

Duo was hovering near the bed's edge – not literally, of course, but more in the manner of someone extremely anxious – hands alternately reaching out as though to attempt comfort or wringing in obvious restraint. The dark form all but hummed with stress as he continually shifted weight. One pale lip was caught by a rather sharp canine that would likely draw blood with much more worrying, but Heero guessed it was an attempt to keep himself quiet more than anything. Their charge was still in the same position as he had been when they had Jumped away only moments before. If anything, he seemed to have shrunk in on himself even more until it was a wonder the teen could take up so little space. The angel frowned minutely, just a barest tug downwards of the corners of his mouth, but a frown all the same because he could not see anything to warrant his opponent's erratic behavior.

He took a step closer, noting that the boy seemed to cringe at the movement, and it was only when he was within reach of the two figures that he saw the lamplight reflecting under the blonde's bicep, just above his elbow. A very unsettling feeling churned his stomach at what his instincts told him was making that reflection, and he hoped – somehow, even though he shouldn't – that he would be wrong. Heero turned towards the devil with an eye still on his charge. "What– ?" he began, barely a whisper of breath, but the look of horror the braided teen turned on him was enough to stop him in his tracks.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Quatre screamed again before could even open his mouth, let alone form a thought! The screech was so resoundingly audible that the small fragment in one's brain that somehow continues to take note on little inconsequential things when all the rest of the mind just wants to shut down realized that the boy's sister surely couldn't be home or else she'd surely have been breaking in the door by now. Really, the more important thing that should have been noticed was that the petite blonde had uncurled abruptly with this latest outburst, one arm swinging out in a wide arc as the other supported him in his lunge. Heero blinked twice in surprise, looking down at his midriff in disbelief before flicking his gaze back up to the young boy. He was staring at them, now, though not exactly because although he faced the direction of his two unwanted companions his watery eyes jumped wildly around, as though searching for something he knew was there but couldn't see. The blade flashed in his outstretched hand as he panted, still crouched and shaking on the bed. The angel couldn't help looking back down at his belly, knowing that if he had still lived, Quatre would have just eviscerated both him and his opponent with that blade.

Well now, Heero thought dryly, that was unexpected.

Then Quatre was moving again, babbling through his hiccupping tears, and the heavy feeling in the pit of Heero's stomach doubled in size even as he felt the devil clutch at his wrist in a claw-like grip.

"What do you want from me?" the blonde wailed, rocking himself in jerky movements as his body shook. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Leave me alone!" He sucked in a rasping breath, falling silent long enough to get some semblance of control. "Is this what you want?" he finally asked, quietly, brokenly, and with a sudden flash of understanding Heero knew what was going on.

"NO!!" Duo cried out, seemingly reaching the same conclusion as Heero himself had. With an internal wince the prussian eyed angel snapped his wrist free from the other's grasp and snatched back instead, tugging the slender teen with him as he stumbled back and away, didn't stop until the desk corner passed through his hips and his wings began to brush the corner walls. Duo continued to struggle against Heero's grip and the normally stoic angel snarled quietly in exasperation, yanking tightly to knock his opponent off balance and catching him up in a circle of wiry arms.

"Stop it!" he hissed urgently, pressing himself closer to the boy's ear even as the leathery black wing flailed against him, trying to break free.

"We have to stop him! Let me go! This is our fault!"

"Shut up, curse you! You're making it worse!" That, finally, shocked the frantically struggling devil into stillness. Not risking loosening his grip quite yet, Heero grasped his own arms in a firm hold and returned nearly-full attention to his charge across the room. The boy was still the same as he had been when he had moved away only moments before, shaking on the bed with his attention focused on his hands. But his weren't the only eyes riveted on those shuddering appendages. Two sets of blue stared unblinkingly at a pale wrist moist with fallen tears and the fear made solid in the form of a finely honed slip of steel housed in mother of pearl that shook with every shuddering breath the small blonde took.

"This is our fault." Duo repeated in a dry whisper, sagging in his captor's grasp as though he no longer had the will to keep himself up. "Look what we've done, Heero. Look at him… we're driving him insane!" This time, the angel couldn't bring himself to deny the claim. This was out of control, far beyond anything that should be happening. The fact that he had been grossly under-informed about this case was now a moot point, he now had to do something he found himself woefully unprepared to do; he had to wing it.

"Is this what you want?" Quatre whispered hoarsely again, "Will this make you stop?!" The blade moved closer, shaking even as the boy tried to steady himself, lamplight reflected eerily off the blade in an almost hypnotic slow strobe. The devil moved to break free again and with a silent curse he tightened his arms, numbly sure that he might be causing pain but beyond the point of caring.

"Listen to me. Listen to me!" he hissed past caramelized wisps into the pale shell of his opponent's ear, still keeping his eyes on their mutual charge as he willed the devil to listen. "You have to listen to me. I'm willing to concede to the possibility that you're right about the boy, but if you are… if you're right then all you're doing right now is making things worse." He felt the other gasp, open his mouth as though to speak but plowed forward before he had the chance. "Think about it. You said he's an empath, right?" When no answer was forthcoming he shook the slim figure within his arms, "Right?"

"Yes," Duo gasped with a nod, eyes still locked at the figure on the bed as he alternately moved the knife closer to and farther from his wrist. "He's always been strange. It's the only explanation that makes sense."

"Fine. Then think about this. He's not hearing us, he's sensing us here, in this room. He feels us. That's what an empath does, right? Think about what you're making him feel right now!" There was a moment of silence as the words failed to make sense, then with a jolt that made the slim body go ridged it sank in – or so Heero assumed.

"Oh no…"

Heero didn't bother to quiet him again. "Calm down. Get a hold of yourself or if he falls it'll be on your head, devil." With that statement he finally loosed his arms and allowed his opponent to stumble free, fairly sure that he could control himself. Baleful cobalt eyes stared at him from under a fringe of bangs.

"What are you playing at, here? I thought angels wanted their charges to Fall."

Heero was quiet a long moment, thinking of the things he could say, but realized it would be futile to argue his points. He wasn't in the mood to explain, so just glared. "It isn't fair." The braided devil looked like he wanted to push the subject but Heero snapped an arm out to point towards the bed. "Pay attention because I'm only going to say this once. We can either go on playing conscience like this empathy or whatever it is doesn't mean anything, or we can accept that this is a unique case and modify our behavior accordingly. You choose."

The angry outburst seemed to affect Quatre, even from across the room – which really wasn't all that surprising if the boy truly had sensed them all this time, always in the room somewhere. Duo turned away abruptly with a small huff, sending his braid swishing against his back and the ribbons trailing along his thighs. "What do you propose, angel?" he bit out at last, still keeping his eyes to the bed.

"Simple. Leave him alone. Hear me out and stop interrupting! If you're right and we're the cause of this, if he's doing this because we're here, we've already done our job, right? Let's make this a true test. Let's let him decide for himself whether or not he goes through with it."

"But–"

"If you do anything, you'll make it worse. You'll work my side. Are you willing to do that?" Heero pressed on over the weak protest. In truth, he didn't know what to do. In truth he should be trying even now to condemn the boy. In truth he wasn't doing his job. But… in truth he couldn't bring himself to cause this.

"But suicide is an Unforgivable Sin." Duo protested quietly. "I can't leave him to…"

"Then you will condemn him." It was the truth, he wasn't sure how he knew – having no prior experience with anything of this sort – but instinct told him he was right even as he said it. "The damage is done; it's up to him what happens now." Black wings wilted in defeat and honey-toned locks bounced as he nodded acquiescence. Heero eyed the devil a moment longer then, deciding that he wasn't going to do anything rash, turned his attention away. He crossed his arms over his chest, shifted his legs apart into a wider stance, and closed his eyes as he let his head droop almost enough that his chin touched his chest. Each breath was calculated, slow and even, concentrating on the simple relaxation exercise. Feel each breath as it entered the body, don't follow it in through the system but stop just as it entered. Hold it a moment, deep inside, and release it slowly and feel it pass by once more. It was a technique he was so accustomed to that Heero didn't even realize his attention had narrowed down to that one simple thought – breathe – until something else intruded on his perception.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Duo hissed lowly, a fierce glare meeting Heero's eyes as they opened in surprise at the interruption. "You're going to take a nap at a time like this?" For the first time in a long time, the angel had the supreme urge to hurt someone.

"What are you doing?" he countered, glaring angrily and trying to keep his temper. "You're the one who realized he's an empathy, stop for a minute and think about that means, will you?" He lashed an arm out to point at Quatre's huddled, whimpering figure, almost hitting the devil in the process and not caring one bit. "He's FEELING us you halfwit! You can stand there and let him feel all this anger and anxiety, but personally I'd rather calm down and project something a little more soothing. Do what you want, but let me meditate!" With that he jerked his arm back to himself and settled back in his previous position, only with eyes half-lidded to watch the devil's reaction.

Duo recoiled as though he had been slapped, mouth gaping soundlessly a few times before he craned to look at Quatre as though to verify that the words were true. After a moment a low, pained keen broke from his throat and the slim boy wilted. There was no other word Heero could think of to describe the way his opponent simply collapsed bonelessly on the floor in a broken heap.

"Feeling guilty isn't helping him," Heero whispered, taking pity on the figure. "Just relax, don't think about him. Think of something calming. The ocean, birds, sunset, something…" Not that he was following his own advice, as he was using a meditation technique, but he at least figured these more typical strategies would be more productive than trying to teach Heero's own methods at the moment. Caramel colored tresses bounced dejectedly as the devil nodded, followed by a series of deep breaths. After a few moments of covert watch, Heero turned his attention back to his own meditations, satisfied.

It's up to him, now


konpeitou: Yeah I know, you're going to hurt me xD I switch perspectives a lot in this part of the story. Provided translations don't make my brain explode and that doesn't throw more errors at me, I'll try to get the next one out sooner. Feed my starving ego and review?