Disclaimer: You certainly know the score.

Notes: This was a story I started almost a decade ago. Many things changed. When I started writing this, I didn't know the feeling of the things I tried to describe. I hope that I can convey those feelings now, clearly and truthfully. Nine years is a very long time.

Warnings: I mentioned in a previous chapter that I had warnings. It is simply that I am a slash writer; some characters are gay in my view. If you disagree, or perhaps want to have a suitable place to stop: Chapter 9 was your safe stopping place.

Song: Abingdon School Boys – Desert Rose

::No lights are coming in... ::

::But it's not the light::

::Nor the wind I'm missing::

::Wanna hold you in my arms::

::But I'm leaving you, put out of my misery::

::I'm a criminal::

::Falling out of love::

Fade to Black

By Doctor Megalomania

Chapter 24: Punished For My Sin

::Just wanted to know::

::If you really need me::

His phone rang.

Heero opened his eyes and stared at the device.

His phone rang.

Heero closed his eyes and rolled over.

His phone rang.

"Yuy. Leave a message."

Under her blanket, Nataku pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it. She hung up. There was no sense in leaving another message. Mind set, the little girl crept out of her bed and replaced her father's phone on the kitchen table. She glanced toward the kitchen clock and made up her mind. Today was the day. Outside the window, the colony sunrise was beginning.

It took a matter of minutes for her to be dressed, and she quietly slipped on her coat and shoes. She reached into the closet, and pulled out the bag she'd stowed there some days ago. It was for this precise emergency. She stared into the dim corridor and waited. Her father's alarm began going, and she set about opening the door. She was through it and closing it before her father had stopped his alarm. She'd taken the time to learn that about him in the past week.

Stepping back from the door, the girl adjusted her backpack. It was heavier than usual. She turned on a heel and started down the corridor. She took the stairs because she'd noticed there were fewer cameras and had remembered that her father had had some trouble finding Duo when he escaped the hospital because there had been few cameras in the stairwells there as well. As soon as she stepped out, she turned and walked promptly toward the bus stop. She glanced at her watch and then up as the bus arrived on time.

The driver had looked at her with some concern, but she smiled toothily and began telling him about visiting her uncle in hospital. She was struggling to keep the tale up, but she did it for long enough that the driver soon forgot his concerns for his impatience to move on to the next step.

The bus ride took half an hour, and she counted off the stops carefully. Nataku hopped off the bus and ran straight up the stairs. She paused in the hospital foyer, and moved to the side of the room. Heero did that, she'd noticed, when he was new to a place. She pressed her back against the wall and waited, watching how the room worked. She spotted a family and moved to join them.

She kept her head down as they stepped into the lift, and followed them out. It was the wrong floor but she remembered what her father said about Duo's escape. She held her head up, looked at the nearest sign and walked off. Nataku looked confident as she moved, and was surprised by how many people noticed and dismissed her movements. She got to a stairwell, and made her way up.

When she arrived at Duo's floor, she had to be more careful. When she arrived at the nurses' station, she breathed hard as if she'd run and grinned brightly. "I won the race!"

The nurse recognised her, and looked toward the lift. "Well, wait here for your father, ok?"

"Okay!" Nataku sank down in front of the station and waited. She watched her watch for a long time, watching the minutes tick away and people arrive and go. After five minutes, the nurses' shift change began and Nataku moved. She crept from wall to wall, making her way to Duo's room.

She finally slipped the door open and moved inside.

Glancing over her shoulder, she was glad to see that Duo was still asleep. Nataku took a step back and put her back pack on the ground. She took a few moments to understand how the door locked. It could be locked from the inside by turning a knob, but could be opened from the outside with a key. Opening the door slightly, she ducked her head out and checked if the coast was clear. She stepped back again and rummaged through her bag. She pulled out a small tub, and popped it open. The small ball of playdoh took a few moments to warm up but she was able to stuff most of it into the outside keyhole with a sharpened pencil. She closed the door and turned the lock. Nataku moved swiftly, taking a chair and tilting it to jam the door handle. Licking her lips nervously, she looked around and moved another chair to the observation window. Nataku hastily pulled the curtains shut and jumped off the chair. She stepped back toward her bag and surveyed the room again.

"You know, the lock thing will only work for a few moments..."

She blinked and turned around. Duo was propped up on his elbows as best he could, staring at her dully. "Why are you here, little girl?" He tilted his head slightly, "Who are you hiding from?"

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him, and Duo was struck by the girl's smirk. "I don't think my disappearance has caused the level of confusion that will mean that I'll be found here yet."

"Big words for a little girl." He raised a hand, and waved the remote in his hand. "I can get a nurse."

She walked toward him, picking up her bag on the way. "You can do that, but as you say, the door will hold for a few moments." Climbing on a chair, she reached past his drips carefully to press the button which would raise him into a sitting position.

He glanced at the clock. It was 8.12am. He looked at her. "What are you doing here?"

She swallowed and lifted her bag up. Stepping carefully onto the bed, she moved to sit awkwardly on his chins. He stared at her.

"I'm restrained for a reason." He stated when the girl began pulling a large book out of her bag. She paused and looked at him, a withering glance that threw him back to another time. He tried a different question, "What's your name?"

"Chang Nataku." She said, throwing her bag to the floor now that she had a book in her lap. She folded her hands over it, and stared at him levelly. "I'm here because of justice."

He blinked slowly, and for a moment saw Wufei in handcuffs, sitting calmly as the air supply became depleted.

When he opened his eyes, the girl was still waiting calmly.

"You're Wufei's daughter?" He breathed, "but..."

"I spoke to Doctor Hobbs, she said that you might need help." The girl dragged a lock of her look hair back over an ear and leant forward. "You have dots. I made a book that has the lines."

"You really are Wufei's daughter." His smile was wry as he shook his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She frowned at him and turned the big book. It was a hand crafted affair, a crude children's craft book with a cardboard cover. She'd drawn on the book, glued on stars and pictures of the colonies. He smiled kindly as she handed it over, but gasped when he saw the front cover.

It was a satellite picture: a darkened earth, the sun behind it. The stars were barely visible, but more important were the four red lines and the one red dot in the middle. A memory fired in his mind: strapped in his Gundam, lights of other machines. Operation Meteor had begun...

He glanced up at her, "Where did you get this?"

"I had help, from lots of people who want you to get better." The girl looked at him, her expression too grave for a child of her age. "Because everyone wants to help you, Duo Maxwell."

He opened the book and rested a finger on the largest photo inside. It was a picture of a man in a bed, his head was shaved and he looked like he was dying. "Who is this?"

She moved off the bed to kneel on the chair, moving so she could see the book in his lap. "That's you."

He pointed at another picture nearby, one taken from a newspaper. It was him, with sunglasses, braid over one shoulder. "That's me." He read the description, "Before I got shot...?" He looked around the page, and found a pixellated image of another man. He was turned from the camera, his collar high, his light coloured hair the only information available. The photo was circled and a line connected it to a news article. "This man shot me?"

"That's what papa thinks." She looked at him, "He's looking for him, papa will find him."

He glanced at her. "You think so?"

"Know so." She nodded firmly, "There will be justice."

Duo smiled faintly and turned the page. In the middle, there was a photo of the five pilots together. It was dark and snowing, behind them the Gundams were leaning against each other and burning. Wufei was wrapped in a long preventer's coat. He looked exhausted. Beside him, battered and bruised, Trowa stood. The tall boy was looking away from the camera, his expression looking strained. Quatre was in the middle, looking stressed as he held on to Heero's arm. It looked more like Heero was about to sag to the ground.

Duo ran his finger over himself.

His sixteen-year-old self looked at the camera, one hand held up in a victory sign and the other clamped around Heero's waist. He followed the little bit of purple string that had been stuck to him to a photo on the edge of the page. It was another photo of a man in a hospital bed, short chestnut coloured hair curling on the pillow. He couldn't be sure, but he thought the man in the bed was supposed to be him. He went back to the main photo and followed the yellow string from Quatre's head to another photo on the edge. The blonde hair was familiar, but the stern face and the cold eyes were not.

"This is your book now."

Nataku startled him out of his thoughts and he looked at her. She smiled hopefully; "Doctor Hobbs said that you might not remember at first." She pointed to the book. "It's going to take some time, so I made a big book with lots of pages."

She pointed to a carefully drawn box with writing in it. "I also put in pop quiz questions. You need to write down the answer, but you check if you got the right answer by looking in the back."

He flicked over the pages to reach the bag, and chuckled when he got to a sealed envelope.

"I put the answers in the envelope so you couldn't cheat."

He glanced at the girl, amused by her grin.

Duo flicked back to the photo with the other pilots on it, and followed Wufei's red string. It led to a wedding photo, a laughing man with a flame haired bride in his arms. "It's orange..." he said in surprise, running his finger over the woman's flying locks.

Beside him, the little girl laughed happily, "that's because—"

"She thought it was bombastic." He interrupted her, his voice distracted, "I remember you telling me." He blinked, and glanced at her. The girl looked surprised and he frowned, "But when did you tell me...?"

"He was right..." she breathed, a slow smile dawning on her little face. "Uncle Heero said you might remember."

"Heero?" He looked down at the photo and followed the white string. It led to an older man standing in the middle of a crowd; the smile on his face was fond and shy as he spotted the camera. Duo tapped the photo, "I've seen this guy before..."

Knock. Knock. Knock. Pause. Knock. Pause. Knock-knock-knock. Knock.

Heero lifted his head and stared toward the door of his bedroom.

The knocks came again, more impatiently now.

Heero lowered his head and buried his face in the pillow.

The knocks came once more, and was then followed by Wufei's identity.

Heero closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

Wufei identified himself once more.

There was a pause, and Heero was glad that Wufei had gone away.

There was an almighty crash as the door was kicked in. Heero rolled out of bed, and reached under to pull out his gun. By the time he was standing, Wufei had entered his bedroom and stood with his own gun pointing at Heero. They stood like this for a long moment, until Wufei glanced over his shoulder. "Nataku?" He shouted, and then swore when he got no answer. He lowered his gun and stared at Heero until the other former pilot lowered his own.

"She's not here." Heero found speaking difficult, his mouth felt lined with fur.

If Wufei noticed, he didn't care. "She's not at home." He stepped forward and thrust a paper at Heero, "She left me this."

Heero took the paper and glanced down to read it. He frowned and looked at Wufei. "I haven't spoken to her; I don't know what she means."

"She said you'd know, so I suspect she's left you a message." Wufei paced agitatedly toward the window and pulled the curtains aside. He threw open a window, and turned to glare at him. "I was under the impression you were working on something. You swore to me that you were ok."

"I ..." Heero frowned and shook his head, "How long has she been missing?"

"I don't know, before I woke up." Her bed was made and her sheets were cool. There was a piece of toast on the counter, but the toaster was cool as well. Wufei dug out his phone and unlocked it. A few gestures later, he held up the phone to show Heero his call log. "She called you this morning, at 5am."

"I didn't answer." Heero sank to his bed and picked up his own phone. He found several messages and looked for the one from Wufei. He put the phone on speaker, and Wufei stepped closer.

"I'm sorry," Nataku said, "I needed time to talk to him." There was a pause before the little girl spoke again and a rustle of paper. "Call me, I have my phone."

The message ended, and Heero looked at Wufei. "Have you called?"

"Of course I have," she hasn't answered. Wufei brought out his phone again, and stared at it in confusion.

Before Heero could speak again, they heard a pair of quiet clicks. The safety coming off a gun. Both Heero and Wufei stood up, and moved to either side of the door. At Wufei's nod, the pair of them turned and advanced into the living room. They came face to face with a pair of guns. For a tense moment the four men stared at each other, before Quatre sighed and lowered the gun. He looked at Heero, frowning, "Your door's been kicked in."

Heero lowered his gun and tilted his head to Wufei, who simply growled. "He didn't answer when I knocked."

Trowa tilted his head and handed the gun to Heero. "We took them from your go-bag." He looked back at Wufei, "Is this about your daughter?"

Wufei holstered his gun and nodded. "You know something?"

"I know her phone's been ringing. It was outside my door." Quatre handed the borrowed gun to Heero as well, and dug the girl's phone out of his pocket. "What's going on?"

Wufei took it and unlocked it. There was a video file on the desktop called Papa. He thumbed it and it opened.

"I am in so much trouble." His daughter stared at the phone calmly, "I know. I am grounded forever. I know. But I just needed a little more time. It's important. I'm at the hospital." She glanced down and then looked up with a furious look. "It wasn't right, and I can do something to make it right."

The video ended and Wufei pulled out his own phone. He strode toward the front door, phone held to his ear. "Po? She's there. Find her!"

"Hey! Look, don't be mad."

Duo tapped a thumb nervously on the cover of the scrap book. The four men were just leaving, the Chinese guy looked mad enough to explode but the girl hadn't been scared. She'd just taken a deep breath and stood tall as they got the door open. She didn't even flinch when her father came racing in. At his voice, they all paused and filled back into the room.

Doctor Po tilted her head, "Pardon?"

"I said..." He frowned and glanced down at the photo of Wufei. It was the former pilot's first Preventers service photo, seventeen-year-old Wufei looking dorkily out of place in the grown up uniform. He traced the red thread to the photo of the man he saw in front of him. In this new photo, this older Wufei was knelt by his daughter posing in karate outfits.

"She, um..." he swallowed, "She hasn't done anything wrong."

He looked up and made himself look at the man. He was Wufei, but so much older. Strands of white stood out starkly from the river black hair. He flicked between the book and the man, rubbing a finger over the red thread as if it would offer reassurance.

Wufei blew out a long breath and it seemed to deflate his rage somewhat. He looked down at the little girl by his side and she looked up at him. Her expression was grim, "I'm totally grounded."

"Absolutely forever." He replied quietly, but he stroked back a lock of her hair over her ear lovingly. He cupped the girl's head, and pulled her toward his hip in a protective gesture. He glanced at Doctor Po, "Is the lock badly damaged?"

"No. It just needs a lot of cleaning." Po glanced down at the girl and whispered, "Playdoh?"

The girl raised a hand and made a key-turning-in-a-lock motion. She whispered back. "Stop the key from turning."

"Do I even want to know where you got that idea from?" Po raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "No. I don't think I do." She made a shoo-ing motion. "Enough of this circus."

Wufei picked up his daughter first and left, then the tall man and the blonde man followed him. Duo frowned and forced himself to acknowledge that they were Trowa and Quatre. Finally, the ragged man left. Duo swallowed and stared hard at the photo of Heero. Even the 'present-day' version didn't look entirely like that man, but he figured it was worth a shot. "Heero?"

The ragged man stopped, dull blue eyes stared at him. His mouth was set in a straight line.

Duo started to speak and then paused. He glanced down at the young Heero, the boy in the photo and traced the white thread to the older Heero. He looked up again and saw the man drop his head and begin shuffling away to the door. "Heero!" Duo said again, "Look... I think..."

"Rest, Duo." The man said, raising a hand to scratch his scraggly stubble.

Duo could only watch as the man walked away.

Heero wasn't sure what had woken him, but he padded out of his bedroom anyway. It wasn't a threat; it was just an insistent beeping. It had woken him from a brief dream of the war. He walked out into the living room and found his laptop where he'd discarded it, under the coffee table. He flopped gracelessly onto his sofa and opened the machine. It took a few moments for the machine to resume from its standby state, but it swiftly lit up. A notification blinked in the bottom right corner, and Heero stared at it for a long time.

It was from the comm. server.

He signed in as the Gundam Wing pilot and waited for the message to download. It was short, but Heero still spent a very long time reading the message.

'Rest now. We fight tomorrow.'

His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment, and he swallowed. He began typing slowly.

'Duo? Is that you?' He sent, and waited for what seemed like a long time.

The machine pinged again, and the message downloaded automatically.

'Is that you, Heero?'

"Yes," he whispered, and then typed his reply.

'Rest now. We fight tomorrow.' Duo's next message repeated.

Heero tilted his head and replied. 'Fight what?'

Duo's final message made him swallow hard and weep with relief.

'Your beard, apparently. Ganbatte!'

Pilot 02 signed off the server, and Heero closed his eyes.

The long suffering sigh behind him made him turn.

The nurse folded her arms and stared at him incredulously. He turned slowly in the chair and held up his hands in surrender. She shook her head, and Duo caught sight of a healing wound on her neck. "Hi," he began. "Sorry..."

She snorted and held up a single hand, "No. Don't apologise." She shrugged, "I don't even know why I'm surprised. You've been getting more and more lucid every day." She looked past him at the computer. "Who were you talking to?"

"Gonna dob me in?"

She moved around him and pushed the wheelie chair. "That depends on how much trouble you're going to give me... You're going back to bed, mister."

"Thought I'd contact my buddy, see if the beardo from earlier was him."

"Beardo?"

Duo shrugged, "He was supposed to be Heero, but he had a beard... which was weird. Made him look like a weirdo, and not Heero so therefore he's a beardo." He lifted his arm and scratched absently at a scab. "I'm gonna need to clean my arms before we put the drips back in."

She pushed the chair down the corridor. "You know... the drips are in place because you need the drips." She looked down at him, as he chuckled. "How exactly were you going to get them back in place and get the restraints back in place before my next check?"

"I coulda done it." He leant forward to open the door and allowed her to wheel him toward the bed. He stood shakily and was surprised when the little nurse steadied him.

"You know, you'll recover much faster without all the escape attempts." She helped him into the bed, and began doing up the covers. "You realise I'm going to put you back into your restraints."

"I do." He tilted his head, and nodded to gesture at her neck wound. "I do that?"

Her hand touched her neck briefly, and then she nodded. "Yes, the first time."

"Sorry. I only sorta remember it, but I'm sorry." He eased himself down and presented his first arm for the restraint. "I mean that."

"I know." She did the cuffs loosely and then looked at him. "I've got to tell them about you getting free."

"Yeah, I know." He nodded and then yawned, "If it's any consolation to Hemsworth, I've been getting out of tight places since before I could crawl. Now I seem to be getting my marbles back, pretty much nothing in his bag of tricks is going to keep me in bed now."

"Yup." The nurse sighed heavily, "I figured that might be the case." She moved around the bed and began doing up the cuff on his other arm. "You're gonna get yourself doped up to the eyeballs, if you're not careful. They'll chemically restrain you if these don't do the job."

"Fine, fine." He smiled and shifted to get comfortable before she did the torso strap. He stared at the ceiling. "What's your name?"

"Clarice." She replied softly.

"Hi Clarice." He smiled faintly, "Do me a favour and let them know, I'll stay in bed if I get access to a computer sometimes."

"You won't have a choice with the chemical restraints."

She was startled by his dark chuckle and darker grin. "You think those will hold any better?"

Clarice sat beside him, and clasped her hands in her lap. "Mr Maxwell. You need to take better care of yourself." She looked over the restraints, "These aren't here to stop you from getting away..." She looked at him plaintively, "They're to stop you from hurting yourself."

He tilted his head and stared at her for a moment. He sighed and looked away, "I just want to go home."

Clarice rose from the bed and patted his hand, "You'll go home faster if you stay in bed and rest."

She was about to close the door to his room as she left when a thought occurred to her. Duo watched as the young woman pattered her uniform down, pulled a face and marched back to him. She held a hand out expectantly, and he had to laugh. He uncurled his hand and held out her key card. Clarice took the card with a huff and spun on a heel.

"Get some sleep, Mr Maxwell!"

::They are freezing my heat::

::From the scar, I'm suffering::

::'Cause I'm leaving you, being::

::punished for my sin::

::No one lives forever (forever more) ::

::I can't stay anymore::

A/N: Sorry for the patchy updates – I've got a bit of writer's block on the next couple of chapters. As to be expected, Duo is being difficult. Thank you for your kind reviews!

Also: I notice the new image thingy on - but unfortunately suck at original graphics creation. Should you wish to offer some suggestions or indeed want to make a graphic for Fade to Black, I will happily accept your help and talent!

Translation note: Ganbatte - (Japanese) - Good luck/Do your best/Come on! (I've seen various translations, this is the meaning I've taken from it)