"I will always have to fight..."

He saw Relena standing on a balcony, looking over the Cinq Kingdom from the heights of her estate. She was grasping the railing tightly with both hands; her shoulders were coiled with tension. He wanted to touch her and take her worries away. Why should one person have the all weight of the world on her shoulders? It was her birthright to bear this burden. He approached her and grasped her tight shoulders as gently he could. She leaned back against him and turned so that half of her hardened face was visible to him.

"You don't have to do this," she said in a calm but small voice.

"There isn't any another option. I'll fight if they need me."

"I feel the same way."

"A year, then."

"Yes. A year."

Part One

Duo was shaken awake by the sensation of his own muscles twitching uncontrollably. He couldn't see anything. Wing-One had been deactivated at the end of his intense Joining with Heero. He sucked in a shaken breath and tried to lift his quaking arms. He felt half-empty, as if part of him were still strung out across the battlefield. He coughed and tensed as his stomach cringed. He felt nauseous, and a sharp metallic taste had filled his dry mouth. His entire body ached as if he had been run over by a semi truck.

"Duo? Duo can you hear me? Please respond?" Sally's voice was pleading over the cockpit COM. Duo reached a trembling hand up to fumble with his visor. He finally managed to open it to reveal the dimly lit cockpit. He could see Sally's face in the corner of his monitor staring up at him worriedly.

"Hey," he said weakly. "I'm not dead yet." He looked down at his scanners and noticed activity on his monitors. He saw an explosion blossoming across the darkened lunar face. A bright flash of red and orange light was glistening up from its blackened surface. Dust from the lunar surface was being kicked up from the blast and large chunks of rock were careening up and out into space. "Wh… what is that?" He croaked, his eyes burning as they tried to focus on the monitor.

"A mining ship crashed into the moon. The object Heero called in earlier. A man named Vincent Tull has crashed it into what he claims was a mobile doll manufacturing plant just below the surface." Noin reported over the COM. Duo felt his head spinning.

"Where's Heero?" He asked hoarsely. Upon manual zoom he could see movement by the lunar surface. His partner's Taurus suit was racing across the space between the moon and L2, blasting and slashing enormous asteroids that were threatening the colony. Various CPD Virgos and one of the Earth-Sphere corvettes were assisting him.

"Wh… what?! How long was I out?" He gasped and attempted to move his Taurus towards the action. His suit refused to budge. It was then that he realized two Virgos were holding his suit in place.

"I'm afraid we can't let you leave," Sally said with a hint of hesitation. Duo scowled down at her face in the COM.

"What's the big idea? They need my help!" He exclaimed. He slammed a fist weakly against his control panel in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Duo Maxwell, but I'm afraid you're under arrest."

Part Two

Duo leaned forward in his seated position on the floor and rested his elbows against bent knees. He extended his arms and stared down at the handcuffs around his wrists.

"You're welcome!" He yelled, his voice echoing in the empty hold that had been made into a makeshift cell. He saw one of the CPD officers just outside the door's tiny window shift at the sound of his voice.

He couldn't believe they locked him up.* Sure, he had made off with one of their mobile suits. And yes, maybe he had tinkered around with Wing-One's fail-safe system, but he still felt that they were being a little excessive.

Well, I guess they should be scared, he thought with amusement as he tested his handcuffs with a firm tug. I'm pretty good at escaping, and Sally Po knows it.

He stifled a grin and reached up to finger his hair. During Operation Meteor he had been accustomed to hiding lock picks, needle explosives and various odds and ends in his long hair. Soldiers weren't used to guys with braids and always seemed to overlook searching it. Now that times were relatively peaceful he had been keeping it simple. He reached up with both hands and carefully fished out a small, basic lock pick from behind his ear. He turned his back towards the windowed door and carefully began to fiddle with the rudimentary handcuff. He smiled with accomplishment as it faintly clicked.

The door behind him opened. He blinked and shoved the lock pick down the front of his zipped flight suit and kept his hands together with the jointed clasp of the handcuffs loosely closed. He felt a presence behind him. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Well, now, finally coming to visit me." Duo said cheerfully.

"I'm convinced you enjoy this kind of trouble," Noin's voice said from behind him. Duo stiffened and turned around, confused. He saw Noin standing in the doorway behind Heero, who was standing directly behind him with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah, well luckily for you, I get off on getting caught." Duo replied. He held his hands still and kept his wrists close together to keep up the illusion his handcuffs were completely intact and secured. He saw Noin smile before closing the door on them.

Duo looked up from the floor and studied Heero's face. The other agent was still wearing his flight suit, and he appeared more energized then he had ever seen him.

"Thank you," Heero said firmly and abruptly. Duo blinked. "For everything."

"Yeah, well, don't get all mushy on me about it." He watched as Heero stepped closer. Duo could smell the tart metallic scent that was distinctly his partner as the other agent dropped down to sit cross-legged on the floor beside to him. They sat in silence for a few minutes. The silence was surprisingly calm and Duo felt no awkwardness in it. Finally it was Heero who disturbed it. "They are going to drop all of the charges against you, but you are banished from ever getting back into a mobile suit."

Duo tensed. He balled his fists and took a deep breath. He didn't know what to say. He was angry that Preventer had such power over him and could dictate his life, but he knew the logic behind their decision. He had broken the rules, and they never made exceptions for anyone. He had known there was this risk when he had tampered with Wing-One. He didn't want anyone to be able to interfere with his decisions as a pilot. He felt no regret for his actions.

Life without ever piloting a mobile suit again was a painful thought. He stared down at his balled hands and sighed. Without being a pilot he was incomplete. He knew that now, especially after getting back into the fight in one. He hadn't felt so happy and confident in himself in such a long time, but now he knew he would never feel the same electrifying thrill again.

"Yeah? Well those Taurus suits sucked anyway," he replied, though his statement lacked the bitterness it implied. He could hear Heero snort. "What happened with L2?"

"Ira Tull's father, Vincent Tull, was mining minerals and resources for Leonard Cadence and those who were involved in the manufacture of the mobile dolls. He apparently felt guilty for his son taking the fall for the bombing at the school. Supposedly the bombing was done by Naomi Cadence to cover up that she had stolen research. Apparently one of the professors was working with her and her father to develop a new mounted mobile suit transient electromagnetic disturbance weapon of some kind. They tried to make it seem like the related research was all lost in the blasts at the school. They killed the only people who knew about the study: a student who lived in the dorm, a student in the research lab, and a counselor who had signed off on someone's thesis on the topic. They had targeted the building with your servers to damage them and keep any related data from being found.

L2 wasn't directly involved in any of the manufacture as far as we know. The mobile suit factory was under the lunar surface on the dark side of the moon. Vincent Tull dropped the mining ship on it to destroy it. He transmitted a statement of his guilt and outlined the role of the others before taking his own life. L2 received minor external structural damage from the debris from the crash, as well as mild EMP** deactivation of its external probes and scanners."

Duo nodded and sighed in relief. "Sounds like you saved the day again," he said with a smirk. He could hear Heero sigh, and looked over to see him staring down at the ground.

"Wing-One is being decommissioned." Heero said. Duo blinked and gawked at him.

"What? Why the hell would they do that? That system is amazing! They can't do that. You can't let 'em."

"There's no other option." Heero said in a voice that sounded almost dejected. "I don't think I want to bond through Zero-One with anyone else."

Duo looked at him with widened eyes. "Wait a minute, you are the one who wants to scrap it?"

"I told you before, I can't imagine fighting alongside anyone else." Heero's tone was stern and resolute.

"You can't give up fighting just because I can't," Duo said incredulously. Heero shook his head.

"I will always have to fight."

Duo stiffened at his words. They sounded familiar and he felt a strange wave of déjà-vu sweep through his body. What did he say? He recalled the strange dream he had when he was blacked out during his Joining through Wing-One. He had seen Relena on a balcony. He had held her and spoke to her.

"A year?" Duo said aloud as he recalled the weird exchange he had with Relena.

Heero's head instantly snapped up and his now wide cobalt eyes locked onto him. "What did you just say?"

"A year, right?" Duo gauged the other agent's reaction. Heero was tense and clearly shocked. "I had this weird dream earlier that Relena was talking to me about doing something in a year."

Heero's face was white. Duo swallowed hard. "That wasn't a dream was it?" He asked hesitantly. He watched as Heero shifted uncomfortably before standing up. He walked to the corner of the room and stared at it for a long moment. Duo watched him, confused. What is wrong with him? What is the big deal?

"Were you guys going to get married in a year or something?" Duo finally asked. Heero didn't reply. "Is that what you didn't want to tell me? You guys were going to get married and she broke it off?"

"No. Duo, I didn't want to have to tell you this here." Heero's voice echoed off of the wall he was facing. Duo frowned and pushed himself to a stand.

"Tell me what? What's your problem?" He didn't like seeing his friend like this, and having Heero behave this dramatically was disconcerting. Normally the guy just came out and said stuff; good or bad. Duo waited tensely as Heero shifted his weight and appeared to be trying to work up the nerve to tell him whatever it was he was holding back.

"Just tell me. You're my best friend, Heero. I tell you everything. You can tell me anything, man. Seriously. What the hell is going on?" Duo felt nauseous from anticipation. His palms were breaking out into a cold sweat. He was feeling genuinely scared, an emotion he rarely felt. He could fly into a line of mobile dolls and run head on into death without so much as a drop of fear, but having his partner hold something back from him was terrifying.

"I have consented to something. Preventer has offered me a new position…" He appeared to be trying to find the words. Duo frowned. What was he talking about? Duo approached him cautiously and stood beside him. He shook off the handcuffs and let them clatter loudly to the floor before reaching out to grab Heero's shoulder with his hand. The Japanese agent's muscles were rock hard with tension beneath the flight suit and the expression on his face was clearly conflicted.

"Just spit it out," Duo urged him. Heero turned to settle his gaze on him. His eyes were unreadable.

"I am going under stasis. Preventer is developing a new program, and a new mobile suit. A Gundam. When it's completed they have proposed that I go under cryogentic stasis and stay within that suspension until I am needed. It is the only way to protect peace, and to ensure that the Gundam can be used properly when the time comes."

Duo felt the room tilt. He reached out to lean against the wall to steady himself. "Wait… wait a minute. You said cryogentic stasis… as in freezing? You are letting them fucking put you on ice? What?" His voice was trembling. He stared at Heero, shocked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This couldn't be real. This sounded like one of those ridiculous, lazy sci-fi plot devices***. Nobody would consent to that. He was going to be sick. He doubled over and coughed.

Duo's knees buckled and he dropped down heavily onto them. His shoulders began to involuntarily tremble. The room was definitely spinning now.

"So… let me get this straight. You think it is gonna be a fun and cool thing to get made into human popsicle for the 'fate of the future'. When are they gonna take you out?"

He saw Heero slowly descend to kneel in front of him. "There is no set date."

Duo couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous this sounded. He chuckled bitterly as he felt his own anger and frustration begin to rise to the surface.

"That is the dumbest shit I have ever heard. You are going to let them freeze you, but you have no idea when and where you will be taken out? For what? So you can be woken up to pilot some Gundam? You really have lost your mind. What about your life? What does Relena say about this shit? Is this why she broke up with you?"

Heero frowned. He appeared to consider his next words carefully before he spoke them. "She is being frozen, too."

That was just the icing on the cake for Duo. He shook his head and looked away from the Japanese agent and began staring holes into the wall beside him. "You guys broke up, but she is going to get frozen for eternity with you? That doesn't make fucking sense, Heero. You two are clearly fucking made for each other. Both batshit fucking crazy."

Heero didn't move. Duo scowled. "You didn't think this was important to tell me before? 'Hey, Duo. Just so you know, don't get fucking attached to me, I am going to be made into a shrimp cocktail in a year,' would have been a nice conversation. You know, before I fucking bonded with you. Before I thought you gave a shit about being my friend, and being my partner."

He avoided looking at the Japanese pilot. He closed his eyes and hung his head. He didn't want to see what his words did to him. He didn't care. His own self-pity was more than he could handle at the moment.

"Just … leave me alone."

He heard Heero sigh before standing up and walking quietly out of the room. Duo waited in silence for a moment and listened as two sets of footsteps vanished away from the cell door down the hall.

Wufei was right. Preventer takes everything from you.

* You can't have Duo fighting in a mobile suit without him landing in the brig at least once, now can you?

** Electromagnetic Pulse, caused by nuclear explosion. This can knock out electrical devices and power grids.

*** I'm looking at you, Frozen Teardrop.

/AN: FYI the timeline for this fic and Frozen Teardrop isn't accurate. I am pretty sure there wasn't a year span in-between, but I wanted to give myself some wiggle room to make more shenanigans before Heero gets stuffed in a tube. /