Disclaimer – I don't own anything that you recognise.
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SG1 moved to help him, as his struggles became more frantic. But they found their passage once again blocked by the other Pilots.
"Trust us." Quatre ordered.
"Trust him." Wufei agreed.
"Submit." Heero snapped at Shinigami.
Shinigami gave an inhuman growl and continued to struggle. He started trying to bite Heero, but the angle was all wrong.
"Submit." Heero repeated.
Another growl, but weaker this time. While Heero hadn't completely cut off Shinigami's air, the smaller boy wasn't getting enough to fully fight off his assailant.
"Submit." Heero demanded again.
"Let us through!" Jack ordered the other Pilots, "I don't care what is going on, Heero's going to kill him!"
"No," Trowa laid a firm hand on Jack's shoulder, "If Heero wanted Duo dead, it would be over already. This is the best way."
"Best way?" Daniel protested, "Strangling him?"
"Shinigami cannot be reasoned with." Wufei stated.
"Shinigami cannot be controlled," Quatre shuddered, "He's hard to explain… But he would kill you. Without a second thought… I'm not sure about us."
"Why?" Sam breathed, "You're his friends."
"We're Duo's friends." Quatre countered, "Shinigami hasn't been let out much for many years. Duo has better control than that."
"I thought these other selves were fairly new." Sam frowned.
"Ours are." Trowa stated, "Duo's is old."
"Is this how you usually deal with this situation?" Teal'c asked.
"No." Quatre sighed, "Usually we have more time. And we can wait until Shinigami has worn himself out… Also it happens rarely. As we said, Duo has good control."
"What's the difference between Split Personalities and… And this?" Jack hissed.
"The fact that we remember." Quatre's voice was almost inaudible, "Duo won't at first, but give him a day… He'll remember… And he'll hate himself for it."
Shinigami bucked, sheer desperation granting him extra strength, almost throwing Heero off him. Causing the taller boy to loosen part of his grip.
It was only a minute amount, but Shinigami would take whatever he was given. Pulling his hands down and out of Heero's grip, he then shoved Heero in the chest.
The blow wasn't enough to completely throw Heero off Shinigami, but it did loosen the grip around Shinigami's throat.
There was a loud gasp as Shinigami drew in breath desperately, as Heero recovered from the push.
The Perfect Soldier and the God of Death immediately returned to their struggle. Much to SG1's surprise, it was performed in almost complete silence, the only sounds were their breathing, the tiny intakes of pain and the sound of hits landing.
"Should not you help him?" Teal'c frowned almost imperceptibly.
"We would only get in the way." Wufei dismissed the remark, "Heero has the strength to deal with Shinigami and the control not to harm Maxwell. I could overpower Shinigami, however I could not be sure that I would not harm Maxwell."
"It's a fine balance." Quatre agreed.
"A delicate line." Daniel realized.
Heero managed to gain the upper hand, and quickly resumed his previous position, one hand pinning Shinigami's bound wrists, the other strangling Shinigami with a tighter hold than last time, almost completely cutting off Shinigami's air supply.
"Submit." Heero demanded.
Shinigami simply growled as he tried to shake Heero free. However Heero had braced himself better this time, and the attempt was futile. It only served to use up more of Shinigami's precious oxygen.
"Submit." Heero repeated.
This time Shinigami rolled his head to one side relaxing into Heero's hold. Heero slightly loosened his grip. Not enough to give Shinigami room to play, but enough that he was no longer slowly strangling Duo.
"Give us back Duo." Heero ordered.
Now the braided boy turned his head to stare at Heero. Sam caught a glimpse of the violet eyes and unconsciously shivered. There was no warmth in them at all. Nothing of the Duo she expected to see. She started to believe in the Pilots' warnings of there being someone else in charge of Duo's body. The fighting she had passed off as mere misunderstanding and possibly Duo going feral again. But now she could see that this was very different.
"Defend." Shinigami snarled.
It was the first time Shinigami had spoken actual words. The tone… The voice… The inflections… They weren't Duo's. They were something far more dangerous and deadly.
There was something far more… Wild and… Vicious.
"Stand down." Heero retorted, apparently un-phased by the voice.
There was a long pause, as the Pilots and SG1 watched the clash of wills between the two.
"Guard." Shinigami argued.
"Stand down." Heero snapped, "We will guard."
"Protect." Shinigami growled.
"Oh-Two, stand down!" Heero barked, "Oh-One, Oh-Three, Oh-Four and Oh-Five have position. Oh-Two is ordered to stand down.
"Protect." Shinigami repeated.
"We will." Heero declared, "Stand down. Shinigami! Stand down! Oh-Two. Stand down! Give us back Duo."
"Protect." Shinigami snarled once more.
"Stand. Down." Heero leant in to hiss the command into Shinigami's ear.
Shinigami turned his head away from Heero, closing his eyes.
Then suddenly it was as if every muscle in Duo's body relaxed at the same time. Still Heero did not move, until Duo's head turned back to him. The violet eyes opened and Duo was back in his body.
"Heero?" Duo's voice was almost inaudible.
"Sleep." Heero instructed, releasing Duo from his hold, "Trust me?"
"Always." Duo replied, closing his eyes.
Heero reached out and touched that point on Duo's neck that SG1 had gotten used to the Pilots using. Duo fell unconscious instantly, as he had done before. It only took Heero a moment to release the cuffs.
Trowa stepped forward and picked Duo up, easily slinging the braided boy over his shoulder.
"How often does that happen?" Sam breathed.
"Not often." Wufei replied.
"Too often." Quatre sighed.
"Well, which is it?" Jack frowned.
"Both." Trowa retorted.
"We wish it didn't happen at all." Quatre muttered.
"Are all of yours like that?" Daniel asked.
"No." Heero shook his head, "We are very different."
"That is to be expected." Teal'c nodded, "You have different styles of fighting. You are all very different warriors. Even though you are united by one cause."
"Less talking. More running." Jack declared, "We've got incoming… Carter, is the snake dead?"
"Totally, sir." Sam nodded, "Don't know how he managed to get it with one shot. But I'm glad he did."
"Move!" Heero snapped.
The Pilots were out of the door at a gallop. SG1, once again, trailing in their wake.
"Where now?" Jack asked.
"Dry-Docks." Quatre replied, "We need to get Duo away from here."
"But what about the password?" Sam reminded.
"There's ways round that." Wufei stated.
They weren't even half-way to the Docks, when the alarm was sounded. Admittedly the group had been travelling at a slower pace and with far more caution than they had previously. However they had anticipated more time.
Once the alert had been given, they did encounter more resistance, however not to the level they had expected.
The reason became clear as they arrived at the view-port for the Docks.
"They've launched the Suits!" Wufei slammed his hand into the wall, "We're too late!"
The attack had begun without Loshita's command. The faux-Gundam towered over a silent army of Dolls and the only half-constructed Suits.
Although Duo had locked the Dry-Docks' doors, the Suits had simply cut a new exit in the Satellite Skin.
"They'll destroy the planet!" Sam breathed in horror.
"Not yet." Jack countered, "If we can stop the Suits before they attack anywhere, we can still stop this."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Quatre retorted, "They took all the Pilotable Suits and even Heero won't be able to reprogram the Dolls in time." Quatre noticed where SG1 had turned to look, "No… No way! Allah! You saw what it did to Duo! No!"
"It's the only way." Trowa pointed out, siding with SG1.
"Well, Duo can't Pilot it," Quatre stated, "You and Wufei only used the system once… I daren't."
"Even with the Sphere at stake?" Sam stared.
"I would probably cause worse damage." Quatre replied, "SG1 can't. They've never used it. They wouldn't stand a chance at mastering it before they went nuts."
"That leaves only one." Jack stated.
"No," Quatre breathed, "Heero… No! You don't understand. This system is worse than what we're used to. We can't ask that of him."
"We don't have to." Wufei declared, "He's already made up his mind. He has Honour, Winner."
Quatre spun and saw Heero leap into the cock-pit of the Gundam, having somehow managed to obtain and put on a space-suit in a matter of minutes.
"Oh Allah!" Quatre ran his hand through his hair, "Wufei, we'll need a radio to contact the Preventers, tell them what's going on. Then call the Maganacs. They should be able to mobilize a few Suits to help out. I'm sure there's some left in the Bunker. Trowa, fire up Faran. You'll need to rescue Heero, when he decides to self-destruct on us.
"You mean 'if'." Sam countered.
"No," Quatre shook his head, "I mean when."
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Please provide feedback, I love knowing what you think. I know this chapter is really early, but I'm not too fond of Halloween, so this is my attempt at cheering myself up.
If anyone wants to find me, I'm hiding under my quilt… I would be under the bed, but there's no room. And I'm not coming out until Wednesday!
My issues with Halloween are very strange… My parents still laugh at them… I laugh at them… When it's not Halloween, or the two days after.
Kidishcaresh – Soon enough?
DishyFishy-SnakeandCrane – I have an overactive imagination… Lots of reading material… A job that can be tedious… And a brain/muse that won't stop… Not great for interacting with the Real World… But great for my Fantasy one.
dkAdeena – Hard week? Been there. Done that. Don't let it get you down.
Misting Rain – Cliché? Maybe. Appreciated? Certainly.
Kitsune1818 – Sometimes you have to slow down, before charging.
Moonlightskymist – Hope you enjoyed.
Izreina Maxwell – Fun to write. Not so fun to read.
Twillightfairy – Cookies good! Thank you!
StandingOnTheRooftops – Not telling… And please stop feeding the muse.
mist shadow – Okay, what manga are you referencing? I think I need to read it. And I agree with your assessment of Jack.
Roseaj – I like writing cliffies. Get used to it. And thanks for the compliment.
Major Simi – But even in Pandora's Box there was Hope.
Hiira – Baked goods appreciated and enjoyed!
Seithr-Kairy – Don't worry. He's back in the box. You can come out of the Bunker. Though I've got D-chan providing protection for my stupid fear of Halloween. It was traumatising and ridiculous… I was young. I blame my age.
Andy-025 – Try Amazon? And yeah, I like mixing in a little of this and a little of that. Next story, when I get round to it, will be even better for treats!
TrenchcoatMan – What is a problem when you have Heero around?
Kerowyn Van'Seph – I hope I've explained it to you in this chapter. I don't know. I just know I wanted a distinction between the two. I think that Split Personalities… The sufferer can't control the switch at all. I'm not too sure. Probably should have done more research.
2ScarletRibbons – Should I lower you a rope? I'm sure those rocks can't be comfortable. And as for continuing… Well, I want to know what happens next! And I don't get to know that, unless I write it.
HevenSentHellBroken – Oh, yes. I did!
Asredwer – Other half? I'm not sure either. Glad you liked.
mi5tan – No zombies… Not here. Never did well with horror.
Nebelkind – Yeah, you're probably right.
Laws of Chaos – You know the thing I find amusing sometimes? You're saying I'm going a little fast… Someone else said I'm going too slow… I'm sorry, I'll just write as I write. Thanks for the compliments though.
Soulknight121 – Not planning on stopping.
Once again than you all for your comments. And stay safe. This night and the two following are when the ghosts walk the earth.