Well, I said I'd put this up days ago and then...there was stuff. So two tonight instead!

Enjoy!


"I need to talk to you."

That was all the warning Quatre got before Duo had grabbed his arm and yanked, dragging him out of the room mere moments after the group had split up to prepare for the mission. Quatre sent a reassuring wisp of emotion to the other pilots; Quatre sensed that whatever Duo wanted was distinct from the upcoming mission, at least in part, and was calling on him as a friend and not a tactician.

Duo tugged as Quatre's thoughts slowed him, continuing insistently out of the apartment and down to the hangar. Once there, though, he released Quatre only to sneak behind several pallets of materials, hiding from the Maganacs and Sweepers in the area. Quatre followed without question – he didn't need to be an empath to know that whatever Duo wanted he intended to keep private.

Around behind several stacks of crates they came out in a little maintenance alcove, with enough room to sit knee-to-knee, and Duo settled himself comfortably. Quatre sat and waited.

"Hey, are you really okay about going back into Wing Zero and, well ZERO?" Duo asked, eyes peering at his friend.

"It's not my first choice, no," Quatre answered. He knew perfectly well that Duo was avoiding whatever was on his mind, but he also knew a delay would help him feel more comfortable. "But Heero's right that we have a better strategic advantage with me in ZERO again like at the end of the Eve wars."

"Yeah, but, Kitty-Cat..." Duo looked at him with real concern, "we don't want to lose you to it again."

"I know." He let out a breath. "I don't want to lose me either. And I don't think I will. Our ZERO is different from Surd's. And the only emotions that will be anywhere near me will be Heero's. Plus you and Wufei and Trowa, of course, through the bond. I think that will keep me steady."

"I'm not gonna tell you how to do what you do, but just tell me you've got a plan."

"A plan?"

"Yeah! Don't play dumb with me, Cat. I know you too well for that. You and Heero did your staring thing and you spun the Quests a good setup, but there's something you didn't say. Wufei saw it, too, but he didn't wanna make you spill it 'cause he wants to figure it out for himself or else not admit that he can't. But I don't care if you know I can't outthink you. So whatcha got cooking in that brain of yours?" he leaned forward with a knowing smirk.

Quatre looked affronted for just a second or two before the mask slipped and he smiled sheepishly at his friend. "You are sometimes too observant for your own good."

"You're not gonna tell me, are you?"

"No."

"And I bet you've got a dozen reasons and they all have to do with tactics and anticipating what we'll do and how that will change if I know your plan?"

"Something like that." Quatre nodded, feeling his shoulders ease as he could clearly feel Duo accepting his answer and trusting him with it.

"Well, if anybody's gonna screw up one of your plans, it isn't gonna be me, so I won't ask any more. Just...don't forget that we're here, okay?" and there was real vulnerability in the question as Duo looked at him through his bangs.

"Never, Duo," Quatre said sincerely. "How could I? You're right here." He put a hand over his heart and a tendril of their connection brightened in Duo's heart in answer. It was enough to jolt him into remembering the reason he'd pulled Quatre aside originally.

"So, to switch gears, you probably know all of what's bugging me," Duo began.

"No, not really." At the frown, Quatre added, "Just because I can read your emotions more clearly now doesn't mean I'm any more willing to pry. And besides, I can tell what you're feeling, but I don't know why. I can't read your mind, Duo. Not more than usual," and he grinned.

"Too bad. It's party-party in there sometimes," he smirked. Then his face fell a little and he said more seriously, "It's a good thing you can feel it, though. If you couldn't, I might say something stupid to you and you wouldn't know what I meant by it."

"What did you say, and to whom?" Quatre asked gently.

"I got mad at Hadji. I wasn't really mad, you know. I just didn't know how to talk to him. He was going on about what he did to you and how it was a betrayal or something and I just lost it." Duo sighed heavily.

"You…" Quatre's eyes glazed momentarily, "it seems like you felt guilty about something. And ashamed."

"Got it in one, no surprise. If saving you from ZERO and enhancing your empathy is a bad thing, what does that mean for everything else I've done?" he said bitterly. "I know the guy didn't mean to sound judgmental or something, but come on. How can he not be?"

"I don't know Hadji the way I know you," the blond considered, "but what I do know suggests he wouldn't think less of you. He measures himself by his own standards. I don't think he would apply them to us."

"Well, maybe he should!"

"What makes you say that?"

"'Cause they're a hell of a lot better than mine!" Duo exclaimed. "In his world, it's easy and simple and black-and-white and there are good guys and bad guys and you can always do the right thing in the right way. And my life is all grey. Hell, I invented grey. We get the job done, and we go home, and whatever we had to do is only good or bad if we succeeded or failed, you know? He gets to decide. We just have to survive."

Quatre was quiet, listening to Duo rant, while carefully letting their bond inform him. When Duo seemed to run out of words, he spoke slowly, thoughtfully.

"You know, you and Hadji have a lot in common."

"We have nothing in common," Duo practically sneered. "He's a lucky guy who never had to make the hard choices and got everything handed to him. And I'm a street rat from L2."

"Hadji was a street rat, too, on Earth," Quatre pointed out. "And that's why you're so mad."

Duo raised an eyebrow and waited.

"You're hurt, Duo. Hurt that Hadji was found and adopted by the Quests. Hurt that he got the life you wanted and never got for yourself. Hurt that he never had to learn what it felt like to kill someone to survive. Hurt that his life could have been yours and isn't."

He locked eyes with Duo, who was suddenly very still.

"You've always been okay with people not having to live in our grey world before because you didn't want someone to have to go through what you'd experienced. This is the opposite of that – you're faced with someone who could have gone through it and avoided it. Resenting that is perfectly normal, in fact. In a way, you and Hadji are exactly alike. You both found ways to survive alone in a world that didn't care if you lived or died. You lost people you loved and needed."

Duo looked away, but Quatre waited until he raised his head again before continuing.

"You want Hadji to have the chance you never had at a life you never got, but you're also angry that it happened to him when you want it to have been you. And that's okay. It's not your fault or his that you stayed a street rat on L2 and he wound up a Quest. It's nobody's fault that you became Shinigami and Hadji didn't. He can't understand that part of you and you can't understand that part of him. You're too alike for it to feel okay to you that you're different."

"You…might be on to something, Cat," Duo said finally. He was met with a sad smile.

"I can't say I'm glad you became a Gundam pilot and not a Quest, because I wouldn't wish it on anybody. But if you hadn't been Shinigami, you wouldn't have become Zero Two. And if you hadn't been Zero Two, this never would have happened to either of us."

And Quatre bumped their knees together, letting down his shielding and offering Duo the loyalty and trust and openness of his heart. He put into that feeling how grateful he was for Duo's friendship, how much their shared laughter meant to him.

Duo closed his eyes, his face oddly serene, and when he looked up again he was much less tense.

"It doesn't really make up for the wars," he said, his smile returning slowly even though the sadness behind the words was obvious to them both, "but yeah. He doesn't have this. He can keep the mansion and everything. If I really want that, I'll just borrow yours!"

"Anytime, Duo."

"So I should probably go say something to him, since he'll be on my team for this whole thing," he added. "Not tell him all this stuff, but, you know, something. I gotta work with the guy, and we might as well not be all weird and awkward."

"Yes, please," Quatre answered with a quirk of humor. "Otherwise Trowa will spend the whole mission having to deal with you both."

"And we wouldn't want that!" Duo laughed. Then he reached forward and ruffled Quatre's hair. "Thanks, Kitty-Cat. You know I hate being wrong, but you're the exception. You can tell me I'm full of it anytime. Just don't let on to Heero."

Quatre grinned both at the joke and at the warmth in Duo's heart. Duo was often very straightforward with his own emotions, and being shown that his antagonism towards Hadji was rooted in the same fears that consumed all the ex-pilots had actually comforted him. It allowed him to move Hadji from the metal category of "entitled and stupidly ignorant" to "can't help being innocent" which he, like all of them, could handle. They still fought so others wouldn't have to. Hadji was just one more to be preserved.

Duo was also not one to wait, so he bounced to his feet, shot Quatre a final wink, and dashed off, leaving his friend to whatever else he had to accomplish. But he hadn't really left, after all – he could still feel the lingering tether of Quatre's friendship like a second heartbeat. With that in his mind, how could he not feel okay enough to face up to his own mistake?

He found Hadji in the common area, looking at a laptop.

"Hey."

Hadji nodded at him politely.

"Look, I just wanted to say I was sorry. I was out of line."

Hadji's eyebrows rose almost into his turban and he cleared his throat. "It is I who should apologize. I never meant to imply that the means you undertook to accomplish all you have won for peace was not work intended for good. Your choices are your own and I should not demean them, even unintentionally. Please forgive me for projecting my own concerns onto you."

Duo huffed a laugh. "Well, that was nicer than what I was gonna say. I just wanted to tell you that I shouldn't have yelled at you. I was mad at the wrong person for the wrong reasons. What you just said, though…thanks." He turned away. "That's nice to hear."

"As Jonny would say, 'are we okay?'" Hadji wanted to know.

"Yeah," Duo turned back. "I'm going to spend all my time being mad at Rage now. Which sounds funny, when you say it. Mad at Rage. Anyway," he grinned, "we're good. You got your thing and I've got mine. And I'm gonna enjoy handing that crazy bastard a little payback for what he did to my bud Cat, not to mention Red. Glad to have you along to back us up, Tubs."

Hadji smiled in return. "I suppose there is nothing I can do to dissuade you from that ridiculous nickname?"

"Hey, Wuf-Wuf has had years of me doing that and it hasn't stopped me yet. And he's a lot scarier than you. No offense," he added as an afterthought.

"None taken, I assure you. To either, in fact."

"You're alright, Tubs," Duo nodded. "As soon as we have a plan, we'll get you up to speed. See you for the briefing."

And he set out to start a check of his equipment and to bug somebody into figuring out dinner with a lighter heart. Duo may not have had Quatre's space heart, but he felt pretty sure Hadji was as relieved as he was. Which was good – they were going to need each other soon enough.

-==OOO==-

Jonny clicked through the last set of images from Horus before looking up.

"I gotta say," he remarked, "that system is pretty useful!"

"Just imagine how much use it would be to our opponents," his father replied tightly. "It's a good thing Quatre has it so well protected."

Jonny noted the stress in his father's voice and assessed him more carefully. Always put together, his father showed no more outward distress than he would on any other adventure, his clothing slightly rumpled yet largely clean, his hair and beard still neatly combed. (Dr Quest insisted that even megalomaniacs attempting world domination did not warrant untidiness.) But his shoulders were slumped and his eyes were deep-set with guilt.

Jonny wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. For close to two hours he and his father had shared only a few words, and all of those relevant to their task. Quatre had provided them with everything even remotely helpful from Horus, starting with multi-angle views of the Preventers attack against Surd's people on the half-completed colony and backtracking any and all transports to and from the colony and where they originated and went. Before Surd's mobile suit debut, Wufei had received confirmation of a successful Preventers operation apprehending most of Surd's people on that site, but he and Julia had not been not among them. Jonny and Dr Quest had been pouring through the massive data to try to figure out where they might be hiding and what surprises their location might hold.

At the start of their search Wufei and Trowa had been assisting, but both had left for other things. Wufei, at least, had decided to go with Heero to retrieve the mobile suits rather than let him go alone. This also allowed Wufei to make a report in person, which would protect their plans from Surd but also keep Preventers informed. As for Trowa, Jonny had no idea where he'd gone – he had simply left.

Dr Quest had failed to notice the changes around him, or so it seemed. He appeared, Jonny realized with a start, strangely defeated. Despondent, even. He pushed the screen before him aside and regarded his father.

"Dad, you know everything's going to be okay, right?"

"No, I don't know that, Jonny," he answered in a low voice. He looked up, meeting his son's eyes sadly. "I just can't forgive myself. The system I designed is being used to hold the whole of the human race hostage by Jeremiah Surd. It has wrought unimaginable damage to Race's mind, not to mention what it could have done to you and Quatre and Heero."

"You didn't intend for any of that to happen, though," Jonny protested. "And we're going to fix all of it. We're going to beat Surd. You'll see. And we'll help Race. We'll make everything right again."

"I appreciate your optimism," Benton smiled wearily.

"It's not that!" Jonny frowned. "I just don't think anything else is possible. Look, we've done some crazy stuff before, but we've never given up. Surd hasn't beaten us yet."

"He also never had so much power before."

"And we never had friends like this to help before!" Jonny got to his feet, hands on his hips, and glared at Benton, looking more like his mother than he ever could have imagined. "Maybe some of this is your fault, but so what? Some of it is because Preventers never managed to catch and hold Surd. Some of it is because of what Quatre did to enhance ZERO when he went inside it. Some of it is just bad luck. And none of that matters."

"Jonny, I…" he began, but his son didn't pause.

"Every time we've come up against something tough, you've always talked about the greater good and about sacrifice for the sake of others and never giving up. And I believe you. Hadji believes you. Jessie believes you. Race believes you. And we're not going to let anything stop us. Surd's got nothing on us this time, dad. Quatre's already proved it."

"Proved what?"

"That no computer, even ZERO, can beat the human heart. And Surd doesn't have a heart. He doesn't stand a chance!"

Jonny felt the fire of emotion go out of him as his father stood up and faced him. He was surprised to see tears in those wise eyes as he was pulled into a hug.

"You're right, Jonny. Surd is outclassed this time, and he won't ever see us coming. It's not blind optimism. When this is over, Surd and ZERO will not be walking away because we'll never let that happen, all of us together." He squeezed Jonny tightly. "Thank you."

"Glad to hear it!" Jonny grinned. "So let's find out where that snake is hiding so we can drop a hammer on his head!"

"No dropping hammers," his father laughed, releasing him and turning back to the table strewn with computers, images, and virtual screens. "It's just as well I'm going along with you – I'll get to keep an eye on you for once."

"You're not worried about Jess and Hadj?" he asked wonderingly.

"Well, of course. And about you and Race and myself and our five friends. But we're all in good hands, as good as we can ask for. Worrying won't make any of you safer. Getting this done will." And the familiar strength came into his face, the certainty Jonny had watched since childhood when his father would tackle a project or an adventure and nothing could stop him.

"Right," he nodded. And he bent over his task much comforted.

Only to spot something in an image he had missed the first time through.

"Dad! I found it!"