*whew* Duo got his body back, and not a moment too soon...but how long will it last? =*_*=

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Duo was running at full speed by the time he got to the launching bay, and as he suspected, the mission had started without him. Wufei had stayed behind to wait, and despite the scary moment earlier when his secret was in danger, Duo was glad to see him. "Hey, Wu-Man!" he cheered, also grateful to have his own voice back.

"You're late, Maxwell."

"Fine, thanks, and how was your day?" he quipped, pulling on his flightsuit.

Wufei gave him the details of the mission quickly. Pretty basic stuff, seek and destroy, take no prisoners. All in a day's work. They climbed into their Gundams and blasted off into the twilight of early evening, under radar. When they reached the rendezvous point, Sandrock, Heavyarms, and Wing Zero were already in the thick of it, exchanging fire with a scouting patrol of about a dozen mobile dolls. Duo wondered why they were all needed for something that seemed so trivial.

He stopped wondering when Sandrock was hit with one of the dolls new forms of weaponry, an energy rifle of such force that the recoil shoved the dolls back a good hundred metres with each blast. Sandrock flew much farther; Heavyarms was there in a flash, and blasted the enemy out of the sky. These dolls didn't care that such a weapon was overkill on solid ground; then again, if they used it in space they'd be thrown so far out of sight it could be hours before they limped back to the battle.

"You alright?" Trowa asked over the comm system.

"...yeah, just a little shaken, that's all...thanks." Quatre answered. Sandrock heaved itself back to it's feet and continued the fight.

Slashing the dolls to pieces, battling alongside his friends, Duo was in his element at last. His body fit him like a glove, and Deathscythe wrapped around him like a comforting second skin. This was loads better than skipping around in that stupid little skirt and those awful, slippery shoes. A pause in the fighting allowed him the luxury of opening his flight suit and running his bare hand down the perfect, beautiful metal surrounding him. If I ever leave you again, hit me with something really heavy.

The moment was short-lived, as another batch of dolls was unloaded, probably because the Gundams were there. Curses on being an interesting target. More volleys of energy blasts shot across the sky. Between the five of them, they were able to pare the enemy's numbers down until both sides had equal firepower. A few more shots, and they could go home and relax.

As they advanced, nobody noticed the fallen dolls behind them twitch, hoisting their new energy cannons to aim at the turned backs of the Gundams. Randomly, it chose Heavyarms, and fired with the last of it's energy. The blast struck Trowa's Gundam in the left leg, breaking away large chunks of metal and hydraulic systems, and throwing it dangerously off-balance. It was Sandrock's turn to come charging to the rescue, but the offending doll was already out of energy, and dead on the ground. In the time it took Quatre to realize this, another badly damaged doll raised it's weapon. Heero spotted it this time and barked out a warning over the comm. Sandrock backed away quickly, and the doll was suddenly evaporated by Wing Zero.

Shot-down dolls were reactivating left, right and centre. Apparently they had an energy reserve that saved enough power for one last blast, at the time when the attackers least expected it. Within seconds, all five were dodging enemy fire from the ground. Wufei deciphered the strategy almost immediately, and opened a channel to the others. "They use the last of their strength at the moment of their death! Save your own energy for maneuvering and they will burn themselves out!"

Good plan. Don't get hit. Duo marvelled at Wufei's grasp of the bleeding obvious, but he had a point about the burning-out thing. The Gundams stayed low enough to draw enemy fire, but darted around quickly, avoiding all but a few minor scrapes. All except Deathscythe; normally it was the fastest among them, but it's pilot was suffering from lack of sleep and low blood sugar. One donut in 24 hours was hardly sufficient, it seemed. Food and sleep were what he needed right now...a nice, thick porterhouse steak with all the trimmings, warm apple pie, a lie-down in his own bed where he could watch Heero type...he missed that...

"Duo!" A sharp warning from the radio jerked Duo's head out of the clouds, in barely enough time to avoid a collision with two mangled dolls that were limping off, trying to get unhooked from each other. He swerved Deathscythe out of harms' way and looked back at Heero, the source of the startled cry.

Heero stopped and exhaled, relieved but angry. Why doesn't that braided baka watch where he's flying!? Wing Zero had come to a halt momentarily, so for the first time that battle, Deathscythe wasn't the slowest moving object on the playing field. The last four dolls with enough power to fire realized this all at once and targeted Wing from all sides. Duo saw it first.

He doesn't see them..."Heero!!" Suddenly full of energy, he powered main thrusters to full and swooped forward, knocking Wing off it's feet a half-second before the dolls opened fire. The world reversed polarity when the blasts hit; all the light that was inside was suddenly outside, beating against Deathscythe's hull, and the cockpit went dark. One explosion came too near and shattered the metal wall on Duo's right-hand side, sending hot shrapnel straight through his flight suit and into his upper arm. He gritted his teeth and let out a strangled cry of pain, letting go of the controls to clutch at his wound. More explosions followed, only outside; Heero was beating the tar out of the remaining dolls, dead or otherwise.

The horizon line was twisting; was he passing out from shock now? A shake of the head didn't stop it, and he quickly realized that his Gundam was about to tip over. Ignoring the pain, he held his shoulder harness and winced as the metal giant impacted with the ground a few seconds later. The motion had stopped, but his head still felt like it was travelling past the ground and into the next time zone. NOW he was passing out from shock.

Sounds of metal scraping on metal pierced his eardrums as the hatch was pried open from the outside, giving Duo the most beautiful view in the world--a pair of prussian blue eyes, looking almost concerned...but he had to use his imagination to really see it. He smiled up at them...or down, rather, since the angle at which Deathscythe had collided with the ground left Duo partially suspended from his chair. "Not one of my shining moments, eh Hee-chan?"

"Hn.." he grunted, gingerly unbuckling the straps around Duo's bleeding arm. With the last harness unfastened and nothing to hold onto, he fell out of his chair; Heero caught him effortlessly, just as the other pilots scrambled closer to see if he was alright.

"Oh, NO! I should have been watching! I'm so sorry, Duo!"

"Man, they nailed you good, didn't they?"

"Deep breaths, Maxwell."

He could barely stand, putting all of his remaining energy into his trademark smile. "Hey, forget it, we got 'em, didn't we? No problem.....nothing but net...." And then he passed out from shock.


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Yikes! He'd better pull through... =x_X=