Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What is it?" Asked a young boy. He brushed his messy brown hair out of his eyes and stared over her shoulder.

"I'm not sure… Just a minute…" A girl of about the same age said.

"Well?" He prompted.

"Geez! Have a little bit of patience!" Laughed the girl. She typed in a few more commands before allowing him to look at the monitor. As she span around on the chair her long mahogany brown hair swung out behind her, just missing the boy's face.

"You wanna watch where you swing that thing! It could be classed as a dangerous weapon!" He said playfully. The girl gave him a mock scowl in return as she put her plait back over her shoulders and returned her jade green gaze to the screen.

The two children read in silence.

"So this is the next part of our programme?" He questioned.

"Yep! Intriguing innit?" She said, but her voice held very little laughter this time.

"And you're sure we're in the right file, yeah?"

"Of course I'm sure! I am the 'Ultimate Nemesis' after all." She replied. The boy chuckled. He had given her that nickname and it had stuck. She was the 'Ultimate Nemesis' in every sense.

"Had enough here?" She asked him.

"Sure." As soon as he gave his reply her fingers worked at a blurring rate over the keyboard. The computer protested at her insistence, but eventually gave in to her will.

"What about here?" He looked at the monitor and scanned all of the file names with his deep Prussian blue eyes.

"What's that one?" He enquired, his voice sounding confused.

"Let's take a peek, shall we?" Giggled the girl. Opening the file in a few moments the two youngsters now scanned the contents of a file marked 'Alterations – Training'.

"No…" Breathed the girl.

"They're kidding…"

"You have to get away from here. They can't know that you still feel emotion after the 'incident'. They'll retrain you again using this!" Her voice rose with shock, but she quickly remembered herself and lowered her tone.

"That's not what I'm looking at. They'll never know what I feel unless I let them find out. I don't plan on letting that happen. Read on." She complied, but with a great look of apprehension creasing her face. As she read the rest she found plans for her own death. Her eyes grew wide as she saw how her own side planned to remove her from 'Operation Meteor'. Then she read slightly further than her friend and exited the file before he had a chance to catch up.

"What did it say?"

"Not much. We have to go now, they'll catch us if we're here much longer."

"Okay." He agreed. But the sudden change in his best friend's attitude concerned him. "I'll talk to Doctor J tomorrow. There must be something we can do. He'd never allow this to happen."

"He has no choice in the matter. Look at your retraining. He didn't want to do it but he did."

"Don't be like that Nemesis. We'll sort it out, I promise."

"Okay." She said, keeping the worry and disbelief out of her voice and returning it to it's usual monotone state.

"See you in the morning." He stated, doing the same with his own vocal chords. There was a noise above and he nodded to his only friend as he left swiftly and silently. As soon as she saw his back disappear into the shadows she spoke softly into the night.

"No Heero. You won't." Turning towards her own exit she blended with the dark corridors. She didn't see him back track and watch her leave. He wanted to stop her, but something told him that this was the only way.

Heero woke up abruptly.

~

Wufei and Sally waited for Quatre by their car. The young blonde had taken the news better than they had expected, although that was probably due to the fact that it was five in the morning before they had finished explaining the entire situation to him. As soon as they had told Quatre the basics he wouldn't stop until he knew everything. The only sad thing was that the two Preventers knew he had, more likely than not, found several ways in which to blame himself for the situation. As Quatre approached he turned towards Rashid and some of his other friends and waved a farewell. Swinging a small pack into the open boot, Quatre regarded Wufei and Sally.

"Were to then?" He said, his voice still slightly thick from lack of sleep.

"We need to find Heero and Trowa. Any ideas?" Asked Sally as they entered the car and Wufei switched the engine on. The car roared into life and they headed away from everything Quatre knew.

"Trowa could be back with his old circus troop… That's all I can think of for him… And Heero? Your guess is as good as mine. Though I hope he's okay…" Quatre's voice sounded doubtful and troubled as realised how little contact the five of them had kept since the end of the final war.

"I'm sure that they're fine." Sally said by way of encouragement and Wufei gave a short nod from the driver's seat.

"They know how to look after themselves. Our job now is to find out where they're doing it." His voice sounded sure and left no room for argument.

"I hope you're right Wufei." Was all Quatre said in reply.

Silence smothered the car like a thick pillow suffocates it victim, stifling all sound. Quatre let his head rest against the smooth glass of the car window as his thoughts strolled over every detail he had learned of the war. Suddenly a worry that had been prodding his mind surfaced and he gave an involuntary gasp at his thoughtlessness.

"You still haven't told me what Duo's going to do. You said you'd already seen him, but you didn't tell me how he was or what he said!" Sally let out a soft sigh and Wufei snorted quietly from the front. He had been waiting for this question from Quatre for a while.

"He will be having nothing to do with this battle." Wufei said. He did not need to turn around to know what the Arabian's reaction would be. Quatre's eyes were wide with shock, his mouth hung slightly open as he fought for something to say and his slight body was bolt upright in his seat as if he had tried to jump up but had been stopped by the safety belt.

"You can't be serious! He refused to fight?!" Quatre's voice was barely above a whisper, but there was plenty of feeling there all the same. Sally just nodded her head and averted her gaze to look through the windscreen and observe the scenery. Wufei's attention suddenly became extremely fixed on the road ahead.

Quatre leaned back and allowed his head to fall forward as he kept his line of sight firmly down. Finally he decided that he couldn't worry about Duo just then. As soon as they found the others then he could try and talk to Zero Two and try and persuade him to join them. But until then he would just have to bide his time and meet the rest of his friends.

~

Duo was still hard at work when Heero stalked in. His head was bent low over a small and decidedly rusty piece of metal as he rubbed hard over each miniscule area. A small glint of silver could be seen on the very edge and Duo appeared to resurrecting the entire component. Duo heard Heero enter and paused briefly, glancing up to see what sort of greeting he could expect; if any.

Heero looked fine, but it was obvious to Duo that he hadn't slept well. Deciding to try and act slightly normal he spread a grin over his face and spoke.

"Hiya Heero! Watcha doin' today?" Duo's voice was light and cheery, but there was something in it that screamed 'change' to Heero. He just wished he knew what it was. Until he could find out or get in touch with Sally and Wufei he would simply have to wait.

"Hn." He replied. Not the most creative of answers, but it was perfect if you didn't know how to respond. Duo just looked up sharply, a quick retort on the edge of his tongue, but he held it back. He really wanted to know where his temper and change of attitude had come from. He hated the new 'Duo' almost as much as Heero did. Gathering his wits he continued in a perfect replica of his old self. The person he wished he still was.

"That much idea eh? Well, I tell ya, you came to the wrong colony for stuff to do. Best thing here is the metal and that about wraps the place up." Laughing he placed some more of the cleaning fluid on the old greasy cloth he'd been using and continued to polish the metal with unparalleled accuracy.

Heero wandered over to the window and pushed it open. Duo kept cleaning, but watched the pilot with suspicious eyes. He caught himself just before Heero turned back around and lowered his gaze.

'Why am I watching Heero like an enemy? He helped me when I blacked out so why am I treating him like an undercover Oz official? Why? I hate that I'm doing this. It reminds me of Zero before Heero tamed him. I'll figure it out, but I won't let anyone else know for now. Yeah , Duo, nice and easy… I'm crazy…' Duo forced himself out of his own thoughts as he finished polishing the scrap he was holding. It was sparkling in the midmorning light and shone blindingly bright in Duo's eyes. Placing it back down on the table Duo started on yet another component. They just didn't end for the ex-soldier and he battled on bravely. He would have to visit the workshop later on that day with the completed sections and place them in some kind of order ready for assembly. As soon as the pile was finished he would have all the pieces of the busted car engine ready for him to slot, weld and solder back in place. His client would be happy and he would get another customer with an equally impossible problem.

To the company Duo had been a find. He could fix almost everything in any condition and it was completely amazing to them. That was why Duo was allowed to work at home so much, as well as in the workshop. As long as he kept on fixing and raking in the business they didn't mind. Some people had even started asking the manager for him to deal with their engines etc. personally because he was so good. Not that the manager would ever let Duo know this. The young kid might start a business of his own and then what would happen?

Heero breathed in deeply as fresh air poured in through the window. The fumes from the fluid Duo was using were dreadful and he wondered how the braided idiot didn't even notice them.

'Solvent abuse?' Heero smiled inwardly at the thought of his friend being an accidental solvent abuser. But Duo probably was intoxicated by now if he always worked with the window shut. Pushing himself off the window frame Heero prepared to do something he had never done before. He prepared to make conversation.

"What time do you have work today?" He said, his voice was still blank but he wasn't going to push this too far. Duo flicked his eyes up over and thought for a few seconds before answering.

"I got most of these done last night so… I'll have to drop the finished ones off at work… But that does put me ahead of schedule so… I'll be pretty much bored most of today… That's the way things work here…" He kept breaking his sentences as he constantly moved the object and rubbed with vigour, ensuring not a smudge was left on it's almost perfect exterior.

"Oh…" said Heero. He had no idea how to keep the conversation going, but tried anyway.

"Aren't you going to fight?" This question caught Duo off guard. So far he had managed to avoid this part of talking to Heero, but he should have known that it would never last.

"I'm not sure…" At this point he pressed just a little too hard on the delicate object and it snapped in half.

"Dammit!" He cursed as he picked up the two halves and examined the damage.

"You really don't have a clue, do you?" remarked Heero. Duo silently began to fume at this comment but refused to show this. Placing the useless, yet highly well polished, scrap on the table Duo raised his gaze to meet Heero's stare.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. In the end it makes very little difference."

"Deep statement for you, isn't it?" It was less of a question and more of a fact, but that was the same with anything Heero said.

"Are trying to get me angry or something?" Muttered Duo darkly.

"I'm trying to determine what's wrong." Was all Heero said in his defence.

"Well, nothing's wrong-"

"That's a lie. Goes against everything you believe about yourself doesn't it? 'I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie.'" Heero pushed his point further.

"Look Heero, I said 'nothing's wrong-" At this point Duo's defence was left with a hole the size of Alaska in the middle. His head gave an almighty throb and he gasped involuntarily. Dropping everything he was holding he gripped his skull against the agonising pain. Duo tried to focus but the universe just melded into a swirl of colour. The spinning refused to abate and Duo didn't know what to do.

Heero walked over with a grim satisfaction set in his face. Crouching down he prised Duo's hands off his head and carefully set the boy upright. Duo's breath was coming in short and pained gasps. His eyes were squeezed shut as he attempted to place the world in some kind of working order that didn't involve pretty colours moving in a surreal pattern.

"Come on." Said Heero. He was secretly unnerved at seeing his friend in so much pain. Duo had been beaten repeatedly, blown up regularly and generally really injured in the past wars, but Heero had never seen him in this much obvious pain. Slowly he stood Duo up and guided him through to the kitchen. Sitting him down Heero began to methodically raid the cupboards.

"Whatcha looking for?" Groaned Duo as he tried to place some of his old vigour into the statement.

"First aid box. Or some kind of painkiller." Heero's voice was still a blank monotone.

"Wasting ya time old buddy." He said with a halfhearted laugh. Duo did his best to ignore the lovely purple and red spirals that danced over his vision and fought to focus on the blurred surroundings.

"Why?" Heero kicked himself inwardly as he asked the question. He already knew the answer.

"Don't keep any." Duo's voice had become a bare whisper and the sentences were fit between harsh breaths and dull gasps.

"Hn." Was the only reply Heero could give.

"You don't need to help me." Duo was sounding worse every time he spoke.

"Why?" Heero was beginning to find this extension of his vocabulary annoying. He was starting to sound like an ignorant five year old.

"It'll go… It always does…" His head was finally too heavy for him to keep up and it fell forward. Slipping against his palm it dropped with a thud onto the table. Sweat kept most of his bangs and stray strands of hair ensnared against his pasty complexion.

"Duo?" Heero questioned, but he knew better than to expect an answer. Duo was unconscious again.

~

Beep… Beep… Beepbeep… Beepbeep…Beepbeepbeep…

Heero stared at the small red light that flashed in the corner. The beeping was the warning that a call was coming through. As the automated answer machine clicked in a synthesised version of Duo's voice could be heard.

"Sorry I'm not here at the moment, but if ya that desperate to talk to me leave a message after the beep!" A small vid-screen flared into life a young female's face appeared.

"Duo, you'd better be on your way here! Those parts should have been in yesterday and you're late! The manager's having a fit so I hope you're hurrying!" The angry face disappeared and Heero stared at the screen.

Duo hadn't come to since his last unconscious spell and had missed over twenty-four hours.

'Guess he's not ahead of schedule anymore…' thought Heero. As the message finished Heero heard a small sigh from behind him. Duo was stood there staring at the screen.

"When you don't get things right, shout at the workers." He said. Heero just continued to look blank so he elaborated.

"She's administration. Whenever admin make a mess of things we take the blame."

"You know admin have messed up this time?" Said Heero, wondering if Duo knew how much time he had missed.

"Yep. Because this engine doesn't need to be ready for another week on my calendar, so admin must've have changed the date. They just panic themselves y'know. We always get the stuff ready on time." Duo went over and hit the erase button. He looked like a ghost of his former self. His headache had cut back a lot compared to the attack, but the after-effects were still obvious. His pale face looked as if he hadn't slept for days when he had just been unconscious for over one. His braid hung neat and tidy down his back, showing that he was ready for another day, and his fresh black jumpsuit was fastened high up his neck.

"How long was I out for?" He queried. His voice was light but showed signs of being strained. It was like his vocal chords had been out of use for a long time.

"You have been unconscious for twenty-four hours, thirty eight minutes and nineteen seconds." Heero's voice was regimental and his record of time superbly accurate.

"That precise, huh? Some things never change, eh Heero?" Duo wandered over to the window and looked at the crowd below.

"I'm gonna have to run into work. Sounds like there's a storm brewing if nothing else." Duo's attention remained fixed on the crowd below and it was as if he was simply talking to the room in general. Heero almost choked at this comment. There was no way Duo could go to work when he wasn't even able to stay upright. But who was he to counter Duo's decision? Duo left the windowsill and stooped over the table. Sorting out the pieces that were ready and those that were not he prepared for work.

Heero had just been about to comment when the infernal beeping began again. This time Duo answered it. The girl's face appeared on the screen again.

"Duo Maxwell! Do you have any idea what time it is?!" She had no problems with shouting at Duo, even though it was glaringly obvious his health was on the blink.

"Yes. Actually Andrea Carlson, I am aware of the time." Duo's voice seemed to be on edge and it barely crackled as he replied in an equally curt manner.

"Well, I hope you're as aware of the time when it costs you your job! You are two hours late!"

"Well done Miss Marple!" Snapped Duo.

"What did you say?" Her eyes narrowed and she glared at Duo. He knew that he had pushed a bit too far and backed down. 'Spineless! Spineless!' rang through his head.

"Nothing Miss Carlson. I apologise. I must have overslept." His eyes clouded darkly as he forced himself to tell only half the truth and not attempt to kill her. She was the bane of his job and that of every other mechanic in the shop.

"When can the manager expect you to be in then? Well?" She had turned a funny shade of red as she continued in a high pitched and piercing voice.

"I'm on my way as we speak Assistant Manager." Duo spoke resignedly and reached for the terminate button.

"Good! I expect you to be here in less than-" Duo terminated the transmission and leaned hard against the wall. He could feel Heero's eyes boring a hole into the side of his head.

"And you would have had me do what, Mr. Perfect?" Duo sighed and rested his head back, resisting the urge to fall straight to sleep. Heero had no reply and personally thought that Duo wouldn't last the day if he went to work.

"Maybe you should have tried taking a day off." Heero made it sound very simple.

"What?! Easier said than done." Duo stared at Heero as if he had just gone mad before his eyes. Heero made no reply to this and merely nodded acceptance. Duo continued gathering everything together and constantly glanced at his watch. Heero decided to try an experiment.

"You can go to work, if you can get past me." Duo stopped in the middle of the room. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were wide.

"Meaning…?"

"You can go to work if you can pass me. If you're perfectly fine then it's no problem, is it?" Heero made the challenge sound as if it was an everyday occurrence and nothing unusual.

"Heero, you know as well as I do that I've never beaten you. So, let's not even go there, shall we?" Duo's voice held a menacing edge.

"You've never tried to beat me. And you did shoot me when we first met." A small smile almost curved at Heero's mouth. The memory seemed to amuse him. Duo just continued to stare in disbelief. His mind raced as old instincts assessed the situation and it was clear to a blind man that Heero had the upper hand. Duo had enough strength to fight, but the lack of a mobile suit made the odds turn in Heero's favour. There was no way Duo had enough energy to confront Heero at that moment. He was in desperate need of some proper sleep and not the rest he'd had as a result of losing consciousness repeatedly.

"There is no reason for this argument, Heero. It's not the first time I've suffered from a little headache. There's nothing the matter and I need to get to work." Duo tried to make Heero sound as if he was fussing. But it was evident that Heero was perfectly correct, no more, no less.

Heero was on the verge of just giving in. If Duo wanted to hurt himself then it was his problem, he needed to get information on the war and any missions in which he would be partaking. However, something told him that there was more at stake than just Duo's health. An old warning bell rang firmly in the back of his mind saying that there was danger nearby. Heero knew better than to ignore that warning. If the only way to keep marginally safe from that danger was for the pair of them to stick together then that was what Heero would do. It was just like the old missions they had received in the past when they had been forced to work as a team.

"Those are the terms Duo, like it or not." Heero said, his voice firm.

"Fine." Duo growled as he placed the parts back on the table and stood straight. He swayed slightly as he prepared to fight Heero, but refused to back out. It had never been in his nature to quit and he would sooner burn than start now.

Heero straightened himself up and wondered what to do now. He knew that if he lost control for a moment he would probably seriously injure Duo and that was all the career obsessed fool needed now. He hadn't allowed the others to see him lose control in battle, but that didn't mean that it never happened. Taking a step back with his right foot, Heero balanced his weight and brought his hands up to protect his head against attack. Desperately he controlled the merciless instincts that had developed over the hard years of training and war. Duo allowed his hands to hang in a relaxed posture at his sides as he carefully adjusted his balance ready to fight. The pair stood facing each other, unreadable expressions of mixed emotions covering their flickeringly blank faces.

The tension crackled in the air, waiting for the correct moment to break into an electrical storm of concentration and battle as it always did during a conflict. Duo was the first to make a move. Taking a half step towards Heero he went to side-step the Japanese boy and was blocked by the assassin's quick reflexes. Unfortunately they were too quick. As Heero went to block Duo the side of his fist caught the American hard on the temple and knocked him into the wall. Rushing to see just what he'd done he quietly cursed himself, condemning himself to the hottest level of Hell. Duo lay prone and unmoving on the floor. Heero quickly turned the teenager over and checked his pulse. It was weak and fast and an angry bruise was forming on Duo's temple and on the left side of his face where he had come into contact with the wall. Heero would normally have just bided his time and waited for the fool to wake up, but with his recent blackouts the ex-Wing Zero pilot wasn't sure this was such a brilliant plan.

Walking with an air of calm, Heero picked up the phone and began to contact the emergency services.

"Hello, this is the L2 emergency services link. Please state the nature of your emergency." A prim and quick voice asked.

"My friend has just fallen unconscious due to an accident to the side of his head. I wouldn't be too concerned, except that he's been experiencing blackouts lately." Heero responded in his mechanical voice.

"I see… You'll be needing an ambulance then. Can you give me your name please young man, so I know who I'm talking to?" Her voice took on an almost motherly tone as she spoke to Heero.

"My name is H… Harry Young." Heero covered up his mistake without missing a beat.

"Right Harry, I would normally tell you to remain calm and not to panic, but you seem to pretty much in control of your emotions… So, I want you to give me some details on your friend, okay?"

"Hn." Heero replied as he thought up a cover story.

"What's your friends name?"

"Dan Mason." Heero said, committing the name to memory.

"Dan Mason, good. Now how old is he?" Heero suddenly felt his gut send him a sharp warning, but he was unsure as to what he'd noticed. His mind was still reeling from the fact he had done this to Duo.

"He's seventeen." 'I think' Heero added silently to himself.

"Right. Well, Harry. The ambulance will be there in about thirty seconds by now, so I want you to make sure they can get in. If you have anymore problems just call me straight back." With that she hung up. Heero knew that there was something very wrong going on, but he had never used the emergency services before, unless you counted stealing that ambulance when he'd first arrived on Earth. Walking back over to Duo, he checked his pulse again. No change. It was just as he prepared to unlock the door that everything fell into chaos.