Duo felt a pang in his heart as he watched the pilots leave.
    They were going to fight again.
    It was just a small mission nothing big. They would probably be back by nightfall.
    Even so he wished he was going with them.
    "Good luck," he said as he watched them blast away.

    ~~~~~~~~~
    Duo paced checking his watch for what seemed like the millionth time in the past five minutes.
    They should have been back hours ago.
    His sharp ears picked up the faint growl that signaled a Gundam was near by.
    He raced out of the house.
    When he saw the Gundams he stopped in his tracks.
    His eyes widened and he paled.
    "No God no!" He begged.
    Heavyarms and Shenlong were supporting Wing Zero between them. Sandrock stood nearby like a guardian.
    They gently laid Wing Zero on its back, on the ground.
    Duo clambered up leg and pressed the button that opened the hatch.
    Gently he pulled an unconscious Heero out of the cockpit.
    Heero was bloody and bruised and judging by the way his arm was at an unnatural angle it was broken.
    "What happened?" He asked Quatre as he came up behind him.
    " He tried to self-destruct, It didn't go as planned and there was an explosion in the cockpit." Quatre's voice was choked with tears.
    WuFei and Trowa gently carried Heero to his room.
    Duo ran to get the medical kit. He came back carrying it under his arm.
    "I'll take care of him get some rest, you look like shit." He told them.
    They nodded and left.
    "Don't worry Heero you're gonna be fine." Duo whispered to the unconscious Heero.
    He applied a splint to Heero's arm. Then he took a piece of gauze soaked with anapestic and dabbed gently at cuts marring Heero's face.
    That done he sat by Heero saying nothing just holding his hand to let him know he was there.
    Duo's head bobbed and he fell asleep.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Duo woke with a start as he heard his name being yelled.
    "Duo!" Heero screamed arms thrashing.
    Heero was feverish. So feverish that he was having hallucinations.
    Unwilling to leave Heero, Duo dashed to the bathroom and filled a plastic bowl full of cold water and grabbed some clothes.
    He dipped the clothes in the ice cold water and laid them over Heero's forehead hoping to cool down the fever.
    "Duo!" Heero moaned. "Duo! Don't leave me! Please Duo don't leave me! I can't live without you! Duo please don't leave me!"
    Duo's heart twisted. Heero was delusional. Oh well pretending he was Duo (which he was)couldn't hurt. "Shh, Hee-chan I never left you I'm right here." Duo said soothingly holding Heero's hand.
    Heero opened his eyes to look at Duo his eyes were cloudy with fever," Duo?" He croaked.
    "Yes, Heero it's me." Duo said softly.
    Heero grabbed Duo's hand his eyes wild, "Duo don't leave! Please Duo don't leave me! I don't want to live if you're not with me!" Heero was crying now and repeating "don't leave me," over and over again.
    Duo gently kissed Heero's hot forehead. "I never left you and I never will." He promised.
    "You won't leave me? You won't go away? You'll stay here with me?" Heero's voice was like a child's.
    "Yes, Heero I'll never leave you. I'll always be with you. Always." Duo promised.
    Heero closed his eyes and leaned back against his pillow, "Duo?"
    "Yes, Heero?"
    " I love you."
    "I love you too Heero." But Heero didn't hear he was already asleep.

    center ~*~
    Duo sat on a chair next to Heero's bed. He was tired it was around three in the morning. Getting off the chair he climbed into Heero's bed.
    "I'll only sleep for a few minutes." He said softly.
    His eyelids sagged and within minutes he was asleep.
    Quatre opened the door and peeked in to check on Heero.
    He smiled at the sight of Max curled up next to Heero like a kitten.
    He silently closed the door and went to his room to sleep.