This chapter marks the next one in which it is safe for all those that do AND don't want 1x2 can start reading again.

Duo woke up slowly, his body protesting a long night spent sleeplessly battling with a pillow. He had tried to hug the damn thing, and then tried throwing it on the floor. Somehow, an hour after he'd gotten asleep, the damn thing had been under his head again, causing a tremendous ache to begin in his neck and shoulders. He grunted as he rolled out of bed, his feet barely keeping to the floor to keep him upright. Feet shuffled blindly towards the general direction of the door.

He met wall and had to pause for several seconds as he tried to remember which way it was to the door. Then he realized that he'd have to figure out which wall he was on. In the end, he settled for cracking open one eye, and lunging for the door, his shoulders hitting it hard as he collapsed against it tiredly. "Maxwell?" He grimaced slightly at the voice on the other side. He didn't particularly want to see Heero after the night before. He didn't really want to know what someone as streetwise and smart would think of him getting caught in such a situation. It just didn't bare thinking about.

Forget the fact that he had told his intruder to come back.

"I'm alive, but I'm not voting for the well part." He sighed, then turned slightly so that he could open the door without losing the support of the wall. Blue eyes met his. "I'm tired, cranky, and having a major fit of peevishness at the moment." He closed his eyes and banged his head against the wall, his body still in the doorway.

"When was your monthly?"

"My what? What kind of question is that, you impertinent-" Violets opened with shock before realization set in. One moment, he was looking stunned,  the next he was grinning like an idiot. "No more periods, , no more pads. Say 'goodbye' tampons!" He cheered and hooted and hollered. "Do you know what this means? No more mood swings, or crampings, or waking up at two in the morning to change the sheets! I won't have to feel like I'm bleeding to death for a week out of every month!"

"I'm thrilled for you, really." Heero's voice was dry with humor, but his lips were twitching. Duo's mirth was contagious, but quickly vaccinated. "What happened here last night?"

Duo gave him a look. "I've told you as much as I'm going to tell you."

"I meant about telling him to come back."

"Oh. That." Duo thought about it for a minute, then shrugged. "I don't think he's really a bad guy, I think he just fell in with the wrong people and is doing his best to save someone that's close to him."  He paused. "At least, that's what I think. I don't really know too much myself, but I plan on finding out. That's why I invited him back. I'm curious. I want to know all of the nitty-gritty details, and then I want to put him to work, because I don't really approve of getting something for nothing. That boy's going to earn it."

"That boy is twenty-two, and an assassin." That interrupted Duo's righteous tone. The braided brunette frowned. "You're lucky you're alive."

"Why didn't you tell me that beforehand?"

Heero shrugged, looking decidedly uncaring. Duo narrowed his eyes at him, waiting for some reaction.

"He could have killed me last night, couldn't he?"

"He could have, but that would have defeated the purpose of not killing you the day before."

"Thanks, Heero, that's so comforting." His tone said that it was anything but. "He will come back, won't he? And this time, he'll probably kill me?" Another shrug. "Listen hear, Heero! I've already died once this week: I don't feel like doing it again. I have a purpose, a mission, and I'm not going to stand around and let some silent psycho with no sense of humor take that away from me!"

Cobalt eyes blinked, before meeting Duo's gaze steadily. "If he wants you died, there is nothing you will be able to do to stop him." He paused, then continued. "Considering the fact that he did not kill you last night…"

"You were here." Duo pointed out, interrupting.

Heero raised an eyebrow, but went on. "since he did not kill you last night, I would assume that he means you no harm. Whether I was here or not, he could have killed you, or at least made the attempt. He's a highly trained professional."

"Okay, that leads me to the next question. How do you know what he is?"

Their gazes met, fused. "Because he is what I am."

"Really? Is he better than you? Is that why you didn't try to take him out last night?" There was an undertone of excitement in his voice and his eyes were sparkling.

"He and I are not in competition. We work for the same company." It got better.

"Really? Is it some highly classified organization that predates the Constitution? Where you all have secret code names and nobody is who they seem to be?"

"Something like that." Heero's face showed no emotion, a fact that Duo caught onto very quickly.

"Why did you tell me?"

"The night that I met you, as Duet, I was supposed to kidnap you. You were to be held hostage so that the 'corporation' could profit from your family's connections. If I had completed my duty and fulfilled my obligation by abducting you, you would not have died." This was all said in a cold voice, and the effect made Duo shiver. He felt cold all over, as if he'd never warm up.

"You feel responsible, don't you? That's why you're hanging around?" He straightened, standing to full height so that he could meet Heero's gaze levelly. "I don't need your pity, Heero. I would like your friendship, and if that's not why you're here, then you can leave. Don't do me any favors. And if Nanashi returns to kill me, then so be it. I've lived a full life. Coming back was my choice."

Heero moved towards the door, his shoulders stiff. Duo watched him for a second, his eyes sad.

"I was hoping that you could at least be my friend, Heero. I'm sorry that that was too much to ask." The departing figure paused. "I don't have anybody right now, and you're the closest thing I've got to a friend. If you walk out that door, then I'm alone, with no-one. And sure, I could go out and find people to talk to, but all the ones that I want, the ones that mean anything at all to me, I don't now how to reach. More than anything, I want to reclaim the parts of Duet that were best, and that means that I need them. I need them more in death than I ever needed in life."

Heero didn't answer, but he didn't leave. Duo made his way slowly toward the other man.

"There's a whole world out there, Heero, and this is my chance to discover it. This is my opportunity to do all the things that Duet never could. But all the adventures that await me will never equal the friendship that waits for me in this town. You're included in that. I would like to be your friend, Heero, if you'll let me."

"I do not need friends." Heero said, but there was an odd light in his eyes as he turned around.

"You may not need them, but that doesn't mean you don't want them. And whether you want me as a friend or not, that's what I am. I've decided, and that's how things will be." Duo grinned, and watched as the corner's of Heero's mouth turned up slightly in the facsimile of a smile. "My home is your home. Come and go as you please."

A new voice intruded with a sarcastic, "That's sweet."

Both men looked to the door to see a tall, lanky young man leaning against the open door frame. His posture was nonchalant, as if he didn't have a care in the world, but his green eyes were weary and cold. They took in the apartment's occupants, swept through the interior, and then settled back on them with an unnerving stillness. Duo grinned at him, moving away from Heero. "Nanashi!"

"Welcome back, Trowa." Heero greeted coldly, his hand moving to his hidden weapon as he eyed the intruder.

"Trowa, huh? Well, welcome. This is a little sooner than I expected, but oh well. We can't have everything we want." Duo waved Trowa inside, but the other man didn't move. The braided one stopped short of actually getting within arm's reach of his newest acquaintance and grinned at him. "What brings you back to my side of town?"

"You told me to return." The answer was spoken in a dry voice, but Duo could sense the amusement underneath.

"Of course I did. Come on in."

"This isn't a social call." Trowa straightened and took a step into the apartment. His gaze moved past Duo to Heero. "I have a favor to ask."

They stared each other down for a time, leaving Duo confused and more than a little aggravated. He coughed, but neither looked his way. Finally, as he opened his mouth to turn their attention back to his self, Heero nodded once, brusquely. "Here is fine."

"Here is fine for what?" Duo asked, but was ignored once again. Trowa turned around and stepped into the hallway for a moment, just out of sight around the door. When he returned, he was followed by a woman that looked to be a couple of years older than him. She was tall, as tall as the man with her, with the same red-brown hair. Her eyes were brown, and Duo winced at the black eye and split lip that she sported. He may not have known what was going on, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be a good hostess…host. "Hey."

The woman looked up at him and shrank away, backing into Trowa. He placed gentle hands on her arms and leaned down to whisper into her ear. She nodded at whatever he said, her eyes downcast. Duo tried again, approaching cautiously.

"Can I get you something? Food, water, pop, juice?" She looked up again, and he felt tears welling in his eyes at the fear and shame in her gaze. They looked at each other for a moment, before she launched herself forward and into his arms, hugging and sobbing on his shoulder. He led her to the couch and sat down with her, cradling her gently and whispering nonsensical words meant to sooth. Heero and Trowa looked at each other. Heero shrugged.

"He was a woman in a past life." Heero said by way of explanation.