Mel: Ha ha! At last! I have something to prove wrong the thought that 'the virus thing is really obvious'!!!! I had you all fooled!!!! MWA HA HA HA!!!!

Tsuru: ?.? What are you babbling about?

Mel: I HAVE DONE IT!!!!!

Tsuru: *sighs* You've changed you idea so many times for this story…..

Mel: *looks offended* But Tsuru! I've had this whole thing planned out since chapter 3, and I haven't changed anything since chapter 4! At all! I swear! I've been a good little writer!

Tsuru: *sighs* Cue the—

Legal Crap: ––disclaimer. … . That's the second time you've done that to me! Wait your turn!!!!! And no, we don't own gundam wing. Otherwise this wouldn't be a fanfiction.

Mel: ^_^() Gomen Tsuru, I guess I hit the button a little too—

Warning: ––soon. ?.? Oh…. . Grrrrr…. Bad muse!!! Very bad muse! No warnings for this chapter, asside from some slight Wufei beating…

Mel: But we all love him anyway, don't we?

Wufei fan girls: *scream, then run a rampage through Mel's room*

Mel: No! There's no Wufei here! Now Git!

Wufei fan girls: *pout, sulk off*

Tsuru: O.o 'Git'?

Mel: ^_^() That's what my dad says…

Tsuru: ?.? 'Git'? *continues to try to figure out the ways of the 'git'*

Trowa was skimming down a list of symptoms for the final stages of the virus that had been all over the news for the past week. Heero had book-marked the page earlier, thinking it would be of some use. Each and every one of the symptoms matched Duo's state exactly…. As far as they could tell, at least. There was no way of knowing what types of pain Duo was feeling before he was knocked into his 'trance' as the web-site called it.

"Hey, what did you find?" Quatre walked down the steps, rubbing his eyes after his short nap.

"I think I know what Duo has…" Heero motioned for Quatre to come sit next to him and take a look at his laptop. The boy's eyes widened as he read the symptoms, then read the future of anyone who had reached the 'trance' state: Death. Apparently, it was only treatable in the earlier stages. If anyone lived through it that long without help, they would die within a few days.

"I-I think we should go upstairs to discuss this…" Heero stared blankly at Quatre, unable to find the hidden purpose to his proposed action.

"Why?"

"Well…" Quatre bit his lip, as if unsure of how to continue. "I think Duo should hear what we've found…" Heero sighed, and closed his precious black case to carry up the stairs.

"I don't see any harm in it." Quatre sighed and looked up at Trowa.

"That can't be right. He can't have that virus… it doesn't match…"

"It matches with all of the information we have. All we can do is expect that to happen, and then see how things turn out." Quatre shook his head violently.

"You don't understand. He's still there. He's still so alive." Trowa gently brushed the bangs out of Quatre's face, then turned to walk up the stairs.

"Come on. Heero's waiting." Quatre nodded and followed.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Heero set up his laptop on the desk in Duo's room, then turned to the boy in the bed. He didn't want to have to face the fact that he had lost the two people closest to him in one week, and it was his fault. If he hadn't fallen asleep, Duo wouldn't have gone off to fight, then they might have caught the virus before it had taken over…

Heero was torn from his thoughts as Quatre and Trowa walked into the room. The blond boy took a seat next to the bed, and smiled at Duo before turning back to Trowa, who had decided to stand by the window.

"Heero, could you read me the symptoms, please?" Heero arched an eyebrow at the boy.

"Why? You read them downstairs…"

"Just as a recap. I want to make sure I know exactly what virus you think Duo has." Heero nodded absently and re-opened the site.

"Dizziness…" Quatre laughed slightly, until he noticed that he was getting strange looks from Trowa and Heero, at which point he abruptly stopped. Heero shook his head, and went on to read the rest of the symptoms. "Severe headache, appetite loss, breast pain…" Quatre began laughing again, this time harder than the last. Trowa crossed the few feet separating them, and put his hands on Quatre's shoulders, a look of concern on his face.

"Quatre?"

"I don't think we have to worry about that last one. Go on."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… a funny thought. That's all." Trowa nodded, but didn't move back to his place near the window. Heero continued.

"Bumps on the skin of neck and shoulders…"

"No." Heero turned around and looked at Quatre.

"No?" He repeated, turning Quatre's statement into a question.

"No. He didn't have those…"

"Oh…" Heero went back to the list.

"Chest pain, with a rash at the pain site…"

"He had chest pain, but no rash."

"No rash? Are you sure?" Quatre nodded in confirmation. Heero decided that he didn't want to know how Quatre knew all these things.

"Constipation…" Quatre shook his head, then let out a snort of laughter.

"Quatre?"

"No, no constipation…" Heero raised an eyebrow, then skimmed down to the bottom of the page.

"I'm skipping ahead to the symptoms that always occur before withdrawal." Quatre laughed again, then nodded.

"Yes. That's a good idea." Heero shook his head before he began to read.

"Sudden pain throughout the entire body, dizziness, disorientation, incessant jerking of the limbs…"

"No." Trowa stared at Quatre, confused.

"Quatre, how could you possibly know that? None of us could see inside his cockpit when it happened…"

"Except Duo." Trowa and Heero both stared at Quatre in disbelief.

"What are you getting at?" Heero moved the hand that had been hovering over the keyboard so that it clasped onto a pen, which he twirled in his hands to help ease his tension.

"Duo is perfectly capable of communicating, you just have to know how to hear him…" Quatre looked down at Duo. "I know, I know. I should have listened to you, but how else was I supposed to convince them that you didn't have that virus?" A slight pause. "Right. You actually think we could have pulled that off?" Another pause. "What? Oh…. I forgot…" Quatre turned his head to look up at Trowa, whose face was contorted with horror.

"W-who were you talking to?"

"Um… I know this sounds kind of odd, but I was talking to Duo… I can hear his thoughts in my head, like before with Heero—"

"Enough. I don't need to know about this right now. If what Quatre says is correct, then Duo can't possibly have the virus. The final stage eliminates almost all brain activity. If Quatre can hear his thoughts, then he obviously isn't near dead." Heero closed his laptop and limped to the door.

"Where are you going?" Quatre tilted his head to the side, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"I'm going to do some more research. We've eliminated my only lead, so I have to start from square one."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Midii discovered that she was receiving constant video information from her little bug, so she continuously sat in front of her computer sorting it into three divisions: trash, important information, and 'personal reference'. Any shot with her Nanashi in it was instantly saved to her hard drive. She was still surprised by the fact that he was still alive, even though everyone else she had ever let herself get close to, love, had died.

"But not my Nanashi…" she finished the thought out loud. There was no one else in the room. Himitsu still wasn't strong enough to get out of bed, and the fact that they had no food wasn't helping. Nakushita was torn between watching over his lover, and taking care of the 05 pilot as he was told.

The door creaked as it was opened, Midii was too lazy to oil it to get it to stop. She turned around and saw Nakushita slump into the room, turning on the computers that monitored the room Wufei had been locked in when they left.

"What did Himitsu have to do to pry you off of him?" Nakushita growled softly and entered a password to view the rooms. They had put passwords on everything when Wufei had broken out the last time.

"He's going to go check on Wufei himself. He told me not to follow, so I'm—"

"Going to spy on him from down here, right?" Nakushita glared at Midii, which awarded him with a loud laugh. "My god. You're just like a little cat. You follow your owner around everywhere. But when he goes off to talk to someone else, you do everything you can to make sure he doesn't forget you—" Nakushita picked up a pen off of the desk and threw it at Midii's head.

"Shut. Up."

"Of course. People never want to hear the truth…. AH!" She reached up and caught the glass coffee mug before it smashed into her head. "That would have hurt!"

"That's the point, Einstein." Midii mumbled something before going back to her work. The video now was nothing but an empty room, as it had been for the past hour. Every now and then, something would pass by the door, but nothing eventful happened.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Wufei groaned as he heard the lock in his door click open. His head still hurt from whatever had happened the day before. All he could remember was a tearing feeling inside his head, like something was trying to burst out, then he passed out.

"Are you feeling any better?" Himitsu walked into the room, leaning heavily on the door frame. He looked like he had spent his last few hours in hell. "Alright. If you don't want to talk, that's fine. But I do have a few questions for you…" Wufei cringed inwardly as he heard these words. Any time someone had said that to him, it always ended up with him being beaten to a pulp because he refused to be so weak as to endanger his friends to stop his own, pitiful pain. "Why do you fight others?"

"Because they are unjust, and they force pain onto others."

"Why?"

"Because they are weak!" Himitsu sighed. He knew exactly what each of Wufei's answers would be. He had encountered his recorded thoughts while piloting Ukiyo, and could think the way he would. What he had to do was lead the boy through a series of questions until he realized what mistakes he had made.

"Why do you fight?"

"I fight to punish those who are unjust. Those who kill for no reason."

"Is it unjust to kill so you can eat? So you can feed your loved ones? Is that injustice?" Wufei sputtered slightly at that question, knowing full well that Himitsu was talking about himself. "Is it unjust to fight for a lost family? Lost friends and loved ones? Is it unjust to fight because that is all you know? Because people have told you all your life that the other side is evil, and that you must fight to keep this evil from spreading?" Himitsu now stood directly in front of Wufei, who was sitting on the edge of his bed. "Now, if you answer no, then we are not your enemy. We have not done injustice. We are simply soldiers doing what we must, as you are." Wufei's hands were shaking now. He was taking in all of the information he was given, and denying everything, even though he knew it was true.

"Sh-shut up…" Wufei's words were so quiet, that Himitsu chose to ignore them and continue.

"If what you have said is correct, then you fight no one. You're in a battle with yourself. Everyone you've killed had a family, and a reason to fight. By killing them, you are giving more people a reason to fight, for vengeance. And if you answered you to any of my above questions, then you yourself are unjust. You pick your opponents because you are told to. You began fighting to avenge your family, who was killed because someone thought it would help bring justice. You also fight to protect those you have befriended, whether you know it or not."

"SHUT UP!!!!" Wufei lunged at Himitsu, knocking him to the floor. Before the tired man could react, Wufei began beating the shit out of him, pounding his fists into his stomach and face. Himitsu remained silent through this torture, taking it obediently without weak cries of pain, or empty threats. This action only spurred Wufei to hit harder. He couldn't understand this person. That man was shredding all he knew into oblivion, and Wufei just wanted him to shut up.

"GET OFF OF HIM!!!!" A blur of black and brown threw Wufei into the wall, knocking the wind out of him. Wufei tried to clear his vision, but he didn't have the chance before a fist slammed into his stomach with a sickening squish. Another hand in his stomach, then his chest, then his head. Wufei heard his jaw crack, and felt a sharp pain as his mouth dropped open, unable to keep it closed.

"MEISHO!" The man in front of Wufei stopped moving completely, and let loose his grip on his shirt. "Get. Out." Wufei's vision was still swimming, but he could see enough to know that Nakushita had been the one who almost killed him. "Now!" Nakushita gaped at Himitsu, then got ahold of himslef and left the room. Himitsu sighed and pulled himself off of the ground to put Wufei back in the bed. "I lied before. I am unjust as well as the rest of my team." Wufei stared at him with his jaw still hanging open. "Especially Nakushita, because he believes what you do. You must do all you can to protect those you love, even if it means you become evil yourself." Wufei wanted to say something, but he was in so much pain that he passed out, for the third time that week.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Midii sat at her computer, watching the monitors for Wufei's room, taking in what had just happened. "No one likes to hear the truth. Reality is too painful…." She let a small tear slide down her cheek as she returned to watch her precious Nanashi taking such good care of his small blond 'little one'…

To be continued…..

Mel: *grins* That's amazing! I just got one of these out yesterday too! And I didn't even have any of this pre-written!

Tsuru: *is asleep*

Mel: *sighs* Useless muse…

Tsuru: *throws a Jap-Eng dictionary at Mel, which happens to be the hardcover one….*

Mel: Itai! *holds head* what was I going to say? Oh, right. If any of you can find holes in Himitsu's little speech to Wufei, please! Don't hesitate to be ruthless! Tear the thing apart! Let me know every little detail you find wrong with it! I believe that if a friend asks for criticizm, a true friend will not hold anything back! Be a nice writer! E-mail me at Tigger88mw@aol.com I would really apriciate it! it might even give me some incentive to write the next chapter soon and skimp on my homework! ^__^