All That Was Stated in Part One, Remains True in Part Two

C & C yes please!

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Duo twisted the metal leg of the chair, turning it until it resembled a candy twist. Then he twisted it back to its normal position and repeated the processes. This had become a rather amusing past time over the past couple days. Bend the leg that way, bend it this way. He'd already made a heart out of one of the other legs.

Yes, he was bored and knew it. No one came in to visit him, perfectly understandable since he would have attacked them, all the food was delivered via slots in the wall. He had considered breaking the mirror to see who was behind it, but he knew they would just gas him again and replace it. Sigh.

"Bored, bored," he said in sing-song voice, seeing how far he could bend the leg. His strength had increased greatly in the first few days, he guessed he was better then Heero now. That thought made him grin.

Strength wasn't the only part of him that had improved. The blockage in his nose had cleared up and added an entirely new dimension to his life. He could now distinguish the four different types of chemical cleaner that had been used in his room. He could detect the laundry soap that his sheets were washed in *under* his own scent. The chair he was re-shaping smelled strongly of another male, that guy who had been in here in the beginning. He could even pick out the same scent lingering on his hands from where he'd grabbed the other, despite having washed.

Duo couldn't recognize half the things he smelled and it was rather overwhelming, even more so then his increased hearing and sight. Actually, seeing in the dark was kinda cool.

He tried to tie the leg in a bow and failed. With scowl, he shoved the chair away and scratched at the stain on his shirt. They'd given him new clothes this morning, but he'd already spilt some food on them. The reek of fish stock was annoying. "Someone could at least give a book or something. Maybe a crossword puzzle." He tugged at his braid and winced. The only shampoo available was a cheap kind that smelled awfully and made his hair dry and rough.

He jumped to his feet and sauntered over to the mirror and banged on it. Gently. "Hey, you! Think you could give me some better shampoo or something?! My hair's a wreck! Come on! Your mother was a jackass!" he stuck his fingers in his mouth and pulled downward, wagging his tongue at his reflection and at the people he knew were watching him. He considered mooning them. Chuckling, he started to turn away, but stopped half-way, glancing back. The light from the ceiling reflected in his eyes, giving off a greenish glow. He shuddered and looked away completely, going to find something to entertain himself with until lunch came.

Mmmm, maybe he could try reshaping the bed legs....

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Something was wrong. It becoming harder to draw breath, his muscles ached and burned, and his head felt thick and heavy. He sprawled on the bed, trying desperately to breath normally, but only managing harsh pants.

[It hurts....what's wrong....I can't breath....] he clutched at his chest as the constriction grew tighter. Panic blazed. [Can't breath...make stop...can't breath...] His sight became muddled, images blurring together. He trashed on the bed, fighting against whatever was causing this agony.

Something pressed against his neck, heralding a pinprick of pain and flash of heat. He jerked away from it and continued to thrash. Slowly, the discomfort began to ease, his lungs loosened, tension in his muscles seeping away.

[Air!] he thought in relief, taking big gulps of the precious stuff. He lay still for a moment, just breathing, rejoicing in this simple action. As the rest of the pain dissipated, Duo became aware of someone beside him. He quickly pushed himself up, only to be stopped by what felt like a gun on his neck.

"I wouldn't. The poison in here won't kill you, but it will make you wish you were dead. Believe me, I designed it myself." The woman informed him, the corner of her lip curled up in a cruel smirk. She stank of perfume and blood and chemicals, along with her own personal scent. If maliciousness could be given an odor, Duo was certain this was it.

"Just for me? How sweet!" he responded cheekily.

"Don't flatter yourself, I developed it for all geno-crosses." she nudged the hypro-spray a little hard on his neck. "I've come to explain a few things to you, how you answer determines whether or not you keep that witty little mind of yours." Duo's lips tightened at her threat and he remained silent.

"That's a good boy. Now, what you just experienced is the start withdrawal. You've noticed the strange taste in your food, yes? No, don't nod, my finger my slip and inject you. Just answer me."

"Yes." he hissed, disliking her more with every second.

"There's a love. Well, that taste was a drug, tailored to suit only you. Slowly but surely you have become addicted to it. Now your body needs it has much as your blood. None was put in your lunch or breakfast today, which is why you started into withdrawal. If we'd left you alone much longer you'd be dead."

"Good to know you care."

"I don't. You're just an expensive experiment and killing you straight out would be a waste of time and money."

"Honest, I like that."

The woman's mouth twitched. "You are a clever one. Listen well, if you want your freedom from us, you're going to have to work for it. There is a high call for security guards, assassins, and spies with your unique abilities. We hire you out, you do the job, you succeed and come one step closer to receiving the antidote to your addiction."

Duo's eyes narrowed. [She hadn't said how long I would have work for them. Me smells a trap. There may not even be an antidote.] his eyes flashed to the instrument in her other hand, the empty one, [Shit. I can't escape them. I'm going to have to work with this. Maybe if I can get back with Heero and the others, we should be able to come up with something.]

"Thinking bit too long, darling, my finger is getting tired."

"Not much of choice, is it?" Duo granted her with his best Yuy Death Glare (tm). Not as good as the original, but worthy enough. The woman hardly reacted. "Very well then, we'll play it your way....for now."

The woman smiled, the kind of smile that send little children running for cover. "Forever, cat-child, forever." Removing the hypro-spray, she stood easily. "Your training begins now. Lynx will show you the way." With that, she left the room with a clinking of heels.

Duo sat up completely, rubbing at his neck. [Bitch.] He pushed himself to his feet just as a pale head appeared in the doorway.

"Is it safe ta come in? Not gonna kill me, are ya?"

Duo grinned, "Not unless you push me."

"I'll keep that in mind." the boy from before smirked, moving into the room. He seemed to glide more then walk, each movement studied and graceful, not wasting a signal ounce of unnecessary energy. He moved like a dancer.

"Good idea. Are you Lynx?"

"Yup! Lets get ya some proper clothes and start ya training. Oh, yeah, what do I call you?"

Duo smirked, moving liquidly next to and past the other boy. "Call me Kitten(1)."

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"This is a gun," the man informed Duo with a hint of self importance. "You will be using this a great deal in your new line of work." He showed the weapon to the scornful Gundam pilot. It was nifty little handgun, complete with silencer for Duo and Lynx's sensitive ears.

"Really?!?" Duo bounced eagerly, braid tossing about with his movement. The man smiled one of those tolerant "Your just an idiot so I'll forgive you" smiles that are better suited to dogs.

"Yes, indeed. Now, you hold it like this, there you go, and stroke the trigger don't pull and....."

There was a series of muffled, near silent bangs and suddenly each of the man shaped targets contained perfect heart and head shots. Except one which had a smiley face.

"....urrm....I think that's enough gun training. Lets move onto knives, shall we?"

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"Wow! Where the hell did ya learn those moves?!?" Lynx gushed from his position on a table. "I mean...wow! I'm not nearly that good and I've been training for...like, weeks!"

"Oh....I picked things up here and there." Duo evaded, brushing off his black shirt. He started to head back to his room, a shower firmly in mind, when Lynx grabbed his arm.

"No, no, Kitten, you have a new place now. Right next ta mine. C'mon, I'll show ya." Jumping off the table and maintaining his grip on Duo's arm, Lynx hauled down a confusing labyrinth of hallways. After countless turns and twists, they stopped in front of a door. It was set in hallway full of them, but this one was different. For this one had been painted a particularly vivid shade of neon green.

"It glows in the dark, too." Lynx said with a certain amount of pride.

"Uhhhh...."

"Neat, uh? I painted it so I could always find it. You wouldn't *believe* how easy it is to get lost in this place.

Duo thought of the maze they had moved through to get there and decided that, yes, he most certainly could believe it. Lynx pushed open the door. Beyond was a combination living room, kitchen, and dinning room. Everything was in muted tone of beige, brown, and gold, and smelled strongly of cleaning fluids, food, Lynx, and a few other people scents. The back wall curved and was broken with eight doors. Lynx pointed to one with a neon green six point star on it.

"That's mine, ya pick whichever other one ya want. The clothes and stuff you picked out are there by the door, when you feel like putting them away." Lynx flung himself on the couch with an 'umph' and snagged the remote. "Might wanna settle in 'fore dinner." he suggested, flicking on the TV.

Duo shrugged. Why not? The room he chose held only a bed, a dresser, a desk, and an armchair. No windows. He approached the bed and drapped himself on it, a puff of fabric dust and smell of detergent accompanied his movements. He star at the ceiling above him.

[Another unfamiliar ceiling.(2)] he flipped onto his back and pressed his face into the pillow. The image of a face drifted into his thoughts. [Heero.] He missed his friends. He missed his Gundam. Most of all, he missed that stony faced, death-threat spouting psychopath. He missed Heero. Drifting between sleep and awareness, he entertained himself with fantasies of a hot spring, some alcohol, and Heero...naked.

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"I've heard its a bad idea to eat and work on the computer at the same time." Wufei remarked dryly, forced to hold his plate in his lap as the aforementioned computer was taking up most of the tiny table.

"Hn." Heero respond. Quatre lightly kicked Wufei under the table.

"Leave him alone, it was the only way I could get him to leave his room." the gentle blonde frowned, sipping gingerly at his hot tea. Wufei made a face and poked at his rice.

Heero just ignored them. "I've compiled a list of various companies and organizations that would gain something by capturing a Gundam pilot. So far, I've narrowed the list down two hundred and six."(3)

The other pilots glanced at each other, the same unspoken thought passing between them. A cross of 'He's still at it' and 'Will he ever give up?'. Locating Duo had been their main objective for the past three months, but with nary a clue in sight, hope of ever finding him was quickly fading. Wufei had already given him up for lost. Quatre, surprisingly enough, was next. Trowa figured he was dead from the beginning, but saw no harm in still searching, so long as it didn't interfere with any mission.

Heero held onto hope with a death grip. He *would* find out what had happened to Duo, even if it was just a report of his death. Something inside of him would never leave him alone if he didn't. He frowned and worked on making the list smaller.

"That's good," Trowa said, "Keep the list on file, we may need it later."

"Aa."

Quatre set his cup in a small space on the table and leaned forward. "Why don't we go out tonight? To a club or something."

"It has been awhile...." Wufei said slowly, not overly thrilled at the idea of going some place loud and crowded, but eager to go out none-the-less.

"Hmm-mmm," Quatre gave him a grateful look. "I know of the perfect place, it'll be fun."

Trowa nodded, he would go anywhere Quatre wanted. Wufei agreed as well. Everyone looked at Heero. And stared. And stared some more. Finally, Heero noticed he was the center of attention.

What were they talking about? Oh, right, going out.

"Maybe."

"Please Heero, it will be good for you." Quatre prodded.

"You guys go out, I'll think about it. If I decide to go, I will." he paused in his typing long enough to scarf down a sandwich.

The others sighed. Well, it at least it was something.

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Down in the gym built just for them, two young male tussled and fought, tearing and pulling at each other with enhanced strength, trying to see who could get the advantage. High above, in an observation deck set in a wall, an old man watched their antics with a tender heart.

His babies. They were so beautiful.

Sighing in contentment, the man lowered his sore, aging body into a nearby armchair, positioned close to the window so he could continue to see his lovely darlings. Their displays of strength and agility thrilled him beyond words. It was his theories, his research that enabled their genetic alterations. His decades of work, all devoted the enhancement of the human body. And all of it had been preverted by this trice damned Project.

His heart ached when he thought of all the failures, those wonderful, beautiful boys and girls, all dead or killed. His precious children, meant to be given the gift of super-natural body, the joys of physical perfection through the addition animal gentics into their own, of them brought to a painful, unnecessary end. He should have known better then give his research to these idiots.

But oh, how he had longed to see his theories in act. And the founders of the Project had promised him he would. Well, he had. Those that suceeded; the five with wolf and canine genes, and the three with cat genes, brought him such joy when he thought of them, observed them, but it wasn't enough to make up for the pain of all those loses. Nor did the pain end there. For Zenos (the company which ran and founded the project) had devloped drugs that would forever keep his angels under their control.

It was simply wrong and he wouldn't stand for it.

His babies deserved freedom! They were still human and all humans had the rights to make their own lives. No matter the cost, no matter what happened, he would make sure they got it.

Heaving himself to his feet, he returned to his work on the antidote. (4)

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The nurse glance up as Lynx and Duo, both covered with bruises, sratches, and (in Duo's case) bite marks, walked into the infirmary. The two boys had wide grins on their faces and were looking rather breathless.

"Not you two again." she sighed, hauling out the bandaids and disinfectant.

They just beamed at her.

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Dr. Arashino leaned over her co-worker's shoulder, nearly shoving her breasts in his face. "A new job?"

"Hai," the man swallowed thickly, "Security, two nights only. They're expecting a break in on either day."

"Very well. Send in the Cats. Now," she flung her leg over his chair and straddled his lap. "Shall we discuss something else? Like my up coming promotion?"

"Hai....."

"Again? We just had an assignment yesterday! I only *just* got the blood out my hair!"

"Sorry, its orders. Oh, yeah, you have to take Wraith with you."

"Whoo-ooh, homicidal bitch-kitty. This jus' keeps on gettin' better an' better."

"At least you don't have to work with a wolf."

"Don't push it, pal."

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Toshi was feeling pretty confident. He had already made it past the outer defensives of Mugendai Enterprises and into the building itself. According to the initial reports and scouting, there were only three guards protecting the inner structure. Simple.

He ran down the hall had a half-crouch, keeping an eye out for the guards and any cameras that might still be online. He skidded to a stop at an intersection of halls. From his memory of the map, he knew he still had a right turn, three left turns, and another few hundred feet to go before reaching the room where the information was stored. He continued forward.

There was a sound behind him, the quick shuffling of feet. He spun around. Nothing. Frowning, he scanned the darkened area best as he was able. He could have turned on the little pin-point flash light attached to his right glove, but feared alerting the guards. When nothing showed, he figure it had been his imagination and moved on.

He made his first turn, counting the doorways until he reached the next one. Once again, he heard a shuffling behind him. And again. He twisted and spun, almost catching something out of the corner of his eyes, but it flitted away before he could spot it. Panic sped up his heart, sending it racing. His breath grew short. Forgeting the guards, he snapped on the light and waved it around franticly. Nothing, nothing at all.

[No, there is something there! I can hear it, I can feel it!] Tappings and soft hissing added itself to the shuffling. Something scrapped arcoss his back.

Letting out an involentary scream, he yanked his gun free from its sheath. "Whoever you are, stay back! I have a gun!" he shouted, voice hitching slightly with his fear. A soft chuckle sounded to his left. He aimed and fired repeatedly, gunshots echoing in the space. He lifted his hand in the direct of the shots, illuminating the several neat holes in the wall.

There was another laugh, this one deep and threatening. Toshi began to shake, losing all sense. A touch ghosted over the back of his neck and he lost it, shoting all around. Anything that lingered in the hallway would have surely been hit by the flying bullets, but there was no reassuring screams of pain or explosions of flesh and bone.

Finally, there were no more bullets, only the 'click, click' of an empty clip. Silence reined. Toshi's breathing was the only sound. Slowly, the panic and adrenaline ran down, allowing some intelligence to return. [Whoever, whatever that was, its dead now.] He began seaching the area with his flashlight, looking for the body.

A pale face with flashing eyes appeared suddenly before him.

There was only a brief glimbse before he was pounced, arms twisted back, weight straddling his back. One arm snapped, sending agnoy searing through him. He sreamed and thrashed, only increasing the hurt.

"Hold still, stupid, it won't do you any good." the person pinning him down informed him. He twisted his head back, getting an impression of long reddish hair and a femine face. There was something wrong about the eyes and smile he couldn't place, couldn't get his mind to focus on. The person let out a pericing whistle that seemed to stap straight through his skull.

A stray thought drifted through his fuddled brain. [At least Petora can still make it through.] He slowly became aware of footsteps. He somehow managed to get his eyes focused enough to noticed the dark shape standing in front of him. The angle his hands were held at caused his flashlight to reveal black clothing, blood covered hands, and brown braid hanging over a slim torso.

"Caught one for you, Kitten." the woman on his back said with obvious pride.

"Very good, Wraith," a deep male voice returned, sounding slightly disgusted with something, "I go the other one." he extened his coated fingers.

Toshi's breath chocked in his throat. No....Petora.....

"Great! Job finished, lets kill this one and go home."

Hands closed around his head and twisted.

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Duo scrubbed at the blood on his hands, watching it run down the sink. He wouldn't stop until every last bit was off. He couldn't stand the smell or the feel of it against his skin. Cleaniness had become a bit of an obsession for him. He suspected he had something to do with the alteration to his body.

Lynx had admitted to some behavior changes aswell; mainly his fasination for heights and absolute love of the chase. According to him, he'd been a quiet, mild mannered kid, with no particular intrest in fighting. Now he adored the physical challage of battling another person more then anything else. Hell, look at Wraith! There were time where she was so much like a cat it was unnerving. She wasn't allowed out of the compound with him or Lynx as escort and not allowed in puplic period. Her in-human appearance made that impossible.

"Oi! Kitten!"

Duo glanced over his shoulder, pulling himself free from his thoughts to notice Lynx's scent. "What is it?"

"I wanna go out!! We've been working to much freakin' much an' I wanna get away!" he voice took on a horrified quality, "Besides, Wraith hit on me again....."

Duo laughed. Checking his hands to make sure they were clean enough, he dried them on a nearby towel. "Sure, why not? Lets go have some fun!"

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Heero clicked off the laptop for the first time in days and picked up the address Quatre had left him. Aw hell, why not?

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A half an hour later, he arivied at the given destination. The music was loud, the people were tacky, the alcohol was cheap. Not bad. Blending easily with the crowd, Heero slipped inside. His scaning eyes quickly located the other pilots.

Quatre and Trowa were dancing--or at least, Quatre was dancing, Trowa was just sort of shifting around, eyes rivited to the blonde pilot. Wufei was sitting at a table, having managed to find some drunk to rave at. Catching each of their eyes long enough to let them know he was there, Heero went to bar and ordered a mild drink.

The music pounded in his ear, obstructing his thinking, which was for once a blessing. The bartender place his drink on the counter. He snagged it and lifted it to his mouth, observing the entire area in several quicksweeps. His glance passed by the entrance--and he froze, glass half raised.

There, by the door, multi-colored lights dancing off a hip length braid and reflecting in violet eyes.

Duo.

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(1) The source of the title. And no, don't ask me where it came from, just don't. ~_~;;

(2) Evengalion quote!!!!! ::flashes victory sign::

3) Popular, aren't they? (you do know I'm making this up? ~.~)

4) Everyone who thought bitch-queen really had an andidote to the drug, say"Aye!" ::dead silence::