Disclaimer: . . .

Authors note:

Thai: Ok guys . . . what do you get when you put 6 former Gundam pilots in a room together with a karaoke machine?

Duo: Uh . . . I dunno . . . really REALLY bad singing from Wufei?

Wufei: HEY!

Duo: Sorry dude . . . I'm only telling the truth!

Areia: Thai . . . could you please tell me what the HELL is going on with your character structure?! I'm acting like a baby! Duo's been perverse! Wufei hasn't said anything about justice in a LONG time and Trowa's acting as if his hormones have taken over his brain by building a small fort there! WTF?

Thai: ::shrugs:: It's fun, ne?

Areia: NO!

Duo: Anyways . . . back to the karaoke machine . . .

Thai: Well . . . it's not really a karaoke machine . . .

Duo: Then what?

Thai: All shall be revealed!

Duo: Ok, so by the end of this chapter, we'll know, right?

Thai: Wrong. This is a premonition of things to come!

Duo: You're just . . . too evil for words!

Thai: I know!

Wait and See.

By Bubblegum Thai.

Chapter 13; Unforgivable.

* * *

Trowa Barton, OZ soldier leant against the cold wall outside of a cell. Duo huddled in a corner, sobbing into his knees brokenly as his cuffed hands tightened their grip on black material. Trowa glanced up and down the corridor before turning his face slightly to the door,

"Duo . . .?" He whispered,

"T . . . Tro'?"

"Yes."

"Never figured you'd be the one to . . . h . . . haul my ass outta here!"

"Shhhhhh. Can you hold on for another hour or so?"

"I . . . guess . . . just . . . don't let them . . . not again . . ."

"Yes. I know. I can't promise anything, you know that, right Duo?"

Duo sniffed and nodded, Trowa caught it in the thin slither of light before turning and returning to his post. As he walked away, he passed a young brunette officer. Her hair was tied in a low ponytail, her cap tilted over her eyes, covering most of her face in shadow. Sapphire eyes peered at him as they passed one another and Trowa paused,

"Are you going to the prisoner?" He asked. She nodded slightly in acknowledgment, "Where will you be taking him?"

"Nowhere. I have been told to ask him some questions."

"Will you torture him?"

"No."

He nodded and continued on his way.

An hour later, he returned and the female officer he had passed earlier was there also, fiddling with the electronic lock,

"What are you . . .?" He began, more curious than stern but he soon found himself staring down the barrel of a gun,

"Trowa Barton?" She questioned,

"Yes."

"What are your intentions here? Have you really become a member of OZ . . . or are you like me?"

He frowned slightly before she pulled off the uniform cap revealing the newest pilot, 06, Areia Stevenson, pilot of the Gundam Akutenshi. He smirked slightly,

"I'm just like you . . ." He answered carefully. Her gun remained poised before him, "Areia . . . I'm not going to hurt you or Duo . . ."

"Don't you think that OZ have done enough to him already? He'd rather die than suffer that again!"

"Yes . . . I know . . ."

Areia narrowed her eyes at him,

"How do I know that I can trust you."

"You don't. I give you my word, as a pilot."

She smirked suddenly, lowering her gun and tossing it at him,

"How do you intend to seal your word?" She asked cautiously.

He leant forwards gently brushing his lips against hers before stepping back again.

"Like I said . . . you have my word . . ."

"Keep me covered, Trowa." She sighed, turning away. He nodded as she continued to fiddle with the lock, "Got it." She hissed as the door slid open. The low light fell upon the quivering image of Duo, huddled in the corner of the cell, "Duo?"

"'Rei?" Duo's head jerked up, wiping his eyes he moved into a low, defensive position like a cat as the slender girl moved to his side,

"Yes. It's me."

"But I thought . . . I thought you were . . ."

"I was . . .?"

"Gone . . ."

Areia smirked, barely visible in the bad lighting, her shadowed face looking striking as her eyes lids lowered softly, sapphire eyes forming seductive slits,

"The Akutenshi never leaves those she cares about . . . what happened to me is behind us now . . . I never want to relive that."

Duo smiled shakily, standing before falling again,

"My back!" He groaned, placing trembling hands on the stone floor for balance, "Areia, you can't do this on your own!"

"Oh, I can't, huh?"

"No! Areia! You can't support me, even if you tried!"

Wrapping an arm around Duo's waist, she decided to test his theory, helping him stand and move towards the cell door,

"Really now?" She teased, resettling her cap a top of her head, "Trowa. Take care of the rest; I'll get him out of here."

"Be careful."

Both western pilots stopped, looking at him with shock. Trowa blushed slightly, shrugging,

"Just go!" He snapped, turning away, tapping random buttons on the electronic lock to close the door again, "Wait."

"Huh?" Duo looked at him over his shoulder,

"Areia. Shoot me."

"Pardon?"

"Make it look real. Shoot me."

Areia stared at him, her mouth open slightly before letting Duo support himself against a wall for a minute. She pulled out her gun, pointing it at Trowa,

"A silencer . . ." Duo whispered, "Clever girl."

"Agent Barton of OZ . . . I'm . . . executing you under . . . orders from . . . a superior officer . . ." She whispered, her eyes watering slightly,

"Just do it." Trowa muttered, turning his face away, "This is a war and death is expected for peace."

She nodded slightly before moving her gun slightly and firing. She hit him in the shoulder, sending him flying back before replacing her gun and trunign back to Duo who stared at her hard,

"How could you . . .?" He muttered bitterly, "How could you kill Trowa? After everything he's . . ."

"Duo . . . shut up . . ."

Darkness consumed Trowa.

* * *

Awakening slowly, Trowa sat up, yawning. A figure stirred beside him and he smirked, his bruised love flinging an arm over his waist,

"Morning." He breathed, as she opened her eyes a slit,

"Sleep . . . well . . .?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Pretty well."

"What did you dream about?"

"Heero."

Trowa looked at her shocked,

"Uhm, why?"

"I have NO clue . . . I was having a conversation with him about . . . you . . ." She shrugged, closing her eyes and settling against the pillows again, "You?"

"Our first kiss." He smirked slightly,

"At the party?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah . . . we were dancing at that party and you kissed me . . ."

"No . . . before that . . ."

"We kissed before that? That's impossible . . . before college . . . I hadn't seen you since the Mareimeia incident." She stated, blinking,

"Before that."

"But we never . . . oh . . ." She blushed, "Oh THAT kiss!"

"Yes . . . that kiss."

"You were bad Trowa . . . you shouldn't have done that! You were with Quatre; I had Duo which kinda makes me wonder about Wufei and Heero . . ." She trailed off smirking slightly, "It was wrong . . . but . . . yet, good at the same time."

"You shot me."

She snickered slightly,

"Yeah . . . I did!" She giggled,

"You were supposed to kill me."

"But, I didn't. I don't understand it. Killing people hadn't been a problem up until then. But, I couldn't kill you."

"Perhaps it was a sign."

"Perhaps . . ." She whispered sleepily, her eyes still closed.

- - -

The sun was bright and the five men were gathered around the BBQ towards the back of the garden,

"I love barbeque!" Duo stated blankly,

"You would." Heero replied,

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you like your food, idiot!" Wufei snapped,

"Yeah . . . well . . . eh!" Duo stuck his tongue out at his companions before looking over at the group of girls who were all huddled together,

"What do you think they're up to?" Quatre asked warily,

"Who knows . . . but there are more of them than us, can I just point that out!" Wufei said shakily looking at the group.

Sally, Areia, Relena, Dorothy, Hilde, Noin and Catherine all stood gossiping,

"Hilde . . . why are you asking me?" Areia asked,

"Because . . . well . . . sloppy seconds?" Hilde mumbled sadly,

"Hilde! It was 6 years ago! I think I'm over it."

"Yes Hilde!" Relena added,

"Stay outta this prissy!" Areia joked,

"Prissy?!" Relena growled,

"Yes! Prissy!"

"Ok . . . calm down . . ." Sally and Noin said together,

"Y'know . . . Areia . . . I just can't seem to believe that you and Trowa have managed to stay together!"

Areia raised an eyebrow,

"And why's THAT?!"

"We all thought that you were going to mess around with Duo!"

Areia looked shocked,

"Pardon?!"

"Well . . . we placed bets! Didn't we girls? Hilde won because she said that you'd stay faithful!"

Areia looked at Hilde, who shrugged,

"At least I had faith!" She mumbled sheepishly,

"Who else?" Areia ground out,

"Me." Sally admitted,

"Anyone else?"

"The others shook their heads,

"You three . . ." Areia growled, "Get out of my house . . . actually . . . forget it . . . I'll go!" She turned and walked inside. After a few seconds the front door slammed shut and the sound of a motorbike could be heard fading away in the distance, fast.

Trowa looked up,

"What?" Heero asked, noting the man beside him flinch,

"I just heard my bike . . . and Areia's gone."

All of a sudden Catherine ran up to her brother and whispered in his ear,

"Duo, stay here and look after things, alright?"

"Sure, man." Duo nodded confused as Trowa jogged out the side gate, hopping into his car he took off in the direction the bike had gone.

Sally walked to her husband and sadly frowned at the ground,

"What did you do?" Wufei asked sadly, rubbing his temples,

"We made a bet . . . on Areia . . . a while ago and Relena just blabbed."

"What was the bet?"

"Well, I said that she'd end up leaving Trowa for Duo, Relena said that she'd just sleep with Duo and then go back to Trowa and Hilde said that nothing would happen."

Duo glared at her, shaking his head,

"Sally, what you've done . . . it's . . . unforgivable!"

- - - To be continued . . .

Ah well . . . and this is why, you should never make bets on the expense of your friends!"