Author's Note: Hmm, yup. This took me a while to get out. Sorry bout that. It's been the last two weeks of school and I was busy unfortunately.
Disclaimer: Not mine, lemelone.
Dedicated to Talathia for giving me a rather amusing idea.
-~*^*~-
"Alex Muller," Duo breathed softly, trying to remember. It had been an ambush of sorts, if one person could be considered and ambush. No one should have been at the base. It was supposed to be evacuated. He had foolishly gotten out of his Gundam, taking the scientist's claim as fact. G'd been wrong, very wrong. He'd struggled, but it hadn't been enough. The pilot folded his arms on the table and rested his forehead in the crook of his arm as the memory returned to him. Muller had knocked him to the ground and started choking him. It hurt to try breathing, it had hurt not to breathe. Eventually, he had welcomed the darkness that enveloped him. It had been so warm, so safe, a relief from the pain.
The voice came then. He hadn't been able to see it's owner, but he felt truth radiate from the low tones. There had been a familiarity as well, as if he had heard it once before long ago. He had known who the being was even if he couldn't see him. He'd met him before, they'd been friends in a way. Allies at least. Shinigami. That's who it had been. He'd been talking to Shinigami just after he had drowned in the blackness surrounding him.
Duo's head shot up, violet eyes searching the room frantically. He'd been dreaming of the god of death. He shivered slightly at the morbid truth. He'd made a deal with the deity and he couldn't even remember it. Was he even supposed to yet? Would he ever? The boy sat there quietly for a moment, lost in thought. He was dead. He had to be, all the evidence pointed to that one conclusion. But if he was dead, why was he still sitting there, still breathing... wait. "I'm not breathing, am I? I've only been breathing when I thought I should be. I haven't been breathing constantly," he groaned to himself letting his head fall back down to rest on his arms.
"Duo? Are you sick? Is that why you're having trouble breathing? Do I need to contact Sally Po?" Quatre asked in concern as he walked in partway through Duo's muttering.
"Wha?" the boy in question's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't been paying attention. He should have been able to hear Quatre coming. As it was, he'd almost blown his cover. He didn't want the others to know just how much of it he'd pieced together. It was probably better they didn't know. "Oh, no. No, I'm fine. I just need some food I think. Or some rest. Maybe both. I think I'll make a sandwich and go watch some TV. Don't worry 'bout me, Q-man. I'm doing good," Duo jumped up, grinning manically as he whipped up a turkey sandwich and raced out of the room.
Quatre blinked as the whirlwind of black flashed past him. Something was up, but Duo definitely wasn't sick. First of all, Duo never got sick, and second, if Duo were sick he wouldn't have been able to move that fast. The blonde shook his head. He'd talk to Heero about it later. The stoic pilot knew more about what was going on than anyone.
Duo sighed in relief when he wasn't followed. He flopped down onto the couch and flipped the TV on with the remote sitting on the side table. Yes, it was better not tell them everything. They already knew too much. They'd use him as a weapon. They'd exploit his capabilities. It was one thing for him to do so, since they were his powers after all. But, he didn't want to be used by his friends. He'd let WuFei think he'd been joking about Treize in the bath. If the others knew he was capable of learning someone's whereabouts just by thinking of them, he'd cease to be a person to them. He'd simply be a tool, the means to an end. If he wanted to he could just go after Treize and the other officials by himself, but...
"Great! Now I'm thinking like WuFei! Damn Justice freak," Duo muttered crossly taking a savage bite out of the sandwich. "I can't just go out and kill them, but if I don't more will die. I'll kill him for doing this to me, for forcing me to make this kind of decision!" Duo glowered at the screen. He snickered once, the sound growing into a full blown laugh. How was he supposed to kill Death? Or Janice for that matter? They were already dead themselves!
"Correct. You can't kill me, little one. I'm immortal... As are you," Janice perched lightly on the back of the couch, silently laughing as the young boy toppled off of it in surprise. "Jumpy are we?" he tsked as he offered Duo a hand off of the floor.
Duo glared at the hand, but took it anyway. "What deal did I make with the devil?"
"None. It's hard to do when no Devil exists," the angel like creature chuckled. Humans had things so backwards sometimes. "Just like there is no God per se. There are many gods and goddesses, but there is no single one who runs the show, so to speak. It would be too easy for one to stray and then there would be no one to guide them back. It's safer to have many. One keeps another in check."
Duo rolled his eyes as the man grinned. He sat back down on the couch crossing his arms over his chest. "Alright, then. So Death is not the Devil. Correct?"
"Yes, correct," Janice nodded. Duo grasped things quickly. He was grateful for that. He was even more grateful that the new found power in the boy had not gone to his head. He knew of many humans who would have exploited it and used it to gain power. Not Duo. Duo used it reasonably. He was interested in testing it than truly using it. He knew he'd been right in choosing the boy. He would be fair and just.
"So what deal did I make with Death then? With Shinigami," that was the name he had been asked to be called. It seemed less fearful to him, but maybe that was because he only knew a few Japanese phrases. He was sure Shinigami would have a greater effect on Heero or any other native to the language and culture. Shinigami didn't want him to be afraid of him. There was something else that he wanted of him.
"In time," the angel shrugged tossing Duo a secretive smile. "You knew that would be the answer."
"Yes," and he had known. That was always the answer and would be until the time came.
-~*^*~-
Duo glared over his shoulder at the short portly Mayor. OZ would be attacking soon and the man flat out refused to inform the colony. If he told the colony, the civilians would be able to escape. This was a war, but that didn't mean so many innocent people had to die. He flipped the switch to the intercom system on. "Attention! L2, Oz is once again attacking! The ships are ready to deport. Gather only what you need to survive. There is enough room for everyone. Leave no one Behind! Not even the orphans! I repeat. Oz is preparing to attack! You have thirty minutes! There is no time to waste!"
The man stared up at the slight boy. How was it possible that he could change his voice to sound exactly like his own? The Mayor swallowed nervously as the boy stalked towards him. "You were going to let them die. I should kill you for that, but that would be too easy. You deserve to suffer for the pain you've caused this colony. There is no reason that they shouldn't have prospered just as all the others had. You were the reason they have been kept in poverty!"
"Who... who are you? How did you do that?" he huddled in the corner trying to escape the eerie violet gaze. He swore those eyes could see his soul, judge his worth, find him lacking.
"Do what? Steal your voice? An artist never reveals his secrets. Neither do terrorists. I grew up here. I'll be damned if I let you continue to run things the way you have been," Duo kept his voice low, darkness lurking just below it's surface. "Sleep," the command was promptly obeyed as the boy smirked. He placed a small hand over the man's forehead, willing him to change, to become the leader worthy of the L2 people. He wasn't positive it would work, but it was worth a try. If nothing came from it, he'd have the man eliminated. L2 would once again become strong after the war ended. He'd have a home to go back to.
-~*^*~-
Treize was dead, yet the war was not over. Duo kept more secrets as the days wore on. No one could tell if the loud mouthed pilot had finally figured out the puzzle or not. He wouldn't say. Even Heero hadn't been able to pry any information from him. Either by straightforward interrogating or a roundabout way of it, none was to be had. Even Heero hadn't been able to trick Duo into a false security and cause him to slip out a new bit of information.
Duo had thought about telling Heero, but had decided to wait until after the war was over. They would win soon. He was sure of it. No member of Oz was safe from Duo's mind. Even the John Smiths they employed. He'd tried finding one a few months back, but had instead found himself swamped with images of every John Smith in the galaxy all at once. After his headache had diminished he had tried again.
*-*-*
"John Smith... uhm... The father of Suzie Q," Duo tried to remember bits and pieces of one specific John Smith that he had seen images of. "He lives in Arizona," violet eyes squeezed closed as he tried to concentrate. He smiled ruefully when he finally succeeded in singling out the John Smith he had wanted. He was currently at work on the 37th floor of a Kodak conglomerate building.
"So. I need to actually know exactly which one I want in order to find them. Otherwise, I find all of them... at the same time," he grimaced. There were simply too many John Smiths. Well that was one test he'd never try again. Why were there so many of them to begin with? "No one has any imagination," Duo scoffed settling back into his pilot seat. It was a long flight to the base and he had set the mecca on autopilot so he could run some tests on himself. He'd discovered that his hearing was at his command. He could hear as far away as he wanted and had figured out how to single out certain sounds, certain voices.
That was how he had learned of the planned attack on L2, his home. He was satisfied with the results of his effort to save the people. There hadn't been a single casualty to the colony or the Gundams. A severe dent had been left in OZ's army. OZ was slowly, but surely dying. The rebels would win the war. That much was evident now. Duo wondered why they bothered to fight when there was no hope left for them. It seemed so pointless. Maybe they did so because they knew nothing else. Just like him.
*-*-*
Duo had no idea what he'd do when the war ended. Before it'd started, he'd been a street rat, an orphan. The only other life he'd known was that of a soldier. Did a soldier even have a place in a world where peace reigned?
TBC...
Thank you to all those who reviewed!
~Harlequin Light, Forever Duo's Girl/TaraSaturn, Nelia(as usual hehe), Vic, and Talythia Starseeker!
TaraSaturn: I hope this chappy didn't leave you disappointed!
Nelia: Yup it is, isn't it? Hehe yeah Duo is dangerous on his own no matter where he is it seems. LOL I'm sure seeing Treize did scar him. It'd scar me, mind you not that I don't like him, I do. I just wouldn't want to see him in the nude myself. The dream isn't really as bad as it seems at the moment. I keep leaving chunks out.
Vic: Nice job. Was rather obvious, huh? I was rather shocked no one picked up on it sooner.
And last but not least, Talythia: Don't worry, I know the first one wasn't intended as a flame, but the way it was phrased truly made it sound like one. As least you aren't the person who reviewed one of my others and simply said "This story is bad." That ticked me off seeing as how it was my first fic ever. Not all flames are like that though. I see them as being anything offensive. I'll apologize for calling you narrow minded, but I never claimed someone insults something I've done or that a friend has done.
Hehe, I would write it in Japanese except I don't know enough of it to do so. My school doesn't offer it and neither does my college so I'm still working on finding a course or two. The Japanese in the story, I see Heero using it because he is Japanese, but I also see the others picking up a few simple phrases. I use 'nani' all the time along with some French stuff because I took that for five years. But... I'll go back through it and take a look at my use of it. It is possible that I overdid it a little, now that I think of it. Duo wouldn't know 'Ai shiteru'. I somehow doubt that he would have heard Heero use it before.
I agree with your view on the way people review, not that I can say I do much better, but I try. Nope! :D Don't need constant praise. Actually I had a review earlier in the story about WuFei and I ended up changing how I had him written in.
Actually, I always sorta saw one as being rather pointless. If he's trying to attack someone on one side of him, another could easily attack from the other side. So that's why I gave him two scythes. Plus I had this picture in my mind of part of the scene which I may draw someday when I get the time.
John Smith, eh? Hmmmm... I don't know how it would work at the moment. I might have to try working that out. It'll keep me occupied for a little while.
You keep me on my toes. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story as I get it written. I do appreciate your reviews. Oh, question. What's netspeak? You mentioned that last time and I wasn't too sure exactly what it was.