Mel: *grins* Yay!

Tsuru: you're too happy…

Mel: It won't last long, promise!

Tsuru: *sighs*

Mel: Cue the disclaimer and the warning! I want to get this baby started!

Disclaimer: *looks around* Nope. Still don't own it. *checks in okane box* $8.05… don't think I'm making any money off of this…

Tsuru: O.o What happened to the $17 you had at the beginning? And what about the $40 you got from me?

Mel: Uh… I went shopping?

Daichi: She bought the first 5 episodes of Gundam Wing on DVD so she could watch it, then she got the Blind Target and the Ground Zero manga.

Mel: *grins* how about another DVD says I get the next chapter out before Sunday?

Tsuru: No.

Mel: *pouts*

Warning: Not nearly as much Duo torture as the last chapter. *pouts* But there is a little overlapping of view points. Be aware when you read.

Mel: *shoves Tsuru out of the way* Let me at it!!!! I wanna kill this plot!

Heero sat in his apartment in front of his laptop, eating cold sesame chicken over stale rice. He hadn't bothered to cook fresh food because Duo wasn't there. There was no point in filling the fridge with more leftovers when previous ones hadn't been eaten yet, and there was no one there to complain.

It had been 3 days since Duo was captured. He would normaly have gotten home by now.

Heero looked over at the clock in the lower left hand corner of the moniter. 3:15, exactly 4 minutes later than the last time he had looked. Sighing, Heero shut down his laptop and flopped down on his bed, stomach first. He reached under the bed and pulled out his true prized posetion, his sketchbook.

Opening it up to a fresh sheet, Heero began to move his pencil along the clean white paper, slowly forming an image that looked exactly like the room in front of him, except for the fact that he was sitting in the chair at the desk, looking out the window.

Heero always drew when he was bored. It helped to pass the time while waiting for the next mission, plus it gave him an opportunity to clear his mind.

The loud clap of gunfire snapped him out of his thoughts and he ran to the window. What he saw didn't surprise him nearly as much as it scared him.

"Duo?"

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

Duo walked slowly through an empty neighborhood, down an unpaved road. He was still lacking proper clothes, and his bound hands still tightly held the gun he had stolen. Somewhere along the line, his rational mind kicked in and told him 2 things. The first, he had to stop running like a maniac and retain his strength if he wanted to get anywhere. The second, he needed to go back to Heero. He had no idea why, but it seemed like the most logical thing to do in his still numb mind.

After a day and a half of walking, Duo was finally at the edge of the town Heero and he had been staying in. Just two blocks away from… from what? He wasn't quite sure. What was he going to do when he got back? Take another mission? Most likely. He was a gundam pilot, after all. He should just go back to work like he always had.

People on the side of the road stared at Duo as he passed. A few women cried out in surprise, and one got the attention of. an officer. The man approached Duo with a scowl on his face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, kid?" Duo looked just past the man and could see the building Heero and he were supposed to be staying in. "Hey! You!" The officer put a rough hand on each of his shoulders, making the boy jump.

The gun went off in his hands, sending a bullet flying into the sidewalk, shooting splinters of the pavement up to cut through the skin on his legs, and those of the surprised man in front of him. The back force of the shot also sent Duo off balance, knocking him to the ground. He laid there until the officer yanked him up onto his feet and reached down to take the gun from him. The boy's hands were too stiff to let go of the metal object in his grasp, even if he wanted to. After a few moments of trying to get away to the building, Duo pressed the gun into the gut of the man in front of him. The man stopped moving as Duo's numb fingers pulled the trigger again and again, only to emit the sound of the hammer hitting an empty cartridge. At this point, the officer had had enough. He pulled out his own gun and pressed it up to Duo's head.

"What the hell are you doing? Drop the gun right now!" Duo wasn't afraid of the gun pressed against his head. It had happened before. Besides, he was Death. He had nothing to worry about. "I said drop the gun!" Duo's fingers twitched as he tried to comply, but they wouldn't move. The officer finally reached down and wrenched it out of his stiff fingers himself. The action tore open most of the cuts on his hands, and cracked his dry skin around his knuckles. The blood surprised the guard, and he lowered his gun, still keeping a tight grip on Duo's shoulders. "What happened to you, kid?" Duo looked up over the man's shoulder and watched as someone darted out of the building and ran towards him.

"H-Heero….." The word was only formed by moving his lips while he exhaled. His vocal cords were still frozen and he couldn't speak properly.

"Hey, kid?" Duo felt suddenly tired, the effects of walking nonstop for a day and a half without food or water finally taking effect. His body went limp on him, making him fall to the side out of the officer's grip. Heero arrived just in time to keep him from slamming his head into the broken pavement. "Do you know this guy?"

"Yes. He's my friend." Heero was in shock at the state of Duo's pale body. His skin was cracked and bleeding in many places, and long red scratches and scars crisscrossed his white skin. His hands and feet were bloody messes, and his hair was loose, tangled and matted. The handcuffs were still clasped tightly around his wrists.

"Did… did he come from the complex that blew up the other day?" Heero looked up at the officer, unsure of what to say.

"….yes…." A smile creeped across the man's face as he reached down to undo the handcuffs.

"You two were responsible for the 'accident' at that place a few days before, weren't you?" Heero gently lifted Duo up in his arms, grunting softly. "I knew it. You two are heroes to this town. If there's anything I can do to help, just ask. We're all right behind you." Heero looked at the man blankly for a few moments before shaking his head.

"No. We were just leaving." Heero took Duo up to his room, receiving many odd stares from the people he passed as he went. He laid Duo down on his bed while he sent an e-mail to Dr. J.

02 pilot recovered

Identities discovered

Relocate?

While waiting for a reply, Heero filled the tub with warm water, then placed Duo in it gently. Letting him soak for a few minutes, Heero came back to find his reply.

Affirmative

Rendezvous with pilot 04 at the attached coordinates.

Heero quickly memorized the numbers before deleting the message. He then proceeded to cleanse the many wounds that covered Duo's body. While he worked, he noticed a sticky substance trailing down from his rear, down the inside of his thighs. He pushed the information aside to be brought up again when the time called for it. Right now, he needed to get Duo clothed, then get out of this town before they got into even more trouble. Maybe he could ask what happened when Duo woke up…

To be continued…

Mel: *grins* yet another chapter finished! I may complete this series by the end of the month!

Daichi: Question.

Mel: What is it Daichi-chan?

Daichi: What's up with Heero's sketchbook? I thought he was on his laptop 24/7.

Mel: Well, that's what most people like to think. But I have to admit, even I'm not on my computer that long. I like to do something for myself everyone and a while. I draw and write in notebooks. So I wanted to give Heero something to do.

Daichi: So you have him draw?

Mel: Hai. It could become important later….

Tsuru: Or she might just have mixed up her stories again…

Mel: *defensively* I did not! In Kioku Soshitsu he writes songs and draws and writes…. So why can't he draw in this one?

Tsuru: Forget I said anything…..

Mel: *grins* Too late for that! *continues to pester Tsuru*