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DEATH BECOMES HIM
By Winter Weil

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CHAPTER ONE
Memories Passed
A GUNDAM WING FANFICTION
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Disclaimer:
All rights to Gundam Wing and its characters belong to
whoever they belong to. sweatdrop. The characters of this series
are used without permission only for the purpose of entertainment.
This fanfiction is not meant for sale or profit.
All original characters are copyright to the author. Don't use
these characters without contacting the author first.

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"So, what's the mission of the day, o fearless leader?"

Heero ignored Duo as he bounced into the kitchen, searching for food
as usual. The Gundam pilot remained bent over his laptop, his eyes
scanning the articles on the screen before him.

Quatre quietly hid a smile behind his cup of morning tea. He enjoyed
watching Heero and Duo; it was odd, the way the Deathscythe pilot
so easily brought Heero out of his shell, without seemingly trying.
And without Heero noticing. /Fascinating, / he thought to himself.
He had come to enjoy this morning ritual that had developed over
the few weeks they had been at this particular safehouse. Though he
would certainly *never* point it out to Heero. The Wing pilot would
strangle him for even *suggesting* that he may have feelings,
however small, for the braided pilot.

Duo thunked a bowl down on the table along with a box of cereal and
went to rummage through the refrigerator. His long braid slid over
his shoulder as he bent to search the lower shelves.

"Hey, Heero," he asked, his voice slightly muffled, "what happened
to the milk?"

Heero snorted softly, his fingers clicking on the computer before
him. "You asked me that yesterday," he replied. "And the day before
that. You finished it last week."

The braided pilot muttered a curse as he removed himself from the
refrigerating unit. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's dry
cereal." He sighed and turned a chair around, seating himself in it
backwards. He stared morosely at the empty bowl in front of him.
"How can you stand it, Quatre? All that damn money sitting around,
and you can't even use it to buy milk? I'd be stark raving *mad* by
now."

"You *are* stark raving mad," Heero commented.

Quatre chuckled and broke in before Duo could respond with something
snide. "We have to keep low, you know that. We're in the poorer
section of the colony, so we can't go around throwing money
everywhere. We have to try and budget it, so we appear more
normal."

Duo snorted. Lack of food tended to make him testy. "Yeah, and what
about that lady we saw buying five gallons of milk last week?"

The blonde pilot could see Heero was visibly restraining himself,
and he had to admit he was doing admirably.

"She was buying for a family of ten, Duo. She was also buying the
milk for a month." The Wing pilot shut the laptop off and snapped
it shut. "Not for a week."

Duo began fiddling with his braid, mouthing obscenities to himself.
Quatre smiled and took another sip of his tea. /The two of
them.....it amazes me sometimes. Heero wouldn't let just anyone get
away with half the things he lets Duo get away with./ He suppressed
a chuckle. /Only Duo./

"We have a mission."

"Aw, not me! I just got a date with this *really* sweet chick
tomorrow night. I've been working on her all month!"

The Wing pilot ignored Duo's comment, and the scathing look that
followed. "OZ is mass-producing heat-seeker missiles for the Mobile
Doll units at Colony C-317 in the L2 cluster."

Duo blinked once before responding. "So?"

"*So*, these missiles have a proto-type guidance system that will
work in harmony with the Doll's targeting system."

Quatre nodded knowingly. "So not only are they heat-seekers, they
can lock on specifically programmed targets." He shook his head.
"Ingenious. I didn't imagine OZ could take the Doll's computer
system that far." He set down his teacup. "How well do they work?"

"Well enough that we can't afford to let OZ continue producing them.
We'll have to wipe their computers files, as well as self-detonate
the ones already made. OZ will just move the base to another
location and continue producing unless we wipe the programming
blueprints."

"Colony C-317, huh?" The Deathscythe pilot flipped his braid over
his shoulder. "Isn't that where Wufei is?"

Heero rose to his feet, tucking the laptop under his arm. "Yes, I've
already contacted him about our arrival. He says he has just enough
room for the two of us." He turned to leave. "Pack your things,
Duo. We're leaving at 1300 hours."

Duo crossed his arms over his chest. "Damnit all," he muttered.
"I'll never be able to set foot here again if I want to keep my
skin intact. Standing up a date like that......"

Quatre kept his smile as small as possible as the pilot left the
kitchen, still muttering to himself, the abandoned cereal bowl
still on the table. He shook his head and chuckled quietly.

/Only Duo./

*****

Remarkably, Duo was rather subdued on the shuttle to their
respective colony. He leaned against the window, staring out into
the star-littered blackness, a pensive frown on his face. Heero
know from past experience that Duo was extremely fidgety on long
shuttle flights, so this behavior seemed very out of character.

Heero leaned over, moving closer to Duo in order to keep his voice
low. "What is it?" he asked softly.

The braided pilot looked over at his fellow pilot in surprise.
"Huh?"

"You're acting.....different. What's the problem?"

Duo laughed nervously. "I'm surprised you care, Heero. I guess you
learn something new everyday." He turned back to the window. "It's
nothing. Don't worry about it."

Heero leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes. "As long as it
doesn't interfere with the mission."

"It won't. Don't worry."

*****

Duo's agitation grew as they reached the half-way point, where they
stopped for a few hours to refuel their shuttle.

Heero was silent as he watched the braided pilot pace back and forth
in front of the large screen that showed the departure times. The
fact that Duo was pacing didn't bother the Wing pilot much; Duo had
a lot of excess energy, and fidgeting was his usual method of
burning it off. What *did* bother him was the dark look on Duo's
face, and the fact that he wasn't complaining about the long
layover time.

The pilot shifted slightly. "Duo."

The braided teenager spun around to face Heero. "What?"

"Come sit down. You're blocking the view screen."

For a change, Duo didn't argue. He flopped down in the chair next to
his silent comrade and immediatly began tapping his fingers on his
thigh. After a moment, he asked, "How much longer before we leave?"

"Two hours."

Duo huffed a sigh and fell silent. After another few minutes he
began tapping the heel of his boot. "Wish we could get out of here
sooner," he muttered to himself.

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you go into the colony. It'll
keep you busy for a while."

Duo's braid all but whipped the person in the chair behind him as he
vigorously shook his head. "No. Not here." He leaned forward and
rested his elbows on his knees, still tapping his heel. "I'd rather
wait around in here." He pressed his lips tightly together, the
stormy look growing on his face.

Rather than push the subject, Heero stayed silent. /Why is he so
defensive? Is there something about this colony that disturbs him?/

A female voice came on the intercom system. "All passengers leaving
from V08744 to Earth, Shuttle A414 is departing from gate G47 in
fifteen minutes."

*****

By the time they reached their destination, Duo's cheery mood had
returned. Though half Heero's mind was busy going over the maps he
had memorized of the processing plant, the other half was
considering Duo's erratic behavior.

At first he thought the braided pilot might still be feeling guilty
about the date he had broken. His continuing agitation pointed to
that, and the fact that he felt that he had lied to the girl about
the date, even though technically he didn't know he would have to
leave. But then, after they had departed their refueling point, it
seemed as though the black cloud had passed over him, and his
agitation left. Had it something to do with Colony V08744, then?

A familiar face pushed through the crowd to greet them as they
paused to collect their baggage. "Wu-man!" Duo exclaimed, and
dropped his suitcase to race over and give the other boy a noogie.

Wufei suffered silently through the indignity, then quickly shoved
the other boy away so he could smooth out his ruffled ponytail. "I
suppose I'll take that as a greeting," he said wryly.

Heero approached the two, a totebag flung over his shoulder and
Duo's suitcase in hand. "Is the safehouse far?" he asked.

Wufei shook his head. "Not very. It's just twenty minutes away from
the school, though."

"Are we already registered?"

"Screw if we're already registered!" Duo exclaimed, dancing in a
frantic little circle around his fellow pilots. "Are there any good
looking girls there?" He leaned closed to Wufei and grinned evilly
"Or guys?"

The Chinese teenager deliberately ignored Duo, and shook his head
once more. "Yes, you're registered. I stuck with the classes you
had in your last school, so don't blame me if you don't like the
choices."

Heero nodded and put Duo's suitcase down. "Good enough. We can
change them if necessary. Transport?"

"Of course." The Shenlong pilot motioned towards the exit. "Let's
get out of here. Being out in the open makes me nervous in this
colony."

Heero nodded and followed his comrade. Duo stopped in his tracks and
stared after them a moment before he grabbed his suitcase and raced
after them. "Wait! You didn't answer my *question*!"