Unfortunately, we soon came to the realization that the car lacked air-condition.

"I told you to get a convertible." I said, putting on my pouting face and crossing my arms over my chest. Duo placed his hand on the car's huge dashboard.

"Shh, don't upset Betty." He caressed the car. "Ignore her Betty, she's just jealous of you." I snorted at that.

"Jealous of what?"

"Well it's obvious, but if you want me to say it then I will, you're jealous that my heart is for Betty and for her alone." He turned away from me, pretending to be hurt. At times he reminded me of a child so much.

"Oh, I'm sorry Duo. I'm sure the two of you will share many wonderful miles together." I couldn't help but laugh.

"We will, thank you very much." He raised his nose and tilted his head up in a snooty way, which I saw all too often. I rolled my eyes and reached for a bottle of water in the backseat, making sure I pushed into him as I did so.

Not willing to let me win, he pressed down on the gas pedal, sending me forward into the backseat.

If I had to get out of the car anytime soon I would have to be peeled off the cheap leather seat. Ugh, a cold shower sounded so good. I glanced over at Duo. He drove with one hand; the other rested on his lap. He seemed to be concentrating on driving and I figured I might as well get some shuteye.

"So, what'd you want ta see Heero for?" Just as I was about to see if my seat reclined Duo turned to me. "I'm assuming that's why you were there." I thought for a moment, was there a good reason for me wanting to see him? Without turning to Duo I began to try and answer his question.

"Honestly, I just needed to see him. I needed to see for myself that he still existed, that he was still alive."

"It's hard being in love with Heero, isn't it?" He didn't say it in a teasing way; it was an honest question. I wanted to deny the usage of the word love, but then realized there was no point.

"Yes." I faced him and his violet eyes met mine. "The only way to know if he's alright is by reports and sightings, and those aren't always accurate or reassuring."

"You don't have to answer this," he glanced at me then turned back, "what draws you to Heero?" The question surprised me and I had to think for a moment again.

"Well, I met Heero during some difficult times." I knew Duo had heard about the death of my father, and the circumstances around it, so I didn't care to retell it. "It comforts me to be with him. He has so many wonderful qualities in him. He's true to himself, uncompromising, strong, and never stops pursuing his dream. I," I faltered not knowing how to say it, "I want to become like him. I want to have his qualities. He's a symbol to me, a symbol of all that is good. Heero gives me strength."

Yes, that was what drew me to Heero, he was the one I needed to lean on. And I believe that he was searching for the same thing I was, someone to be there, a person to lean on.

"Well, I guess one person you could count on for strength would be Heero."

Duo tilted his head to the side, causing popping noises, like bubble package twisting in your hands, to fill the silence. He did the same to the other side of his neck. The sun was beginning to set, sending shades of orange and red across the sky. Duo released a sigh and reached back for a bottle of soda.

"Getting tired?"

"Naw, I'm fine." He untwisted the cap and took a swig of it.

"You know, you have been up for a loooong time."

Duo began to laugh. "This is nothing. I stayed awake for six and a half days."

"Oh please. You couldn't have." He sent me a side-glance.

"You wanna bet? That half day was a bitch."

I laughed. "Alright then, why were you up for six and a half days?"

He removed the bottle from his lips. "Well, Heero and I were on a mission, somewhere in the Arctic, well actually, the mission was in Mongolia, but somehow we ended up in the Arctic." He shrugged his shoulders as he took another sip of his soda. I faced him as he related the story to me, his eyes continued to watch the road. "The gist of the mission was to take care of this one OZ base, no problem, right?" He glanced over at me. "Wrong. It ended up being a hell of a base. We completely underestimated it. With it just being the two of us, we had major problems."

I could see it, Duo and Heero in their mobile suits, going up against incredible odds. Heero giving instructions, Duo swearing as he slashed through one of the enemy's suits.

"We completed the mission, just barley. Heero's gundam was shot to hell, mine was close. We had to get out of there fast; there was no way we would make it out of another attack. I took hold of Heero's gundam and got us out of there. Our communication was shot, so I couldn't talk to him. I couldn't make it on my fuel with WingZero, I knew I had to hide it, and Heero would have to get into my gundam. After a while I spotted a good place to ditch Heero's gundam. Well, I got out of my gundam, with some difficulty. I had a sprained ankle, a broken wrist, and a bitch of a headache." His hand touched his forehead in memory.

"I made my way to WingZero, Heero hadn't opened the cockpit yet, I guessed that it was stuck." He looked at me. "Let me tell you, it's no easy task to open a gundam's cockpit." I smiled, imagining that it wasn't. "Eventually I got it open." He was silent while the memory replayed in his mind. "And… I wasn't met with Heero swearing at me, which I had expected. Instead, Heero limply hung from his broken harness." Another moment of silence passed until Duo cleared his throat. "No reason to go into the details, let's just leave it at it was bad, real bad."

Now I needed something to drink. I reached back and grabbed a water.

"I got him out. He was unconscious, and I was thankful for it. Treating his wounds wouldn't have been easy if he had been awake."

He talked so casually about it then, like it wasn't any big deal, nothing unusual. And that's what scared me, that's what made me shiver.

"Let's see, after that I hide his gundam, I sunk it in the ocean. I knew OZ would have a search party out for us by then. Where we were wasn't the best place for hiding, so I got Heero inside my gundam." He laughed. "Now that was quite a task." He shook his head. "Anyway, once we were all cramped and cozy in my little cockpit we took off. One thing led to another and we ended up landing in the Arctic." He released another laugh. "Correction, we crashed in the Arctic." Duo moved his hand to switch on the car's headlights, fighting off the threatening darkness.

"Well, to try and shorten the story, I had to make sure Heero, who would go in and out of consciousness, and I survived. Damn it was cold!" Duo shivered at the thought of it. "We lucked out, neither of us got frostbite." He looked down at his soda curiously, I could tell that he had forgotten it was there. He took a sip and then continued.

"Eventually our rescue party found us, well Wufei did at least, thank God it wasn't OZ." He looked at me. The dashboard lit his face vaguely. "I don't know what happened on what day, they all kind of merged and became one really long day to me. But I know that we left late on 7-03 and we're rescued on 7-09. So, that's my story."

"Oh." I really didn't know what else to say. Duo shrugged. He looked down at the gas gauge and saw it was nearly empty.

"We're gonna have to stop for gas at the next rest area."

"I think I saw a sign for one about five miles back."

"Yeah, I saw it too. We'll be there in another ten miles." We drove in silence for a little while, and then I was the one who broke it this time.

"So, do you and Heero always go on missions together?" Duo shifted in his seat.

"Well, I guess we do compared to the others. But really, most of the time we do our missions alone, we only work together when we have to; we're more the solo types." He looked thoughtful before continuing, "I never really thought about it, but we work well together. When I need backup, Heero's my first choice. I think it's the same for him." He scratched the back of his head. "I know that I can depend on him, even if it came to my life. Don't get me wrong," he looked at me, "it's the same for all the guys, it's just that I have no doubt that Heero would do what was right if it came down to everything."

What did he mean by what was rightand everything? The word made me cringe and I realized I didn't want to ask.

"You two are really good friends."

Duo glanced at me. A smile crept across his face. "Considering that we still talk to each other after me shooting him the first time we met." He glanced over at me. I began to blush when I realized he was talking about the incident where Heero and I met Duo for the first time. "And considering that he totally destroyed my gundam after I took care of him, geesh, all he had to do was ask for the parts." I sensed a bit of annoyance and humor in his voice. "Wow, I guess we aren't really friends are we?" He looked at me as if he just came to an important realization and then chuckled.

"We've been through a lot together, and most defiantly will go through a lot more." He shook his head. "This is going to sound stupid, but it's like we have a connection." He looked at me to see my reaction and I smiled.

"That doesn't sound stupid. I feel the same way with Heero."

He turned away. "Well anyway, we just click, and work well together. Even if his silent and stubborn ways get to me. At times, I swear he's had a frontal lobotomy. But I know I annoy the hell out of him, but that's just one of the other reasons why we click." He pulled over into the rest stop.

I remained seated in the car as Duo stiffly got out and began to pump the gas after paying with cash inside. I rested my head on the back of my seat and began to hear a quiet, melody? I sat up and poked my head out of the window. I smiled when I saw that Duo was whistling. He was leaning against the car, eyes closed, whistling a melancholy tune.

Duo, he was a strange one. I suppose all of the gundam pilots were though, you'd have to be different to be a gundam pilot. I could tell there were many layers to him, he wasn't as simple as he tried to play it. No, he was a very complex person. One who I'm sure had a complex past, present, and future ahead of him. But I realized one thing I definitely knew about him, he cared whole heartily for the cause or reason for his fighting in this ludicrous war. Perhaps I shouldn't call it ludicrous, it sounds like I'm saying everything about it's ridiculous, but it's not. Those fighting aren't ridiculous, no; they're heroes, giving everything up for what they believe in, their cause is more important to them than their own lives.

Duo startled me when he got into the car. He started it up and we pulled out. "It's taking us longer to get to the safe house since we have to get there by back roads. Heero's going to be so mad. I hope he doesn't think I got captured or anything." Duo ran a hand through his long bangs.

"Duo, what were you and Heero doing?" Duo glanced over at me.

"You mean our mission?"

"Yes, what was it, and how did you get hurt?" Duo ran his fingers through his bangs again, a nervous gesture perhaps.

"Well, you wouldn't drop it if I told you I'd have to kill you if ya knew?" He asked with a smile.

"You don't have-" Duo stopped me with a wave of his hand.

"I was just kidding. It's just that it's a mission that I'm not proud of, but then again, I'm not proud of any." I noticed how his face somehow took on a look of darkness. Is that possible? Well, however you want to describe it, Duo's face had changed.

"We had to get some information," he turned to me, "records, tests, plans, you know, all that stuff." He turned away. "That was the first part of the mission. The second part was to assassinate two high commanders located there." My stomach turned. "Heero's the best out of all of us when it comes to hacking and stuff, so Heero had the first part of the mission, and I had the second." He released a low chuckle. "I guess I'm the best choice for assassinations, I am the God of Death."

I felt my mouth drop open. 'God of Death?' He continued and I had a feeling that he hadn't realized that he had said the last part aloud.

"We got in and eventually split up. I had to go in search for the two commanders; I had my ideas of where they'd be. I made my way through the base but we had been detected, so the place was crazy. Men were running everywhere, sirens and alarms going off. The fact is that really helps out, when everyone is running around not knowing what's going on, I can move around more easily. Hey," he turned to me; "did you get any gum?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you get any gum at the mini mart?"

"Oh, no. Sorry."

"That's okay. Hey! Check the glove compartment." I opened the compartment in front of me and saw scraps of papers, maps, and napkins stuffed inside of it. I rummaged through it.

"How's 'Space Jammers' sound?"

"Terrific!" I tossed him the half-gone pack of purple gum.

"Anyway," he spoke while he chomped on the gum. "I came across the first guy, he was no problem, no one was ready or expecting it." I was relieved he didn't go into detail. "But by the time I came across the second guy, they had seen what had happened to the first. He and three others were waiting for me. Naturally, I didn't want to disappoint them, so when I made my grand entrance bullets were flying. I was able to disarm two of them with my handgun. Umm," he glanced at me; "a shot to the hand takes care of that." I nodded.

"I figured Heero was done with his part by then, so I had to get out of there. It ended up being a brawl between me and the last guard." He laughed. "Man, did we tear that place apart. I hurt my ankle during that spat. Eventually I knocked him out. It was just the commander and me left. Unfortunately, my gun was out of ammo and no time to reload; it wasn't going to be easy. I charged him. The sneaky son of a bitch pulled a knife out, that's where the cuts came from." He lightly touched his side. "Well, after what seemed like hours but were only minutes, I used his knife against him, completing the mission." He flashed me a smile.

"How do you know Heero completed his part of the mission?"

"Because the base was destroyed. If we both didn't type in our codes when our mission was complete, then the base wouldn't have been destroyed. He's alive." He glanced at me quickly, letting his eyes take in my relief, before focusing back on the road.