I woke up with Duo's head resting against mine; he had fallen asleep as well. I didn't want to wake him, so I kept my head on his shoulder. He wheezed as he slept, obviously his broken ribs were making it hard for him to breathe. He had to be in a lot of pain, I mean, how could he not be? Well, he certainly wasn't letting me know how bad off he was. I guess I appreciated that. If he didn't put on a strong face, I certainly wouldn't be able to, I'd shatter like a mirror falling off a high mantel. I sighed. How were we going to get out of this?

Duo mumbled something incoherent then pulled his head away from mine. I removed my head from his shoulder and watched him as he gently rubbed the sleep out of his bruised eyes with his hands cuffed together. He cleared his throat then looked over at me. I remained nuzzled into him do to it being so cold in there, and I only had shorts and a tang top on.

"How-" he cleared his throat again. It was sore from the choking incident. "How long was I out?"

"I just woke up a few minutes ago myself." I pulled away from him and stretched my arms up over my head. "How are you?" I noticed him rubbing his neck and gingerly touching his side. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I've been worse."

I laughed lightly. "That's not an answer." Though it did have me thinking how much worse?

"I'm fine." He stated firmly, and then we fell silent again.

"Where do you see yourself later?" I quietly asked.

He wrinkled his forehead, not understanding my question.

"I mean in the future. What do you think you'll be doing after the war and all of this is over?" I needed to talk to keep from worrying. I sheepishly smiled at him and he nodded before shrugging his shoulders. I noticed he did that a lot.

"I don't know. That's to say I even survive the war."

That had me frowning. Of course he was going to live through the war. He had to see it to the end.

He shook his head. "I don't know. I never look into the future. I take each day as it comes, always have. You have to as a soldier. You never know where you'll be tomorrow, or if..." he trailed off not finishing the sentence for my sake.

"That's not true. You have to look into the future because you are a soldier. If you didn't, then why would you be fighting? Obviously you're fighting for a certain outcome, a future."

"No, I'm not in this for the future. Sure it plays a part in it if you want to put all of the pieces and outcomes together, but just because it's one of the outcomes doesn't mean it's one of the causes." I was shocked by his words. He must have noticed because he closed his eyes, sighed, and then reopened them.

"I'm in this for the past and present. I'm in this to survive, and shamefully I'm fighting this war out of revenge too." He scratched the back of his neck. "You see, life for me has always been a test of surviving. Nothing was ever certain, and nothing was ever stable. If you want to live you have to fight for it. Right now I'm fighting to live, and fighting for those who have already lost the fight. You know the past will always be there, you don't know if the future will be." His mouth hung open, surprised what he had just shared. "Sorry. Too many hits to the head." He tried to take it all back.

His words left me speechless. What could I say to that? I couldn't say that he was wrong, because he was right, even though I didn't want to accept it. He looked away from me and began to examine his wounds. He felt uncomfortable, like he had said too much, so I let him be.

What had his childhood been like? Test of surviving? He was always fighting to live, something I had obviously taken for granted. He never took the time to play with toy trucks or blocks, he couldn't, he had to learn how to live. Not just him, Heero too.

A small hitch of breath filled the silence as Duo shifted. "'m fine." He mumbled and I watched as he toyed with a bandage. He was such a mystery. I slowly stood and began pacing around the small room, utterly bored out of my mind and scared. Duo remained sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the wall. Conserving his energy I assumed.

"Relena, sit down already. You're making me tired."

"Sorry." I stopped walking around and leaned up against the wall across from him. "It's just that I can't take it in here anymore."

"Don't worry, Morris should be joining us soon."

"You think so?" My stomach began to twist. When Morris got there that meant Duo would have to fight him. Was he capable of that with all his injuries?

"Yeah. My guess is that it's past eleven pm., so he should be coming within the next few hours."

I nervously began to fidget with my hands and Duo released an annoyed sigh.

"God Relena. Would you just sit down?" I wiped my hands on my shorts and walked towards him.

"Do you believe in God?" He looked up at me like I was crazy.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"Well you just said God, and, well, I don't know, you wear the whole priest attire and a cross. So I was just wondering." He laughed and shook his head.

"You are the most random person." I crossed my arms, going in defense mod.

"What? It's just a question." I sat down beside him. "That and I'm getting nervous. So," I turned to him, "do you believe in God?"

"Haven't we talked about me enough already?" He glanced over at me. "Let's talk about you now." I shook my head no.

"Nope, you have to answer my question. Then you can ask me one to make it fair." I stated and he just stared. "Come on, it's not like we have anything else to do."

He leaned his head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling before his heavy eyes closed. He sighed and opened them. "Fine." He dragged the word out like a child being told to do a chore but I think he was fighting off falling asleep. "Do I believe in God?" He closed his eyes. "I used to ask myself that question a lot. I guess I want to believe, but" he sighed and opened his eyes, "but I guess when it comes down to it, I don't."

I felt a tinge of guilt after hearing his answer. I could tell it was hard for him to admit his feelings, and here I was prying him open with a pair of pliers. I decided to hide the pliers and tell him to go ahead and ask me a question now, but he continued before I could.

"These clothes," he motioned to them, "and this cross," he pulled it out from under his shirt, "I guess I wear them to try and prove to myself that I still do have faith, but inwardly I know I'm just a hypocrite."

"No, you're not. You're just confused, that's all. If you want to believe, that means there is something telling you to believe."

"I suppose." He moved his neck to the side, cracking it. "So," he changed the tone of his voice so quickly from melancholy to cheery, "what should I ask you?" He raised and wiggled his eyebrows as he grinned at me.

"No Duo, a serious question."

He waved his index finger back and forth in front of me. "Ah ah ah, you said I could ask you any question." I slanted my head to the side and looked at him. He wasn't really going to ask me what I think he was? Was he?

"Kidding." I inwardly sighed in relief. He grabbed his chin with his hand, taking on the famous thinking position. "Hmm, what to ask." After a few moments, he slowly removed his hand from his chin and turned to me. I braced myself for the question. Duo did have a creative mind.

"If you could choose to live the way it was before the war started, free from all of the pain and knowledge that you've gained, would you?" Wow. I definitely was not ready for that question. I looked away from him as I sorted through everything.

"Life for me was so much better before the war. I had a father. Times were happy for my family. But it always felt like I was in the dark, hidden in the shadows. So much was kept from me. That wasn't my life. I was Relena, the daughter of a respectable man, best in her class, most traveled and experienced person of my generation. Yet I knew nothing and had no one. I was always in a crowd, but I always felt so alone." I stopped considering my words. "I've come to harsh realizations and have seen horrible things. But through everything I've finally found myself. I'm Relena, nothing else matters, no matter who my parents are, or how I was raised. Would I go back to being in the dark? No." I sighed. "Even though the light still stings my eyes."

–

"Mark."

"Nathan."

"Ophelia."

"Ha! I said that name already!"

"No you didn't! You said O-" I groaned.

"Ha ha! Told you! I am the winner!" Duo gloated, raising his clasped hands over his head and shaking them.

"Oh please, last round you couldn't even come up with a name for the letter T, come on T!" He was about to retort when the door slid open. Officer Morris stood in the doorway and smiled down at Duo.

"No one's going to stop me this time." He charged across the room and heaved Duo off the ground and flung him up against the wall. Morris didn't even look at me while he grabbed onto Duo. I watched, horrified, as he slammed Duo's back up against the wall, his feet dangling above the floor. He kept him pressed against it by grabbing onto his shirt with his hands.

"Little bitch!" He pulled Duo away from the wall and slammed him back up against it. Duo's head smacked it and he released a short outburst as a reflex from the flash of pain it caused. "Already screaming for mercy?" Morris' eyes danced as he stared at Duo. "I'll give you two choices, one, I kill you, or two, you beg for mercy and I'll let you live."

Duo raised his head so that he could look him in the eyes. His eyes were so empty, so cold. I had never seen Duo look like that. "I'll take door number three." Duo said slowly in a low tone.

"Oh yeah." I noticed that for a second, Morris lost his composure. For the first time, he sensed that he might be in danger. "What's that?"

A slow grin came across Duo's face then his right knee came up and slammed into Morris' left side. As he did that he brought his hands up and hit Morris on the side of the head. His handcuffs added to the force of the punch. Morris stumbled a step back in shock. Duo took advantage of it and the extra space between him and the wall. He placed his feet on it and shoved off of it, sending him and the unsteady Morris to the ground.

Before Duo could throw another punch, Morris threw him off of his chest. Duo rolled across the ground and the two got up at the same time. I stood there, my hands clenched together, and helplessly looked on. I knew that I would only get in the way if I tried to help.

Duo took on a fighting stance. He was going to be the one on defense now. He knew he didn't have that much strength with his injuries, so he would have to defend until Morris ran out of energy from attacking. Without any thought, Morris charged at him. Duo blocked the blows as best he could. Since the room was so small he was being pushed back up against the wall.

Duo must have noticed it because he ducked under Morris' next swing and punched him in the back, causing them to switch positions. Now Morris was the one against the wall. Morris continued to blindly swing at Duo, who continued to block, until Morris swung out his one leg, taking Duo's legs out from under him. Duo fell to the ground and Morris flung himself on top of him, swinging his arms.

I screamed as I watched Duo struggling to force him off. Finally, Duo landed a solid punch to his nose and was able to shove him off. Morris shook his head, his vision blurred from the direct hit. Duo charged him, crashing him into the wall. He swung his clasped fists at him twice in the face, causing blood to spew out of Morris' mouth, then once in the gut, sending him to the ground. Duo bent down and raised Morris' head, he was unconscious. He checked him for the keys to his cuffs. With a sigh of relief, he withdrew them from one of his pockets. Next, he checked him for weapons and found a knife in his one boot.

"Duo?" I moved over to him. He stood up, holding onto the knife and key, and wiped blood off his mouth. Morris had landed several good punches, and that was evident from Duo's appearance and stance. He stood holding his stomach, obviously in pain. I placed my arm under his waist to steady him.

"You okay?" He nodded his head yes then raised his hands with the key in them. I took it and undid the cuffs. They fell to the ground with a clunk, but they left rough marks on his wrists as a parting gift. He motioned towards the door while he gently rubbed the raw flesh and we walked over to it and checked to make sure no one was there.

He turned to me and gave me the best smile he could manage with his busted lip. "You ready?" I nodded my head. "Alright, stay right behind me the entire time."

We left the cell and carefully made our way down the hall. We slowly and cautiously ducked between doorways until Duo pushed me into one and raised his finger over his lips, signaling for me to be silent. When a guard ran by us he lunged out at him, sending him to the ground. Duo knocked the stunned young man out quickly and removed the gun from his hands. He turned and motioned for me to come. We continued to make our way, ducking and avoiding soldiers.

I could tell Duo's body was protesting with each movement. For the second time I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him into a room before he fell over.

"Okay," he breathed heavily, "we're on level B-4, which means we gotta go at least four floors up before we can get out of the building." He wiped perspiration off his forehead and was about to say more when a soldier opened the room's door. Duo quickly threw the knife he took from Morris at the man's throat, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Shit!" Duo pushed me behind a desk as more men entered the room. He slid across the floor and took protection under another desk across from mine. I watched him, my hands covering my head, as he fired at the soldiers from behind the desk. They fired back, sending splinters of wood everywhere. I screamed when a bullet entered his arm. He didn't even take note of it as he continued to aim from behind the desk.

We weren't going to make it out of this; there was no way. Duo must have realized this because he raised his gun up above the desk, signally his surrender. The gunfire stopped and he slowly stood up, his arms above his head. When I heard shooting I screamed expecting to see Duo fall to the ground, but he didn't, he remained standing. He started firing again. When the gunfire ended a poked my head out from behind the desk.

Bodies littered the soaked red floor and I saw him standing in the doorway. "Heero!" I got up from behind the desk and ran to him, flinging my arms around his neck. He didn't return the embrace.

"It's about time Yuy." Duo fell back against the wall.

"Duo!" I let go of Heero and ran to him. Heero removed the weapons from the bodies and turned to us.

"Can you walk?" Duo nodded his head yes. "Then let's go." He tossed Duo a gun.

"Lean on me." I ordered Duo. He didn't argue as he placed his weight against me.

"Seems we always end up like this." He quietly said as we followed Heero. Sirens were going off and soldiers were everywhere. Heero pulled a grenade out, from where I'm not sure, and launched it behind us. He shot at the soldiers in front of us who were headed our way, taking point. Duo fired his gun, taking out a few men from behind.

Heero stopped and pushed us up against a wall.

"Ouch, geesh Heero." Duo grumbled.

Heero glared at him. "Stop complaining."

Duo rolled his eyes. "Well aren't we just a ray of fricken sunshine." He said under his breath. I was surprised when Heero quickly took hold of my hand. He threw a smoke bomb, causing the room to be taken over by a huge gray cloud. He held onto my hand and led me through the smoke as Duo still clung to my side. I could hear people firing blindly into the smoke while we passed them unnoticed.

The rest of our escape was a blur. I remember running and Heero and Duo shooting at people. Every once in a while, Duo would say a smart-ass remark, which would be followed by a grunt or death glare from Heero. Heero would shout an instruction to Duo, or vice versa. The two seemed to be in complete control of the chaotic situation.

We broke free from the building and made our way to the outer edge of the base. Heero jumped over the huge metal fence and landed on the other side.

"I hope you don't expect me to be able to do that." Duo said in an exasperated voice. Heero pulled a small object out, a laser. He used it to cut a hole in the fence for us to go through. Once we made it through we worked our way to the surrounding forest. Duo was getting too heavy for me, his weight felt like I was being crushed by a large rock. Heero must have noticed because he stopped and moved Duo so that he now rested up against him. The side of me that Duo had been on was covered in blood. I held back the urge to vomit.

We continued a little further until we reached a black jeep that Heero must have stored for our escape. He gently laid Duo in the backseat and quickly assessed his wounds. Finding the source of most of the bleeding, he quickly wrapped Duo's arm with a tunic he pulled from a bag located under the seat. I got in the passenger's side and relief washed over me when Heero took the driver's seat and started the jeep. Finally, we were out of there. As the relief came over me so did the exhaustion. I certainly wasn't trained or conditioned for everything that had happened. A curled my legs up under me like a cat and rested my head against the car door.

I was on the verge of sleep when I heard Duo. "Hey Heero, I'm sorry that I got Relena involved in all of this. I didn't have a choice. You know that, right?" Heero must have nodded his head yes because I didn't hear a response from him. "Alright then." Duo released a sigh. "Well, I can't hang on anymore. I'm going under."

"Duo."

"Hmm?" Duo responded, he sounded so distant.

"Thank you. For protecting her."

Duo released a sigh and then nothing more.

–

Heero gently shook me awake. "We're here." He opened my door and gave me his hand to help me out of the car. I took it and when I was standing on the ground he released it and opened the back door. He gently lifted Duo up and carried him in his arms, like a father carrying his child who had fallen asleep on the way home. I entered a small cottage and Heero followed me in.

The cottage was cute. It must have been someone's vacation home because family photos rested on one of the end tables. Heero entered one of the bedrooms and placed Duo on the bed. He immediately began to tend to his injuries. I was about to suggest we take him to a hospital, but then realized how foolish it would be. When I saw how expertly Heero was taking care of Duo, it eased my concern. I left the room to try and wash his blood off of me.

After cleaning myself up, I wandered into the kitchen and found some soup. Heero walked in as I began to make it. "How is he?" He sat down in one of the chairs surrounding a small wooden table with plastic flowers in the center of it.

"He'll be fine. He lost a lot of blood, so he'll probably be out for a while."

"Hungry?" He nodded his head yes. I took out two bowls from a cupboard above the stove.

"How are you?" He asked and I turned to face him. He didn't show any concern in his voice, but I could just barely see it in his eyes. That was the only place to see what Heero was feeling, the eyes.

"I'm fine. Tired, it's been a long," I stopped and thought, "week?"

"Just about." Heero crossed his arms in front of his chest. I turned back to the soup and dished some of it out into the bowls. I sat in the chair across from him.

"So, how'd you find out where we were?" I smiled as I lifted my spoon full of noodles.

–

One of us constantly kept a vigil over Duo. When he woke I was in the room. "Hey sleeping beauty." I gently said as he opened his eyes. He gave a slight grin.

"I highly doubt that I'm looking 'beautiful' right now." He said in a groggy voice.

I laughed. "You're right, far from it." I agreed as I looked at his bruised face. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been worse."

I shook my head with a smile at his response.

"You okay?" He asked seriously.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Good, I don't know what I would've done if-" He didn't finish and his concern touched me. "Sorry you got involved in all of this."

"I'm not, if I hadn't I wouldn't have you as a friend."

He lightly smiled then closed his eyes, returning to the sleep that beckoned him. I bent over and lightly kissed him on the forehead then leaned back into my chair. I placed my hands on my lap, determined to stay beside him. His hand moved from under the covers and gently grabbed mine, holding on while he gave in to sleep. I smiled in thought, maybe our journey wasn't over yet.

END.

Okay, well the following paragraphs are for those who wanted some Duo and Relena action. Enjoy!

–

He turned to me and gave me the best smile he could manage with his busted lip. "You ready?" I nodded my head. He looked at me strangely, then his hand cupped the back of my neck firmly as his other raised my chin up lightly.

I looked at him in surprise and was about to ask him if he was alright when his lips lightly covered mine. I didn't draw back; I just stood there in complete shock. The kiss was smooth, skilled, and soothing.

His head changed angles and the kiss became deep. I staggered, and before I realized it my lips parted under his. A shiver ran down me as our teeth lightly scrapped up against each other and his tongue teased mine into a slow dance.

My hand gripped his sleeve as my mind began to blur, then he slowly eased away. It took a moment for my head to clear. "What was that for?" I asked, trying to regain control of the situation and myself.

"A thank you, for everything."