Title: Amethyst Wing

Author: H'seru

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Gundam, or any of it's chars, much to their relief ^_-

Warnings: Mild citrus warning, more towards the fluff end, nothing serious. Shounen ai, angst, blood, violence, mild language, and probably some OOC-ness (Though I'll try and keep to the original char personality)

Rated: PG13

I rewrote parts of this chappie, for those of you who've read it already. Please at least skim though it again.

((the original draft bothered me, and I had to rewrite it. -_-6))

Those few, sparse moments when you see the truth of being

It confuses even those most well versed in love

Beneath the waters, dark to block all seeing

Find what you believe to be from above.

Another colony.

Another four thousand innocent lives flushed down the proverbial drain.

Duo felt his hands clench into tight fists as pictures flashed on the television, fingernails cutting into his palms. Memories half forgotten flashed through his mind, accompanying the pictures on the screen.

The United Earth Sphere Alliance had sectored off the colonies, leaving a squadron of space Leo suits to protect them in case another attack was staged. Every one of them had been destroyed. Only two pilots had managed to survive with critical injuries, clinging to the wreckage of their suits, and in severe shock. When they were picked up, and able to speak, they testified to not seeing anything but a bright flash of green light before their suits exploded, accompanied by the rest of their squadron shortly thereafter, a shape, black as space flashing between them faster than any normal mobile suit.

Then the colony had blown, taking with it four thousand citizens and several UESA transport ships.

This news set the Gundam pilots aback slightly. Would Oz really attack their own troops to try and prove they weren't behind it?

"Feh, of course they would!" Wufei said when Quatre posed the question out loud. "Oz will do anything to win. Their damn screwed up politics and propaganda quests aren't above anything that could increase their standing in the eyes of the people. What are a few low class soldiers to them?"

Heero nodded, agreeing with him, and Quatre suddenly sat down next to Trowa on the couch, his face slightly pale. Trowa's hand discreetly slipped into his, squeezing it reassuringly.

"So…what are we going to do?" Trowa's quiet voice asked, drawing everyone's attention.

"Nothing" Heero replied, almost automatically.

Everyone stared at him.

"Heero, what the hell are you saying!? We have to stop this!" Duo spoke up, feeling something unknown beginning to build within him.

"You will do nothing." Heero said again in a voice full of bitter authority, pointedly looking at each of them. "If Oz is behind this as a cover operation, then us stopping the attacks on the colonies might stop their mobilization. Without destroying the suits being gathered there, war between earth and the colonies would be inevitable, costing more than a few thousand lives. Oz is gathering that force for an all out attack in space, so if the mobilization is stopped, they may restart it in another location. We cannot jeopardize this mission."

There was silence for a moment, as Heero returned his attention back solely to Duo, who's amethyst eyes were smoldering.

"…That's all you ever think about isn't it Heero…The fucking mission." Duo said in a low voice, standing up. All traces of the jovial smile were gone, for the first time that Heero could remember, and it deeply shocked him to see the braided pilot wearing a fierce expression of what looked to be hatred instead.

Duo glared at him for a moment, violet eyes boring into cobalt blue depths, before coldly striding out of the room, a silence deeper than the cosmos left in his wake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, Heero was at his laptop, typing away at something that only used the part of his mind not consumed by those haunting amethyst eyes, burning hatred. He'd never seen Duo like that, and it bothered him more than it should have. It made him pause to actually think of the 02 pilot instead of the façade of charismatic childishness he put on every day.

Then, with a start, Heero realized that he just might have seen the person who was really Duo. The deep, scarred side of the Gundam pilot obsessed with death. He'd vaguely wondered before how Duo always seemed to be happy even in the face of daunting odds, even though it was the braided pilot's selling point. It was impossible for someone to be that cheerful in their profession. Heero knew Duo enjoyed the fight, but not the taking of lives, even though he proclaimed to be Shinigami. His behavior was so inconsistent sometimes.

Heero's thoughts ran on to their logical conclusion; a search of Duo's past for a reason why the braided pilot would act so strangely. Then, as if waking from a dream, Heero realized he'd never gotten around to looking up Duo's information. Remembering back to their first meeting, it baffled him to no end. As the Perfect Soldier, Heero was unused to making mistakes, and this revelation of what could have been a deadly mistake once upon a time even went so far as to stop his typing.

He had not looked up a single thing on Duo. He'd taken the pilot at face value, a sad estimate of the person he was. It was disturbing to think that anyone had the power to override his common sense.

It was a testimony of how feelings were a weakness. The unusual feelings Heero'd begun to feel inside him whenever the braided pilot was around, acting foolish, or even just chattering away at nothing in particular were beginning to affect his work. They were a weakness he could not afford, and the Perfect Soldier within in him constantly reminded him of that.

Resuming the clack clack of his typing, his brooding thoughts were interrupted by a message arriving to his mailbox.

It was a new mission.

No, it was an extended set of directions concerning the newest events and the mystery mobile suit. He was charged with the job of not stopping, but acquiring information on this new threat so as to proceed as best after said information was processed. And it was for him alone to do. The e-mail letter expressly forbid involving the other pilots.

Heero gave a small grunt. That meant he wouldn't be able to placate Duo with the knowledge that he was doing something about the attacks. That was some cause for concern, because he never knew what the braided pilot would do next.

That thought abruptly thrust into his mind, he suddenly stopped his work.

Saving the data, he closed the laptop, and went in search of the disquieting pilot.

Heero found Duo in his room, surprisingly, as it was the last place he looked after checking the Gundam bunker first. He'd been somewhat relieved to find that Duo'd not decided to suddenly take off and do something on his own. He seemed to have a knack for getting himself into trouble when he was alone.

Not bothering to knock, Heero walked in, finding Duo there, sitting on his bed, taking apart his gun, angrily greasing the pieces, then shoving them back into place with a series of resounding clicks.

"What the hell do you want?" He said without looking up. From what Heero could see, his face didn't openly hold the hatred of before, but he could tell it was there, poorly hidden behind Duo's emotionless expression.

"I came to make sure you didn't leave on your own," Heero stated, matter of factly. Duo looked up at him then, snapping the last piece of his gun together, and laying it smack on his bed.

"Oh you did eh? Gotta make sure I don't screw up your precious mission to save the lives of thousands of innocents which you don't give a rat's ass about." Duo said, trying to not let himself go from the strict restraints he placed about his mentality. Taking a breath, he returned the stare Heero gave him.

For some reason, Heero felt...intimidated by this side of Duo. He was taken aback by the anger he felt there. Sure Duo had tantrums all the time over some little thing or another, but this was different.

This was deeper.

Walking further into his room, Heero kept his eyes on Duo. Duo sensed that there was...something...different about Heero's placid face, as if some emotion or another struggled to express itself through the layers of metal that surrounded the still human heart of Heero Yuy.

Duo tried to keep his anger boiling. The pilot standing in front of him wanted to let thousands of innocents die in some damn terrorist attack, he told himself. It was too reminiscent of what had happened to him on L2...and yet.

Despite his best efforts, the anger began to fizzle away, slowly, like the sudden torrent of rain that slows to a drizzle in mere moments, and Duo's face became truly emotionless, not needing to hide what wasn't there. He'd never been too good at holding a grudge, no matter how large or rightly deserving the grudgee was, and it was with a depressed tone that he continued.

"Why did you come here...?" Duo asked again , his voice quieter than before. Heero's eyes quirked at the sudden change.

"I already told you." He replied.

"...That's not why you're here. That's an excuse. Something to hide behind." Duo said.

"Who are you to talk to me about hiding." Heero said in a low voice. "You never do anything but hide. Your entire cheerful game is nothing but a mask."

Duo got to his feet suddenly, a new emotion coloring the amethyst eyed boy's voice.

"And what do you care!?" He said, practically shouting. "The Perfect Soldier has nothing to hide, isn't that right? Who cares except me? I keep from the world what it would pity me for!"

Duo's eyes burned, and he felt the overwhelming truth behind his own words. He stood there, abruptly quiet, fists clenched tightly against what threatened to overwhelm him as silence descended upon the room in a choking blanket.

Heero's emotionless face hid it's own store of feelings that were unusual and foreign to the 01 pilot. It was like he'd split into two people, watching Duo's display.

On one side, stood the Perfect soldier, watching full of contempt for this weak show of emotion. On the other, stood a boy, watching one of his only friends hurting beyond what time would repair, and feeling an emotion larger than friendship engulfing him.

Heero walked over to stand in front of Duo, whose eyes were planted firmly on the ground in front of his feet. Slowly, he lifted his head until his beautiful eyes met Heero's. A plaintive look swam beneath those amethyst depths, partially concealed by the cheerful exterior he desperately tried to bring to his defense, begging silently for help he would never voice aloud. It was a cry that the small, and stifled human side of Heero felt, and pushed aside the Perfect Soldier for the barest moment because of.

Duo unexpectedly felt the warm arms of the messy haired pilot wrap around him, a solid boundary for his heart to be supported with. He tensed at first, resisting the breaking down of the hardened walls of his heart, then leaned into the embrace, feeling his emotions welling up.

Heero held him tightly as Duo's body began to shake. Emotions he had no name to, that he'd never even experienced were tossed about within him, keeping the side that was the Perfect Soldier at bay while he comforted the boy shaking like a leaf in his arms.

Duo, eyes red with tears that left wet trails down his face, was surprisingly the first one to break from the embrace. Backing out of the enclosure of warmth and comfort, His eyes came up to meet uncertainly with Heero's. Pilot 01's eyes held a deeply profound warmth that eased some of Duo's uncertainties despite how unusual any emotion in the blue eyed pilot was.

That was when the Perfect Soldier slid forcefully into control again, and Heero's face registered nothing of what had been there before.

Silently, Heero left the room from the same door he'd entered, a confused Duo staring after him, his hurt somewhat abated, but there still to trouble him.

Fortunately, Duo's mind was more on the subject of Heero, and the pilot's sudden show of emotion instead of the death he had to face later. He sat on his bed, a bewildered look on his face.

His arms came up to wrap about his lithe frame, and the warmth of that chaste embrace still filled his heart. Heero's actions did nothing for his muddled thoughts on the matter of the colonies, but for some reason, it made him feel better. Slowly, the corners of his mouth turned up in the barest hint of a smile, and it was not a mask.

Well? Please, please tell me if you enjoy this, and I'll post more of it.

Will:…right

H'seru: I will post more damn it!

Will: sure.

H'seru: *whacks him with a fish*

Will: @_@….

Please review!!