Chapter Three

Duo woke early. When his eyes opened there was only a small light through his curtains. His rooms were in the same style as Heero's, but his room was red instead of green. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and looked over at the clock. Six; he'd only been asleep an hour. What had woken him? The answer came within seconds. He nearly leapt out of his skin s he heard a shout from through the wall. It was coming from Heero's room. Duo frowned, and a strand of hair fell over his face. He got out of bed, the grey sweat pants all he wore. He walked through his rooms, hearing another shout and moans he quickly brought his untamed hair over one shoulder.

He crept out and to Heero's door. Doors weren't locked at night unless specified, so he pushed it open silently. Silent, funnily enough, was something he was good at. He crept through, shuddering as a moan came from the open bedroom door. He peeked around it. Heero was writhing on the bed, face scrunched up in…something. Every now and again he would shout, sometimes just a yell, sometimes a plead.

"Please!" he yelled, and thrashed around a little. "No!" he cried, and Duo's eyes widened at him. There was something seriously wrong, he had to wake the boy up, but he already knew Heero well enough to know that he would hate to be seen like this. He crept out and got a cushion from one of the sofas. As quick as lightning he threw the pillow at Heero, which hit him, and sped out. Amazingly, he still wasn't quick enough. He yelled as something landed on his back before he had even reached the door. He was turned round and straddled, hands pinning his wrists on the floor.

Heero was on top of him, face contorted in rage, his cobalt blue eyes blazing like they had done the night before. He was breathing heavily, and Duo couldn't move, let alone speak. His wrists felt like they were being crushed under this boy's immense strength, and he knew that he would have no chance of getting him off if Heero didn't want to, so he just lay still. Slowly, the sounds of their breaths calmed, and Heero frowned. A flash of confusion went across his face before it went passive. God, Duo thought, I already know his face patterns.

"What're you doing here?" Heero asked. He didn't sound angry or confused, he just sounded…blank.

"Um…" Duo said, but renewed pressure on his wrists made him wince. "Ok! OW, let go!" he yelled. Heero jolted his grip, loosening it as if he had forgotten it.

"I'm not letting go until you tell me what you were doing here. Don't lie to me."

As if I would Duo asked himself. He was shaking, not from the cold.

"Well, you woke me up. I…" he started, after Heero simply looked into his eyes, his cold blue eyes piercing him, "You were dreaming and not liking it, if you get me. So, I came to see if you were ok, and you weren't. Writhing, yelling, not good. So I wanted to wake you up but was afraid you'd hit me if you found out I was here so I threw a cushion and ran but you just happen to be superhuman so I didn't get away and…hehe…here we are."

There was silence after the babble ended. Duo bit his lip. Heero was still staring blankly into his eyes, sending chills down the whole of his body, and his wrists were aching badly under the pressure. Heero's legs were tight on his hips and he was pushing down on his groin, as if he would be able to fight him off. "Heero…man, um…could you…let go? Please? You're hurting me." Duo asked, uncomfortably, after a while. Heero jerked off him to a standing position without seemingly moving a muscle. Duo sat up with a painful gasp, rubbing his wrists, which were red. "I...I'm sorry." He added, after a while as Heero turned away. "I just…you looked like you were having one of those dreams that I have bad dreams about dreaming. I thought you'd like some release, you know…"

"This is to go nowhere, what you heard, what you saw, none of this, you hear?" Heero snapped, turning round.

"Hey! Why would I?" Duo asked.

"New boy losing it?" Heero asked.

"I'm not like that." Duo answered, his face, for once, serious. Their eyes met for not the first time, but this time deadly serious violet eyes surprised the dead blue ones, but they didn't show it. Heero nodded.

"Go back to bed. I'll see you at ten." He said, and walked away. Duo was torn. Part of him wanted to stay, but most of him was totally freaked out and so he scrambled out of the door as fast as he could. He sprinted back into his flat and slammed the door behind him. He shivered, half with cold this time, and went into his bedroom. He pulled a blanket out of the wardrobe and went and laid out on the black leather sofa, tucking himself in, his violet eyes distant as he lost himself in his thoughts.

That boy was strong, too strong. Duo knew he was the best fighter out of the pilots, or was. He hadn't seen Heero fight, but his leanness and strength promised that he was deadly. He found himself shaking with how the young man had just taken him over. The feeling of him doing that had frozen him. He hadn't frozen in battle since…a long time ago. And yet, even though he feared the youth more than any other pilot, more than anybody since that fateful time a long way ago, he also found himself irresistibly drawn to him. There was something about him. Duo knew about masks, and he knew that Heero was full of them. That kid had had some tough shit, that was obvious. He found himself wanting to find out about him, wanting to be let in. He wanted to be close to this lone wolf that had so unexpectedly come into his life. He felt pity for him, but also a great respect coming from his core. With these thoughts whizzing through his head, he drifted back off to sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He woke up to the faint trill of his alarm. He swore thickly and got up to turn it off. He dressed in straight black trousers that fell off his legs and hung on his dark brown suede boots. On his top was a red, long sleeved top, the sleeves rolled up. It was made of a thick cotton, and had a turtle neck with a zip down to half way down his chest which he did up. Over that was a black suede jacket that hung off his shoulders. He did his hair up in the plait, loose, but tight enough for it to be in control. His thick fringe fell thickly over his forehead, his large violet eyes now bright and sparkling with his life. Clicking and winking at his reflection in the mirror, he shoved some gum in his mouth and left the flat, locking it and shoving the key in his pocket. He walked over to Heero's door, and knocked on it. Heero opened it.

"Morning!" Duo cried. Heero nodded and came out, locking the flat and pocketing the key. He was wearing light blue jeans that hugged his upper legs and fell heavily on the top of his brown suede boots, lighter than Duo's. He wore a dark green, loose tank top with thin straps over his shoulders. As they walked he shrugged on a deep blue denim jacket that brought out his deeper blue eyes. Duo felt the almost familiar shiver and kept walking. "Gum?" he asked, offering him some. Heero shook his head and walked on, hands in his pockets. "I'm warning you now," Duo said, as they went into the lift. "Treize is a bastard. He'll hit you with all he words he can and expect you to be fine. Then again, you're pretty good at staring people out, so this could be good."

Heero grunted in response, and then the lift doors opened on the second floor.

"Duo! Who's this?!" came a cry.

"Oh! Is he the new boy?" came another. Duo put his head in his hands and groaned. Two girls came in, and he spotted the approving looks they shot Heero before squeezing in.

"This is Heero Yuy, the new pilot." Duo said. "Heero, this is Relena and Dot."

Relena was a short girl in school clothes and mousy brown hair. She was quite pretty, in a way. Dot was her best friend. She had yellow blonde hair and was in the same school uniform. They spend the whole time down giving Heero flirty looks, which, Duo noticed with interest and amusement, totally ignored. They tried to get him to speak, too, but he just stood there, the most they could out of him was a grunt. By the time they got out, Duo could only just hold on until the doors closed before he collapsed into helpless laughter.

"That!" he said, between laughs, "Was fantastic!"

Heero raised his eyebrows at him, but Duo caught the slight twinkle of amusement in his eyes before they sobered again. He had realised that that was all he was going to get, and continued to giggle randomly as they made their way down, and down and down.

When the doors opened they were in a short, metallic corridor. Duo saw Heero flinch, but only just. It was just in his eyes, really, and Duo pretended he hadn't seen it, and went through. "Come on!" he called, and Heero jogged to catch up with him. They came into a huge room, full of TV screens and machinery. The rest of the pilots were there, and Zechs and a few others Heero didn't know.

"Finally, the new boy!" A man cried. He was tall, and had copper, cropped hair. He was well built and was in a blue suit of the army.

"We're early, Treize!" Duo yelled back.

"That's "sir" to you, Maxwell. As penance, you will be the first to fight him."

Heero looked over as Duo paled.

"You…you gotta be kidding, sir. Shouldn't..? Wufei has the best technique, sir." He called back. Wufei laughed.

"Heero! What have you done to him? It takes a lot for him to admit that!" he called, and Heero shrugged.

"Ah, a non-speaker, I see." The man named Treize said as they came up to him. "Come here, boy."

The others watched as Heero went up to the man, and looked at each other nervously. No pilot had ever survived an introduction by Treize before. Would Heero?

"He's got a pretty good chance." Duo muttered in the answer to the un-voiced question.

"Heero Yuy." Treize said. Heero said nothing. "I guess we should introduce you. That is Zechs, Marquise, sir to you. He wears a mask because if he looks at anyone, they will burn into a crisp, he was part of an experiment, went wrong. You don't look too impressed." He said, after a while. "Explain."

"I have seen his eyes, sir, the mask does not hide them. Most likely it is to protect his identity to those who may try and enter here as a spy, sir." Heero replied, calmly, and there was a cheer from Duo behind them and a few chuckles from the others. Treize glared at them.

"Shut up." He snapped. "Ok." He started again. "That is Noin. Cross her and she will take out the whip she has in her flat and flog you within an inch of your life. Now, argue with that. What's the reason you don't believe that, huh?"

"The insulted glare she's giving you, sir." Heero replied, flatly. Treize spun round and the short, dark haired woman, shrugged and winked at Heero. Duo clamped his hand over his mouth to stop him laughing, as did the others.

"Fine. That is Lady Une. She can have you executed on the spot. Bet you don't believe that, do you."

"Yes, sir, I do." Heero replied.

"Why?"

"From the proud way she raised her head and nodded when you said that, sir." Heero said, "But even she cannot do that, it is against army rules, I would have to be court marshalled first."

The rest of them, including Zechs and Noin burst into fits of laughter as Treize and Lady Une's faces fell.

"Fabulous!" Quatre cried, giggling.

"Congratulations!" Wufei laughed.

"You go Heero!" Duo yelled, and went on laughing again.

"Shut up!" Treize yelled, and they fell into a giggling silence. "Right" he said, looking at Heero. "I've changed my mind. I'm fighting you first. Go with the pilots. They will prepare you. Be at the ring in five. Go."

As he left, there was a deathly hush.

"Oops." Noin said, grimacing.

"Hey, I have a slight suspicion Heero will surprise us." Duo said, and the others looked at him. "I can scrape past Treize, right? Well, since I've come to know Heero, I've got the feeling he's quite a bit better than me, due to his general superhumaness."

"Even so, he needs to be careful. Heero." Noin said, coming towards him. She took his jacket off to reveal the loose top and the thin straps over his lean chest. "Duo, can you get him some sweat pants from the cupboard, he hasn't time to go get any of his if he has any." Duo sped off. "Now, Heero. He's big and bulky, but he's on the slow side alright, and he's heavy, you need to make him loose his balance, which is difficult, because he knows that's his weak spot."

"Here." Duo said and shoved some black sweat pants into his hands. Then, Duo put a hand round his shoulders and the other three came with them as they went through a door into a small changing room. Heero quickly slipped into the sweat pants, revealing that his legs were lean but hard with muscle. He frowned as Duo put his hands on his shoulders.

"Heero, man. Don't die." He said, and the others smiled. "I don't want you to die on us. Thrash him for us."

"Please?" Quatre asked.

"Bastard." Trowa muttered.

"Wipe the floor with him for us." Wufei growled.

"No pressure or anything." Duo said, rolling his eyes, and Heero grunted blankly. There was a bell, and Heero went out of another door.

"Does he ever talk, Duo?" Trowa asked.

"He doesn't need to." Duo answered, another rare thoughtful moment coming out before they walked out, too and went into the audience. It was a large, white room, with a large raised section. Treize was standing at one end in karate get up, and Heero was standing simply at the other. Duo found, like the others, who were gathered there, too, that, however more professional Treize was dressed and acted, there was a sense of power that radiated off Heero that seemed to take over the whole stage. They found themselves believing Duo when he had said that Treize would be in trouble. Most of them, apart from Une, were looking forward to it immensely. It had been too long since Treize had been thrashed.

"Three…Two…One…Fight!" Zechs shouted. Treize started circling closer and closer to Heero, who was still standing there.

"Come on, boy, aren't you going to fight me?" Treize taunted. Duo noted Heero's hands clench, but that was the only part of him that moved. Treize was keeping his distance, and just circling, circling him. When Treize was only a few feet away, he suddenly yelled and grabbed Heero round the waist. He twirled him in the air and threw him down to the floor, head first. At a gasp from everyone, Heero's hands came over his head and propelled him up in a flip. As soon as he had landed, he flipped back, his hands by his sides, and did a no hands flip, his booted feet crashing down on Treize's shoulders. He flipped over Treize's body as he landed and Treize flipped up to find a square punch in his nose. As he staggered backwards. Heero went low and swung his leg under his body, sweeping Treize off his feet. Before he could hit the ground, Heero had slid under him and placed a firm kick in his back, sending him flying up again. Finally, he spun and landed a kick in his stomach with a thud and Treize flew over a few metres before landing on the floor.

The others were left speechless. They had never seen anything like it, and Heero wasn't even breathing hard. Treize staggered up, his nose bleeding, and got his bearings. Heero was just standing again, and that enraged Treize to no end. He ran towards Heero with a roar and swung his leg into his side. Heero was thrown off, but cart-wheeled twice with the momentum and then, he used that momentum to swing his legs around so they were horizontal, catching Treize in the thigh. He held that for a few seconds, hands on the floor, holding the rest of his body horizontal, before he flipped up. He grabbed Treize by the collar of his gi and lifted him clean above his head, so Treize's feet were off the ground. Then, with what looked like ease, he tossed him over his shoulder where Treize raised his hand, beaten, and groaning.

There was a silence like no other.

"Er…KO?" Duo asked.

"My god." Zechs breathed, "I've never seen anything like it."

"I couldn't see anything at all, he was too fast!" Quatre exclaimed.

"Now get at me for saving his ass, Treize." Duo said.

"Why?" Heero asked, and Duo winced.

"Didn't you know?" Zechs asked, "He went deliberately against orders to get you out of there. You should have been left."

"Yeah, but…" Duo tried, but Heero had simply glared at him and was now walking out of the door. "Heero!" he cried, and ran after him. He went into the changing room and found him doing up his jeans already, a glare on his face. "Heero, listen."

"You went against orders."

"I couldn't just leave you there!"

"Why not?"

"…"

"You didn't even know me, you had no reason to take those risks."

"Apart from not letting someone I know being taken by the bad guys."

"You didn't know me."

"No, but I'd met you."

"And that means you give a damn, does it?"

"Yes!" Duo cried, as Heero went back into the briefing room. "I'm sorry if that's the way I am!"

"Good." Heero muttered.

"What's wrong with it, Heero? Why don't you like it?"

"I'm not worth it. You could have been killed, I wasn't wanted and you just did it anyway. It shows weakness that you don't know how to follow orders."

Duo stopped dead and just stared at him as Heero walked up the stairs, unaware of what he'd just done. He looked down, the pain clear on his face and ran out the other door, the door that led to the gardens. Trowa stepped out from the changing room door, a grim look on his face. Heero really had no idea what he'd just said.