Chapter 7

Duo shivered, and his eyes opened. He closed them, and opened them again. There was only just a difference. Everything was nearly black and it was freezing. He shivered, he had left his jacket in the hanger for more room, and all he had was his thin, short sleeved shirt.

"D?" he asked, quietly, his voice hoarse and sounding terribly lonely.

Duo. Came the reply. It was rasping and harsh, but weak.

"D, what's going on? All I can remember is falling off the harbour, falling through all this and then I think I blacked out."

You were knocked unconscious by the impact of me and the sea floor. Deathscythe replied.

"What? We're all the way at the bottom?" Duo asked, his stomach flipping.

At exactly three hundred and forty feet. Came the grim reply. Duo's eyes widened his face the picture of horror.

"They can't get to us, can they?" he asked him, knowing the answer.

Not even if they tried. Deathscythe told him.

"Oh god." Duo cracked. "I'm gonna die down here."

In exactly six hours and eleven minutes, my oxygen supply will run out and…

"I don't need to know!" Duo interrupted. "Can't you get outta here on your own?"

I was damaged in the fall…" there was a creak, "…I am very weak…I'm not sure how long I can go before I shut down.

"Don't shut down on me, man!" Duo cried, "I don't want to be alone down here…D?" There was no reply, and Duo knew that he had gone, he could feel it. He was all on his own down here, waiting for the air to run out and then he would suffocate. The wail of utter panic set in his stomach and threatened to come out. He swallowed hard to push it down. He wouldn't go crazy, he wouldn't. Wasn't there anything he could do? He knew that there wasn't, they had even stopped there being anything in the cabin for him to kill himself quickly with. He was stuck. He was a dead man, and the worst thing was, he had to wait for it.

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

"I really don't think you needed to be quite so harsh." Noin said, quietly, looking over the rim of her coffee cup at Treize. He glared at her.

"If he hadn't gone waltzing in there, Duo wouldn't be stuck at the bottom of the sea, waiting for a grim death."

"I thought you said…"

"Oh, grow up, Noin! Those things are built like skyscrapers. He might have been knocked unconscious for a while, but he'll be alive."

"So, that was an act of kindness, telling Heero that, was it?" Zechs asked, bitterly.

"Not with the words after it." Une said.

"Listen. If he hadn't disobeyed me, Duo would have got out, he wouldn't be knowing he was going to die..."

"A fact which will be going around Heero's head already, let alone now that you've drilled it into him with a stake!" Zechs cried, a rare time where he lost his temper. "You know our suspicions about the boy, and you know, you saw how Duo was affecting him, the other pilots noticed it, too. Trowa's told me he was the only one who got to him and after that argument they had, they must have had a pretty close call to make up. Think about what'll be going through his head right now."

"He's been recommended as the perfect soldier, he probably won't even feel it."

"Oh, now who's being naïve?" Noin asked. "Maybe you just haven't looked hard enough, but there is something seriously wrong with that kid! You saw the footage of when he was sleeping! Not even Duo has dreams that bad!"

"Had dreams that bad" Une said, quietly, and they fell silent. "If you're looking for my thoughts on the matter, no matter how much that "perfect soldier" suffers, it won't even compare to what Duo's going through, and so I say bring on the guilt. He deserves it."

"It was in the heat of battle," Zechs argued, "He couldn't help the doll going where it did."

"He could have pushed it the other way, he's shown us he's good enough." Treize said, and none of them could find anything to say to that.

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

Duo shivered, it was freezing in here. He wrapped his arms tighter around his legs, which were curled up under him. He felt dry, parched, and a cracked laugh came out of him. Parched for water, at the bottom of the sea. He shivered again, and watched as a long eel slipped past the view of the water. He looked at his watch. After Deathscythe's warning, he had set it to count down. Not the best thing to do, he thought, but he couldn't think of anything else to do. It said 5: 45. Five hours and forty-five to live set on a little wristwatch. He sighed. He would have wanted his death to be glorious, noble. Now, he was waiting for it, alone and in darkness at the bottom of sea, watching the remainder of his life tick away on a digital watch, so that he didn't even have the ticking. He didn't even have a robot to keep him company.

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

"I'm worried about him." Quatre said, after a silence. They were sitting on Trowa's deep green sofas and he was currently snuggled up to Trowa's side, his legs underneath him and Trowa's arm clutching his shoulders.

"Who?" Trowa asked.

"There's not much point worrying about Duo." Wufei said, darkly, and Quatre clutched Trowa tighter, causing the taller boy lay his head on the blonde boy's own.

"Was Treize lying?" Quatre asked, looking up at Trowa. "Do you think Duo could have been killed in the impa…" he trailed off as Trowa shook his head sadly.

"I've survived a lot worse than that without even a scratch in Heavyarms." Trowa said. There was a horrified and stunned silence.

"Going back to what I said, I'm worried about Heero." Quatre said.

"Why?" Wufei asked, a little bitterly. To his surprise, he found Trowa glaring and turning on him.

"You blame him, don't you?!" he asked, his green eyes blazing. "You blame Heero for this?!"

"Well he was the one who made the beast…"

"Fall on him? He had no idea what it was going to do? What could he have done? Think of yourself in that position, what would you have done?!" Trowa yelled.

"Trowa-chan, be still." Quatre whispered, putting a pale hand on Trowa's face. Trowa closed his eyes, covering Quatre's hand with his own.

"I'm sorry, Quatre." He breathed, sighing deeply. "I just…what with Duo gone, and Heero…this must be killing him. Last night…he must have done something pretty monumental by his standards for Duo to forgive him for saying what he did. I don't think any of us can have any idea what this is doing to him."

"Even if he's denying it." Wufei said, and Trowa nodded.

"Why would he deny it?" Quatre asked.

"He was trained to have no emotions, to the perfect soldier, Zechs said." Trowa told him, looking down at the blue eyed boy. "He's going to feeling all this emotion and knowing that he shouldn't be because he was taught that it was wrong."

Quatre's eyes widened in understanding and a tear trickled from his eye. Trowa pulled his head into his chest protectively and kissed the top of Quatre's head as the boy sobbed silently into his chest, gripping him tightly. Trowa looked up at Wufei, who gave him a sad and sympathetic look.

"This is bad." He said, finally.

"This is as bad as it could get." Trowa agreed.

"How come the Gundams have never done that before?" Wufei asked.

"They had no leader. They needed Wing and Heero to complete the circle, I guess." Trowa answered. "It was weird, I could feel everything…"

"What do you mean?"

"Everything Heero and Quatre was. I could feel Quatre more, I'm guessing because Heavyarms is closer to him than Wing."

"What, in numerical order?"

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"What?"

"What was he feeling?"

"Confused, guilty, angry at himself, even more confused, frustrated, even more guilty. It was a little scary. He puts on such a good show of not caring, not feeling, when really, all he's been trained to do is push them down so he can't feel them."

"But he can now."

"I think Duo's unlocked him in some way, which is why he's so confused."

"And now that Duo's gone…"

"He has no one to help him." Trowa said. Wufei shook his head, his hair, now out, reaching his shoulders and framing his face.

"So, what's he doing? Re-teaching himself?"

"Trying, I suppose."

"Well, good luck to him. I think he's going to need it." Wufei said, and he and Trowa nodded, Trowa laying his head on Quatre's and clutching him even more tightly as the Sandrock pilot continued to weep into him.

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

Three and a half hours. That was all he had left. Duo's jaw and body ached from sitting in the same position and shivering for so long. His skin felt like stone gone wrong. He was freezing, and slightly sweating with foreboding and fear. He didn't want to die; he had too many things to do yet. He shook his head, knowing that this path would lead to insanity. If he wasn't lightly insane already. He tried to think of something else that he could think about for long enough to pass some of the time that seemed to be three times as slow down here as it was on the surface. He smiled, cracking his dry lips as he thought of the perfect subject. Heero.

His stomach flipped as he cast his mind back to sort through the battle, and he gasped, a sore crack coming from his throat as he realised what Heero had done. He had gone against orders. Treize had ordered him to not go, and he had come anyway. What had made him do that? To go against everything he had ever been taught? To do what he had ripped into Duo for doing? A warmth spread in his stomach and chilled again as he thought about whether it was because he was in trouble, and then decided against it, because the others were in trouble first, and he hadn't checked on him or anything. Still, it made him feel kinda good, that maybe Heero had learnt some good habits from him before…

He hit himself in the forehead mentally, he had thought about it again. He wished Heero was here now. He wanted to see his eyes again, touch him again, smell him again. If he was perfectly honest with himself, (and he decided this was a good idea as he had nothing to hide from anyone anymore) he knew that what he wanted was for the back door to the cabin, that was inaccessible from anywhere but the engine as well as now being securely locked, to open and for Heero to come through it and hold him, tell him he was going to be okay and take him back, not letting go. He wanted it so much he felt a crack of a sob rake through his body and closed his eyes, the thought of the stern determination of Heero to stop himself panicking. He held on to that thought, the thought of Heero telling him not to be so stupid and to pull himself together to keep him going. Heero wouldn't do this, Heero would just take it, close his eyes, try to sleep, and take it. Well, Duo couldn't sleep, he had been trying for the last…three hours and forty-four and a half minutes to go to sleep, but he closed his eyes and kept Heero's face in his head. He clung to it desperately, the only thing he could do without reminding himself of his impending doom and it kept him sane.

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

There was a knock on the door. Trowa looked up at Wufei, and asked him with his eyes to get it; Quatre was asleep in his arms. Wufei smiled at the boy and stood up. Trowa gently him, knowing he should wake up anyway. Quatre yawned, incredibly sweetly, and Trowa involuntarily placed a swift kiss on his lips. He got a smile in return and then the boy stretched.

"Heero?"

Trowa sat up, turning round, as did Quatre. Wufei had opened the door, and Heero was standing in the doorway. His face was stone and he was staring at Wufei. "Come in?"

"No." Heero said. Trowa got up and went over to the door, Quatre close behind him.

"Heero?" he asked, suspiciously. There was a slight gleam in Heero's eye that shouldn't be there. "Why did you come here?"

"To ask you if you're coming with me." Heero said.

"Where?" Wufei asked.

"To get Duo."

Trowa sighed sadly, pitying eyes resting on Heero's.

"Heero…it's impossible, there's no way we can get to him."

"I was made to be the perfect soldier!" Heero cried suddenly, making them jump. Lowering his voice, he added. "I was trained to do the impossible."

Trowa, despite himself, found a smile creeping up on his lips, and saw similar smiles on Wufei and Quatre's faces.

"Heero, you know Treize had forbidden it. You could be executed for this." He said.

"I know, I don't care." Heero said, a determined look on his face. "I'm not leaving Duo there to die, but we don't have much time. I don't think I can do it with just Wing, but I'll try. I will do it without you if you won't come with me, but you're going to have to decide now. Are you with me?"

The three were a little surprised. Gone was the stoic, private soldier that just followed orders. In place was a driven, determined leader who made his own decisions and ordered others. Trowa found himself being proud just to serve him. He shoved his fist out.

"Just say the word, captain and I'll do it." He said.

"Count me in." Quatre said, adding his fist.

"Wherever you go, I will be with you." Wufei said, and put his fist on Trowa and Quatre's. There was a gleam in Heero's eyes, and they stared as his mouth turned up in that half smile of his as he covered the pile of fists with his hand.

"Let's do this." He said. They all yelled out in unison as they threw their hands up in the air, and then Quatre grabbed their jackets and they left the flat, walking, Heero leading, followed by the others in a group behind him, down the plain corridor to the lift.

They got in, the three putting their jackets on.

"So, do you have a plan?" Trowa asked as they went down.

"Well, I've looked at the blue prints of Deathscythe on the computer…"

"That's classified information, how did you get to it?" Quatre asked, astonished. Heero gave him a proud little gleam in his eye.

"I'm a celebrated hacker." He said, a slightly mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"You've changed such a lot since you came here a few days ago, you know that?" Trowa asked.

"Thank Duo for that when you see him next." Heero said, a determined look now on his face. "Anyway," he carried on in a professional kind of voice as they walked into the large room that lead to the hanger, "It shows that there may by room for someone to get through the engine and into the maintenance chamber the wrong way. From there I can force my way to Duo and get him out. Now, we can't leave Deathscythe there, and it will almost probably be dysfunctional and out cold…"

"How do you know that?" Wufei asked as they reached the hanger.

"Because if he was fully functional he would probably be able to get out of it himself." Heero replied. "So, I will need you lot to get Deathscythe out of there once I'm out with Duo."

"How?"

"You'll carry him."

"What?!" Trowa asked. They shared looks. "I didn't quite realise that this was going to be a potential suicide mission."

"Well, it is." Heero replied, his voice louder as they all climbed up the ladders to the Gundams. There was silence as they all got in and put the headphones on.

"Turn them on." Heero said, and pressed the button. Before Wing could speak, he went forward, as the others did, and they got into the circle.

What's going on? Sandrock asked.

Rescue mission. Heero answered. Let's get out first. Wing?

Leave it to me. Wing said, and looked up. Heavyarms. He and Heavyarms got out their swords and jammed them into the hanger doors. With a scraping of metal against metal, they held them open for Shenlong and Sandrock. Wing held it open for Heavyarms to get out and then propelled himself out, getting out just in time to let the doors slam.

" They know where we are now." Trowa said, "No going back."

"Good." Wufei replied.

"Can we be joined while we move?" Heero asked.

Yes. Wing replied, and got them all together.

Let's fly. Heero said, We only have an hour and a half left.

They got going, Wing leading them as he was the fastest, and Heero explained his plan to the others.

Right. We will all go down and Wing will swim up to Deathscythe. We all have breathing equipment in the maintenance room so I'll use that. The pressure will be hard, but I'll just have to deal with that. Wing, you'll have to be upside down so water doesn't get into the cabin. The rest of you will be around me. You can't move Deathscythe with me in there because it'll automatically close the engines hatch. Movement without the Gundam's permission does that, so you'll trap us in there. So, as soon as you see me go back to Wing, go to Deathscythe. The three of you combined just be able to lift him out, but be careful. Using your engines to propel you in the water is dangerous when you're coming back out again. Water is at a higher density than air so you'll propel yourselves out into space if you're not careful. I know Zechs said we haven't tried the Gundams out underwater yet, but from what I've seen they shouldn't have any problem at all.

Wow. Wufei said, after a silence.

Yeah, seeing why you're the leader, boy. Heavyarms motioned.

I…

He's not a boy. Wing interrupted, defensively, and Heero smiled a little.

Well, that told you Heavyarms, huh? Trowa said, laughing a little through the microphone.

Oh! Quatre said.

What? Trowa asked.

It's weird hearing a real voice. Quatre said, and they chuckled a little bit, Heero simply concentrating. He hadn't got much time, and if he didn't save Duo he didn't know what he'd do. They'd be at the city in about two minutes he guessed, and he didn't know how long it would take him to get through the engine. He narrowed his eyes. He had no choice but to save him, and was afraid to ask himself why.