Yay! It's finally time for an update! *beats off angry reviewers with a stick* I am sorry that this took so long to finally repost, but I have been suffering the worst writers block ever imaginable. But I think that the block is finally starting to crumble and I'm getting back into the groove of things. For those of you (*coughall5of youcough*) who read the original teaser, you can start down after the first section. I just thought I'd add the teaser back in for the heck of it. The rest of you should be grateful for the fact that you don't have to wait three months for the continuation of the teaser like the other 5 readers did. So go, read, and REVIEW!!!!! ^_^ Thanks in advance!!

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        Heero bolted straight up in bed, tossing the covers to the floor. He'd done it again. He'd had another one of those dreams. It wasn't' the first time he'd seen Duo in his sleep. Ever since that day, the thought of his comrade had plagued him. He remembered it all in vivid detail. Especially those eyes. They had stayed with him. Always filled with trust, but also with a hint of something Heero had tried to place. Regret? What did Duo regret?

            He stood up, shaking his head to clear the images. It had been five months. Yet Heero was still thrown from sleep by the nightmares at least once a week. But it was getting better. The dreams used to occur every night. The television reports hadn't helped. OZ had told the reporters that the captured Gundam pilot had been killed by one of his own, hours before a meeting with Colonel Treize, in which he had been planning to tell them everything. They had made Duo out to be a traitor, the worst kind of soldier, willing to turn against his companions to save his own life.

            Heero grabbed his head, determined to rid himself of the guilt. He left his room, heading for the kitchen and his waiting laptop. He needed to confirm his mission with Doctor J. He and Quatre were supposed to destroy the moon base. It had been producing new mobile suits, Virgos, at an alarming pace, They had been assigned to destroy the moon base a while ago, but before it could happen they had all fallen into OZ hands. They had managed to escape, Heero actually fleeing in the unfinished model of the new Deathsythe Hell. Trowa had broken them out, and then preceded to flee in the Vayate, one of the two new mobile suits the scientists were being forced to build to compete with the Gundams.

            Currently, they were all lying low in a safe house on a colony in the L2 system. They rarely left the colony, occasionally leaving on missions, but they didn't want to jeopardize their cover. The up coming moon base attack would be the first major offensive attack since their escape.

            Heero sat down at the kitchen table, pulling his laptop over to him. His mind registered the blinking light on the screen as he pulled up the latest message. It was from Wufei, saying that he would be back from his latest assignment. He also said he needed to talk to the other pilots, especially Heero and Quatre, upon his return.

            He sat for a minute, wondering what Wufei thought was so urgent. Glancing at the clock on the wall, and then down at the time the message was sent, Heero figured Wufei would be back in about half an hour. He decided to make another pot of coffee and was just putting it on when Quatre walked into the room.

            "Wufei is on his way back," Heero told him while dumping coffee grounds into the filter. "He says he needs to talk to all of us."
            "Okay," Quatre said as he made his way into the living room. He disappeared from Heero's sight, but he heard a click and then the muffled sounds of an early morning TV show. Heero's head dropped. He and Quatre had never been close, but Quatre had been good friends with Duo. He had never really forgiven Heero for shooting his friend, instead of helping him escape. He couldn't really blame Quatre. He'd never really forgiven himself either.

            He studied over the mission briefings while the coffee percolated in the background. He was just starting on memorizing top officials' names when Wufei trudged in the door. He glanced at Heero, then at the coffee. Having made his decision he grabbed a mug from the cabinet and brought the now steaming pot over to the table.

            He glanced around. "Where are the other two?" he asked, sipping at the rejuvenating brew.

            "Quatre's in the living room and Trowa's asleep. I'll go get him. You go get Quatre." Heero headed down the hall and knocked on the door next to his labeled with a big 03. He knocked again after not receiving an answer and a spikey-haired head stuck out of the door.

            "Heero? What do you want?" Trowa asked as he rubbed the sleep from his emerald-green eyes.

            "Wufei's back and he needs to talk with us about something," Heero explained.

            "All right," Trowa said. "I'll be right there." He turned around, shutting the door behind him. Heero turned to head back to the kitchen, but stopped when he glanced at the door across from his. It was Duo's room. Or at least it would have been Duo's room if he had made it back.

            Heero walked up to it, tracing his fingers across the numbers 02 on the door. When they had first arrived, all of their stuff had been delivered to their individual rooms, even Duo's stuff left on earth. The day after, while Trowa and Quatre were at the store and Wufei had been fixing Altlong, Heero had gone in. He had stood in the doorway for several minutes, feeling like he shouldn't be there. Steeling himself, he'd crossed the threshold and entered the room.

He hadn't known just why he was there. He had just wanted to look, take in as much of Duo as he could. He had gone through one of the two boxes belonging to the boy and had opened the second one when something had caught his eye. It had glittered in the failing light of the room as Heero slowly reached in and pulled out the golden chain with the cross swinging freely on it. He had held it carefully, images of his fallen comrade flashing through his mind. He had quickly closed the box as he wiped away the lone tear from his ice cold eyes, shoving the necklace in his pocket.

            Heero's hand left the door, slowly sliding over the lump in his pocket. His fingers traced the outline of the cross through his shorts. Reaching in, he was about to pull out the necklace when he heard a cough behind him. He whirled around and stood face to face with Trowa.

            "Come on," Trowa said, sympathy in his usually flat voice. "Wufei's waiting for us."

            Heero nodded, eyes stinging with unshed tears. He followed Trowa back down the hall, taking a seat next to Wufei once they reached the kitchen. Quatre was there looking sullen, not even perking up when Trowa ruffled his hair affectionately and sat between him and Heero.

            "What's this about, Wufei?" Quatre asked, attempting to make his hair lie flat.

            Wufei looked at the tree faces staring back at him. They looked tired and worn. Not the faces of three sixteen year old boys. Once again he cursed whatever turn of fate had gotten them all sucked into this conflict. The hardships they had to endure were more than any person should ever have to suffer.

            Clearing his throat, he fought to organize his words. "I apologize for the time of this meeting, but this information is too important to wait. As you know, I was off attempting to stop an incoming load of metal to the moon base. The mission itself started out fine, until I realized that this supply ship had an unusually light guard. There was only one lone suit handling the entire shipment. It wasn't until I got a good look at the suit that I realized why."

            His thoughts turned toward the suit. It had been a design that he was sure was based off of the original design for the Gundams. It was the same size, but it was pitch black except for the glowing red eyes and a pair of silver wings that eerily resembled the wings of a bat. It carried a large poll that slightly resembled the staff that Altlong's trident or Deathsythe Hell's scythe was attached to.

            Describing the suit, he studied the reactions each of his comrades had to the news. He could tell that Quatre was worried. He could see the fear lurking far behind his eyes. A new suit like this meant a harder fight for whoever was forced to face it. After a month of smash and run jobs, his biggest fear was that they wouldn't be up to fighting something too advanced.

            Heero's face was hard to read to Wufei. His eyes, so cold and unyielding, were brewing like storm clouds on a summer morning. Something was going on inside his head, and if Wufei didn't know any better, he would have said that Heero was troubled. But Heero didn't get troubled. Heero may have been surprised by things, maybe even annoyed, but never troubled. If the description of the suit caused him to feel like this, his next piece of information was going to cause a breakdown.

            "There's more," Wufei said, in an uncharacteristically meek voice. Glancing back at Heero, he finished his story. "The pilot engaged me in battle, a thermal axe coming from the poll he carried. Despite my best efforts," Wufei growled, anger evident in his voice, "he was too much for me to handle. He told me that he would allow me to live, but that I had to deliver a message to the pilot of unit 01." Gulping, Wufei coolly delivered the message to Heero. "He said that he will face no one but you. And that he will attack a civilian shuttle if you do not chose to fight him within a week."

            The blood drained from Quatre's face. A civilian shuttle? How could even OZ condone this? Then he realized that they wouldn't have to. They could just as easily blame it on the Gundam pilots themselves. If the suit was as similar a design as Wufei had said, then any pictures or satellite footage could easily altered to appear that the Gundams themselves were the culprits.

            Heero sat in his chair, looking stunned. If he didn't fight this guy, innocent lives would be lost. If he did fight him, chances were he'd be killed. He knew what choice he had to make, whether or not he wanted to.

            "Quatre, the mission will go on as scheduled in two days. You will sneak into the base and plant the explosives while I create a diversion. This suit has just provided me with something to do. I will fight him and show him that the Gundam pilots don't take well to blackmail." Heero's cold blue eyes bored into Quatre, daring him to protest.

            No matter how much he disliked Heero, Quatre was in no hurry to see him get himself killed. But there was something in Heero's tone of voice, and the look in his eyes, that caused the words of protest to die on Quatre's tongue. Something about this situation bothered him, but he didn't want to let anybody else know about it. Quatre was surprised that he could tell there was something bothering Heero. He usually didn't let anyone see such personal things. Thinking to himself, Quatre decided that he may have to give Heero another chance.

            Silence had descended upon the small kitchen, all thoughts on the possible outcome of the situation. No one was happy with their scenarios. Finally, Heero broke the silence by pushing back his chair and standing up from the table.

            "If I'm going to fight a new mobile suit in two days, there are some things I need to do to prepare. I will more than likely be unreachable all day." And with that, he exited the kitchen, leaving the other boys to wonder at his whereabouts and his thoughts on the fight.

**Check it out! The chapter is finally done!!! I know you all are so excited; you can hardly wait to jump down and review, so I'm going to go ahead and stop rambling so you can review! Write lots of good things! Thanks! **

~Queen Vixen

P.S. - I now have an account on fictionpress.com under the author name Winged Scribe and I would be very grateful if any of you decided to check it out and review. I tend to get a little self conscious about my works, so anything you write would be appreciative, just as long as I know someone's read it. Thanks in advance!!