Okay....This is my first story in forever. I've always wanted to make a one chapter story or a story that can be said in one chapter. It's a bit about Duo's past and about one girl that he meets. I guess we should get going with the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I don't own Duo. I don't own Heero, Quatre, Trowa or Wufei though I do like messing with their lives. Hanri is mine though.
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Hanri
The support machines whirred softly. It was a soothing comforting sound, one that would put you to sleep instantly. The little girl in the bed sat up and looked around.
"Mama?" she asked out loud. She pulled off the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. SOmething pulled back on her. She looked at the tubes coming from her and ripped them out.
The nurses head snapped to attention when the small beeping noise came from room B240. She got up and quickly ran over.
"Mama!?" the little girl ran out of the ran and down the hall way. "Mama!? Where are you?!"
*Sniff* "Mama."
"Hey what's wrong?" She looked up to see a boy, no more older than her, standing before her.
"I can't find my mama." She wiped her hand across her nose.
"Same here." he said with a sad smile. "My name's Duo. What's yours?"
She looked at him. "I don't ..... know." She grabbed her head as she heard shots echo throughtout the room. "Mama! MAMA!!!"
Duo caught her as she fell sobbing to the floor.
"Don't worry I'll protect you." He said quietly as she stroked her hair.
"Duo? Duo!?" Sister Helen called out to him.
"I'm here." He waved his hands to her.
"There you are! I thought I told you not to.... Who's this?" She stopped mid-step. At his shrug, a nurse came running up behind them.
"I'm so sorry." She picked the small girl up.
"Where's my mommy?" the little girl's voice was muffled by the nurses coat.
"Don't worry. Your mommies watching over you." The nurse turned to the nun. "Thank you for finding her. Excuse me."
Sister Helen watched as the nurse took the little girl away. The little girl lifted a tear streaked face up to her. Her green eyes showed so much sorrow.
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"Hey, who's the new girl?" the other kids asked each other. Her long black hair was pulled back in a braid. Her clothes were black and white and her green eyes held much sorrow.
"I hear she's Duo's sister." A girl snickered.
"Hanri?" the teacher asked.
The little girl looked up and raised her hand. Duo spoke up, "She's present!"
The teacher looked at him reproachfully, "Let her speak for herself, Duo."
"You don't understand. She doesn't talk." He looked at the small girl. "Hasn't talked since she got out of the hospital. The Doc says it's shock."
She looked at him sternly but went on. Hanri looked at Duo and he gave her one of his wide smiles. She nodded her thanks. The doctors had no records of the little girl. The day she came in they new her name her SSN everything but not mere hours later everything was gone. From what she had gathered, she had been asleep for a LONG time. They had released her to the care of the Maxwell Church Orphanage as there was no other place that would take in children.
The day went by quickly. Three fights later, Duo came back to the orphanage with a busted lip and a black eye. Hanri came back with skinned and bruised knuckles and a nice bruise on her temple.
Sister looked at the two of them despairingly. "I can't believe you, Duo! It's her first day at school and she's already picked up nasty habits!"
"It wasn't her fault! The guys were *OW* picking a fight with her. *OW* They were lifting her skirts and *Ow* tugging her hair. I just *ow* jumped in to help her. Enough!" He pushed Sister Helen away from her minstrations. "I just got them away but she saw I was outnumbered and she jumped in. It's not our fault." He crossed his arms in front of his chest in defiance.
Sister Helen sighed. "That's not the point, Duo. She's just getting started in school. I don't want her scholarship revoked."
He hung his head guiltily, "I'm sorry."
Hanri watched on with slight guilt and apprehension. Sister Helen let them go after she had cleaned them up. They sat in the dining room and finished off the little homework they had together.
She ran off and put her stuff away and walked over to the only large window they had. She looked outside and at the falsely peaceful day. She closed her eyes briefly and saw a flash back. A man, tall and lanky, black hair and a small beard held a gun in front of her and her mother. Then there was an explosion and she gasped opening her eyes.
Duo looked up at Hanri, "Hey!" She looked at him. "It's time for dinner!"
She nodded and jumped down. The window was at such a height that a small child like her should not be able to climb to it.
"What did you see?" He asked her as they walked to the dining hall.
Hanri looked at him, "A... man... black hair. I can't remember the rest." She finished lamely.
Duo nodded. He understood. It was sort of hard for him to tell anyone about Solo. They ate dinner and retreated to their room quietly. Duo and Hanri shared beds, as embarassing as it might sound. No one seemed to like the little girl. They disliked her just as much as Duo. They snuggled up close though for warmth, since the church didn't have much for heating.
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Duo looked around at the remnants of the church. It seemed like no one had survived it. NO ONE. He heard coughing and looked to find Sister Helen laying among the rubble.
"Duo..." She breathed.
He ran over to her and bent down closer to hear her.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"You did well. Father Maxwell preached of peace until the very end. He waited for you as long as he could." She smiled weakly.
"That's stupid!" He held back tears. "There is no such thing as peace!"
"Duo...I'm sorry. May...god....bless....yo..." Her hand reached half way but dropped heavily.
Duo felt his heart stop momentarily and a second passed by as he stared at her in disbelief. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He stared up into the sky and his tears poured out like a flood.
Hanri coughed and moved the rubble that lay on top of her. She looked at her surroundings, but the church was gone. Her right eyes was shut together and her other eye was slowly adjusting. She got up and dusted off the tattered skirt she was wearing.
Her head shot up as she heard Duo scream. She limped toward his voice.
"Duo...." She walked up behind him. He didn't react to her voice and she looked over him. Laying half beneath rubble, was Sister Helen. Her heart began to hurt but she squashed the feeling quickly. Nothing in life ever lasted and that meant the people you love. She squatted down next to Duo and hugged him. He reacted and she found herself beneath his small and shaking frame.
His hand was held high and he looked down at her with fury in his eyes. She looked at him calmly. Her face didn't betray the feelings inside of her.
Duo looked at Hanri. Her eyes daunted him to bring down the fist he held high and he did. Her head snapped to the side and she left it there. She didn't look at all hurt or like she was about to cry. He smacked her again, twice as hard and she let him. It was only after the fourth time that Duo broke down crying uncontrollably and Hanri was there to hold him.
Her nose was bleeding, her lip busted, and her cheeks going red but she would always hold him when he needed someone. His sniffling turned into hiccups and soon he was fast asleep on her shoulder. She laid him down gently and got up in search of something to make the night less cold.
She walked around the rubble and picked up small objects that may become useful to them in the future. Her eyes landed a broken mirror. Her right eye was glued shut with blood, but a large cut crossed from the top of her eye to the bottom of it, straight across her nose to stop right below her left eye. She shrugged at the impurity done to her face and found right next to it a brush.
Duo woke up and found that Hanri was laying stones on top of the body of Sister Helen.
"What are you doing?" he ran up behind her.
"I'm giving her a burial." She looked at him. Her bruises were changing color and her nose left a nice red streak down her front. "Or would you rather have her fall prey to some rabid dog?" He shook his head. "Then help me."
They moved the rocks to cover the dead sister. Hanri had tried to make the lady as presentable as possible. Her hair gleamed and her hand lay across her stomach.
Duo got up and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. The memories of what he had done came flooding back and he dared not look at Hanri straight in the face.
"It's alright." She said quietly as she stood up. "We all over react sometimes. It's better if you let it out, in anyway possible."
He reached over the grave and picked up a small piece of glass. The glass shone brilliantly in the little light that was found. It was the remainder of the one Hanri always looked out of.
"So I can remember." he told Hanri and the grave.
"What do we do about that?" She looked at the large green mobile suit.
"We leave it." he walked away. "They'll be coming for it soon. So we better get out of here."
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Duo looked at the large spaceship. He whistled. "Look at the size of this thing." He looked back at Hanri.
She pulled down the black cap she wore. "Its nice." How can he wear this!? Its stuffy and not to mention uncomfortable.
He smiled widely. He had made her wear the same black clothing as he. The cap hid the scar that had come of the day of the attack. It was a pale scar but it didn't seem mar her otherwise beautiful face. He moved his head and she nodded. They moved stealthily into the shadow of the ship. the hangar was closed otherwise they'd have been dead from lack of oxygen.
Duo banged panel after panel before he found the right one. He opened it, switched a few wires, and the sound of machines whirred. The door silently swished open and both boy and girl stepped into the dim corridor.
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Duo bent down and looked through the vent at the corridor below them. Hanri, opposite him, carefully and quietly pulled the cover open. Duo dropped down stealthily and Hanri came after him.
"This way." he said quietly. She nodded and they made off in the direction of the weaponry. Duo hung low to the ground and didn't notice the small wire until an alarm sounded. Hanri looked about her and swore.
"Go! Finish the job!" She pushed him down in the direction of the armory.
He looked at her helplessly. "But....."
"GO!!" He nodded and took off. Hanri turned about and heard the heavy steps of boots. She ran into the guards and took down three before she took off in the opposite direction of Duo.
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Duo turned the small gun around in his hands. It was extremely old. He stuck it into his jean's band and began to stuff as much gundanium as he could into his bag. An extremely large piece of gundanium slipped out of his grasp and feel with a loud thunk on the floor.
"Who's there!?"
Duo turned to see a silohoette in the door frame. "Shit!" he whispers. He takes off in the opposite direction only to find himself cornered.
"I think we found him." A man said as he stepped forward. "You gave us quite a run there, kid."
Duo looked around helplessly. All possible exits were blocked, which one to choose. The one with the least guards was to his left. He took off at a fast run and slammed into the first man. Jumped and round housed the second and brought the third one low. He heard the sound of an explosion.
"DUO!!" He turned in time to see Hanri put herself in front of him and take the bullet meant for him. Her cap flew off of her head and landed with a soft thump on the floor. To Duo, the world went in slow motion. She fell backwards slowly and he opened his arms to catch her. She fell on her butt holding her shoulder and breathing raggedly.
He wrapped his arms around her and stared defiantly at the man that had spokenly earlier. "What do you want?"
"Uh-uh-uh, Kid. It's our turn to ask the questions." He stepped forward and looked down at them. "What are you doing on our ship?"
Duo looked at him and felt Hanri's hand clutch his own. "Business." was all that came out of his mouth.
The man slapped him. "You've got a smart mouth for one so young." Duo looked back at the man with pure hate in his eyes. "Question number two: Why this ship?"
"None of your business." He was rewarded with another slap across the check, only this time he was torn away from Hanri. "NO!! Zero!"
"Zero, huh?" He looked her over. The scar across her nose wasn't bad at all. It was a nice touch to her face and from what he could feel, she was curving out nicely. He turned her so she faced Duo. "This is such a pretty girl. I wouldn't want to see her get hurt." He pulled out a knife and raised it to her face. Her expression was blank.
"Now tell me: Who Sent You?" He dragged the knife around her kneck.
Duo hands were in fists and he was shaking uncontollably. "......." He heard wripping sound and looked up briefly to see the knife tearing away at Hanri's shirt.
The men began to leer at what the captain was doing. They rarely had the oportunity to watch as a woman was stripped in front of them so they might as well take the chance and watch a growing girl be raped in front of them.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. A shot rang out in the room and a loud thump could be heard. Duo looked up again to see that the man and Hanri lay on the ground. "Take them away" a strange voice was heard.
"Yes, sir." The men saluted smartly and took the dead man away. They picked Hanri and Duo up and took them to a holding cell.
The cell was dark and uncomforting. Duo lay in it with a very feverish Hanri beside him. She shivered and sweated the whole time they waited in the cell.
"Yeah," the guard outside their door said. "I heard they were survivors of the Maxwell Incident. (Massacre?)"
"Yeah right," the other said, "probably some lost kids hired to jack us." The laughed heartily.
"Duo?" Hanri's voice was little more than a whisper.
"I'm right here, Hanri." Duo clasped the searching hand in his own.
"Duo, its dark." Duo bite his lip at the scared voice. Her trembling became more violent. It was dark but not dark enough that she could not see. "Duo, I'm....not going to make it."
"Shhhh....Don't say things like that. OF course your going to make it!" He held her tighter. "Just hold on a little longer. Someone will be here to make you all better." He kissed her clammy forehead. He could already feel her grasp losening. He knew he should have thought carefully about this.
The man who wanted the gundanium was willing to pay them $1 million credits just to get his hands on a bagfull of the metal. Duo had said yes because he had not liked the alternative to it. Ever since the Maxwell Church burned down they had had to make due. Hanri would now and then get a job with one of the rich mansions and bring in a bit of money, but Duo felt it was time to take matters into his own hands. He felt useless when it came to money making. When he had told Hanri about it, she had stared at him hard and informed him that he wasn't doing it on his own.
"Duo, I...." Her voice snapped him to attention.
"Shhh... Don't talk save your strength." He felt tears coming out of his eyes. //Oh God, not again. How can you be so cruel to me!// His thoughts raced. // First you steal Solo, Sister Helen, and Father Maxwell and now your stealing Hanri from me too! Haven't you done me enough damage!!!// "You can't leave me Hanri. Remember you promised to stay with me and grow old with me. We're siblings you can't leave me!!"
"Duo, I'll be right here. All I need is a nice nap..." Her breath came out long this time and he felt her go limp. His eyes widened and he clutched at her even tighter.
"Now how was it that you were able to get onto this ship?" The same voice from the weaponry said.
Duo looked to find a short man in a lab coat with a large scarred nose and a very bad hair day come through the door of the cell. "Your computer systems are lacking in protection." Duo sneered. He wasn't in the mood for playing 20 questions.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide but I never tell a lie." He looked at Hanri and could just feel her pulse. Its there! Barely, but she's still alive!
"Help me!" Duo reached out his blood soacked hands to the doctor.
The doctor's eyes widened and he looked behind him. "We need some medical attention. You go tell the others to get the operating room ready!"
"Yes, SIR." One of the guards took off.
"And you! Help me move her, PRONTO!!" There was the noise of rushing feet coming from the outside and the doctor moved in to check her pulse. "Its low but it's there." The guard bent down and picked the unconcious girl up took her away.
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Duo paced outside the the tall steel door. He whirled around as it swished open. The funny looking man pulled his mask down and took his gloves off.
"How is she doc?" Duo looked urgently at the doctor.
"I'm going to tell it to you straight, kid." He sat down and looked gravely at him. "She's in very critical condition. It missed most of her vital veins but it was able to hit the sack of her heart and it grazed her back partially."
Duo stared at the doctor in disbelief. He sank heavily into the closest chair. "What do you mean, doc.?"
"I mean she lost a lot of blood and she might not pull through this." He sat forward and looked at the long haired boy through the crack in his hair. "If she makes it, she might not wake up."
"You mean she'll go into a coma." Duo stated. He was blunt about it. No use skirting the truth now.
"Yes... After that, only time will tell." He stood back up and went back through the door.
"Hey geezer!" Duo called to the retreating back
"G."
"What?"
"That's Doctor G." The man turned slightly to look at him.
"Can I see her?"
"Anytime you want. "
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"Hey Doc I'm back!" Duo called out. A short man with graying hair stepped forward.
"I never thought I'd see the day that Duo would come crawling back." G said sarcastically.
"Ha ha very funny doc. How's she doing?" Duo asked.
"Go see for yourself." G moved out of the way and Duo made his way deeper into the satellite.
He pushed open the door to where Hanri was being kept and there she was. The room was white washed and sterile. The only things suggesting a human lived there was the bed and a chair next to it. Many extensive machinery were hooked up to the girl laying on the bed. Some to give her food, others to give blood and to clean her heart's sack.
He smiled as the girl's eyes found his. The smile might not have reached her mouth but her eyes sparkled with merriment. He took the chair and placed it closer to her bed before sitting on it.
"Hey, Hani, how's it been going?" He asked softly. His heart pounded hard. He hadn't expected to see her like this. She had been recovering when one of her attacks had found her and it had left her worse than before.
Hanri breath in, "Better than the last time you saw me." She pulled herself up into a sitting position. "What are you doing back so early? I thought you were gonna go save the world."
He made a face, "Well I was in the neighborhood and I thought you could use a visit." He grabbed her limp hand. "Beside's I wanted to see how my twin was doing."
"Well as you can see," She motioned with her free hand, "I'm hooked up to about every machine in this god forsaken place.
He squinted his eyes and pulled her other hand to him. At the bend of the elbow, he found several small pin pricks, hard to notice unless you were looking for them. "What's this?"
Hanri pulled her hand back, her mind reeling at all the excuses she could make but knew he would find out eventually. "It's nothing."
"Hanri, you know you can tell me anything." Duo leaned in close, his eyes taking in the room, making sure no one was spying in or hearing their conversation. "Has the Doc done something bad to you?"
She shook her head. "The doctors have been giving me some medication that makes me feel a little better."
"Doctors?" His voice held a trace of outrage. She cringed.
"Don't take it the wrong way, Duo. Professor G has my health in mind." She wrung her hands. "Sometimes though they'll take me into the operating room and do tests. They'll poke and prod and I feel uncomfortable but they tell me I'm getting better."
She gave him a pained smile. "They say they have an idea on how to get me back to normal." She looked away. "But they also say there are consequences to it. They say that if they put me under again I might not make it back."
Duo's lips were in a thin line. He didn't say a word as he got up and left the girl. He slammed open the door to G's office and slammed it closed. The doctor looked up at him, unfazed at his abrupt entrance.
"What the HELL do you think you're doing to her?" He yelled almost at the top of his lungs.
"WE are doing the best we can to recuperate that young girl's health." G said softly.
"Bull Shit!! What do you and the others have planned for her, huh?" Duo looked about ready to punch the crap out of the professor.
"She has already undergone some changes." G told the mad boy. "She doesn't know it yet but we've been experimenting with her body while she is in her coma's." The doctor moved to the small widow that looked out into space. "We're getting older, Duo, and this will probably be our last experiment. We want it to be the best experiment we have ever created."
"I can't believe this!!" Duo flung up his arms in outrage. "You've already...and you haven't even told her?"
"She doesn't need to know."
"The hell she does!" Duo pointed a finger at G threateningly. "I'll take her away."
"Where will you go?" G asked leaning against his desk. "Even if you do take her, she'll die in a matter of days if she doesn't have her medication."
"I could kill you." Duo said with barely contained hate. "You started this from the time we came into your care, didn't you? You had it all planned out."
The Professor looked at him. The look on his face said he didn't have a care in the world but his stance was full of tension. "Maybe we did."
"Fine I'll leave her here, but I'll require reports on her every week. I want them detailed." He turned to leave but looked back. "What is it that you're adding to her body?"
G smilled. "I thought you'd never ask. We've added several parts to her body that are mechanical. Surprisingly her body has accepted them and they work in unison. These parts are made of gundanium and will not rust in her blood stream."
"There is something else I have been meaning to tell you." G placed his hands into his pocket. "I've found what is causing her to relapse. There was a small fragment of the bullet left in her body. So small that when I closed the wound it was able to make its way into the spinal cord area. We will see what we can do about this new threat but it might also mean if we take it out we have killed her for sure."
Duo stepped forward. "I want you to do anything you can to make her normal again. I don't care what you do anymore just keep her alive."
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Duo stood outside of a large cryotube. His hand was on the glass and he looked at it with care in his eyes. The label on the outside of the tube read Zero-Two. It cast an eerie orange glow on Duo's peaceful face.
"Hey, Hanri." He leaned his forhead against the cold glass. "It's been a while since I've seen you. We saved the world once again."
He looked up at the girl in the swirling orange liquid. She hadn't awaken from the coma and from what Duo knew, the doctors had teamed up to try and bring her back. They probably took that opportunity to experiment on her and Duo wouldn't put it past those maniacs.
Hanri looked just as old as she had the last time he had seen her, which was one year back. She had never awoken from the coma that she had been in and the last news he had about her was when the crazies had called him to inform him that they had found a way to save Hanri.
Her hair floated around her fetal positioned body. "I promise you, Hanri, we'll find a way to get you out of this mess." The bullet just grazed her spinal cord. The sack had been bad. She had lost a lot of blood but Duo had donated some of his. The graze though had been even worse. She had looked healthy for a while and was able to talk and look at him but she had several relapses. On one occasion, she never woke up again. He had been devastated and had wanted to blow the whole place up along with the Gundam.
He smiled at the still form of his friend. "I met a whole lot of knew people when I left this place. Heero Yuy, an anti-social and evil Knivel guy. He's Japanese and he's pretty cool, both ways. Quatre Raberba Winner, the one and only heir to the Winner Empire. He's really kind and very sweet. Trowa Barton, tall and silent. He's really quiet. Its almost scary, but he's the kind of guy you want to speak your burdens to. And Chang Wufei. He rambles on about justice but he's really neat when you get to know him. A real brainiac."
"I miss you, Zero." He put his hands where her face was. Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Heero watched as Duo leaned up and kissed the glass. This was a side of Duo they had never seen. They had always seen the jester smiles and the sly jokes, but this was an utterly tender side of him.
"Well, Hanri, I've gotta go. I'll try to come back soon. Hopefully, I'll be able to see you and hear you." He slid his left hand down and looked at the glass with love and then turned and walked out the door. "Thanks for waiting. Let's go!"
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Heero flipped the power switch and watched as the whole satellite came to life. He gave a small smile as everything came back to him. The doctors had left him this small abandoned satellite when they had disappeared.
He roamed in and out of every room languidly listing what would be needed to fix the whole. He stopped when he noticed a small orange light emitted beneath one of the doors. He opened it and found the cryotube Duo had so lovingly kissed a year ago. The girl inside was still whole and not decaying. He touched the glass and looked about. One soul computer was up and running. He walked over curiously and read report after report. The doctors had been writing down everything they did to her and their work was very intricate.
Heero couldn't help the feeling that he was being watched so he turned around. The girl's eyes were wide open and staring right at him. She moved back to her original position and closed her eyes again. The doctors had left specific designs and insturctions on how to begin where they had left off. Heero set himself to finish what the doctors had started.
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I don't own Duo. I don't own Heero, Quatre, Trowa or Wufei though I do like messing with their lives. Hanri is mine though.
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Hanri
The support machines whirred softly. It was a soothing comforting sound, one that would put you to sleep instantly. The little girl in the bed sat up and looked around.
"Mama?" she asked out loud. She pulled off the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. SOmething pulled back on her. She looked at the tubes coming from her and ripped them out.
The nurses head snapped to attention when the small beeping noise came from room B240. She got up and quickly ran over.
"Mama!?" the little girl ran out of the ran and down the hall way. "Mama!? Where are you?!"
*Sniff* "Mama."
"Hey what's wrong?" She looked up to see a boy, no more older than her, standing before her.
"I can't find my mama." She wiped her hand across her nose.
"Same here." he said with a sad smile. "My name's Duo. What's yours?"
She looked at him. "I don't ..... know." She grabbed her head as she heard shots echo throughtout the room. "Mama! MAMA!!!"
Duo caught her as she fell sobbing to the floor.
"Don't worry I'll protect you." He said quietly as she stroked her hair.
"Duo? Duo!?" Sister Helen called out to him.
"I'm here." He waved his hands to her.
"There you are! I thought I told you not to.... Who's this?" She stopped mid-step. At his shrug, a nurse came running up behind them.
"I'm so sorry." She picked the small girl up.
"Where's my mommy?" the little girl's voice was muffled by the nurses coat.
"Don't worry. Your mommies watching over you." The nurse turned to the nun. "Thank you for finding her. Excuse me."
Sister Helen watched as the nurse took the little girl away. The little girl lifted a tear streaked face up to her. Her green eyes showed so much sorrow.
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"Hey, who's the new girl?" the other kids asked each other. Her long black hair was pulled back in a braid. Her clothes were black and white and her green eyes held much sorrow.
"I hear she's Duo's sister." A girl snickered.
"Hanri?" the teacher asked.
The little girl looked up and raised her hand. Duo spoke up, "She's present!"
The teacher looked at him reproachfully, "Let her speak for herself, Duo."
"You don't understand. She doesn't talk." He looked at the small girl. "Hasn't talked since she got out of the hospital. The Doc says it's shock."
She looked at him sternly but went on. Hanri looked at Duo and he gave her one of his wide smiles. She nodded her thanks. The doctors had no records of the little girl. The day she came in they new her name her SSN everything but not mere hours later everything was gone. From what she had gathered, she had been asleep for a LONG time. They had released her to the care of the Maxwell Church Orphanage as there was no other place that would take in children.
The day went by quickly. Three fights later, Duo came back to the orphanage with a busted lip and a black eye. Hanri came back with skinned and bruised knuckles and a nice bruise on her temple.
Sister looked at the two of them despairingly. "I can't believe you, Duo! It's her first day at school and she's already picked up nasty habits!"
"It wasn't her fault! The guys were *OW* picking a fight with her. *OW* They were lifting her skirts and *Ow* tugging her hair. I just *ow* jumped in to help her. Enough!" He pushed Sister Helen away from her minstrations. "I just got them away but she saw I was outnumbered and she jumped in. It's not our fault." He crossed his arms in front of his chest in defiance.
Sister Helen sighed. "That's not the point, Duo. She's just getting started in school. I don't want her scholarship revoked."
He hung his head guiltily, "I'm sorry."
Hanri watched on with slight guilt and apprehension. Sister Helen let them go after she had cleaned them up. They sat in the dining room and finished off the little homework they had together.
She ran off and put her stuff away and walked over to the only large window they had. She looked outside and at the falsely peaceful day. She closed her eyes briefly and saw a flash back. A man, tall and lanky, black hair and a small beard held a gun in front of her and her mother. Then there was an explosion and she gasped opening her eyes.
Duo looked up at Hanri, "Hey!" She looked at him. "It's time for dinner!"
She nodded and jumped down. The window was at such a height that a small child like her should not be able to climb to it.
"What did you see?" He asked her as they walked to the dining hall.
Hanri looked at him, "A... man... black hair. I can't remember the rest." She finished lamely.
Duo nodded. He understood. It was sort of hard for him to tell anyone about Solo. They ate dinner and retreated to their room quietly. Duo and Hanri shared beds, as embarassing as it might sound. No one seemed to like the little girl. They disliked her just as much as Duo. They snuggled up close though for warmth, since the church didn't have much for heating.
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Duo looked around at the remnants of the church. It seemed like no one had survived it. NO ONE. He heard coughing and looked to find Sister Helen laying among the rubble.
"Duo..." She breathed.
He ran over to her and bent down closer to hear her.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"You did well. Father Maxwell preached of peace until the very end. He waited for you as long as he could." She smiled weakly.
"That's stupid!" He held back tears. "There is no such thing as peace!"
"Duo...I'm sorry. May...god....bless....yo..." Her hand reached half way but dropped heavily.
Duo felt his heart stop momentarily and a second passed by as he stared at her in disbelief. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He stared up into the sky and his tears poured out like a flood.
Hanri coughed and moved the rubble that lay on top of her. She looked at her surroundings, but the church was gone. Her right eyes was shut together and her other eye was slowly adjusting. She got up and dusted off the tattered skirt she was wearing.
Her head shot up as she heard Duo scream. She limped toward his voice.
"Duo...." She walked up behind him. He didn't react to her voice and she looked over him. Laying half beneath rubble, was Sister Helen. Her heart began to hurt but she squashed the feeling quickly. Nothing in life ever lasted and that meant the people you love. She squatted down next to Duo and hugged him. He reacted and she found herself beneath his small and shaking frame.
His hand was held high and he looked down at her with fury in his eyes. She looked at him calmly. Her face didn't betray the feelings inside of her.
Duo looked at Hanri. Her eyes daunted him to bring down the fist he held high and he did. Her head snapped to the side and she left it there. She didn't look at all hurt or like she was about to cry. He smacked her again, twice as hard and she let him. It was only after the fourth time that Duo broke down crying uncontrollably and Hanri was there to hold him.
Her nose was bleeding, her lip busted, and her cheeks going red but she would always hold him when he needed someone. His sniffling turned into hiccups and soon he was fast asleep on her shoulder. She laid him down gently and got up in search of something to make the night less cold.
She walked around the rubble and picked up small objects that may become useful to them in the future. Her eyes landed a broken mirror. Her right eye was glued shut with blood, but a large cut crossed from the top of her eye to the bottom of it, straight across her nose to stop right below her left eye. She shrugged at the impurity done to her face and found right next to it a brush.
Duo woke up and found that Hanri was laying stones on top of the body of Sister Helen.
"What are you doing?" he ran up behind her.
"I'm giving her a burial." She looked at him. Her bruises were changing color and her nose left a nice red streak down her front. "Or would you rather have her fall prey to some rabid dog?" He shook his head. "Then help me."
They moved the rocks to cover the dead sister. Hanri had tried to make the lady as presentable as possible. Her hair gleamed and her hand lay across her stomach.
Duo got up and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. The memories of what he had done came flooding back and he dared not look at Hanri straight in the face.
"It's alright." She said quietly as she stood up. "We all over react sometimes. It's better if you let it out, in anyway possible."
He reached over the grave and picked up a small piece of glass. The glass shone brilliantly in the little light that was found. It was the remainder of the one Hanri always looked out of.
"So I can remember." he told Hanri and the grave.
"What do we do about that?" She looked at the large green mobile suit.
"We leave it." he walked away. "They'll be coming for it soon. So we better get out of here."
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Duo looked at the large spaceship. He whistled. "Look at the size of this thing." He looked back at Hanri.
She pulled down the black cap she wore. "Its nice." How can he wear this!? Its stuffy and not to mention uncomfortable.
He smiled widely. He had made her wear the same black clothing as he. The cap hid the scar that had come of the day of the attack. It was a pale scar but it didn't seem mar her otherwise beautiful face. He moved his head and she nodded. They moved stealthily into the shadow of the ship. the hangar was closed otherwise they'd have been dead from lack of oxygen.
Duo banged panel after panel before he found the right one. He opened it, switched a few wires, and the sound of machines whirred. The door silently swished open and both boy and girl stepped into the dim corridor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo bent down and looked through the vent at the corridor below them. Hanri, opposite him, carefully and quietly pulled the cover open. Duo dropped down stealthily and Hanri came after him.
"This way." he said quietly. She nodded and they made off in the direction of the weaponry. Duo hung low to the ground and didn't notice the small wire until an alarm sounded. Hanri looked about her and swore.
"Go! Finish the job!" She pushed him down in the direction of the armory.
He looked at her helplessly. "But....."
"GO!!" He nodded and took off. Hanri turned about and heard the heavy steps of boots. She ran into the guards and took down three before she took off in the opposite direction of Duo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo turned the small gun around in his hands. It was extremely old. He stuck it into his jean's band and began to stuff as much gundanium as he could into his bag. An extremely large piece of gundanium slipped out of his grasp and feel with a loud thunk on the floor.
"Who's there!?"
Duo turned to see a silohoette in the door frame. "Shit!" he whispers. He takes off in the opposite direction only to find himself cornered.
"I think we found him." A man said as he stepped forward. "You gave us quite a run there, kid."
Duo looked around helplessly. All possible exits were blocked, which one to choose. The one with the least guards was to his left. He took off at a fast run and slammed into the first man. Jumped and round housed the second and brought the third one low. He heard the sound of an explosion.
"DUO!!" He turned in time to see Hanri put herself in front of him and take the bullet meant for him. Her cap flew off of her head and landed with a soft thump on the floor. To Duo, the world went in slow motion. She fell backwards slowly and he opened his arms to catch her. She fell on her butt holding her shoulder and breathing raggedly.
He wrapped his arms around her and stared defiantly at the man that had spokenly earlier. "What do you want?"
"Uh-uh-uh, Kid. It's our turn to ask the questions." He stepped forward and looked down at them. "What are you doing on our ship?"
Duo looked at him and felt Hanri's hand clutch his own. "Business." was all that came out of his mouth.
The man slapped him. "You've got a smart mouth for one so young." Duo looked back at the man with pure hate in his eyes. "Question number two: Why this ship?"
"None of your business." He was rewarded with another slap across the check, only this time he was torn away from Hanri. "NO!! Zero!"
"Zero, huh?" He looked her over. The scar across her nose wasn't bad at all. It was a nice touch to her face and from what he could feel, she was curving out nicely. He turned her so she faced Duo. "This is such a pretty girl. I wouldn't want to see her get hurt." He pulled out a knife and raised it to her face. Her expression was blank.
"Now tell me: Who Sent You?" He dragged the knife around her kneck.
Duo hands were in fists and he was shaking uncontollably. "......." He heard wripping sound and looked up briefly to see the knife tearing away at Hanri's shirt.
The men began to leer at what the captain was doing. They rarely had the oportunity to watch as a woman was stripped in front of them so they might as well take the chance and watch a growing girl be raped in front of them.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. A shot rang out in the room and a loud thump could be heard. Duo looked up again to see that the man and Hanri lay on the ground. "Take them away" a strange voice was heard.
"Yes, sir." The men saluted smartly and took the dead man away. They picked Hanri and Duo up and took them to a holding cell.
The cell was dark and uncomforting. Duo lay in it with a very feverish Hanri beside him. She shivered and sweated the whole time they waited in the cell.
"Yeah," the guard outside their door said. "I heard they were survivors of the Maxwell Incident. (Massacre?)"
"Yeah right," the other said, "probably some lost kids hired to jack us." The laughed heartily.
"Duo?" Hanri's voice was little more than a whisper.
"I'm right here, Hanri." Duo clasped the searching hand in his own.
"Duo, its dark." Duo bite his lip at the scared voice. Her trembling became more violent. It was dark but not dark enough that she could not see. "Duo, I'm....not going to make it."
"Shhhh....Don't say things like that. OF course your going to make it!" He held her tighter. "Just hold on a little longer. Someone will be here to make you all better." He kissed her clammy forehead. He could already feel her grasp losening. He knew he should have thought carefully about this.
The man who wanted the gundanium was willing to pay them $1 million credits just to get his hands on a bagfull of the metal. Duo had said yes because he had not liked the alternative to it. Ever since the Maxwell Church burned down they had had to make due. Hanri would now and then get a job with one of the rich mansions and bring in a bit of money, but Duo felt it was time to take matters into his own hands. He felt useless when it came to money making. When he had told Hanri about it, she had stared at him hard and informed him that he wasn't doing it on his own.
"Duo, I...." Her voice snapped him to attention.
"Shhh... Don't talk save your strength." He felt tears coming out of his eyes. //Oh God, not again. How can you be so cruel to me!// His thoughts raced. // First you steal Solo, Sister Helen, and Father Maxwell and now your stealing Hanri from me too! Haven't you done me enough damage!!!// "You can't leave me Hanri. Remember you promised to stay with me and grow old with me. We're siblings you can't leave me!!"
"Duo, I'll be right here. All I need is a nice nap..." Her breath came out long this time and he felt her go limp. His eyes widened and he clutched at her even tighter.
"Now how was it that you were able to get onto this ship?" The same voice from the weaponry said.
Duo looked to find a short man in a lab coat with a large scarred nose and a very bad hair day come through the door of the cell. "Your computer systems are lacking in protection." Duo sneered. He wasn't in the mood for playing 20 questions.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide but I never tell a lie." He looked at Hanri and could just feel her pulse. Its there! Barely, but she's still alive!
"Help me!" Duo reached out his blood soacked hands to the doctor.
The doctor's eyes widened and he looked behind him. "We need some medical attention. You go tell the others to get the operating room ready!"
"Yes, SIR." One of the guards took off.
"And you! Help me move her, PRONTO!!" There was the noise of rushing feet coming from the outside and the doctor moved in to check her pulse. "Its low but it's there." The guard bent down and picked the unconcious girl up took her away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo paced outside the the tall steel door. He whirled around as it swished open. The funny looking man pulled his mask down and took his gloves off.
"How is she doc?" Duo looked urgently at the doctor.
"I'm going to tell it to you straight, kid." He sat down and looked gravely at him. "She's in very critical condition. It missed most of her vital veins but it was able to hit the sack of her heart and it grazed her back partially."
Duo stared at the doctor in disbelief. He sank heavily into the closest chair. "What do you mean, doc.?"
"I mean she lost a lot of blood and she might not pull through this." He sat forward and looked at the long haired boy through the crack in his hair. "If she makes it, she might not wake up."
"You mean she'll go into a coma." Duo stated. He was blunt about it. No use skirting the truth now.
"Yes... After that, only time will tell." He stood back up and went back through the door.
"Hey geezer!" Duo called to the retreating back
"G."
"What?"
"That's Doctor G." The man turned slightly to look at him.
"Can I see her?"
"Anytime you want. "
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"Hey Doc I'm back!" Duo called out. A short man with graying hair stepped forward.
"I never thought I'd see the day that Duo would come crawling back." G said sarcastically.
"Ha ha very funny doc. How's she doing?" Duo asked.
"Go see for yourself." G moved out of the way and Duo made his way deeper into the satellite.
He pushed open the door to where Hanri was being kept and there she was. The room was white washed and sterile. The only things suggesting a human lived there was the bed and a chair next to it. Many extensive machinery were hooked up to the girl laying on the bed. Some to give her food, others to give blood and to clean her heart's sack.
He smiled as the girl's eyes found his. The smile might not have reached her mouth but her eyes sparkled with merriment. He took the chair and placed it closer to her bed before sitting on it.
"Hey, Hani, how's it been going?" He asked softly. His heart pounded hard. He hadn't expected to see her like this. She had been recovering when one of her attacks had found her and it had left her worse than before.
Hanri breath in, "Better than the last time you saw me." She pulled herself up into a sitting position. "What are you doing back so early? I thought you were gonna go save the world."
He made a face, "Well I was in the neighborhood and I thought you could use a visit." He grabbed her limp hand. "Beside's I wanted to see how my twin was doing."
"Well as you can see," She motioned with her free hand, "I'm hooked up to about every machine in this god forsaken place.
He squinted his eyes and pulled her other hand to him. At the bend of the elbow, he found several small pin pricks, hard to notice unless you were looking for them. "What's this?"
Hanri pulled her hand back, her mind reeling at all the excuses she could make but knew he would find out eventually. "It's nothing."
"Hanri, you know you can tell me anything." Duo leaned in close, his eyes taking in the room, making sure no one was spying in or hearing their conversation. "Has the Doc done something bad to you?"
She shook her head. "The doctors have been giving me some medication that makes me feel a little better."
"Doctors?" His voice held a trace of outrage. She cringed.
"Don't take it the wrong way, Duo. Professor G has my health in mind." She wrung her hands. "Sometimes though they'll take me into the operating room and do tests. They'll poke and prod and I feel uncomfortable but they tell me I'm getting better."
She gave him a pained smile. "They say they have an idea on how to get me back to normal." She looked away. "But they also say there are consequences to it. They say that if they put me under again I might not make it back."
Duo's lips were in a thin line. He didn't say a word as he got up and left the girl. He slammed open the door to G's office and slammed it closed. The doctor looked up at him, unfazed at his abrupt entrance.
"What the HELL do you think you're doing to her?" He yelled almost at the top of his lungs.
"WE are doing the best we can to recuperate that young girl's health." G said softly.
"Bull Shit!! What do you and the others have planned for her, huh?" Duo looked about ready to punch the crap out of the professor.
"She has already undergone some changes." G told the mad boy. "She doesn't know it yet but we've been experimenting with her body while she is in her coma's." The doctor moved to the small widow that looked out into space. "We're getting older, Duo, and this will probably be our last experiment. We want it to be the best experiment we have ever created."
"I can't believe this!!" Duo flung up his arms in outrage. "You've already...and you haven't even told her?"
"She doesn't need to know."
"The hell she does!" Duo pointed a finger at G threateningly. "I'll take her away."
"Where will you go?" G asked leaning against his desk. "Even if you do take her, she'll die in a matter of days if she doesn't have her medication."
"I could kill you." Duo said with barely contained hate. "You started this from the time we came into your care, didn't you? You had it all planned out."
The Professor looked at him. The look on his face said he didn't have a care in the world but his stance was full of tension. "Maybe we did."
"Fine I'll leave her here, but I'll require reports on her every week. I want them detailed." He turned to leave but looked back. "What is it that you're adding to her body?"
G smilled. "I thought you'd never ask. We've added several parts to her body that are mechanical. Surprisingly her body has accepted them and they work in unison. These parts are made of gundanium and will not rust in her blood stream."
"There is something else I have been meaning to tell you." G placed his hands into his pocket. "I've found what is causing her to relapse. There was a small fragment of the bullet left in her body. So small that when I closed the wound it was able to make its way into the spinal cord area. We will see what we can do about this new threat but it might also mean if we take it out we have killed her for sure."
Duo stepped forward. "I want you to do anything you can to make her normal again. I don't care what you do anymore just keep her alive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo stood outside of a large cryotube. His hand was on the glass and he looked at it with care in his eyes. The label on the outside of the tube read Zero-Two. It cast an eerie orange glow on Duo's peaceful face.
"Hey, Hanri." He leaned his forhead against the cold glass. "It's been a while since I've seen you. We saved the world once again."
He looked up at the girl in the swirling orange liquid. She hadn't awaken from the coma and from what Duo knew, the doctors had teamed up to try and bring her back. They probably took that opportunity to experiment on her and Duo wouldn't put it past those maniacs.
Hanri looked just as old as she had the last time he had seen her, which was one year back. She had never awoken from the coma that she had been in and the last news he had about her was when the crazies had called him to inform him that they had found a way to save Hanri.
Her hair floated around her fetal positioned body. "I promise you, Hanri, we'll find a way to get you out of this mess." The bullet just grazed her spinal cord. The sack had been bad. She had lost a lot of blood but Duo had donated some of his. The graze though had been even worse. She had looked healthy for a while and was able to talk and look at him but she had several relapses. On one occasion, she never woke up again. He had been devastated and had wanted to blow the whole place up along with the Gundam.
He smiled at the still form of his friend. "I met a whole lot of knew people when I left this place. Heero Yuy, an anti-social and evil Knivel guy. He's Japanese and he's pretty cool, both ways. Quatre Raberba Winner, the one and only heir to the Winner Empire. He's really kind and very sweet. Trowa Barton, tall and silent. He's really quiet. Its almost scary, but he's the kind of guy you want to speak your burdens to. And Chang Wufei. He rambles on about justice but he's really neat when you get to know him. A real brainiac."
"I miss you, Zero." He put his hands where her face was. Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Heero watched as Duo leaned up and kissed the glass. This was a side of Duo they had never seen. They had always seen the jester smiles and the sly jokes, but this was an utterly tender side of him.
"Well, Hanri, I've gotta go. I'll try to come back soon. Hopefully, I'll be able to see you and hear you." He slid his left hand down and looked at the glass with love and then turned and walked out the door. "Thanks for waiting. Let's go!"
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Heero flipped the power switch and watched as the whole satellite came to life. He gave a small smile as everything came back to him. The doctors had left him this small abandoned satellite when they had disappeared.
He roamed in and out of every room languidly listing what would be needed to fix the whole. He stopped when he noticed a small orange light emitted beneath one of the doors. He opened it and found the cryotube Duo had so lovingly kissed a year ago. The girl inside was still whole and not decaying. He touched the glass and looked about. One soul computer was up and running. He walked over curiously and read report after report. The doctors had been writing down everything they did to her and their work was very intricate.
Heero couldn't help the feeling that he was being watched so he turned around. The girl's eyes were wide open and staring right at him. She moved back to her original position and closed her eyes again. The doctors had left specific designs and insturctions on how to begin where they had left off. Heero set himself to finish what the doctors had started.