'This is pointless; we're never going to find him.'

It was getting dark and cold and Duo wanted to go home. He shoved his hands in his pockets and trailed behind Quatre, catching his heels with every couple of steps. Usually this would annoy the hell out of him, but tonight he didn't say a word. There was something else on his mind; it showed itself in the way his eyes darted around him; his shoulders were high and tense, and he walked quickly, his feet only brushing the ground.

It'd started out as a bit of fun to Duo, trailing round the town, looking in all the bars and cafes, trying to find Heero. He'd felt like a special detective from in the movies, trying to find his suspect before time ran out. But now, after going round for three hours with no sign of him, the fun was wearing thin. The fact that Quatre was treating it more like a full on police search rather than a bored afternoon's wander wasn't helping either.

'Q? Did you hear what I said? Let's go back.'

Quatre didn't reply. Duo jogged up to his side and nudged him with his elbow.

'Hey! Anyone home? Q!'

'If you wanna go home then for god sake go, Duo. I'm staying out till I find him.'

There was something in Quatre's tone that didn't fit with Duo. The unfamiliar snappiness sparked off a distant memory in the back of his mind; he'd heard him talk like this before, but he couldn't remember why or when. He knew though that it was a long time ago, and the horrible lurch in his stomach told him that it definitely wasn't a good memory.

'Jeez, he's a big boy, he can take care of himself! Look, if he wanted us to find him then we would've by now. We both know that if Heero wants to stay hidden then you've got more chance of stumbling over Santa Claus. He obviously wants to be on his own, so let's let him, okay?'

Duo knew this wouldn't work, but he tried anyway. He'd been trying to persuade Quatre to turn round for the past hour, with no success.

Quatre stopped walking and turned round to face Duo. He stared hard at him with a look that made Duo feel extremely uncomfortable; it was almost like Quatre was burning holes right through him with his eyes.

'Duo do you realise what you're saying? You're asking me to walk away from a friend in need-'

'- have I jumped into some kind of parallel universe where you're Batman and he's Robin? If I have then I expected more spandex.' Duo really wished he hadn't said that. Quatre's eyes were on fire, burning holes not only through him, but through tree they were standing behind, and a couple more bushes after that. 'I'm sorry, but it's true. He's not you're faithful but under-skilled sidekick; he's a deadly trained weapon who would kill both of us in a second if someone gave him the right order and a chopstick.'

'Fine.'

Quatre turned back forward and carried on going.

'Hey! Didn't you hear a word I said?' Duo shouted after him, holding his forehead exasperatedly. He groaned and ran up to Quatre, this time grabbing his arm to stop him moving. 'What are you doing?!'

Quatre let his head drop and let out a sigh. Duo's stomach lurched again, almost in sick anticipation of something that his friend was about to say. Quatre looked up and frowned.

'Don't you remember Duo? This isn't the first time he's gone out all night, is it? Don't you remember what happened the last time? Remember what happened the last time we thought he could take care of himself?' Quatre turned his head towards Duo, the moonlight reflecting off his eyes, making them stand out like two headlights in the dark. 'The last time we didn't bother checking where he was or what he was doing?' He twisted his arm to free it from Duo's grip, then turned so that his whole body was facing him. 'The last time he came home barely able to stand, covered head to toe in bruises? His knuckles bleeding? Two black eyes? Don't you remember at all, Duo?'

Duo put his hands to his stomach as it did a complete flip in his belly. So that was the memory he'd forgotten. The memory of bathing Heero's wounds all night. The memory of uncomfortable silences the day after, when he wouldn't tell them how he'd gotten beaten up; the memory of the whole group having to stay low for a week so that he could recover and not jeopardise any future missions. It all came flooding back to him in a heartbeat.

'I…I'm sorry, Q. I'd forgotten. But y'know, this is probably different, he only got beat up the one time, and he said it was nothing to worry about. And like I said, he could just be wanting some alone time. I mean, two weeks in a house with us guys, it's gonna get to him eventually. He might even be at home right now, wondering where us two are.'

'Yeah, maybe.'

'So you agree with me then? We'll go home?'

Quatre backed away and looked down the street. He began to walk away, craning his neck round to say, 'I can't do that Duo. I'll see you later', before waving quickly and carrying on.

Duo punched his forearm with his cold knuckles, frustrated and pissed off with himself for not getting Quatre to agree with him. He knew he was right. Heero would be ok, of course he would.

But nevertheless, something in the back of his mind said otherwise.

Duo paused for a second, before running up to Quatre. It wouldn't hurt to stay with him a while longer, would it? Sooner or later, they'd come across something, they're bound to.

Duo didn't know whether finding some sign of Heero would be a bad or a good thing.

After they found Heero's jacket lying on a park bench, blood stained and covered in dirt, he decided that it definitely wasn't a good thing.