Notes: Things will finally start to get moving in this, and the next chapter, which means that updates should hopefully be a bit quicker.

Dedication: This chapter is for pUnK-RoCk's Sk8ter chic for your wonderful review. I'm glad you liked Saving Shinigami, and I hope you like this one just as much. Though, I think I should warn you that a chapter that doesn't end on a cliffhanger will be pretty rare. Enjoy and review!

Chapter Seven

There was probably a perfectly logical explanation for why Heero wasn't answering the phone. I was probably being a panicky, paranoid idiot. If I raced home, Heero would probably give me that amused, tender look he always gives me when I do something stupid. I knew all this, and yet I couldn't help but run down the hall to Wufei's office.

He was working on his computer, occasionally looking at a thin manila folder on the desk, and he looked up in surprise as I skidded to a stop in the doorway.

"Duo! What's-"

"Heero's not answering the phone!" I blurted.

"What? Duo, I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason-"

"Bullshit! Something's wrong and with the shit that's happened the past couple of days I am not taking any chances!"

"Duo, we can't just leave-"

"Why not?"

"We'd get disciplined, for one, most likely suspended, for two, and Heero would think we're nuts, for three."

"I don't care! I am leaving and they can take my fucking badge if they want, but they won't because I am too good a fighter to be let loose on the world. So I'm going, and you can either stay here and cover for me, or you can come and help me find out what's happened to Heero. Choose."

There was no wrong answer to the question, we both knew that, so I felt no guilt about putting him on the spot. He frowned at me and sighed.

"Go, just try to be back soon."

I grinned and blew him a kiss before running down the corridor to the elevator. Despite my bold words to Fei, I was worried. Une gave me a lot of slack, I was simply too good to be dismissed from the Preventers for a few petty issues, but if I kept running out of work, she was going to have to take action, and I did not want to lose my job.

Still, something in my gut was telling me that Heero needed my help. I had nearly lost him too many times to take the chance that he was fine. Was that paranoid? Probably. Possessive? No, just caring.

By the time I got home, I was convinced that Heero had been attacked by some insane stalker-type person and was lying bleeding and broken on the living room floor with Eddie staring at him. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I couldn't get my damned car to go fast enough, which wasn't helped by the stupid cop that pulled me over for speeding. I think I scared him a little, he looked a trifle green when I was finally done screaming at him.

But I couldn't really bring myself to care as I lunged out of the car and opened the door. The good news was, he wasn't lying bleeding and broken on the living room floor with Eddie staring at him. The bad news was, he wasn't in the house at all.

I searched everywhere, my fear escalating with each second that passed, but all I found was a Post-it stuck to the TV screen that said simply: Gone out.

So, one the one hand, he was alright, and okay enough to leave a two-word note that he knew would piss me off. On the other hand, he had fucking left the house when he was sick and promised us he would stay in bed.

I let out my breath in a huff, and tried to think about where he would go. There weren't that many places to choose from, Heero wasn't what you'd call a social butterfly. When he went out, he usually wanted to be left alone, and feel safe whilst doing it. There was one place he favoured, and had for the past three years.

I smiled and walked out, climbing back into my car and driving into town. If Heero was where I thought he was, then I couldn't stay angry. He only went there to think, or brood, or maybe a mixture of both.

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Wings was the hottest club in town. It had actually been named after Wing Zero, who had rescued the owner's family during the war. This meant that Heero got the extra-VIP treatment whenever he dropped by. They didn't open for another few hours, but I knew they'd let Heero sit and brood-he was too good a customer to refuse, and they did everything possible to cater to his needs. Most people dream about that, they envision making the staff get them the best drinks for tea and having the security team at their beck and call, but all Heero ever wanted was to sit alone in a corner and drink and watch the crowd, and to just be left alone.

Sure enough, when I stepped into the semi-gloom of the club, I saw Heero sitting in the far corner, nursing a beer. There were seven empty beer bottles littering the table, along with two empty bottles of vodka. He didn't look up as I walked towards him, but I didn't really expect him to. I stopped in front of the table, and just looked at him for a minute. He was scowling at his beer as if it was responsible for all the wrongs in the world, and I noticed that his gun was lying on the table amongst the empty bottles.

I glanced at the bar and found one of the waitresses, I think her name was Lisa, watching us warily. I waved her over and quietly asked for a pot of coffee. Heero didn't make any indications that he had heard, or even noticed my presence, and I was starting to get a little annoyed. I sat down opposite him, and pulled the bottle out of his hands. He let me, only offering token resistance, but still didn't look at me.

"Heero, if you don't look at me, I'm gonna slug you," I said, only half-joking, and it was enough for him to finally raise his eyes. I was shocked at what I saw in them-despair, such a bleak, soul-eating sorrow, tainted with the faintest hint of fear.

"Do you remember three years ago when I disappeared for two days right after we became Preventers?" he asked, and his voice was strangely hoarse. I blinked, not really understanding where the question was heading, but nodded. I did remember that day, he'd just packed a bag, kissed us goodbye, and left, assuring us that he would return. We hadn't understood then, and he never did explain where he went. We respected his silence and didn't ask, but the curiosity ate at me for months.

"I went to this little town a few miles away from here, I don't even remember the name of it. I scrounged around for a bit, and found a large rock in a small patch of trees. I'd brought some tools with me, and spent nearly twenty-four hours carving the thing, forming a flat surface on the front and then etching in some words. 'To Everyone. I am Sorry. Forgive Me.' I went into the town and bought a dozen white roses. I laid them next to the rock and sliced my hand, dripping my blood onto the stone and the flowers. I offered my blood for forgiveness.

"Then I came back, and you noticed the cut on my hand, I know you did, but you never asked. I didn't want to tell you, so I didn't. I didn't tell anyone. But this person knew, Duo. They knew, and they knew that a reminder would hurt me, because I didn't feel forgiven. I wanted so much for them to forgive me, I gave them my blood as payment, but it wasn't enough. They didn't forgive me. And this person knew that."

All I could do was stare at him. I assumed he'd just been tying up some loose ends, maybe meeting with a couple of old contacts from the war or something. I'd never even come within miles of the truth, but how could I have guessed? I knew he'd always felt guilty about the lives he took, especially the innocents that just got caught in the crossfire, but that he would go to such an extent to try and get absolution, forgiveness, was just…

Them my mind caught up with the rest of the confession, and I realised why there was that hint of fear in his eyes. Heero is the ultimate stealth and tracking master, he is always aware of his surroundings, and it is virtually impossible to watch him without knowing. That this person had managed to not only watch him, but study him so much that they knew how much pain it would cause him to be reminded of the day, was… chilling.

I remembered my earlier musings about whether this person qualified as a stalker and decided that yes, they most certainly did. Now we just had to figure out how to deal with them.