Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing. Do own Sei.

Wow. Oh, wow. I'm so happy right now. Why? Because I...got...REVIEWED! (jumps up and down for five solid minutes) Arigato, Danke Schoen, Grazie, Gracias, and THANK YOU to those who reviewed my stuff, I adore you all! YAY! I'm inspired to actually update regularly now!

Hokay, I'd better stop the hysterics before I hurt myself. Enjoy!


The stranger sighed, shrugging his great-winged shoulders as he did so. "What do you wish to know?" he asked simply, his clashing eyes glowing with hidden intelligence.

"Everything," Quatre replied, swallowing hard.

The man smiled gently at the blonde. "All right."

Duo couldn't control himself. "What the hell are you?" he blurted.

"What do you think?" the man asked curiously, directing his piercing stare at the braided boy.

"An alien?" Duo's voice was trembling with nerves, but also sounded strangely hopeful.

The winged wolf-man grinned and shook his head. "Of course not. I am a half-demon."

"A—what?" Wufei asked, blinking stupidly. He was not the only one that was caught between shock and confusion at the man's casual statement.

"Half-demon. Me." The dog-man reiterated this by pointing to himself with an elongated claw. The teens found their eyes drawn to the long, pointed nail, staring at it suspiciously—and in Duo and Quatre's case, fearfully. Will he use those on us? Will he attack? Quatre thought, eyes widening.

Heero was the next to speak. "What do you want from us?"

The man raised a tawny eyebrow in surprise and said, "Nothing," as if the question had never occurred to him. (Which was the truth—he hadn't expected anything from these strange humans, but they didn't know that, of course.) When Heero continued to stare at him with narrowed eyes, he added, "Just some shelter for a bit, only two days at most." He paused for half a moment, studying their faces. "Is that all right?"

The five teens hesitated, privately giving each other uncomfortable glances. This creature—this "demon"—did not know they were Gundam pilots. He didn't even know their names. But if he stayed with them, he would find out both pieces of information; it was inevitable. And with that knowledge, his life could potentially be put in danger. More importantly, he would be a liability to them. He could go to OZ and offer to sell them. If he stayed…Heero's sharp, bloody mind was the first to reach the realization, with the other four swiftly following.

It was the only conceivable conclusion for this man, should he be allowed stay with him.

Kill him.

The winged "demon" contemplated their silence. His eyes suddenly widened a bit—Trowa, in particular, made a note of it—but he recovered himself almost instantly. "Never mind," he said calmly. "I'll leave."

The teens backed away silently as he jumped off the table. He landed awkwardly, then stumbled slightly as one knee contracted spasmodically and tried to give out from underneath him. He ignored his body's numerous complaints and walked steadily and resolutely out the infirmary door.

Duo fell to his knees with a tiny whimper, the stress finally taking over. With the exception of Quatre's brief pitying glance and Heero's slightly irate glare, the others ignored him and followed the man out of the room and through the house as he directed himself unerringly to the front door.

When the man reached the door, he turned and nodded at the four boys still following him cautiously. "Thank you, by the way," he said, smiling at them. "I'm grateful." He turned away and pulled the door open.

As he walked over the threshold, Duo, who had managed to get to the head of the stairs and was looking down on them all, gave a small shriek of shock and clutched his head. Even as he watched the man walk out, Duo's vision wavered and doubled…for a brief moment, he saw Heero there instead, walking away with his classic grim resignation. The illusion changed rapidly, to show Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei in turn.

The other boys turned around and focused their attention on Duo. At Quatre's worried cry of "Duo! What's wrong?" the man—who was now a wavering double of Wufei, but was beginning to quiver and change into someone else, Duo couldn't tell who yet—stopped and turned to look up at the teenager on the landing with mild concern.

Duo gave a strangled gasp; the man/Heero/Quatre/Trowa/Wufei's transformation into someone else had finished and he saw himself standing in the doorframe, looking up at him. Duo's amethyst eyes looked into his own eyes looking into his own eyes looking into his own eyes…

He screamed incoherently, and the world tipped, tumbled and swirled violently around him. He could barely feel the pain as the room spun and blurred together. He heard the others' cries of "He's gonna hit his head!" and "Catch him!" but only distantly, as if through a long tunnel. Everything around him did one last spirited somersault before crashing to a bone-jarring halt. Then there was only black for just an instant.

Duo opened his eyes. As the world slowly swam into focus, he found himself looking up into cold, intense Prussian-blue eyes just a few inches from his face. He yelped and struggled a little before he recognized that face and the iron-solid grip firmly restraining him. Heero, of course. Duo looked at his friends, who were clustered around him in concern while he subsided in Heero's arms.

He realized something strange: they were all at the bottom of the stairs. His mind worked and reached the obvious conclusion: he had fallen down the stairs. At least he wasn't hurt. Ow, he thought as he winced suddenly, I'm not mostly hurt, then.

He wondered why he was in Heero's arms in the first place, but his unspoken question was almost immediately answered when Trowa glanced at Heero and muttered, "Nice catch. He didn't even hit his head, though there might be some bruising elsewhere. That'll be all, I think, though." Heero didn't answer, except for a noncommittal "hn".

Duo gasped at the abrupt change in perspective as Heero suddenly stood up without relinquishing his hold on him. The Japanese boy turned to glare accusingly at the winged man, who still stood in the doorway. Duo scrutinized the man closely, struggling to see himself and his friends there again—but there was only the "demon", his mismatched eyes staring at Heero unblinkingly.

"Well? What did you do to Duo?" Heero asked the man angrily.

The man snarled. "I didn't do anything," he said, his lip curling up to reveal a razor-sharp wolf's fang. It was a warning, one that said he would not tolerate either false accusations or threats. Trowa recognized that ancient predatory signal instantly; he had seen it often, during his work with the circus and its sometimes-volatile lions. It meant, in a nutshell, "Back down or you'll be breathing through a large hole in your chest cavity." His stomach sank, and he moved surreptitiously to take up a place partially blocking Quatre, to protect his love from a potential attack.

Duo wiggled in Heero's arms, trying to get him to let him down, but quickly gave up and settled into a more comfortable position. "Heero, he didn't do anything. I just…thought I saw something, and I got a little dizzy," he grumbled. "I'm fine now, though. Put me down."

Heero transferred his glare to Duo. "Are you sure?" he murmured reluctantly.

"Yes! It was my own damn fault I fell down the stairs! Are ya happy now? Now put me down!"

Heero ignored this last and looked back up at the dog-man as Duo squirmed and shoved at his chest in vain.

Duo gave up again with an irritable "hmph!" and joined in staring at the man in the door. "So, since Heero won't let me go, I'll just have to suffer the humiliation and ask you this." Duo flung caution to the winds as he spoke his next words. He knew, somehow, that they were the right things to say. "Would you stay with us for a while? Two days, like you said? You're still injured and stuff, and we've got plenty of room." He ignored the uneasy looks he received from the others. He always trusted his gut—you had to, to survive the streets as long as he had—and his gut told him that this man was…not special, that was already obvious, but more like…important. Necessary.

The man hesitated, his eyes sweeping over all of them. Destiny swirled down and centered all of her attention on this one moment. The air thickened with a twanging tension as she observed the scene with mild interest. Duo became uncomfortable in his position in Heero's arms, but was too nervous to shift.

Finally, one agonizing minute later, the man smiled and nodded once.

Duo whooped in relief, transferring his weight as he did so. "Great!" he chirped.

Quatre smiled at his longhaired friend, who was now pushing at Heero's chest in yet another effort to make him let him down and failing spectacularly. He turned his smile on the winged man as he shut the door to. Strangely enough…he felt light, as though a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It was hard to explain, but this—this sheltering of this stranger, it felt right. Not right in any particular way, but in terms of the world in general, it was right.

He might not have felt as good if he had known Duo had been thinking precisely the same thing just before.

Quatre addressed the winged man kindly. "So, what's your name? I am Quatre. This is Trowa, that one is Wufei, that's Heero there, and the one in his arms is Duo."

"I see." The man stepped forward and gave a small bow. "My name is Tharasei."

Destiny left, smiling to herself. She was glad for him. She had always had a thing for Sei. Now all she had to do was get her sister, Death, to stop chasing after him, and she would be in business.


What do ya'll think? Just a note--this story's gonna be alot about the G-boys' relationship with Sei, so...yeah. (But don't worry, it's not gonna be like that.) So far the pairings are (if you haven't guessed already): definite 3x4, and hints of 1x2. But that particular pairing won't happen until much later. Sorry about the yaoi pairings, for those of you who don't like them. But I can't help it; I can't stand any of the females in Gundam Wing. I dunno why. Maybe it's b/c I'm a girl and I want the G-boys for myself. (sweatdrop) Whatever.

Another note: Sei, although a demon with extraordinary powers, actually did not do anything to Duo's head to get him to invite Sei to stay. For once, Sei wasn't lying (thank the gods). Also--yes, I have a tendency to personify things. Homunculi are cool. Get used to it.

Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed. Ja ne!