Disclaimer - I do not own any of the Gundam Wing characters, the only thing that is mine is the characters Allyson, Mayven and the plot. (If I forget to put this on my other chapters I apologize, I have a really bad memory for junk like this)

Rating - Safe Chapter

Chapter 2 – Friend or Foe?

Duo sat impatiently in a large chair as Relena's personal doctor looked him over. After strapping up his side, which took the most damage with three broken ribs and first degree burns, Duo was given a clean bill of health and was sent on his way.

The young girl wasn't so lucky, she had second degree burns on her left arm and hand, two broken ribs, smoke inhalation which left her with breathing problems and a large gash that covered her left side.

"She's lucky to be alive," the doctor announced as he covered her up with a thin blanket and placed a cool, damp cloth on her forehead, "I don't know how long it will be before she awakes, but it could be some time." Heero nodded and the doctor left, closing the door tightly behind him.

"No," Duo said quietly as he stood, holding his sore side with a gasp, "She's luck that Heero didn't argue with me," he said walking over to her bedside, sitting down next to her, brushing her hair from her eyes.

"Why do you care so much?" Heero snapped, taking Duo's seat as Relena handing him a sandwich. He looked up at her and smiled, thanking her silently.

"Why don't you?" Duo snapped back bitterly, "She not a day over 17, and Oz has her on suicide missions?" he asked, the question being rhetorical. He sighed, running a finger down a large subtle scar that ran down her cheek. "This isn't right!" he mumbled to himself.

"She tried to kill you Duo, don't forget that," Heero said, taking a bite of the sandwich, chicken on white, before standing and going to the window seat near Trowa.

"One, we're not sure of that, and two, something about this isn't right," Duo said softly, looking at the girl's slender figure, "something just doesn't fit." Duo looked at her questionably, wondering how someone so pretty had gotten involved with something like Oz. He touched her cheek softly, moving the cloth from her forehead to her neck, getting a painful moan as a response, telling him that he was, in a way helping her. Getting rid of her fever was the first thing on his list, and then he'd talk to her.

"They're getting younger every time I turn around," Trowa said, being 20 and the oldest of the group he had seen them come and go and remembered the look on the faces of the pilots that he had killed, some being as young as 14 at the time.

"True," Wufei agreed with a nod, taking the glass of water that was being offered to him, "but I agree with Duo, this one seems different." Again, the girl moaned as Duo put the newly wet cloth on her cheeks and neck. Duo sighed as a small cry escaped the girls lips, this time even Heero's heart sank to her pain, this was definitely a question of Friend or Foe?

Duo had sat by the girl's side faithfully for a week, Trowa putting him to bed when he'd fall asleep on the floor, his head resting on the bed by her hand, which he held when it didn't cause her pain. Heero couldn't understand how Duo could help her after all she had done to him, but trusted his judgment enough to not say two words about his choice and support him in his decision.

Duo was asleep one morning, his head resting on the bed as he sat on his knees on the floor, a blanket across his shoulders that Trowa had placed there early that morning after touching his bare shoulder and feeling him shiver. He held that girl's hand, his grip loose enough for her to slip her hand out of his grasp after coming too early that morning.

Confused and scared, she sat up slowly, sending wave after wave of pain down her spine, causing her to gasp. Duo opened his eyes slowly to the movement, lifting his head to see her sitting up, doubled over in pain as she attempted to get out of the bed.

"Hey, you really shouldn't be moving around," he said, getting up on his knees and placing a hand on her cheek to check for a fever. She flinched, as if she expected Duo to strike her and quickly pulled away with a small cry. Duo stood, holding his side with his arm as he headed for the end table, grabbing the glass of water that sat there from the night before and handed it to her gently. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said sitting down next to her as she took the glass from him sitting it back down on the table next to her bed, leaving it untouched.

"You're that Gundam Pilot aren't you?" she said, speaking for the first time. Duo nodded, smiling softly, her voice wasn't as soft as he had expected, and instead it was rough and cold, more like Heero's tone.

"You must be the one that tried to kill me," he said, standing and turning to the window at the back of the room, looking out over the water that the room over looked, a great view that he had only now taken the time to look at.

"Why'd you save me?" she asked, looking down at her arm, bandaged from the elbow to the tips of her fingers, rendering it useless. She turned to her side, that was also bandaged, but this time she could honestly say that she could feel the burning sensation that ran across her side and middle back.

"Seemed like the right thing to do," he replied, turning around as the sound of her gasping and coughing hit his ears, "You inhaled a lot of smoke and should drink that water I handed you to help the coughing and heavy feeling in your chest." He said coming over and placing a hand on her back. She moan, the touch of his hand burning her back as the pain increased immensely. She pulled away, reaching for her jacket that sat a chair a few feet away from her.

"Don't worry about me," she moaned, kicking her feet over the edge of the bed in an attempt to stand, but failed her legs to weak to hold her slender form from not being used in a week. She fell, almost crashing into the floor, but Duo caught her with a groan as her extra weight pulled on his wounded side. They both hit their knees on the floor, their eyes locking for a moment, his violet eyes reading the fear and pain that reflected from her midnight blue ones. Her eyes were dark and deep, almost as blue as Heero's, but Duo could honestly say that Heero had the darkest blue eyes he had ever seen, hers being a shade lighter.

"You don't have to worry, I already told you that I wouldn't hurt you." He said, letting her go gently, standing and straightening his shirt, dusting it off with a groan. Suddenly the anger in her eyes was replaced with fear, leaving her eyes completed…only fear coming from them. "I'm Duo," he said, extending his hand to her. She hesitated, taking it after a moment of thought.

"Mayven," she replied, as Duo helped her sit down on the bed, handing her the glass of water, which she took this time, taking a sip before turning towards him. "Won't your friends be angry that you're associating with the enemy?" she asked, looking at her feet that dangled from the edge of the bed.

"Won't yours?" he answered her question with one of his own, "my friends are more forgiven then Oz is, I can assure you." He said standing, leaving her alone to get her jacket from the chair. Mayven Shrugged as she ran a hand down her scared cheek.

"You don't have to tell me how unforgiving Oz can be," she said simply as Duo handed her the jacket, she dug threw the pockets after putting the glass down on the end table, pulling out a small phone. "You have to forgive me Duo, but if I don't contact them they'll…" she trailed off, searching for the right words to explain her meaning, "…they won't be pleased." She said simply.

"You don't have to," Duo said, placing his hand over hers that held the phone, "They won't find you here." She shook her head pulling away form his touch.

"I thank you for saving my life, I think, but I can't disobey them again," she said standing slowly, putting her back to Duo as she flipped open the small cell phone and began to dial, her hand shaking uncontrollably over each button..

"They scarred you, didn't they?" he asked suddenly, standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder gently.

Mayven nodded slowly, "I deserved it," she said, her voice confidant but unsteady, "I didn't listen to them and so I can't take that chance again." Duo gritted his teeth against the sudden flow of anger that went threw his body. So that's how Oz got new followers, but kidnapping them and forcing them with treats and torture to do as they say.

"No you didn't," he argued, his grip on her shoulder tightening slightly, "They are forcing you to become an Oz soldier, and that's not right." He said his voice a whisper in her ear.

"No, they're my family now!" she cried, pushing Duo to the floor as she turned to face him, dialing the last number. As shot rang threw the room and Mayven cried out, dropping the phone to the floor at Duo's feet, the sound of it ringing the only sound as her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she hit the floor.

"You okay Duo?" Trowa asked, walking up behind him as Heero and Quatre headed over to Mayven's motionless body.

"You didn't kill her did you?" he asked, voice shaking and surprised as Trowa pulled him up to his feet, keeping an arm close to his back incase Duo couldn't support himself.

"No, I didn't," Heero replied, putting her back in the bed as the faint sound of someone talking could be heard. Everyone looked down at the cell phone on the floor, the little red light on, telling them that someone had picked up on the other end and it was another Oz soldier on the other end talking. Wufei picked it up slowly, putting it to his ear, hearing the soldier call out to Mayven.

"Soldier, are you alright?" he had asked calmly, "soldier we heard the shot, are you alright? Report!" he ordered, his tone changing slightly. Wufei smiled, closing the phone and tossing it to Heero.

"You were right Duo," Heero said, catching it effortlessly, "it's not the girl's fault, but now we have to convince her that Oz isn't her family and that she does have a choice," he said putting the phone in the top draw of the end table.

"But how, they have her brain washed," Duo said, turning to Trowa who was still standing next to him, "not to mention marked up."

"We keep her here," he said, tossing the jacket from the bed to the floor in the corner of the room, "maybe she isn't as lost as we think, just maybe we can bring her over to our side."

Heero hadn't hit her with anything that could kill her, a simple tranquilizer that would knock her out until they could think of a way to make her see that Oz wasn't what they had made her think it was. He knew that if he could find something on them that it would be enough to give her the strength to get out and get her life back. The tranquilizer would wear off in some time, his guess, an hour or two.

"You should be resting," Quatre said to Duo who had taking a seat in the window seat Indian style, watching the sunset before his eyes. The shades of reds, pinks, and purples mixed together to make a beautiful sunset that Allyson would have loved to see. Allyson…he missed her so much. Duo shook his head aggressively, drowning the memories of her, bringing his attention to Quatre who was now calling his name, a hand on his shoulder.

"Huh?" Duo said staggered, bringing his tiered violet eyes to Quatre's soft blue ones, "I'm alright," he said in a low voice, turning back to the window and the water. Allyson had loved the water; the water was something that they could share, something they had in common.

"Get some sleep Duo," Trowa said as he stood to leave the room, "God knows you need it." Duo nodded, only catching half of what Trowa had said.

Trowa sighed, shacking his head disapprovingly, "Come on guys, let's leave him." He said opening the door, stepping aside to allow the others to exit the room without having to go threw him, "do get some rest Duo." He added as he closed the door without a sound, leaving the young pilot to think in silence, the only sound being Mayven's soft breathing.

Heero came into the bedroom early that morning to see Duo asleep sitting up in the window seat. His eyes dropped to the thought of what he was going through. Allyson had been dead not even a year and he had to move on so quickly so he could fight Oz, Heero had to admit that it wasn't fair to Duo, but there wasn't anything that he could do to help it, Duo would just have to remain strong for some time until this was all over.

He headed over to the bed, touching Mayven's cheek gently, feeling no fever he moved on to Duo where he covered the young boy with a blanket and smirked, he had to admit that the pilot did look all to peaceful when he was asleep. He then turned his attention back to Mayven for a moment and with a sigh pulled out a pair of hand cuff from his jacket pocket. After yesterday there was no way that she'd stick around if she came to now, he had to keep her here until he could think of a way to talk to her without scaring her or pissing her off but he didn't have the time right now to sit by her bedside waiting for her to come too, he still had a lot of work to do.

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist gently, snapping the cuffs on with a 'click' and slowly cuffed the other end to one of the bars from the headboard behind her. That should hold her he thought, kicking her jacket out of arms reach and locking the end table drawer where her cell phone was being kept. He and the others would be back in a few hours and he'd check on her then. As for Duo, there was a note on the end table, Heero just hope that he'd find it. With one last glance over his shoulder Heero slipped the keys to the hand cuffs and end table into his jeans pocket and left the room, closing the door with the sound of his footsteps slowly fading as he walked down the hall.

The sound off the door closing awoke Duo, leaving a tired morning feeling on the American's chest and head. Rubbing the sleep from eyes he realized just how badly he had slept that night and could feel his back crack as he stretched his aching muscles. He kicked his feet over the edge of the small window seat, leaving the blanket that Heero had draped over him fall to the floor.

"Damn," he groaned, rubbing the back of his tender head, "what a position to fall asleep in," he said to himself, turning is head slowly, so not to hurt is stiff neck, over towards Mayven who was still sleeping. He smiled softly as he picked up the blanket, placing it over the girl's slender form, covering her cuffed hand without even noticing that Heero had restrained her.

He then headed over towards the closet, grabbing his jacket from the hanger and slowly, with much effort, put it on over the shirt that he'd been wearing all week. Turning one last glance at the young girl that rested before him, he zipped up the jacket and walked out of the room, leaving the note from the others on the end table unnoticed.