Disclaimers: Don't own any part of Gundam Wing nor it's characters. Merely borrowing them for a little torture.

Warnings: Shounen-ai (because I suck at yaoi) , major A.U, some OOC I think, mpreg (mentioned, implied, so on)

Notes: Sorry guys, I wanted to update earlier but something happened to my broadband service. Something about an 'international gateway' problem. It was only this morning that everything was working like a well-oiled machine. Argh, I was so pissed! It took me 6 hours to dl Bleach 26 (or was it 25? Well, just the latest ep) when it normally takes me 2! Anyways, here is the next chappie and to those who enjoyed Cost Savings bla bla bla… The next instalment would be up soon. Revenge will happen in another chappie due to Tsu's longwindedness.

On with the story!

Reflections of the Past

Part 22

Duo cornered Odin one afternoon when no one was watching, when the little boy had wandered off playing by himself. He knew Heero had warned his son many times over to be careful of running off alone and it looked like Odin might learn this the hard way.

"Hello Odin," Duo waddled over, bracing his hands to support his lower back. This was ridiculous. His body wasn't made to carry babies and definitely not two, but somehow, his body was adapting to it fine. That made him even more repulsive to himself. He hated the babies within him, moving constantly, making him want disgusting food but he couldn't kill them anymore. Something stopped him from it. It was an intangible force that make him physically sick at the thought of murdering those damn hitchhikers in his belly. That annoyed the hell out of him.

The boy looked up from his observation of a little bug to glare at Duo with cold sapphire eyes. "Go away."

"We have to get to like one another, Odin, you know that. Your father and I are getting along famously and there is nothing you can do about it," Duo's eyes narrowed. "You don't have to like me, but I think it would be in your best interest to do so."

Odin turned his back on Duo, trying to ignore him as he continued to follow the passage of the bug. "Go away."

Duo's glowing violet eyes bore a hole in the little boy's back and he renewed his efforts. He had to get the boy further away, he had to get them to the river. "I will be your Daddy eventually, you know that. I look too much like your Papa for your Father to resist me."

"You will never be my Papa. Go away!" Odin muttered, poking gently at the bug, trying to get it to get inside a burrow and away from the harsh sunlight.

This was not working, the boy wasn't even listening to him.

…Try harder, kill the boy…

An idea struck Duo as he stared at the boy playing with the bug. Odin loved life, any form of it.

"I saw this little nest of baby birds down by the river yesterday. I think their parents left them." Duo nearly crowed when Odin twitched a little, looking over his shoulder at Duo. "I think they need a nice little boy to take care of them. Would you like to see?"

The doctor could see the boy fighting with his revulsion of Duo and the desire to help small little orphan birds.

"Where?" Odin asked in a small voice, getting up, bug forgotten.

Duo smiled soothingly but he could see the boy's wariness of him. "Come, follow me." He began to walk slowly as his now heavy belly would allow, feeling another stab of hatred at the babies he carried. Why was this happening to him? It was so unfair. Why couldn't the babies have died? Why couldn't he kill them again?

He looked back ever so often to make sure the boy was following him. He thanked whatever Gods there were in this world as he got to the river's edge without being seen. Once there, he turned, with an almost feral smile at the boy.

"Where's the birds?" Odin asked, backing away, realising too late the look in Duo's eyes. "Who are you?"

Duo took one step forward, his left hand clutching at his cross over the material of his shirt. "Your Papa, your Daddy, don't you know me?" He took another step forward.

The glare shot at him from Odin was pure unadulterated hatred. "You are not my Papa, you will never be my Papa," Odin practically screamed that into Duo's face, his fists clenched at his sides. "You're an evil person! I hate you." The boy took off in the direction of the river.

Although Duo should have been used to these proclamations from the boy, it still stabbed deep into his heart. He didn't understand why one little boy's approval meant so much to him but he had accepted the fact that it did mean something to him. It hurt, his heart clenched, as it was caught in a vice. It wasn't a pleasant pain, and there was nothing he could do to…

…End it…

But how?

…Get rid of the source…

Yes, that made sense, kill the boy now.

He walked ran after the boy, or at least as fast as his burdened body would take. Odin's legs were still short and couldn't get him all that far and Duo caught up with him fairly easily.

"I won't allow you to spoil things with Heero for me. I won't let him be happy either!" Duo threw the boy to the ground, one hand around the boy's slim throat, the other holding him down. "I will get rid of my pain, I hate you! I hate you as well!"

Odin was struggling, trying to pry Duo's fingers from his throat in futile gestures. He was slowly turning blue, his airway slowly crushed by his father's clenching fingers. He clawed the air, his legs kicking furiously and connecting with Duo's stomach.

Duo gasped at the pain as his unborn children protested as well, seemingly against his actions of murder and not for the violence of their older brother. "You stupid shit, for that I will kill you and your stupid brothers as well." He returned the pressure around Odin's neck, cutting more of the boy's air.

"Papa… help… me…!" The boy's eyes began to bug a little as he fought against Duo. Taking one final lunge, Odin's flailing hand snagged the chain hanging from Duo's neck. He pulled hard, still struggling to get away from him, breaking the chain and flinging it hard. The slightly glittering chain flew in arc over Odin's head and into the depths of the river.

Time stilled, the life stilled and so did Duo. Violet eyes took in the boy struggling for breath, almost blue in the face and his hand around his small neck. Duo jerked his hand away as if it burned and gathered the boy into his arms.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, Odin. I don't know what I'm doing, please forgive," he rocked the gasping, panting boy in his arms. It was a movement that was as familiar and natural as breathing for him.

Small hands came up to wipe away the tears that flowed from his eyes. Tears of guilt. "Pa… Daddy, don't cry," Odin tried to sooth, his voice sounding horribly hoarse. "Not your fault."

"I tried to kill you!" Duo sobbed into the boy's neck.

"Wasn't you. You would never hurt me," Odin said with conviction. "Daddy loves me." He hugged Duo tightly. "Always."

Duo lifted his tear-filled face to stare at the miniature of Heero, his mind still roiling in confusion. His head ached from the conflicting emotions he felt now. Why had he tried to kill Odin? Why did he hate his babies again? Who was making him feel all these things? Will he try to kill them again?

"My cross," Duo wailed, letting the boy go and waddling to the river, staring into the rushing waters. He debated to just plunge into cold water to retrieve it. A small hand touched his and he turned to find Odin staring into the waters.

"No Daddy, don't take it. Don't need it. Cross bad."

Daddy, when did Odin stop hating him? Why did the boy stop hating him? Daddy, not Papa. Right, Duo wasn't his Papa. Duo gaze was riveted on the bruised throat of the boy. Had he done this? Was he capable of this? Had he nearly murdered this innocent boy? So what Heero told him had been true? He had tried to induce a miscarriage for his twins?

"Daddy, it was not you," Odin croaked, holding his hand to his almost crushed windpipe. "My Pa… Daddy would never spank me, why would he hurt me?" He coughed wrackingly.

Duo lowered himself to his knees, carefully cradling his heavy stomach. "I'm sorry," he apologised again, fingering the dark bruises colouring the boy's otherwise flawless skin. "Let me do something to make this better." Not sure how he was doing it, Duo felt a familiar sensation, as if something was shifting inside his body and sent a bad headache lancing his temples. He touched the dark marks softly, and sighed heavily when Odin made a small sound of discomfort. "Daddy will make everything better." Under his questing fingers, the bruises disappeared and as Odin's pained expression cleared into a smile.

"All better," Odin grinned, then frowned slightly. "Daddy, are you hurting?"

Duo was rubbing his head but managed an assuring smile for the boy. "It'll get better. Let's keep this a secret though? I don't want General Quatre to come after me for doing something he wouldn't approve of."

"'Tre is scary," Odin announced, waiting for his Daddy to stand up. "He gets this weird look in his eyes when he wants something and you don't give it to him."

Duo stopped the boy from walking ahead of him, turning his around. "Odin, you called me Daddy, you never call me that."

Odin stared at him, tilting his head a little before shrugging. "You weren't my Daddy before." He pointed insistently at Duo's shoulder, at a growing mark. A small sapling taking shape right before their very eyes.

"What do you mean? I was…" Duo gaped at that mark. He knew it, he has seen it on Quatre. It was the mark of a Healer.

"Let's go home," Odin announced, latching onto Duo's hand, pulling him along.

"You aren't going to explain that are you?" Duo asked in resignation.

"I want to go home now," Odin sang, pulling his newfound 'Daddy' along.

XXxxXX

"You have more lives than a cat, Duo Maxwell," Dorothy played with the long braid idly, watching her scrying bowl. The bowl was still and quiet once more. With a frustrated swipe of her hand, she pushed the bowl off the table with a feral snarl.

"Don't worry, Solo, you will have your revenge, even if I have to go there myself!"

XXxxXX

Heero stared at the two heads pressed close together and shook his head in resignation. Duo and his son were planning something again and experience told him it would in his best interest not to find out. He was surprised at how close Odin was with Duo right now but he wasn't going to question his good luck and get slapped in the face. Instead, he had merely accepted Odin as having his mate's quicksilver personality.

But Duo wasn't exactly his mate anymore. Heero found himself losing his amusement rather quickly. The chief stared at mischievous smile on the doctor's lips that was echoed by his son. However, this short haired person now in deep plotting with his son was no more Duo than Odin was him. In his mind, Heero knew that, but his heart wanted so much to hang onto his love, he was willing to accept the memories of the doctor to have the body of his love. He knew he wasn't being fair to his mate or the current person inhabiting his mate's body but it was something he could not control. He had promised Duo, no Keiran, if his mate was never to return, he would accept the doctor into his heart but he really wondered if he could. Then he would only have to stare at Duo's beautiful violet eyes for his to forget his tumult. This was his mate, no matter who lay behind those eyes.

Admittedly, Duo was getting more and more comfortable with living amongst Shifters, although he had yet to get rid of his human thoughts. There were some words that he used that Heero couldn't comprehend and sometimes didn't bother to. It helped that his son no longer saw him as an enemy and had started to lovingly refer to him as 'Daddy', but never 'Papa'. It had also eased Heero's murderous instincts that Gee no longer eyed his mate with that leer and calculative look but retained one of friendly affection, as if regarding his own son. Heero wondered at the changed within these relationships, but Duo was just as confused as he was.

"Father, come over!" Odin waved enthusiastically.

Duo looked up, sparing Heero a soft smile, one that cause the chief's heartbeat to double. His mate leaned back on the pillows, his middle rounded wonderfully with his children and Heero felt a stab of regret that Duo had not the full facilities of his memories. He knew his mate would have welcomed the experience once more.

"What are you two plotting?" Heero said in mocked admonishment, delighted at the familiar grin on Duo's face.

"How to annoy Wufei?" Duo grinned unrepentantly.

"Oh no, you don't! I will not have Wufei stalking after me, yelling at me about my inability to control my mate and his pranking son!" Heero shuddered dramatically at the thought, drawing laughs from both Duo and Odin.

Duo smirked at him, one hand resting comfortably over his now bulky midsection. "Coward," he teased gently, then wincing, rubbing his belly where a baby had kicked rather hard.

Odin was in his knees in a flash, crouched next to his Daddy, his small hands pressed excitedly against the mound. "They're moving!"

"They had better be," Heero informed his son with a small smile, covering Odin's hands with his larger ones, feeling the frenetic activity within.

Their son then pressed an ear to Duo's midsection, his eyes closed in rapture, as if listening to some sort of music.

"What are you doing, Odin?" Duo asked, curious. He found that odd look of ecstasy familiar, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

The boy said nothing as he continued to coo at Duo's babies, a small almost purr-like sound coming from his throat. His parents exchanged looks of confusion. Odin had never touched Duo like that before. Of course, before this, Odin avoided Duo like the plague. Therefore, it really confused Heero when Odin exuded this easy acceptance of the one person he swore to hate.

"Odin?" Heero queried, trying to get his son's attention from his preoccupation with his Daddy's expanded girth.

Suddenly, all joy drained from the boy's face as he sat up, his eyes hard and his expression set. "She's here," he announced.

For some reason, that look caused a stab of fear piercing through Heero's heart and he saw that same fear reflected on Duo's clear violet eyes. "Who's here?"

"The dark sorcerer."

…tbc…