Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the characters. The plot is mine though.

Last Chapter:

"No. As immortals we are immune to sickness. I wouldn't be surprised if our wounds started healing faster too."

"Why was it hard for the soldiers to see me when we rescued Trowa?" asked Duo.

"That is your power, or one of them at least. You'll probably develop more. We're all going to have to work on developing our powers so we can use them reliably. My telepathy is pretty consistent, but my telekinesis and my Sight aren't. I don't know how to strengthen our abilities, but I would guess using them is probably the best way."

"So we're really immortal, huh?" commented Quatre to himself. The reality of it was just starting to sink in for all of them. That they would never age, never die. Although the true challenges of being angels were yet to come, coming to terms with their new lives was difficult for all of them.

Chapter 18:

Later that night, Heero heard a tentative knock at his door. "Come in," he called, and was unsurprised to see that it was Duo.

Duo shuffled his feet nervously before clearing his throat and looking up at Heero. "Um, I just want to apologize for earlier. I know you said you didn't mind, but I shouldn't have grabbed onto you like that."

"It's alright, Duo. I know you wouldn't do something like that normally, and I really didn't mind. It's because of what happened on L2, right?"

Duo looked surprised before answering. "Yeah, that's right. I was just worried I was going to lose another friend to the plague. How did you guess?"

"From Seeing you holding that blonde boy that one time. I knew you were from L2, and seeing that reminded me of hearing about the plague on L2. The guy I was staying with at the time was supposed to do a job on that colony, but we had to avoid it because of the sickness."

"Ah. I keep forgetting that you Saw that. Do you want me to tell you exactly what it was that you Saw?"

"If you don't mind telling me." Heero sat on the bed and gestured for Duo to join him. The braided pilot sat down heavily, sighing before he began to speak.

"I've been an orphan for as long as I can remember. I was always on the streets, I don't remember ever having a home or a real family. But when I was about four, another street kid found me. He was the leader of a gang of 'street rats'. He wasn't that much older than the rest of us, probably only about eight, but he took care of us. None of us knew what our real names were, so we made up our own. His was Solo. They mostly called me 'kid' or 'Dodger'. He taught me how to steal, and I got good enough at it that I became his second. Solo was like my big brother, the only family I was likely to ever have.

"Then the plague came when I was six or so. The rich people got vaccinated, but the Alliance didn't care what happened to a bunch of street rats. My gang got sick, so I went to steal vaccines from the Alliance hospital. I got enough for everyone but me. It was too late though, most of the gang still died. Solo died in my arms as I was about to give him the cure. That's when I took the name Duo, so I would never be alone. Even though I didn't take the vaccination, I never got sick though."

"That's probably because of the Powers that Be. They didn't want to lose one of their chosen guardians."

"I never thought about it that way before. That certainly explains it though."

"So what happened after that? If you don't mind telling me."

"Then I became the leader of the gang, what was left of it anyways. We kept ourselves alive by stealing food until I was eight. Then the Alliance demolished the abandoned building were we living in and we got shipped off to the Maxwell Church. The rest of the members of my gang were adopted, but noone wanted me. But Father Maxwell and Sister Helen were always nice to me. It was Sister Helen who taught me how to braid my hair. I think they wanted me to become a priest.

"It was then that I went to school for the first time. The Alliance gave me a scholarship to one of their schools, but it didn't work very well. All the other kids made fun of me, and started fights with me. Then I got in trouble for sending them to the hospital." At Heero's somewhat surprised look, Duo said, "I'd been living on the streets all my life, I knew how to fight a lot better than those spoiled rich kids.

"Anyways, I was happy living at the church until later that year, when rebels decided to use it as a base. They got angry at Father Maxwell and Sister Helen for saying that we shouldn't fight, and hit them. I agreed to steal a mobile suit for them if they'd leave the church. I succeeded in getting it, but when I got back to the church it was on fire and everyone was dead. Sister Helen lived long enough to tell me that Father Maxwell kept preaching peace until the end. I took the last name Maxwell in memory of them.

"After that, I just wandered around until one day I stowed away on a Sweepers ship and got caught. That's when I met up with Dr. G and he turned me into a Gundam pilot." Duo had been talking as unemotionally as he could while telling Heero his history. "I don't want to cry in front of Heero," he thought to himself. "Boys don't cry."

To distract himself, he asked, "so Heero, who was the guy you were travelling with when you almost went to L2? Was it that Odin guy you mentioned?"

"Yes. I was raised by Odin until I was eight. I don't know where he found me, or why he took me in. All he ever told me was that space took everything away from me. He was an assassin, and trained me to be the same. I was his cover, that I was his son and he was travelling from colony to colony with me looking for part-time jobs. He wasn't a bad sort, for an assassin, but like I've said he didn't know what to do with a kid. Mostly he just treated me like a very short adult, but he did some fun things with me once in awhile. We went camping a lot. He taught me just about everything I know about guns.

"When I was eight, we went to the colony X-18999 for a final job. He told me when we got there that he was going to abandon me on that colony, that I was supposed to be a normal kid and go to school or something. He was there to kill General Septem, but the colony rebels were attacking at the same time, led by Quinze. Odin failed in killing Septem and was killed by Dekim Barton. The rebels were stopped by Treize and his Specials, but I hit his suit with a missile before going to find Odin. Just before he died, he told me to follow my feelings. After that, I used the detonator he'd had in his hand to blow the base.

"I wandered alone after that for awhile, before I met Dr. J in an alley, and he trained me to be the Perfect Soldier and told me to take the code name Heero Yuy. Ironic really, seeing as how Odin was the one who killed the original Heero Yuy."

"He did? You were raised by the guy who shot Heero Yuy? Man, that's weird. And meeting all those people on X-18999, it's like a precursor of what happened with Mariemeia."

"Yeah. We had unusual childhoods."

"So you were with Odin all that time, but he never named you?"

"No, he just called me Kid, or son if our cover called for it."

"Did he ever say why he never named you?"

"No, I think he thought it wasn't his place because he wasn't my parent."

"Oh, well that makes some kind of sense at least. Are you ever going to look for your parents?"

"No. I think Odin would've sent me to them at some point if they had still been alive, and what would I say to them anyways? Hi, mom and dad. I was raised by an assassin and became a Gundam pilot, and now I'm an angel. I don't think that even the most open minded parents could deal with that easily. How about you?"

"No. There's only two ways you become an orphan as early as I did. Either you're abandoned or your parents are dead. I'd prefer to hold on to the fantasy that my parents died in a tragic accident, rather than find out for sure that I was abandoned."

"I can understand that. It's getting kind of late though, we should get some sleep."

"Um, Heero, do you mind if I stay with you again tonight? It's just that, I get nightmares when I talk about Solo or the church."

"Sure Duo. I don't mind at all," said Heero kindly. The two of them got ready for bed quickly and turned out the lights.

A.N. - I know, it's kinda short. Deal with it. I've got a lot to do right now. I'll try and have another chapter for you next weekend though.

shinigami88220 - Yeah, parent's rules suck. I'm glad I'm in rez now. Good quote.

Clarobell - Yup, but that's the problem. It's far more difficult to admit you like someone to the person you like.

Mystical-Maiden - Thank you very much. I do my best to develop the characters and make them seem more like real people. Duo and Heero do make a good couple, much better than Relena and Heero. (In my opinion at least) Keep reviewing!

The Chaotic Ones:

Angel - Yes, there will really be a Wufei chapter. No, you cannot seduce him. I need him intact.

Aaries - Thank you. Please help me restrain Angel and Jef so I can actually include Wufei in my fic without having to search for him or wait for him to heal first. More of Duo's history in this chapter. I hope I got it right. If not, I'm the authoress, right?

Jef - I've looked up the story, although it was hard. I couldn't find you by typing in the pen name. I had to search for the story title instead.

Chaos - I actually don't have a katana yet. I couldn't afford one, but I did get a really cool backhanded dagger.

Lord Aries Greymon - I know Duo clinging was a bit weird, but he had a good reason, really! I hope I explained said reason well in this chapter.

Windy River - :P (That's meant to be me sticking my tongue out at you)

darkinuyasha - Ok, ok. No touching. I've never seen Yu Yu Hashuko, so I didn't know he was from that.

Griffen - A prank from Duo? Really? Cool!

Death Phoenix - They will continue to get closer in the future, I think. They haven't told me for sure yet.

scotty-lass - I'm great, how about you? My head is about to explode from how much I'm blushing from your praise. Sorry I didn't update faster, I had to check some details and didn't have my copy of Episode Zero in rez with me. I'm glad you have lots of glue. If you run out, let me know and I'll send you e-glue.