I felt the hot splatter of blood, but no pain. I cautiously opened one eye and my eyes widened as Zechs fell down. I rushed forward to catch him. I repeated my mantra of 'pleasebeok' as I held him. I realized in that one moment how much he meant to me and how much I meant to him.

"He loves you enough to risk his own life." ZERO stated. I looked at ZERO with rage in my eyes. The key was already in place and was ready to send the disease upon the Earth. "Heero was the same way. He loved you enough to push you away. Love is a weakness amongst you humans." I could see the disgust in ZERO's eyes.

My attention turned to Zechs, who had groaned and opened his eyes. I put my fingers over his lips, silencing him. I know my eyes spoke volumes to him and his eyes spoke to me. I now knew that he would never betray me. If I had not been so stupid, I would have understood that he was working up the nerve to propose to me. His eyes closed again as he fell unconscious. He was making sure I was unharmed.

"Duo." That voice, I knew it was Heero's. I looked up at Heero's body and noticed that his eyes were warmer and his body relaxed. "You need to get yourself and Zechs out of here. I only have control long enough to take this shuttle deeper into space and destroy it. I must be destroyed as well. ZERO is too dangerous to keep 'alive.' The only way to 'kill' it for good is to kill me."

My face was twisted in horror as I heard Heero's plan. He still loved me. That thought floated in my head. He pushed me away to protect me. Those actions that had hurt me had hurt him just as bad.

"Heero," I choked out, "ZERO can be defeated. We can deprogram you at Preventer HQ."

Heero shook his head with a sad look on his face. Heero came to me and kneeled in front of me. "Duo, Zechs loves you and can give you what you need. ZERO is a part of me now; it's the dominant will of my body. Right now my love for you is keeping me in control. I wish to kiss you one last time." I nodded my head.

Our heads pulled towards one another and our lips met in a sweet tender kiss that turned passionate. He poured all of his love into that kiss as I did. We broke the kiss and rested our foreheads together.

"I love you Duo and I'm sorry what I put through. I counted on you to run. I never expected to find you." Heero's Prussian blue eyes bore into my own.

"I love you too Heero. I understand what you did what you thought best." Then Wufei popped into my mind. "What about Fei Heero?"

"ZERO has control over him right, but once I die, the ZERO system will lose control of him. Duo, it's time I carry out my last mission. Remember I love you and I will always watch over you. Zechs loves you as much as I do. Please don't shut him out after I go." Heero's eyes pleaded with my own.

"I love you too, I won't shut Zechs out and I promise I will help Fei get over this."

Heero showed me the way to the escape pod. He kissed me one last time before the pod doors closed. I laid Zechs' head in my lap and looked at Heero one last time. That image will remain in my mind forever.

I couldn't watch Heero take the shuttle out to space. There was one window in the pod, it didn't face that direction and Zechs' wound needed my attention. I removed Zechs' Preventers jacket and the shirt underneath. The wound had stopped bleeding, but it was still susceptible to infection. There was nothing more I could do. You would think that there would be a First Aid Kit on an escape pod…guess the doc was out of his brain.

The shuttle ride was dull and I ended up dosing off several times. Zechs' breathing had remained steady which was a good sign. I just needed to get him to Sally so she could remove the bullet. Sally was the only doctor that Zechs and I trusted. I found a radio and decided to try to use it.

"This is escape pod XB-199, asking for Lady Une, head of Preventers. I repeat this is escape pod XB-199 asking for Lady Une, head of Preventers." I waited for a voice to cackle over the static.

"This is Lady Une. Who is using this frequency?" I heard Lady Une's voice over the radio.

"This is Duo Maxwell. I need you to intercept this pod. Zechs has a bullet wound to the shoulder."

"Little brother?" I heard Une's voice in disbelief.