DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing or any song by the Smashing Pumpkins. I am simply an E5 in the USN, and thus have no money. So ha.

-BEGIN FIC-

We feel the pull in the land of a thousand guilts
and poured cement, lamented and assured
to the lights and towns below
faster than the speed of sound
faster than we thought we'd go, beneath the sound of hope

1979

-- 17:57 --

Duo pressed his head against the cool, unforgiving floor of his cell. A grunted sigh slipped between his lips as he gritted his teeth. Flexing his fingers he wiggled them in a desperate attempt to keep circulation flowing to their tips.

A small inhalation of breath raced up his nostrils, drawing dust into his nasal passage once again. Quickly huffing to clear his nose before he was forced to suffer from yet another sneezing fit, the braided boy's brain belittled him continuously over his situation.

'Trapped. So completely trapped.'

A thick rumble stirred the air.

Duo whimpered as he smacked his forehead with little force against the floor. "Gaw. And starving, too. Damned lousy prison here. How do they expect t'pull anything from me if I fuckin' die from starvation? Morons don't realize you have to feed prisoners."

Cracking open one eye to stare at the raven-pitched blackness that engulfed him, Duo let a slow breath leak from his lungs. 'I don't even know how long I've been in here. Haven't eaten since I got here, though; I know they haven't served dinner once since that shuttle touched down, damn it. And judging by how empty my stomach feels, pro'lly has been 'round two or three days.'

'This is the worst I've ever had it. Damn. Last time Heero managed to find me and rescue me after only a day.'

'Ha! Duo, stop fucking with yourself. Heero ain't gonna find you. It's been more than a couple of days already; if he was looking for you, he'd have found you by now. And why the hell would he be keeping tabs on you anyway? It's you who's the stalker of his compatriots. Dumb ass.'

'Besides, no one knows where I am. Only one that could possibly have any inkling would be Trowa. And that's only because he knew that I was going to tail Xavier, and he was gonna take the mystery blonde. Apparently wonder-bang screwed up and lost him, as I haven't been rescued yet. He didn't tail him up here, so he doesn't know that I'm up here as well. Maybe he doesn't even know that Xavier's come up here….'

'If that's the case, I'm so royally screwed….'

Duo smacked his lips. 'God, I'm so damned dehydrated… fuck the food. I wish they'd just give me some water. Haven't had enough liquid in my system to even dream of pissing for a long ass time.'

'That your plan? Kill me by not giving me water? Letting me die of thirst?'

A small wriggle of his fingers, a weak stir of his body to shift his position a bit, and the boy ignored his pain-ridden body and instead let his mind wander aimlessly over what he'd pondered and heard over the last few days.

'It's a good damned plan, actually. Almost done.' A dry, weak chuckle escaped his lips. 'Gimme another day, and you'll have the esteemed pleasure of hefting my carcass, Xavier. Pro'lly would bring your sick ass pleasure, though.'

'Maybe I'll go rigor in some obscene position to try and piss him off. That'd be funny.'

'It's about all I can do.'

-- 01:16, 1 Day Ago --

Voices suddenly entered the realm of black silence that encompassed Duo's conscious world. Violet eyes flew open, the brain those eyes fed barely keeping the mouth it drove from screaming obscenities about the extraordinarily dark environment they beheld upon the parting of the eyelids that shaded those delicate orbs. Grimacing in silence, the boy squinted his eyes shut and instead focused on his ears, trying every trick in the book to make his perception of those noises he'd heard more sharp and clear – he slowed his breathing, tried to quell the rapid pace of his heart that had resulted from his surprise, ceased all motion including the adjusting of his head for fear that the rustling of his hair over the floor he laid upon would block those sounds he sought to listen to.

He was rewarded for his efforts. The voices were loud enough for him to pull their words from the thick air.

Duo had to contain his rage to keep from snarling out loud as Xavier's voice was the first that met his ears.

"He had nothing."

"Nothing at all?" the voice Duo recognized now as belonging to the tall blonde Trowa was supposed to be tracking questioned.

"Right. Apparently when my dear little Quatre contacted him, he failed to reveal where he could be found or even give the kid a contact number to reach him back at. Very disappointing results, if you ask me. A complete waste of my time."

"Hmph. Well, this is simply peachy. In other words, he brought us nothing new."

"Exactly, boss."

Duo started, his mind instantly drawn away from the grumbling and cursing it was hurling silently at the persons who stood in comfort outside of the miserable Hell he dwelled in chatting easily. 'Xavier's boss?' he mused. 'Huh. Now this is an interesting development. Now if only I could get some really usable information… then get my happy ass outta here…."

The man identified as the 'boss' continued, "What about your other lead? Any news from your little operative on the success of her efforts?"

A grunt leaked from Xavier's throat. "I told you that he'd be a tough one to crack. He will crack, eventually, if put under the right kind of pressure. Any human would."

"But?"

"But she hasn't been able to pry anything useful out of him. He's a stubborn ass."

"You're disappointing me. You told me you'd have the Minister of Defense dead by the end of the month. You told me that your friend knew where he's hidden and that you'd be able to pry that information from him. In both cases you've yet to deliver. You told me, as a matter of fact, that your 'dear friend' could be trusted and would assist us in killing the Winner heir. Instead, he runs off and obtains the assistance of one of the boys you claim to have been involved with during the war – a Gundam pilot, no less – and you fail miserably in driving that obstacle out of the way! By your efforts, you've allowed the boy to dash into the safety of obscurity with no feasible way of flushing him out of his hiding hole and have ensured his protection by getting people who have no need to be involved allied with him!"

"Sogran, I can explain…."

"I don't want explanations any longer, Mr. Johnson. You promised me you'd have Winner terminated by the end of the month. You promised that four days ago."

An uncomfortable moment of silence passed. Duo held his breath, eagerly awaiting the conversation's renewal.

He was rewarded as the man named 'Sogran' spoke again, growling, "You have sixteen days before your time is up."

Xavier, his voice heavy and lacking its characteristic flippancy for once, sighed quietly. Duo strained his ears to catch his mumbled affirmation of that ultimatum. Moments after that whisper, he spoke a little more loudly and clearly, saying, "I've got a couple plans in motion right now. Hopefully this will be finished within three days."

"Then you've been lying to me? You know where the boy is?"

"No, but I've got an individual down there who likely does have a decent idea as to where he's hiding. And even if that individual doesn't know where he's holed up at the moment, he will definitely be able to flush him out."

Sogran's voice spoke softly with lack of conviction, "How can you claim this?"

"Simple," Xavier chuckled brightly, the mask of cheer back in place, "Quatre wouldn't ignore a panicked call from one of his own constituents – indeed, one of his own employees – beckoning him to appear."

Duo swallowed the bile that was threatening to make its way up his throat.

-- 22:28 --

Duo stared blankly at the ceiling.

He was marveling in his drug-induced stupor at the white ceiling tiles that hovered above him, their bright surfaces marred by black speckles that permeated the span of those roughly painted slabs. Held in place by bars that were painted white to match the rest of the décor, those huge tiles directed no threat to those below.

They even matched the sheets, Duo noted. And the curtains. And the floor and the walls and the tray and the toilet paper he knew must be hanging in the stall nearby that was hidden from view by the white door.

'Talk about monotony,' Duo's brain chortled. 'But hey, at least I can see now. White. So much different than black.'

"Hey, lady, can you up the drip of this stuff? I'm still hurtin' here," he playfully moaned at the nurse that walked in. He looked her over, slightly disappointed with the fact that she didn't match his room at all. Her light blue smock with the chibi penguins sprinkled liberally across its surface like wildly tossed confetti was an almost stark contrast to the purity of the room she worked in. Leaning his head, he looked further. 'Ha! Her shoes are white, though! There, Ms. Nurse. Your attempt to break from the mold has been broken by your shoes.'

The young dark-skinned nurse arched a brow, staring with rueful cheer at the boy occupying the bed. "I do believe you're getting more than enough, Mr. Maxwell," she giggled as she shook her curly-haired head, tugging his sheets straight and setting herself to the task of replacing his nearly depleted saline bag. "Feeling the urge yet?"

"Not one bit," Duo answered, his voice bright. "Told'ja I was dehydrated."

"You most certainly were. Perhaps you should lie back and get more rest, Mr. Maxwell. We'll ensure that you're properly cared for while you sleep."

He stared at the woman, watching her mascara-coated eyelashes flutter as she blinked and her dark blue eye shadow shine in the room's light. "But what if Heero comes back in?"

"Mr. Yuy won't be able to visit until tomorrow, Mr. Maxwell," she said calmly as she hung his new bottle and clamped the hose that snaked from his old one to the needle that punched into his hand, held in place by strands of tape. "Hospital visiting hours are done."

"But he might wanna ask more questions. Nice lipstick color."

She blinked a few times, then smirked, letting her pink-colored lips curl. "Mr. Maxwell, go to sleep. If he has questions for you, he'll come back tomorrow."

"But…!"

"No more buts!" she exclaimed as she fastened his hose into the new drug-laced saline bag. Loosening the clamp, she carefully adjusted the drip of the room-temperature fluid. "Get some sleep."

"Gimme more faster, and I'll go to sleep," he tried to bargain.

"I don't want you hypothermic. Go to sleep. If you sleep, you won't feel your wounds."

"If you sleep, you won't feel your wounds," he repeated, his voice squeaky and mocking.

With a little huff of exasperation, her lips still turned in a smile at the antics of her drugged patient, the nurse shook her head. "Good night."

"Mmmmm. Morphine."

The nurse flicked off the lights and closed the door.

With her gone, Duo stared at the ceiling some more. Even with the lights off, the city lights that leaked through his window's blinds cast enough illumination into his room to permit him to see.

That brought him enough pleasure to allow him to forget his aching side with his three broken ribs, his perforated flesh along his legs, the dull ache of his shattered ankles, the burning welts that raced across his back, and the discomfort brought by the bubbling of the blood trapped within his lungs that came with every breath. At least he wasn't in the solid blackness anymore.

At least he wasn't there anymore.

He'd thought, while he'd been trapped in that cell, that his life had been screaming with reckless speed beneath the sound of hope.

Now, hope was once again in his heart and his spirit.

With silent reservation that he swore to himself he would never repeat or at least wouldn't dare repeat until he'd gathered more evidence of the existence of such a being, Duo did something that as a child he promised he would never do.

Lifting his untapped hand, he crossed himself and quietly, very quietly, gave thanks to the God that Father Maxwell had preached to him about. To the God he'd cursed for taking the kindly Father and his dear Sister Helen needlessly away from him. To the God he'd told the priest did not exist.

To the God he was beginning to wonder about giving a second chance to.

"Thank you," he offered in the still silence of his room.

With one more quick, guilty crossing, Duo allowed himself to drift into slumber.

-- 19:02, 2 Days Ago --

Duo bit his tongue as the whip raced for his back once again. A bitter scream flew from his lips.

"No one will hear you, Duo," Xavier's cheerful voice slid from behind, mocking and bright. "So be a good boy and don't ruin your voice by screaming. You've yet to tell me anything I want to know."

A hiss escaped the boy as he laid on the floor. Blood seeped the shredded remnants of his t-shirt and lay scattered about the room, staining the floor beneath and around him. "I told'ja…" Duo gasped, "I ain't got any information for ya."

The whip fell again.

"I don't know anything!" Duo shrieked as it sliced deeply into his flesh.

Xavier arched a brow as he tossed the whip aside, looking at the decimated remains that lay at his feet. "Certainly you wouldn't continue to lie to me, would you? Even for your dear friends' sakes?"

A whimpered sigh. "Listen, man, I don't know anything…."

"I don't believe you."

Duo's voice screeched, its tones audible down through the hallways.

Xavier smirked, one hand still firmly gripping the boy's right shin, the other hand holding his foot and forcing its toes to point towards the ceiling. As the braided youth writhed on the floor, his bound hands trying desperately to roll him off of his belly to relieve the incredible pressure still being exerted on his freshly broken limb, the older man tightened his grip. "Really?"

"Yes, really! I just got a damned call! It was from a pay phone with an unknown location!"

More grinding and popping sounded as the chocolate-eyed man sneered and turned the foot further, bending it so the toes faced his left foot.

"Yes! Really! God, please… please!"

Dropping that foot, Xavier swiftly bent at the waist and scooped the other. "Barton. Where did you meet him?"

Duo hesitated for a moment.

Crunch.

Tears streaming from his eyes, he grated between sobs, "In Fresno. Wat… watching you! I was gonna tail you 'cause you an' the blonde separated. That's all I know… really… I don't… I don't know where he's hidin' Quatre…"

One more scream escaped his throat before Xavier dropped his foot.

Roughly scooping Duo's right arm into his grasp, the man wrenched him to his feet.

Duo promptly fainted as his feet folded unnaturally under him, and missed the event of being thrown back into his cell.

-- 20:41 --

Duo stirred slightly, groaning quietly as he came once more into consciousness. For yet another day did that cool tile beneath his beaten body feel good, giving his fiery wounds much needed relief. A quick crack of the eye told him exactly what he already knew – he was locked in his cell.

Duo pried his tongue off the roof of his mouth, smacking his lips dryly. 'Need water… ungh,' his brain kindly observed.

A roaring headache was accosting him now. Whether from the incredible pain radiating from his wounds or the dehydrated state of his body he couldn't discern, but it was royally beginning to piss him off. 'You'd think I'd be able to just fucking die without this,' he ruefully thought. 'Just pass on into obscurity meekly and quietly, like any good little mouse smashed in a trap. But nooooo, I've gotta go with a pounding headache after being tortured and then water-starved to death. Man, does my fate ever totally suck.'

He would have tried to squirm, his ribs hurting fiercely and prompting him to move, but an attempted wiggle of his toes told him all he needed to know; any movement with his ankles so completely shattered would probably just knock him into that wondrous state called unconsciousness again.

A heavy sigh leaked from his lungs. 'Maybe I outta just knock myself out,' he pondered. 'Let Death claim my soul in the comfort of blackness, where the pain of my body can't reach me. It's so very close anyway… Shinigami's practically jumping for joy, staring at me, inviting his mortal incarnation to come home….'

'Heero… gomen. Won't be seeing you again, apparently. Never got the chance t'tell ya nothin'….'

Footsteps tapped outside of his cell, their sound soft.

'Nani?' Duo's mind squeaked, suddenly alarmed. 'Don't tell me he's coming back for more… God, just kill me now… please…!'

Silence. Footsteps were heard again, slowly approaching the cell.

Duo moaned quietly, "How many times do I have to say it? I know nothing… please… just let me die."

No response met him.

'That's unusual,' the boy thought silently. 'Usually he starts mocking me right about now, then yanks the door open and drags me off for his fun-fun time. Change of plans? Or if it's that guy Sogran….'

'Sogran would call Xavier over and have him try to pump me some more, just for the hell of it.'

After a few more moments of silence, the thick deadbolt that held the cell's door shut clicked solidly as it slid into its housing, releasing its death grip on the door jamb. A loud squeal accompanied the opening of the portal as it grated along its rusty hinges.

Duo squinted as light fell across his face. Curiosity overriding his common sense that was screaming at him to simply lie still and let whoever was coming to finish him come in and complete the job, he couldn't stop himself from trying to get a glimpse of who his silent executioner was.

He stared dumbly, not a response coming to his lips or his mind, as his gaze fell across the short figure silhouetted in the bright light that poured through the doorway.

Construction boots, tops covered by denim jeans, softly tapped against the tile as the thin person with the ragged hair made its way to Duo's side. A tanned hand reached with almost ridiculous slowness to lightly brush heavily calloused fingertips over the beaten boy's cheek.

Duo's voice finally rasped out of his days-dry throat. "Heero?"

A silent nod rustled dark brown bangs that hung wildly about the thin face. Dark Prussian blue eyes swiftly swept their gaze over the entirety of the sprawled bloodstained body that lay upon the cold floor, and slender lips curled slightly at the corners towards the collar of the loose denim jacket that rested over thin shoulders. "Can you stand?" his voice softly whispered, gently caressing the braided youth's ears.

"Nope," Duo groaned, lifting a finger to point at his feet. "Did quite a number."

Another small nod acknowledged Duo's answer. "Then just be quiet."

Duo had to bite his lip to keep from screaming as Heero lifted him as gently as he possibly could into his arms. He tasted copper even as he was cradled against the other boy's strong chest.

"It'll be alright," Heero softly said, pressing his nose against chestnut bangs. "I'll get you out of here."

"Always counting on you… rescuin' me."

"Be quiet. We'll talk when we're clear."

Being quiet wasn't at all a problem for Duo. He fell into the dark swirling waters of unconsciousness the moment Heero's running gait jarred his beaten body, the Perfect Soldier's attempts to keep his swift sprint as smooth as possible for the benefit of the one he carried in his arms completely in vain.

He was well on his way into that dark, inviting silence when he heard on the edge of his ears the reverberating blast of an explosion.

-- 21:16 --

Stars were racing by.

A start wrenched Duo fully awake, letting his eyes spring open and allowing those cobalt blue orbs absorb their surroundings. "Wha…?" he attempted to start, ending his impromptu sentence with volatile coughing.

Instantly Heero was at his side, holding him gently in strong hands as cough after cough shook his frame. "Don't speak more than you need to."

A miserable nod served as Duo's acknowledgement even as he glanced about to determine what exactly was going on. He took in with almost insane glee their surroundings – they were in an ambulance. Looking down, he stared at the IV needle punched into his skinny, shaking hand, held in place by tape. And only after noticing that needle did he feel the pressure of the gas mask upon his face and the suction cups plastered to his thin, bare chest. Questioning eyes stared at Heero.

"I called for assistance from the pay phones that were outside of the building you were being held in. I couldn't carry you all the way to the hospital on my own." Heero bowed his head slightly. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."

Duo blinked a few times as what the other boy was saying sank into his skull. Very softly, very slowly, trying his best to not aggravate his hoarse, dry throat, he whispered, "You were looking?"

"Aa." A small nod rustled the boy's bangs.

"Why?"

Prussian blue eyes closed, Heero shrugged. "Intuition. I thought I should. I… I felt that I needed to see you again."

The smallest of smiles turned the ends of Duo's lips.

"Yes, really," Heero snorted, cutting him off before he could begin to speak. "I don't know why, but three days ago I was struck by the urge to see you again. So I started trying to seek you out. You weren't at your usual hideouts. Hilde was complaining that you hadn't shown up for work in a week, and you skipped out on your date."

A sheepish bow of Duo's head hid his eyes from Heero's accusatory stare.

Blinking, Heero shook his head. "It was then that I started to worry."

"Date?" Duo croaked out.

"No. Not showing up for work. I know she feeds you for free when you're there."

Narrowed eyes and a snarl tried to pummel the Japanese boy across the distance that lay between his seat and the bed.

Responding with a slight smile, Heero shook his head. "I couldn't track you down, no matter what I tried. Hilde and her sarcasm were my only recourse. It was she who mentioned that, and also brought up your rather insatiable appetite when it comes to Chef Boyardee goods." Blinking a few times, he let his gaze rest over Duo, then allowed a smirk to twitch its way across his lips as he followed with, "And by the way, I'm not jealous if you're dating Hilde."

"Oh really," Duo snorted as promptly as he could without eliciting another bout of snarled coughs from his throat.

"Really. I know it wouldn't last."

An arched chestnut brow and an accusatory glare met Heero's face.

A chuckle escaped the darker-haired boy as he lightly laid his hand over the shaking fingers of his friend's hand. "You're easy to read, baka."

As silence descended between them, Duo staring at Heero and attempting to figure out how much of his befuddled mind the soldier had managed to figure out, Heero staring at Duo and wondering if he would break the silence within the next thirty seconds or actually wait a minute before unleashing with the underlying train of thought that was burgeoning between his eyes and behind threatening to derail itself upon his tongue, the stars rolled by outside.

Soon enough, as twenty seconds came to an end, Duo whispered, "I've gotta tell ya somethin'."

Heero nodded. 'First suspicion was correct. Hn.' "Tell me after you get settled in. We're here."

Duo didn't have a chance to even voice an acknowledgement as he was hoisted with as much mercy as possible from the back of the ambulance and wheeled rapidly into the building he'd failed to notice they'd stopped at.

He watched blankly as white lights flew overhead and the sterile smell of the emergency ward blanketed him in serenity and relief.

-- 22:00 --

Duo lay calmly on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was beginning to slowly lose sensation in his extremities; the drugs that were laced vigorously throughout the saline bag that hung above his head on its metal stand finally beginning to flow more uniformly through his bloodstream. A small sigh escaped his lungs. It had been thirty minutes since he'd been wheeled into the emergency ward. And here he was, waiting patiently on a doctor as he was in no immediate danger of dying.

After all, it was just busted bones, as he'd told the nurses. But no, they'd insisted that they get him immediately on something that was making him feel wonderfully numb. He had no doubt that he'd be knocked clean out in the next half hour or less at the rate things were going.

There were two on-shift doctors in the ward that night. They'd called in two more thanks to a traffic accident that had occurred in the traffic-tunnels near the establishment involving four vehicles and an abnormally high amount of serious injuries incurred from said accident. So Duo, smiling and showing vigorous signs of well-being despite broken bones, was given a numbing agent and prepared to wait for the next available surgeon to stare in horror at the mess splayed across the black slides that had been brought back from radiology and figure out where to start repairing the young man.

He wore his mask well.

Duo was in far worse shape than he'd let those who examined him witness, merely minutes away from losing consciousness once more to his dehydrated body in an effort to conserve what little liquid was left in his body by not expending it through any extraneous activities before they'd plunged an intravenous needle into his arm and set a saline drip running into his water-depleted system. Certainly they would figure out his situation sooner than later, but at least for now he had been able to convince them that all he had wrong with his body was his plethora of broken bones and that he'd be perfectly fine waiting for a surgeon to free himself from the fiasco caused by the multi-car pileup.

It gave him time to talk to Heero.

He stared almost incredulously at the boy seated next to his bed, daring him to make a single statement hinting that he shouldn't be attempting to stay up. To Duo's pleasure, though, Heero's attention was focused instead on the doorway, almost daring anyone to come in and chase him out. He'd fought tooth and nail to stay by his friend until the surgeon came away from his current patient, and be damned if any nurse was going to drag him away.

Turning his gaze to Duo, Heero blinked a few times. "You said you wanted to tell me something?" he began softly, his voice as soft and gentle as his touch was as he lightly traced his thickly calloused fingertips over the braided youth's arm.

"Mm. Yeah," Duo replied. "Wanted to tell you about what's going on."

"Please, explain," Heero quietly prodded.

"Remember what I told you? About what happened six months ago, after your dumb ass tried to self destruct and I went to Quatre's manor out in the boondocks of the Arabian deserts?"

Mulling over Duo's question for a few moments, Heero slowly brought his memories of that disjointed conversation to the forefront of his mind. "You told me that Trowa was there. That he was being used like you were as a pawn by Quatre without your knowledge to pull information from a man named Gregory Channok, and that Quatre himself was trapped. That you had to involve yourself with less than reputable members of society because they were working for Quatre as you two were, though they were considerably more knowledgeable of their state."

"Remember what I told you about those three?"

Hero scratched his chin. "That they were all spies, and you thought that they were the ones who actually undermined Quatre's attempts to learn about the Romefeller Foundation from within. That you wouldn't trust them as far as you would throw them. One was a stocky man who was killed by the other. One was a jester much like you. And the last one was a creep who got off on torturing people." Nodding his satisfaction with his recall, Heero focused his intense eyes on the far too pale boy on the bed. "Is that not correct?"

"Yeah," Duo admitted, "it is."

"Why did you ask if I remembered? Making certain I was paying attention?" An amused huff of breath leaked from the soldier's nostrils.

"Nah. Because what's going on now has something to do with them."

"Elaborate."

Duo stared at the ceiling almost dreamily. "Because Xavier Johnson – the jester, as you said – is working for this guy named Sogran. They're trying to kill Quatre. They've even got one of his employees on their side, and they're gonna play him until they drag him into their net and he can't escape. They know 'bout Tro being involved. And they know 'bout Tro an' me being Gundam pilots. They've even got James Waverly… the guy who gets off on torture, ya know? They've caught him. He was working with Tro to save Quatre from them… an' he and Tro are the ones who know where Quatre is. But they're gonna use this guy they've got as a trump card to flush him out… they're gonna fuckin' kill him."

Heero stared blankly as Duo's cobalt eyes watered.

"They're gonna fuckin' kill him, and there ain't nothin' I can do about it. Can't even fucking warn him, because I'm stuck in a God damned hospital room. And because Quatre isn't picking up the phone if he doesn't recognize the number these days. Can't blame the little guy, but still…."

A finger brushed over Duo's lips, effectively silencing him. Hard Prussian blue eyes stared into dark, nearly violet irises as the thin-lipped mouth slowly whispered, "He won't die, Duo."

Duo blinked.

"You'll be safe here. The Preventer base is right across the Lunar Valley, correct?"

"One crater over and straight on 'till mornin'," Duo joked wearily.

"I'm certain that they can spare someone to stand watch over you."

Duo watched the other boy warily as Heero straightened his stance and pulled his denim jacket closed, carefully sliding one button after the other through the holes that were designed for them. "What are you thinking? Are you-"

The braided boy's questions came to a quick halt as soft lips gently pressed against his.

After many a long moment, Heero turned to walk towards the door. Before moving, he glanced over his shoulder, giving the braided boy a parting stare that spoke volumes of his commitment to his newest task.

"Be safe, will you?" Duo ordered softly.

"Aa."

As the dark-haired boy left the room and was escorted away by hospital employees, Duo let his head press more firmly into his pillow. "You better be safe, baka."

A wistful smile pressed over his lips.

"Thank you, though."

"Thank you for protecting him in my stead."

"Best of luck finding out what's going on, Heero."

Yellow construction boots tapped lightly on the hospital blue tile as their wearer made his way towards the green exit sign and the door said sign hung above.

'Sogran,' his brain processed. 'Sogran, and some employee of Winner's who's going to turn against him.'

'Sogran, who knows about the Gundams and those who pilot them.'

'I have to find Trowa to learn what he knows.'

Even as Duo was being admitted to surgery, Heero was shouldering the duffel bag he'd hidden near the establishment he'd so recently stolen his friend from, having taken a quick taxi ride to retrieve his belongings. Turning on his heel, the soldier walked the cement, quietly listening to the lament of fate.

'Once again, the threat of darkness is hovering over the promise of fate. Just as it did in the 170's, when the colonies were banding despite Earth's protests. Just as it did until it descended fully, smothering the hope of the colonies under its shroud with the death of Heero Yuy.'

'Once again, peace is being threatened by the possibility of one simple assassination.'

Looking at the Earth as it hovered in the night sky, Heero's eyes narrowed slowly. 'It's calling again. The land of a thousand guilts with its lighted towns and cities. It's crying to have the new peace that's fallen upon it preserved.'

'Ninmu ryuoukai.'

An hour later the last flight leaving the Lunar Space and Air Station was screaming faster than the speed of sound for the blue sphere that hung tauntingly in the black curtain of space, beckoning even those children who'd abandoned its solid foundation for the lusty siren of vacuum with its stars to come home and bury their feet in her soil once more.

Heero stared as the glowing orb swelled slowly with time's passage in the window he was seated beside. He stared with empty eyes, their Prussian blue depths concerned not with what lay in the star-laced field beyond the protective glass that shielded him from the deadly environment that beckoned to him.

He did not see the blue and swirling white that bewitched all others who stared at their celestial mother from the heavens. Heero instead saw a mission.

A dark mission that brought the nagging pull of worry to his mind.

tbc...