Athena- THIS IS A NEW STORY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I REPEAT: THIS IS NOT A DRILL!

SS- :blinks slowly: I know I'm insane, but do you know you're all freaks?

Kali- Shini, darling, take off the Freakazoid glasses.

SS- But when I wear them, I think that I own GW and Anita Blake

Athena- :rips off the glasses: We don't own Anita Blake or GW. But because of all the hotties in there? We wish we did.

Rating: R

Please enjoy our feature presentation of Broken. Once the story has ended, we ask that you please review and make the authoress's day. Thank you.

MISSION SPECS 01: PAST IN HIS FUTURE

DREAM SEQUENCE

Duo vaguely heard Anita grunt something about coffee. He only held out his mug for her to grab. It was black, and read "You think I'm mean? I call it socially challenged," in drippy, blood red letters. His boss, Burt, hated when he brought that cup out during working hours. He said it frightened the clients.

Of course, Burt also said that he and Anita frightened more clients when she wore black, and Duo went completely goth, but there was no way in hell that Shinigami would be kept out of his favorite style.

Duo sat down heavily in his chair, slamming his head on the surface of his desk when he leaned forward with too much force. It really hurt, since he was a were-leopard, and he was feeling way too tired to actually move his head off.

That changed, of course, as soon as Anita plonked the coffee next to him, then slid around to hug him from behind. The scent of the beverage, strong and black, exactly how he and Anita liked it, unless they were in shock, wafted to his nostrils.

Greedily, he sipped his drinking, sighing with delight as it warmed a path into his belly. Coffee made him feel more— normal, he supposed, since he really couldn't be called human.

The thought made Duo smirk. 'Normal' was a word that had never applied to him, a street rat, a terrorist, a were-leopard, and a necromancer. No, the term 'freak' suited him better.

"Like mother, like son," Anita joked. He cracked a smile, knowing that was the only thing she wanted from him. It was a nice kind of knowledge.

The intercom crackled to life. "Ms. Blake," Mary's voice was abnormally husky as she called, "there are two gentlemen here without an appointment. They're asking if you would please indulge them with a conference."

Anita and Duo shared a Look. Most people who came in talking like that were usually asking for trouble, and looking to kill someone (mainly Anita). "Shall I send them in?"

"Go ahead," Anita replied. She leaned back against Duo's side of the desk, eyeing the teen she adopted two years ago speculatively.

"If one of them is hot, you will ask him out." Duo recognized this as an order, not a question, and smiled brightly at her.

"And if neither of them is, then you get to ask them both out, and I'll go play with Nathaniel, Asher, Micah..."

"Ass."

They continued with their friendly bickering until the doorknob turned, and the door creaked open. Duo stared, amethyst eyes wide, at the pair who entered, his professional demeanor lost as horror overcame him. Anita chose to glare threateningly at them, knowing exactly who they were without having ever seen them.

Both men were tall, well over the six-foot mark, with the bodies of gods, and both were noticeably of Asian ancestry. That, however, was where the similarities ended.

The one on the left was Chinese, with tan skin sliding over iron firm muscles. Sloe-black eyes regarded him cooly, as he folded his arms over his chest. Both his pants and his long-sleeved shirt were white, contrasting with the shoulder length black hair that was pulled into a tight ponytail at the base of his skull. Oh-five didn't recognize Duo at all. That was okay.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the same luck with oh-one. Prussian blue eyes stared in shock from beneath messy chocolate hair. Oh-one had exchanged the spandex and green muscle shirt for black dress pants and a navy blue button down shirt.

Anita saw what Duo saw: two out of four bastards. Wufei Chang moved to speak, but Heero beat him to it.

"Duo..."

END DREAM SEQUENCE

Duo sat bolt upright in bed as he gasped for air. The telephone next to him rang insistently. He picked it up, already knowing who it was.

"Hello?" He paused to listen to the irate voice on the other end. "I'm fine, it was just a dream...No I'm not sure...how should I know?...No, thanks though...I've got to work in the morning...Yeah...Yes, Maryanne, I will...Bye to you too."

Duo flopped back onto the bed as the door opened. Nathaniel, Cherry, Zane, Anita, Vivien, Micah, and Merle slipped through. In a house full of leopards, it's hard not to be heard when you're having a nightmare, and in Anita's house, that happened frequently.

He groped at his bedside table for a hair tie, found one, and drew his heel-length hair in to a high ponytail at the crown of his head, much like Nathaniel had done. The two smiled at each other as Nathaniel wound his long arms around Duo's waist, and the other members of their insane little family climbed into bed.

Duo hugged him back, noticing that everyone who had shown up (including himself) was naked. No, they weren't about to have an orgy. It was just more comfortable than bothering to wear anything at all.

He and Nathaniel lay awake, gazing at each other warmly as the others dropped off to sleep. Anita was cuddling Nathaniel, and Micah was spooning him, and the rest had taken up various positions on them, or at their feet. Once Anita fell asleep, Nathaniel began talking softly.

"Duo-kitty, are you gonna be okay?" Duo-kitty had been one of the nicknames given to him since they'd met each other.

"No...as long as I remember them, they'll continue to haunt me, and I'll never be okay." Nathaniel nodded, as if it made all the sense in the world.

"At least you're out of denial, " he quipped. They both snickered as Duo poked him in the ribs. They quieted down, then, still smiling, kissed each other.

It was nothing big, just a mere press of their lips against each other. A little goodnight kiss to help chase away the nightmares.

As the two men were lulled to sleep by the sound of their pard's breathing, Duo allowed himself a final thought.

I'm safe here.

They can't hurt me. Not while the Executioner is my Nimir-Ra and my mother.

MISSION SPECS 01 STATUS: COMPLETE

Shinigami's Sister/Notes- Crikey! I've got an angsty GW fic started!

Kali- :nuzzles SS: To all our wonderful friends, have you any idea why we're so sorry that we haven't updated in...

Athena- Two months!

SS- I JUST MOVED TO SAN DI-FRIGGIN'-EGO CALIFORNIA! YEAH BABY!

Athena- She's a bit high on life right now...

Kali- And so am I!

SS- I promise that I will update everything ASAP y'all!

Much love and power to ya!

Please review.

Shinigami's Sister