SS- Can y'all believe that I've got another chapter ready for you? Oo

Kali- We know, it's shocking. SS is usually the queen procrastinator.

Athena- Are you sure that we haven't approached the apocalypse?

SS- :Glances out her window at the burning meteorites, evil spirits, and the chaos of the bubbling sea: No. If it were the apocalypse, I would own Anita Blake and Gundam Wing.

Kali- But she doesn't, so it isn't.

SS- . Right. Here's the other info...

RATING: M

SUMMARY: The other pilots have abused and degraded Duo...He now plots his escape.

TITLE: Broken

SS- Brief note: this chapter, and the next two chapters take place five years ago, when Duo was 18. Sooo...Here ya go!

MISSION SPECS 02: MEMORIES 01

The current safehouse was silent, save for the heart-wrenching sobs of the one pilot who had truly lost his faith in everything. For a third time in his life, Shinigami had been abandoned; oh-three and oh-four had joined oh-one and oh-five in their quest to completely eradicate him. He lay on the floor, seemingly motionless except for the erratically violent shudders that racked his body between sobs.

After a while, Duo stood with aching, painful caution. His normally ethereal white skin was mottled with discoloration, and riddled with open gashes, some festering with pus. Yellow, gray, blue, plum, and crimson. None of these were self-inflicted; Duo would never do that to himself. The other pilots, those he had once considered friends—

(Dirty lying filthy trash! Not Friends Never Friends!)

—had found him unnecessary, a joke, a toy. They were bad little boys, bad boys who destroyed everything they touched.

And Shinigami save him, they tried, but they Had Not Broken him!

"You're just another dirty whore, just like those sick fucks at OZ. You probably like that, don't you, you disgusting freak?"

He had hated every moment of it. He hated how oh-five had pulled his hair back so that oh-one could shove his disgustingly perfect cock down his throat. He hated how his wrists had oh-one's finger indentations from when they had held him down so that oh-five could rip into him without preparation. He hated how they could call him a whore when they were the ones raping him each night for three weeks.

Most especially, he hated being called a whore. He'd been a virgin, because Solo had said that even when money's tight, you never whore yourself out. Who knew what kind of weird diseases the loonies on L2 had.

Solo also said not to let the soldiers catch you. They'd hurt you real bad, do whatever they want with you, then kill you.

Solo had been right, Duo thought dismally, and I was too dumb—

(Not dumb Not Dumb NOT DUMB! TRICKED YOU LIED TO YOU BETRAYED YOU. NOT DUMB. NEVER DUMB.)

—to notice. Shinigami, how could I have ever liked them?

How could I have wanted them to be mine?

"Have you been stealing from us this entire time? Gods, I can't believe you!"

Duo had thought of these people as his friends; you never, ever, steal from your friends. It would be like signing a death contract.

He had found oh-four's necklace in the bathroom. One of his sisters (Iria?) had given it to him, and Duo knew that oh-four loved it. The clasp was broken; Duo repaired it and tried to give it back to oh-four, but oh-five had lied to oh-four, and he chose to believe oh-five over Duo. From that day on, Duo knew that he would never be able to trust oh-three or oh-four again.

"It's no small wonder why we all hate you. You are a worthless piece of scum, and a liar."

Duo. Never. Lied. He knew that liars had to exist, but he couldn't see the purpose in lying. It just seemed stupid, and if he was going to do something, he told everybody about it. It hurt him immensely that they would even dream to call him a liar, and it proved that they didn't know/care about him at all.

He walked to the room that belonged to him alone in a trance. He knew that he had to get out of here, had known for a long time that the—

(Monsters face-thieves traitors bitches)

—other pilots would end up killing him if he stayed here any longer. He'd planned his escape perfectly, and it tied in with his revenge.

He stripped himself of the blood-soaked clothes that hid his skinny frame. He winced with each movement of his ribs as he dressed. There had to be at least two that were cracked. He groaned gutturally as he retrieved a black knapsack from under his pillow, and realized that his cell phone was ringing. Opening the device, he pressed it to his ear and heard a distinct female voice that he would recognize anywhere on the other end. It was the Vice Minister, his sister.

Relena.

"You're going to leave today, aren't you?" Her voice was soft, and poignant in its sorrow and rage. Duo sighed as a response.

"I have to, Relena. I'll end up dead out here." He heard Relena let out a sob, and reassuringly said, "You'll know where I am. You're my sister, I have to check up on you."

It had been a sheer fluke as to how they found out they were related. Duo had suffered extensive damage and needed a blood transfusion. Relena had been the only one to have the same blood type, and had volunteered to give it. Thinking on a hunch, she asked for a full genetic comparison between herself and Duo.

It had turned out that they shared identical mitochondria; they shared the same mother. Duo had been ecstatic to find out that he could have a real family.

"Relena, I need you to do two things for me."

"Name it."

"First of all, the others will be back in two hours. I need to be out of here in twenty minutes."

"That soon?" she exclaimed.

"Yes. Now listen carefully: Deathscythe will be captured in two days time. Right after you receive the news, I want you to say this phrase, exactly: May God keep you. Understand? Just after you say this, you will get a call from them, telling you that they are going in to "save me".

"Now here's the interesting part. The phrase is a code. There is a series of hydrogen bombs that I've built into Deathscythe, and your voice, tied with that phrase will detonate them, taking out a portion of whatever base my gundam is at as well. I promise you, Relena, I won't be anywhere near it.

"Now as far as the second thing goes, I want you to tell them everything."

"Everything?" Relena exclaimed in a breathy voice. Duo thought it over, then amended his statement.

"Well, everything but my special secret that you don't even know about."

"What special secret that I don't even know about?"

"Exactly," joked Duo. He could almost feel Relena's smile on the other end. Sighing with resignation, he told Relena that he loved her.

"I love you too, Duo. I want you to promise to call me from an untraceable number as soon as you settle down, alright?"

"Alright. Bye, sister." he agreed softly. With that, he hung up the phone and gathered his stuff.

Striding through the house with his head held high, he cast a quick glance around. With much deliberation, he bent his head and spat on the floor. He walked outside without another thought.

The sun hit Duo fully, making him sneer at the harsh light. The air seemed to fresh to him, too unnaturally clean. He briefly entertained the idea that this was just a simulation, that this entire thing was a dream, and that at any moment, the others would turn it off and they'd all be cool.

He shot that idea down with a .45 Cobalt.

Plus, that howl he just heard did not fit in with the normal desert scenario, and it was real.

So it was a great mystery to him as to how a wolf cub had managed to find its' way into his 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

MISSION SPECS 02 STATUS: COMPLETE

SS/N- 0.o...To every Relena basher out there, normally I sympathize with you. I mean, come on, what's not to hate. However, if there are those out there who really want to flame me over it...

Kali- We'll just use them for s'mores. Or maybe to burn something down.

Athena- We're not quite sure yet.

SS- Anyhow, I now realize that while I mentioned the characters of Anita Blake, I never really told you about them.

Athena- So for you, the readers and hopefully REVIEWERS, we bring to you...

Kali- Cast of Characters for Broken!

Duo- Our main character. He's 23, and his hair reaches his heels. He's been a natural necromancer since birth, and a were-leopard since he was 20. He is Anita's adopted son. As a leopard, he has brown eyes, white fur with brown spots. As a necromancer, his animal to call(1) is the wolf.

Anita 'The Executioner' Blake- The star lady of the Anita Blake series. She is 35, with curly black hair that reaches the tops of her thighs (her Mexican mother), extremely pale skin (German father), and brown eyes. She is the human servant in Jean-Claude's triumvirate, and the Master Necromancer in her own triumvirate. Her animal to call is the leopard, and she is the Nimir-Ra(2) of the Blooddrinkers Clan(3). She is a vampire executioner with more kills on her list than anyone else.

Jean-Claude– Master of the City of St. Louis, and sourde du sang(4) of his line. He is 614, with cerulean eyes, and black hair that reaches his knees. His animal to call is the wolf, and he shares his curse, the ardeur(5), with Anita. He is the Master Vampire in his triumvirate.

Richard- A were-wolf, and a middle school science teacher. He's 42, with honey brown eyes, and brown hair that is just below his ears. As a wolf, he has ginger fur. He is the third in Jean-Claude's triumvirate, and his animal to call. He is the Ulfric(6) of the Thronnos Rokke Clan(7).

Damien- the vampire servant in Anita's triumvirate. Turned in the Viking era, he is 1000, with red hair and green eyes. He works at Danse Macabre(8)

Nathaniel- Anita's animal to call, the third in her triumvirate, and the ultimate sub(9). He is 25, with auburn hair that reaches his heels, and lavender eyes. He is a stripper at Guilty Pleasures(10). He is Anita's pomme du sang(11).

Micah- Nimir-Raj(12) of the Maneaters Clan(13), and Anita's mate. He has grey-green eyes, and brown hair that touches his shoulderblades.

Cherry- A leopard in Anita's pard(14).

Zane- A leopard in Anita's pard. He would like to date Cherry.

Stephen- A wolf in Richard's pack. He's dating Vivien, and is Gregory's twin brother. He is a stripper at Guilty Pleasures.

Vivien- A leopard in Anita's pard. She's dating Stephen.

Gregory- A leopard in Anita's pard, and Stephen's twin brother. He is a stripper at Guilty Pleasures.

Jason- A wolf in Richard's pack, and Jean-Claude's pomme du sang. He is a stripper at Guilty Pleasures.

Lieutenant Randolph 'Dolph' Storr- The lead investigator on RPIT(15). He's had some problems since his son has decided to become a vampire, problems that could get him fired.

Sergeant Zerbrowski- Anita's friend on the RPIT squad. He's much more accepting than Dolph is when it comes to the preternatural.

SS- :wipes her brow: There are more, actually, but with the exception of Asher, they don't show up as much. These characters will show up regularly.

Athena- There'll be a definitions list in the next chapter, but if you'd rather find out sooner, buy some of the books by Laurel K. Hamilton.

SS- Thanks to Tatsu Satsuki for the encouraging first review! o

Kali- And because we liked it so much, we're gonna give you this special Duo-chan plushy. :Holds a happy Duo out to Tatsu:

All- ONEGAI, READ AND REVIEW! Bai-bai-buu!

Shinigami's Sister