Shinigami 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Wing Characters so please don't sue me for borrowing them . . .

The steady silence that echoed inside the Colony set his nerves on fire with each silently echoing step they took down the deserted hallways. He tried not to look at the stains that spread out against the walls, tried not to breath in the smell of decay and rot but it was all too powerful to ignore. Fifteen years, this unknown colony had existed drifting around Earth's orbit for fifteen whole years without once being detected. Cloaked in the same technology that had built the Gundam's. Of those fifteen years, five had been spent on one of his old comrades. Five years spent thinking that Duo had just gone missing when in truth he had been living in this hell hole, the product of an illegal experiment.

Ahead of him Luna crouched low examining the blood marks on the right side of the wall, her fingers traced the strange marks with intimate knowledge. She glanced up at him then looked steadily away as she continued foreword without speaking a word. She had not spoken since they had landed on the Colony, a feat which had not been easy considering the rotational rate of the Colony itself. Heero felt in his pocket for the remote detonator as if seeking comfort in something he knew. It had not been easy getting the explosives from the Preventers storage but it would have taken him months just to get enough supplies to build his own. It was months that they did not have. The hallways seemed to go on forever, twisting and turning until he thought they would go on forever, until Luna finally stopped before a large door.

"This is it." Luna sighed as she looked back at him.

"Let's get this over with." Heero replied calmly. She nodded and reached her hand out towards the door stopping just inches from the knob before turning it and pushing the door open. Heero did not know what to be prepared for . . . but he was certainly not prepared for what he saw past that open door.

"Duo no!" A familiar voice cried out from somewhere in the room but he could not hear it, the blood rushing to his ears drowned out even the smallest bit of noise. Hands wrenched him away from his prize and he hissed in anger turning on the one who dared to come between him and his victory. A pair of cold Persian blue eyes stared back at him as a fist dug into his gut knocking the wind out of him. Heero . . . . The name echoed through his mind as the ground rushed up to meet him. Sucking in air through his teeth, Duo felt the blood drain out of him as reality came crashing down around him.

The taste of blood in his mouth made him gag as everything came crashing down on top of him; five years went by with slow accuracy as he watched in horror at the things he had done in order to survive. He shut his eyes trying to will them all away, but the demons just kept coming. When the final demon came he wanted to scream at it to go away. I want to go on believing that you are still the crazy bastard who loved life so much.

"Wu . . . fei . . . ." He choked on the name as tears rolled down his face uncontrolled and free. "What have I done? What in Gods name have I done?" A hand touched his shoulder and he flinched away from it, weeping at the unfairness of it all. He had become a monster . . . a cold unfeeling monster. Worse, he had killed one of his friends . . . had watched as the last breath of life had left their body then . . . . Duo heaved violently, his stomach muscles contracting painfully in an effort to expel what was inside him.

"Damn it . . . don't die on me Wufei you stupid bastard!" The sound of Heero cursing brought him back from the brink as he turned his head to see Heero kneeling beside Wufei's body trying to hold down the pulsing wound on Wufei's neck. He's alive!

"He won't be for long . . . ." The sound of Luna's voice jerked him upright; it had been her hand on his shoulder offering what little comfort she could. "He's loosing too much blood, if Shinigami were here he would know what to do."

"What are you talking about? Duo's right there!" Heero cursed returning to his attention to the wound on Wufei's neck.

"This isn't Shinigami." Luna replied touching Duo's head gently. "Shinigami and Duo are two different people, they have different personalities. Shinigami has never shed even one tear for the people he's killed over the years." She brushed away the tears on Duo's face as she looked into his eyes. "Shinigami and Duo are two people in the same body."

"An alter-ego? Are you kidding me! Damn it, I can't stop the blood flow!" Heero cursed in frustration, "How do we get Shinigami to come out?"

"We don't, only Duo can call him out now." Luna whispered. Call him out? Was she kidding? He would never allow that monster out ever again! Not so long as he lived! "At this rate, your friend will die in another minute or so."

"Damn it Duo! You're the only one that can stop this!" Heero shouted.

"I can't . . . I can't . . . please don't make me call him . . . please don't make me . . . ." Duo whispered clinching his eyes shut.

"Duo, Wufei is dying!"

He's dying and this time it'll be your fault . . . . Duo clamped his hands over his ears in an attempt to shut out the insistent voices that crowded in around him. He felt like the room was getting smaller and smaller on him, could feel his blood pulsing in time to the room shrinking until it felt like he was in a very small box with no way out. He sensed rather then saw the person standing behind him, the dark aura that surrounded him gave off a pleasant feeling that seemed to soothe him. Turning slowly Duo stared up into the cold mesmerizing gaze of Death, it did not matter that the face he saw was his own, and he knew who this person was. Shinigami. Death nodded reaching out his hand to him. Save him . . . please save my friend, I don't care if I die so long as Wufei is okay. Death watched him with sad eyes as Duo placed his hand into that cold grip.

Strong hands removed Heero's from their grip on the fatal wound and he glanced up in shock to see Duo standing beside him. A pair of cold eyes looked at him for only a moment before turning their attention back on the bleeding Chinese that lay between them. Heero stepped back as he watched Duo – no, the one standing before him was no longer Duo. This was Shinigami the other Duo that lay deep inside the tender caring Duo he knew. Slowly, Shinigami leaned closer to the wound wrapping his lips around Wufei's neck Heero stepped foreword ready to pull the two apart but a hand on his shoulder stopped him from going any further.

"Shinigami knows what he doing . . . you need not worries." Luna whispered as she moved towards the giant tube sticking out of the middle of the room. Heero blinked, in the confusion of trying to save the near dead Wufei, he had not noticed anything else. Now he could see that the room was crowded with people, most of them dead and the ones that were alive . . . Heero looked away from the sight not wanting to see anymore then he already had. Luna touched the side of the tube and it seemed to glow brighter as if welcoming her back. "This is the end . . . we have waited fifteen whole years for this." The whispered words almost did not reach his ears as he watched the eerie sight unfolding before him. Luna pressed her head against the cool glass sighing contently as she shut her eyes and just listened.

"It's been a long time . . . Heero." The cold voice drew his attention back towards Shinigami, who stood carrying Wufei in his arms. Blood leaked down his lips as a cold sadistic smile spread across his face. "Did you come to help? You could have just sent the girl back here."

"With a shuttlecraft full of explosives? Do I look that stupid?" Heero asked.

Shinigami chuckled as he laid Wufei down on the floor, shrugging his shoulders as he stepped away. "If Luna had not brought the explosives then I would have had to figure out another way to destroy this place. Sending into the sun just sounded like a very bad idea."

"Why? Not sadistic enough for you?" Heero quipped looking down at Wufei, who was sleeping calmly now.

"Don't worry; he won't become like me or Luna. I tried and his blood's just too stubborn to take the virus in." Shinigami replied calmly, wiping the blood from his lips with the back of his hand.

"And Duo? What's his excuse?"

"Duo and I? Well, we're not like the others. I retain control and Duo . . . well Duo was safe but you changed all that before I could work on it." He answered coldly.

"And what would you have done?"

"Shinigami's plan involved Duo escaping with no memory; his body clean of the virus that created us." Luna answered calmly.

"And if that didn't work?" Heero turned to Shinigami with narrowed eyes, "Duo would have ended up spreading the virus."

"It would have worked . . . because it worked on Luna." Shinigami answered calmly.

"On Luna!" Heero turned his gaze towards Luna in disbelief.

"I retained some parts of the virus, but that's only because I've lived with the virus much longer then Duo has." She replied turning to face him, "I've lived with it for fifteen years now."

"She was the first to be infected, Duo was the last." Shinigami explained. "It took them three years to break him down enough for the virus to take effect . . . but it will only take him two days for the anti-virus already in his system to reassert itself, but now I don't think that is possible."

"Why not?" Heero demanded. Shinigami stared silently up at the tube without saying a word and Heero turned his gaze towards Luna.

"Because you stopped Shinigami and brought the real Duo out, that Duo no longer wishes to live. The memories of Shinigami have become a part of Duo." She replied softly. "In exchange for Wufei's life . . . Duo is willing to die."

Heero stared in stunned silence at the two of them, then down at Wufei. In exchange for his friend's life, Duo had sacrificed his only chance of survival? You stupid moron . . . .

"And now, we have some unfinished business to attend to before we begin." Shinigami turned to him with a grim smile on his face. "Don't take this too personally Heero . . . but -." Heero grunted as Shinigami's fist slammed into his gut, the dim blackness started to crowd his vision as he stared into those cobalt blue eyes. "That's one for one, eh Heero?"

Duo . . . .

". . . shuttlecraft . . . there? . . . peat . . . Preventers . . . contacting . . . craft . . . 09 . . . Heero . . . ?"

He groaned as he struggled through the dark cloak of unconsciousness. Heero blinked at the blinding light that shined above him, the feel of cold metal beneath him told him he was laying on the floor of the shuttlecraft. The last thing he remembered was . . . . Heero jerked upright, ignoring the blinding pain that came with the sudden movement his eyes darting across the shuttlecraft floor until they landed on Wufei's body lying not far from him. Crawling over to the other boy, Heero noticed something stuck to the control console but decided that checking on the other boy was more important. The light sound of his breathing relaxed him somewhat and he finally turned his attention towards the control console. Getting to his feet, Heero pulled off the piece of paper attached to the controls his eyes gliding over the words written on it.

By now you've woken up and are probably really angry at me for what I did . . . but you have to admit, you hit me first. I'm sure that if you look out the shuttlecraft window you'll see a whole bunch of Preventers Shuttlecrafts floating about along with what's left of the colony. To tell you the truth, the sun probably wouldn't have hurt as much as the explosions will but I can't risk it. Luna and I discovered that the virus becomes ineffective when exposed to the zero-degree temperature out in space Wufei should be waking up right behind you, literally Heero . . . he's right behind you.

Anyhow, I hope you understand that this was the only thing we could do . . . it was the reason I was chosen as the last. I really hope I've lived up to my name . . . and that you won't forget me when all this is over. Don't tell Hilde . . . don't tell her what I did I couldn't stand it if she knew what I had become . . . sorry but this is all I can say right now. Shinigami and I are finally at peace, you really did live up to your part of the plan Heero and I thank you for that. I guess I'll see you guys later, right?

Sign, Duo Maxwell

And Shinigami-san

Heero let the paper fall from his grasp as he stared out the window at what he knew would be there, just like the letter said. Behind him, Wufei laid a hand on his shoulder as the two of them stared at the debris floating around outside. To save his friend's he gave up his life.

Lady Une stared out the window of Preventers HQ, watching the night sky with tears in her eyes. Balls of light fell from the sky like blood red teardrops.