Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing, or any Gundams. Robots that big haven't been invented yet.

Here's chapter two since I'm having problems with BtG.

10-56A

Chapter 2: When did you get here?

Heero sat at his desk staring across it at Duo who was sitting in the extra chair in his office. It was disturbing to see Duo this way. Celeste and Ember where trying to get Duo's file away from some men downstairs who wanted Duo committed to a hospital. Celeste had said something about feminine wiles, but Heero hadn't been paying that much attention. He was baffled just sitting here and watching Duo.

Heero couldn't remember ever seeing him under the influence of drugs. Maybe pain medication, but Duo had been in such pain that the drugs had only half worked, and they hadn't had this kind of effect on him.

"Duo?" Heero asked, trying to get his attention and trying to figure out what to do next.

"Hey Heero," Duo smiled at him, looking up from where he'd been playing with a pen and Heero's sticky note pad. "When did you get here?"

Heero would have been taken aback, but Duo had already asked that in the car ride over and when they'd fist sat down. As it was, he just pressed on. "Where did you get the drugs?"

"Where I always get them. But I'm not supposed to tell you." Duo said matter 'o factly.

"Why not?" Heero asked, confused.

"Because, you'll think less of me. You all would." Duo looked a little sad as he stared down at his hands. "You, Wu Fei, Quatre, you, Trowa, Wu Fei, Quatre, you…"

Heero cut him off, seeing where this was going. "I'm sorry Duo." He was surprised that the words had come out, he'd meant to say something about how they wouldn't think less of him. But as usual, Duo was right. He always had been able to read people, but even Heero know what his fellow Gundam Pilots would think of Duo's drug abuse.

"That's ok. I'm hiding it from you pretty well, no one suspects a thing." Duo smiled at him and it was like a punch in the gut to Heero. Just how long had Duo been hiding this? What had caused him to turn to drugs in the first place? Heero almost groaned out loud. He was right, the five of them met for dinner at least once every two weeks, if not every week. If this had been going on a while, then not one of them had suspected a thing from the way Duo had covered his tracks.

"Duo, I don't think you should hide it anymore." Heero said, watching quietly as Duo turned back to doodling on his note pad.

"But I have to." Duo muttered. He started scribbling really hard.

"But why?" Heero asked, he felt as if the world around him were slipping from his grasp. He wished Wu Fei were here to help instead of away on a mission to confiscate illegally transported weapons.

Duo didn't answer, just kept scribbling. "Duo?" Heero prodded for a response.

"Oh Hi Heero, when did you get here?" Duo asked, looking up and breaking into a smile that near broke Heero down to yelling. Luckily he was saved from that.

"Got it, took a while, but Celeste here also got a date out of it." Ember smiled big, walking in with a thick folder.

"Good, let's get this over with quickly, we need to get Duo out of here." Heero rubbed his forehead, moving his bangs out of his eyes. "I also need to call Quatre, maybe he can help me get Duo what he needs."

"Sure Heero, hold on." Ember plopped the folder down on Heero's desk and Celeste excused herself to stand guard outside.

Heero would have minded almost anyone else looking through this folder with him, but Ember had been a good friend for a long time. They'd started working together when Heero had fist joined Preventors, Ember was specialized in drug trafficking and had the same ranking as Heero and Wu Fei. They made a good team, they'd only ever been missing a demolitions specialist. But Heero had never been able to convince Duo to join, or even get a reason as to why Duo didn't want to be an agent. But right now, he needed Ember as a friend, not just a coworker. And he was glad that their work relationship had grown outside of work to form a strong friendship. Ember even joined him at the shooting range a couple times a month.

"Uh, Heero?" She was also one of the few people who knew how Heero truly felt about Duo, he'd confessed to her by accident, but… "Heero."

Heero's head snapped up and he scolded himself for not paying attention. "What?"

"Uh… Well, you're not… you're not Duo's emergency contact." Ember pointed to the document in front of them. Heero stared at the strange name sitting there on the paper where a part of him strongly felt that his name should be. "In fact, it's not even another pilot."

Ember was pulling out her phone while Heero swiveled in his chair to look up the name on his computer. But he was interrupted by Duo suddenly thrusting out his hand with a fist full of sticky notes clutched in it, an obvious offering to Heero.

"Oh, thank you Duo." Heero returned the big smile Duo gave him, wondering what it felt like to be that carefree, and when Duo had started relying on substances to help him feel how Heero had always thought he felt naturally.

Heero looked down and stared at the scribbles on the papers for a good five seconds, recognition slapping him in the face. Then he looked back up at Duo, who was back down to drawing Gundam schematics on the paper in front of him.

"I'm going to call her, we should have checked the emergency contact earlier, maybe this," Ember looked down and read the name off the paper as she dialed, "Kitty Phillips, knows something."

Heero snapped back to his current mission and typed the name into his computer, and found a wrap sheet just as Ember got an answer on her phone. She had it turned up so Heero could hear and he listened intently as he also read Kitty Phillips' police record on his computer.

"Hello?" A very groggy voice answered the phone.

"Hello, is this Kitty Phillips? My Name is Ember Easton and I'm calling in regards to Duo Maxwell." Ember's voice was quiet but firm, a lot of people would talk to her when thye wouldn't talk to Heero or Wu Fei. But the voice on the other end of the line mumbled.

"Duo? Yeah, ok, hold on, I'll get him." There was a thump followed by a lot of rustling.

"No, m'am, wait, I'm calling-" Ember tried to get her attention again, but the voice came back on it's own.

"Yeah, he's not here. I'll take a message or whatever, or you can call back when he is here." Heero watched Duo's face, sure that Duo could hear the voice too, and very worried that Duo didn't seem to be at all concerned as to what was going on around him. Something that was dangerous and went against the very grain of the solider he was.

"No, Miss Phillips, Duo Maxwell is here with me, I wanted to ask you if-" Cut off again.

"Well if he's with you, why're you calling here?" Kitty Phillips had not been too friendly to start out with and Duo could hear the anger rising in Ember's voice as well.

"Please listen, I need to know how you know Duo." Ember ordered.

"I'm his roommate." The voice snapped back and Ember and Heero exchanged surprised looks.

Heero had been under the impression that Duo lived alone, and he'd told Ember that, now they looked at each other, stumped. Ember floundered for control.

"Well, he's here at Preventor headquarters and we need to know-" Ember actually growled when she was interrupted this time.

"Oh, why didn't you say so, give me the address, I'll come get him." The voice sounded more awake now.

Heero shook his head 'no' at Ember and pointed at his computer to show that this was a bad idea.

"Oh, no. That is all right Miss Phillips, we'll be sure to see that he get's home safe." Ember said really quickly, reaching for the off button on her phone.

"Bull shi-" And she cut Kitty Phillips off with a flick of her thumb.

"Jeeze, Sorry Heero, but are you sure Duo-" Ember started.

"He'll be ok, he's just having some trouble. We'll help him. I'll help him." Heero insisted.

"Hey, now don't you start cutting me off now" Ember snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's very impolite." Duo spoke up from where he was bent over his work.

Heero sighed, it reminded him too much of when Duo had been trying to teach him 'social interaction' during the war. But he was drawing plans to a Gundam that didn't even exist anymore.

"Do you thing the drugs are inducing flashbacks?" Heero asked Ember.

"Hard to tell, you'd have to be the one to say so, I didn't know any of you beyond three years ago." Ember shrugged.

Heero nodded and kept staring as Ember's phone rang. She answered automatically as they all did.

"Easton."

"Hey, don't you hang up on me" The voice shouted through the ear piece and Heero looked up alarmed. Ember's eyes were wide and mad.

"I'm sorry Miss Phillips, but we don't need your help. It's best if you just wait at home for Mr. Maxwell's return." Ember tried, but it didn't work.

"Forgot about caller ID didn't ya? Well never mind, I'm coming down there to get him, so don't you dare stick him behind bars, I'll be down there in ten minutes." And the phone was hung up again, this time from the other end.

"Damn." Ember cursed, "I'll try and head her off, you should try and get him to eat." Ember motioned at Duo, Heero just nodded and watched her leave.

"That was Kitty." Duo said, still looking down at his drawings. Filling the exact numbers next to each small diagram.

"Yes it was." Heero was torn between taking Duo to the lounge for some food, and keeping him here so no one else would see him like this.

"She'll put up my bail." Duo nodded at the paper.

"Duo, you're not in jail." Heero tried to explain, but Duo just suddenly stood.

"Oh, then I can leave." Duo started towards the door and Heero had to jump out of his chair and run in front of him to cut him off.

"No, Duo." Heero shouted panicked, but Duo just stopped, as he had before when Heero had called out to him. "Sorry, but you need to stay here with me."

Duo stared at him, as if trying to work something out. But then he just shrugged and sat back down. But he didn't pick up the pen again. "When did you get here?" He asked Heero and Heero slumped into his chair with a sigh.

"I've been here Duo." He mumbled, sure that Duo couldn't hear him.

"But I would have noticed." Duo sounded worried, and Heero glanced up between his disheveled bangs. "Wouldn't I?" Heero really looked at Duo this time, waiting.

Duo looked so lost, worried, still slightly dazed, but his eyes seemed clearer. But shadows, like bruises were also forming under his eyes and his skin seemed pale now.

"Duo?" Heero asked, worry making him want to rush Duo to a hospital, but he couldn't seem to get his feet to move. "What were you doing on that ledge?"

"Ledge?" Duo looked panicked, his eyes darted around, checking to see if anyone else were still there. And then a magnificent smile appeared on his face. "Ledge, Heero, what are you talking about? Why would I be out on a ledge? Is this a joke of some kind?"

The laugh that went with the last question sounded so genuine, it made Heero want to forget everything, to believe that Duo was just fine. As he always insisted he was, as Heero had always believed him to be. But this façade was also a red flag in Heero's head.

If Duo was able to act this well on a seconds notice, then maybe the drug abuse had been going on even longer than he had guessed. In fact, there was no way of telling just how long Duo had been addicted, weeks, months? Years? Heero felt as if he might throw up.

"Heero? You don't look so good, you feeling ok?" Duo asked and Heero was so confused. Weren't people supposed to crash hard coming off of a high? Weren't they supposed to want more, to crave and do anything to get another fix. He'd read that some got overly emotional and others shut down completely. But Duo looked like he always did, just tired and distracted.

"Duo…" Heero couldn't get the words out, they were stuck in his throat, choking him.

"Heero?" Duo gave a good natured half laugh and smiled at him, head tilted slightly in curiosity.

"I'm sorry." Heero finally go out.

"For what Heero?" Duo looked confused, worried… about him.

"For not seeing you." Heero said sadly.

"But you can see me Heero, you're the only one who ever really has." Duo looked shocked at his own words, as if he wanted to take them back, as if he hadn't meant to say that at all.

They stared at each other in the quiet room, Heero's neat office, kept obsessively clean. Duo, his hair still falling out of it's braid and looking worse by the minute, but still as cheerful as Heero had ever seen him. Still pretending everything was just fine. And Heero, a ragged mess by now, from running his hands through his hair too often, his clothes disheveled from pulling Duo off the ledge. They just sat and stared, both unsure, both hiding things. They might as well have been miles apart.

"I failed you." Heero whispered.