Disclaimer: I don't own anything I didn't create.

A/N: Review please! Some feedback would be much appreciated!

That was interesting. I thought as I strapped myself into Bullet and started her engines with a rumble. She was currently in submarine form as we were underwater, and I dropped her spare parts on the floor and pushed the bag under the seat and into the tool-box cache I had there for convenience and fast repairs, and it clicked shut with a satisfying sound. I pulled the lever to change Bullet back into her gundam form and pulled the booster lever to get us out of the water and into the air. I pulled the steering rig back and angled us up with one hand as she shot us out of the water and into the sky faster than the eye could see. Glancing at the side screen, I watched as the blonde boy's face flashed by, and I paused the view for a second to look at his expression. His name was Quatre. I knew that from looking into his mind when I spoke to him. His most important friend was Trowa, the tallest one of the lot who had all his hair in his face. He was one of the quiet ones. The other one who caught my eye was the eager brown-haired boy with the braid. Duo something-that-started-with-an-'M'. Maxwell? My first guesses were usually right, so I'd look him up under that name.

I set Bullet on autopilot and flicked the switch for the OAS- Obstacle Avoidance System- and let Bullet do her thing as I opened up the internet and took a screenshot of Quatre's face and a screenshot of Duo's and put them in the search base, running google and the defunct military's people finders at the same time. They both came up with results, the late military's resources being much more helpful and clear. Plus, the ex-military was especially careful to file everyone they came into contact with in the right places and stuff like that. They were kinda OCD about it. So searching through their info went without a hitch.

Quatre's face looked a little bit younger in the military snapshot, maybe more innocent. Definitely sadder. It was as if the picture had been taken just after he had lost someone important and was trying to put on a brave face. I frowned, a protective instinct arising in the center of my chest. He looked much better with a smile and without those sad eyes. I wanted to protect that smile, keep him laughing. I clicked over to Duo's file and choked on a surprised laugh. The guy was sticking his tongue out at the camera, pulling down an eyelid and crossing his eyes. That was an insult in some places. I guess the guy wasn't able to get a better picture of him. I smiled a little as I glanced over their files.

Quatre R. Winner. He came from a well-off family in the L4 cluster in space. Born and raised there. Even I had heard of the Winner name, but I wasn't too sure about what they did. Arabian in ethnicy. I smiled. Well that explained some of his sunshine-y cuteness. The ex-pilot of the gundam Sandrock.

Duo… Maxwell. I was right on his last name, like I usually was. He came from the L2. Ex-pilot of the gundam Deathscythe, called himself 'Shinigami', the 'god of death'. I frowned a bit, a headache building up behind my forehead, and I rubbed at it absent-mindedly with the butt of my hand. He was American, not much was known about his past. There were some rumors going around, associating him with the 'Maxwell Demon'. I clicked the hyperlink, and it led me to an article about the Maxwell church, which had been burned down some time ago. Hmm… Duo must've had something to do with it. After all, Maxwell was his last name… even if it felt a bit self-given, like mine. The headache was getting stronger, so I clicked out of that page, through Duo's profile and back to Quatre's, the headache slowly dieing down. I sighed in faint relief, and looked up their friends- the other ex-gundam pilots, and hit the button to monitor them before minimizing the window and taking Bullet off of autopilot, deciding to have some fun.

She. Was teasing us. I knew it, I just flippin' knew it! That girl and her flippin' gundam built for speed had been coming close and flitting away like a mouse playing with a cat for days. It was frustrating to say the least, and it was made even more frustrating because it felt like I knew the girl.

I groaned and let my head rest against the steering wheel of the truck as we let it fuel up at one of the gas stations in town, my arms braced weirdly against the steering wheel so that my hands were splayed awkwardly over my head. I sighed and let my right hand fall to play with my braid. Even the way that girl irritated me was familiar. Ever since I had seen her face and that cheeky little grin at the docks, it felt like I knew her. It was like she vibrated like some memory I'd forgotten or something. Like some memory from way back when. I hadn't known any girls trying to be priests back at the Maxwell church, for all I knew, girls couldn't be priests and everyone had died in that fire anyways. Even with Solo-

Trio. I stiffened, eyes wide and staring blankly at the black rubber of the steering wheel. What the hell? Trio? I straightened up and stared blankly through the windshield. That girl had definitely died. There was no way that annoying brat had survived the virus. She'd cried about everything back then. Relied on the cute factor too heavily. She was a cute little thing though. Never forgot about us, even though multiple young married couples had taken her home with them. She usually brought back about half the larder with her when she came back too. She was pretty much why we'd lived as long as we had, since we had been so careful with what she brought us.

But then, right about when Solo died… she disappeared. I had waited for her for two days and a night with the other two who'd escaped the virus with me, sitting by the old place. I'd assumed that either the virus had gotten her too, or she had just abandoned us. Gotten tired of being a street rat and went to live with one of those married couples. Hell knows, I would've done the same thing too.

She'd said she loved us.

I shook my head violently. No, no. I couldn't get caught up in that. We were street rats. That's what street rats did. We looked after ourselves first, others second. I'd left the place after the second night had fallen. Ran away from the place, the other two following me. I hadn't been crying. A street rat couldn't cry. Crying was weak. I clenched a fist. Why did I still feel that betrayal? Like it was fresh? I was 15 now, for god's sake. That had been a decade ago.

Maybe it was because they looked so alike. Trio and Sound. I silently turned and opened the door, slipping out of the truck. I slammed the door shut and waved at Heero when he glanced up at me, standing by the pump, then wandered off the pavement and onto the grass, scuffing my feet as I walked along. I slipped my hands into my pockets, looking at my feet, braid falling over my shoulder. Why'd it hurt so much? Why'd Trio just have to disappear like that? Right when I'd needed her? Damnit. I wasn't going to cry. I wasn't. I walked off behind the gas station, wiping my face.

The cheeky little grin was the same.

I looked after Duo worriedly. That had been some pretty intense pain he'd been feeling. Made my chest feel like it was cramping. I fidgeted. Trowa and I'd been sitting in the back of the truck the whole time. I saw everything Duo did. Felt what he felt too. Felt like a watery version of heartburn. I frowned at my fingers, weaving them together.

"He'll be alright." I looked up to see Trowa looking at me, his one visible eye soft. "He just needs to walk off some steam. Wufei'll get him when its time to go." I nodded silently and looked in the direction that Duo had disappeared in. That was a pain that I hoped Duo never had to feel again. It had been painful enough for me to bear.

"Yeah." I murmured. "He'll be alright." Trowa ruffled my hair as he leaned back against the canvas and closed his eyes. He'll be fine.