Warnings: violence, adult situations (lime), blood drinking

Chapter 6

The transport descended on the thin landing strip at the Barclay Base in Antarctica. Noin's men were once again efficient and quick, unloading the mobile suits from the plane.

As Trowa and I left the plane, we were met on the landing strip by a tall man wearing a helmet that masked the top half of his face. The long, pale gold hair trailing out from under the helmet danced in the frigid arctic breeze.

"You can call me Zechs Merquise," was the simple greeting he provided before leading us into the base. We followed him down the brightly lit metal-lined hallway. He brought us to a large door. As the metal panels slid open I could tell it was the mobile suit hangar but I was surprised to see what suit was being stored there.

Wing. My beautiful mobile suit stood there in all her repaired glory. Reflected light glittered upon her. I knew there had been rumors, it was why I came to Antarctica, but somehow it still surprised me to see her there, looking untouched and new.

An engineer ran forward and Zechs introduced him as the man in charge of Wing's repairs. It took all I could to hold back a growl. At that moment it sunk in. My beautiful Wing has been defiled by OZ hands. I wanted nothing more than to look over every inch of her.

Zechs informed me that our duel would be the following morning and then left me to become reacquainted with my Gundam.

I started the check right away, but it was soon apparent it would take longer than one evening to give her the thorough inspection I wanted. Trowa had earlier offered me the use of Heavyarms in this duel, so I decided to take him up on that offer.

I spent the rest of the evening doing tune-ups on Heavyarms, trying to get Trowa's Gundam to peak efficiency. It was late that night, or more accurately early the next morning, when Trowa offered to take over.

I made my way over to the base's sleeping quarters and collapsed on the first empty cubby-hole bed I came across.

I entered the room and found Duo sleeping on my bed. He was once again curled up on his side. The delicate skin of his throat on full display. I quietly shut the door behind me.

I stepped toward the bed, but as I neared he rolled onto his back. I froze, unsure about being caught. He smiled at me. He reached a hand to me.

"Join me," he murmured.

I continued my progress to the bed, but instead of kneeling to the side, Duo beckoned me onto the bed. He pulled me until I was kneeling on the soft mattress between his thighs. Then one of his hands cupped my jaw and he leaned in.

He pressed his lips to mine.

My nose was assaulted by his tempting scent. I returned the kiss hungrily. My tongue delved into his warm mouth. He welcomed the invasion with a moan. His mouth had the sweet flavor that infused his blood, extremely muted but still there. I loved the way Duo tasted.

He broke the kiss and tilted his head back. I ran small kisses down his jawline. Down his throat where I could feel the delicate beat of his pulse against my lips. Down farther. His clothes were gone. I heard his breath hitch as I lapped at a pert nipple.

I scooted back on the bed. I continued the kisses down farther and farther. Past his need and onto the creamy skin of his inner thigh. I nuzzled the velvety skin.

"Please," he begged.

I pressed one quick kiss to his thigh, then opened my mouth wide and sank my fangs into the luscious skin. The taste of Duo became my world. I drank greedily of his life. I heard him give off a long, pleasured moan. He fisted his hands in my hair. His need twitched and began to weep.

Duo's aroused scent was a heady mix.

One of my hands gripped his hip. Probably hard enough to leave bruises. I continued to suckle the silky skin of his thigh. His head thrashed against the pillow as he gave off keening cries of pleasure.

His body went stiff and with a loud moan he shot his essence over his stomach. I lapped at the puncture wounds on his thigh to heal them. I crawled up the bed to lay beside him. He pillowed his head on my shoulder. I curled one arm around him and ran the other up and down his side. He hummed his contentment.

"I love you, Ro."

I awoke suddenly. I was confused to find myself in a small cubby-hole bunk bed instead of the dorm bed I was expecting. Then my brain caught up with me and I remembered where I was. Barclay Base, Antarctica.

It was only a dream.

Why am I dreaming about Duo like this?

I sat in Heavyarms facing Zechs' white mobile suit, Tallgeese. The serene, crystalline snow coated the land around us. A breeze occasionally lifted a few of the flakes, bringing them up to sparkle in the sunlight.

Zechs made the first move, bringing up Tallgeese's large, high powered Dober Gun to fire upon me. I quickly dodged. Zechs continued his barrage; I used Heavyarms' Beam Gatling Gun to return fire. The serene landscape was instantly disrupted as our two suits battled against each other.

During our back and forth, Zechs opened up a broadcasting comm channel. I wasn't entirely sure if he was actually talking to me or simply railing at the world at large.

"You are strong so I shall fight you and I will defeat you!" I quickly upped the output on the vernier engines, steering the Gundam into a swift dodge to the left. "I will prove that I am strong as well!" I hurriedly hit the switch to fire Heavyarms' missiles at the white mobile suit. "I will prove to His Excellency that I deserve to be one of his kind!" I faltered a moment when I heard the words. Zechs knows Treize isn't human? I caught myself and quickly started to fire upon the snow covered landscape around me, causing the snow to billow up even more to help disguise my location.

As the snow cleared, we found ourselves in a standoff. I raised the Beam Gatling Gun and started to fire. The gun managed a few shots before the hollow clicking noise started, signifying I was out. I slammed my fist into a large button on the left of my control panel, releasing the gun from the Gundam. I looked at the stub of the Gundam's arm where I had expected a fist. A beam saber was nestled into the remaining arm. Trowa really went out of his way for me. I pulled out the saber and activated the beam.

I boosted the engines, charging Tallgeese. Zechs blocked the attack with a small round shield. He threw aside his own gun and drew a beam saber as well. The fight continued.

Zechs landed a good hit, knocking Heavyarms off balance. Just as he was going for the finishing blow a plane flew in the way, blocking him.

The plane was broadcasting a young woman's voice. Relena? "I hereby order you under the name of the Peacecraft family. Stop this battle immediately!" That girl is certainly good at ending up places where she doesn't belong. While I was distracted by Relena, Zechs ignored her, knocking the beam saber from my Gundam's hand and continued the assault as soon as the plane cleared the airspace between us. "No! If you're a true warrior and Peacecraft knight, you couldn't possibly use such foul play!" I activated Heavyarms' army knife and used it to interrupt the barrage of attacks.

My sensors suddenly picked up massive amounts of incoming. Wing showed up on an ice shelf nearby and Trowa's voice broadcasted informing us of how many suits the incoming OZ search party had. Trowa and I were about to take on the incoming troops when Zechs interrupted us.

"I'll handle them all myself! Heero, we'll meet again to continue our battle." He quickly shot off to intercept the OZ mobile suits.

Trowa activated Wing's flight form and I had Heavyarms grab on as soon as the transformation finished. We quickly made our escape from Barclay Base.

We cut it close on Wing's energy reserves but we finally made it to South America. Trowa assisted me in finding a place to hide Wing so I could finish going over everything, making sure everything was rebuilt correctly and up to my own personal standards. Then we parted ways, Trowa taking Heavyarms to locations unknown.

I needed to feed. The Hunger was a screaming cacophony within my skull. Despite this, I found myself passing up perfectly good targets. The mildly intoxicated roaming around on their own. The nameless bums scattered in the dark alleys. The young people on some drug or other making them overly suggestible. I roamed the streets passing all of them.

I finally found what I was looking for in front of a crowded club. Though I hadn't known that was what I was looking for until I found him. I usually wouldn't go for such a target; the line of people stood there waiting to gain access, watching everything. I simply strode up to the young man. He looked up when I invaded his personal space. I invoked a glamour and commanded, "Follow me." His eyes glazed over and I lead us to a deserted alley.

I turned to look at the man. His lithe body was clad in black leather pants and a black tank top, artfully destroyed to provide glimpses of the skin beneath through the shredded holes. He had a somewhat oval shaped face and brown eyes. I gripped his shoulders and turned his back to face me.

His taut, pert ass could easily be made out through the tight leather. His long chestnut hair was held in a ponytail. From this angle it would be easy to imagine him being someone else.

I wrapped my arms around his slender waist and pulled his body against mine. His ass snugged up against my groin. I felt myself harden. I brushed aside the flowing chestnut locks and sank my fangs into his neck.

It was harder to maintain the illusion once I started to feed. His blood lacked that addicting sweet taste. Luckily the Hunger thrilled in being satisfied, even if I myself was not.

Hunger abated, I sent the man on his way. I continued to roam the streets. I had finished all the checks and minor tweaks for Wing and had hidden my Gundam off the coast nearby. I had received no messages from Dr. J. I wasn't really sure what to do next.

My aimless wandering had taken me out of the club district and into a merchant district. It seemed this city hosted more of a nightlife than just clubs since the majority of the stores were still open this late.

I passed by a small electronics store. The window display hosted numerous flatscreen tvs displaying various exotic fish to show off the vibrant color display. When they all instantaneously switched to show something different, they caught my eye. It was a breaking news report. I paused in my wandering, turning to the wall of tvs.

I saw Deathscythe and Gundam 04 assaulting an OZ spaceport. Duo. He's alive. Watching that black Gundam reap destruction with the swing of its luminous green scythe I felt like a weight had been lifted from my chest. It bewildered me. Yes, I should be glad that an ally was still alive, but would I be this glad?

As I watched Duo and his Gundam perform a dance of death and destruction the image suddenly shrank on the screen to allow for another image to be displayed as well. A mousy looking man at a podium was being displayed.

"We wish to publicly announce a decision made by Space Colony Area D. Mobile suits, known as Gundams, are currently going around destroying OZ's facilities. These Gundams have nothing to do with Colony Area D." The colonies are no longer supporting the Gundams? "We hereby declare that if the Gundams declare OZ an enemy then we will consider the Gundams ours. OZ has been fair to us. It didn't take long for OZ and us to work out our misunderstandings toward each other." OZ is in space and has teamed up with the colonies!? "We hope that the Gundams are defeated in this battle. We further hope that the other colonies will follow the example we set with this declaration."

I growled and clenched my fists. If OZ is playing nice with the colonies then they can no longer use them as hostages, and if OZ is in space then I should be as well. I would have to leave Wing. My Gundam wasn't outfitted for space manoeuvring and would simply slow me down.

I scanned the road quickly, settling on a small nondescript car nearby. I hurried to it as quickly as I could without drawing attention. I did another quick scan to see if anyone was looking my way before slamming my fist through the window. I hurried to unlock the car door and hop in. I removed the small blade I sheathed at my ankle and used it to unscrew and pry off the steering column's plastic covering. I carefully cut and twisted together the power wires then I cut the starter wires and touched them together. The car started with a quiet hum.

I made my way through the city until I reached a highway. I headed towards the nearest OZ spaceport.

I abandoned the car a few miles from the base and jogged the rest of the way. I ignored the more popular main entrance and circled the perimeter until I found a quiet side entrance. I eyed the security. There was a stationary camera mounted above the guard shack and a single guard ready to check identification. Easy.

I walked up to the guard shack, making sure to maintain an angle where my face would not be clearly shown on the camera.

"Hey! Kid! This is a restricted area!" The guard ran towards me. When he was in range, I established eye contact and invoked a glamour.

"Open the gate for me and forget I was ever here."

The guard shambled back into the guard shack and pressed a button on the panel inside. The gate fencing slowly slid to the right, allowing entrance. I passed through quickly and sprinted over to the nearest building, using shadows to hide my presence.

It was simple work to avoid the patrols as I made my way over to the shuttle storage area. I grabbed a flight suit from one of the lockers just to the left of the hangar door and took it with me into the nearest shuttle. I swiftly changed into the suit, sat in the pilot's chair, and initiated take-off procedures. An alarm sounded, announcing an unschedule take-off, but OZ was too late now. The shuttle shot forward through the launch tunnel going faster and faster. It exited the tunnel, aiming upward, punching through the atmosphere on it's way to space.

When I reached the quiet, suburban-style colony, the first thing I did was locate a public library. I used one of the computer terminals to search for an appropriate school. I started an online application. I paused at the first two lines of the form.

First Name:

Last Name:

Before I knew it, I entered 'Duo Maxwell'. I stared at the entry. Why am I always thinking about that guy? I shrugged. Maybe I'll just ask Duo when I see him next.

After filling out the form, I performed a simple hack to gain access to the school's files to approve my application. Then I 'borrowed' some funds from OZ and used them to obtain a small apartment near the school. I cleared all traces of myself from the computer terminal and left the library.

I visited the library often to keep up to date on OZ's movements. I was just finishing up my latest visit when I heard a mild commotion. There was a crowd of people surrounding a tv, all talking amongst themselves. I stepped closer to see what they were going on about.

I glanced over a shoulder of one person to make out the screen. Duo! Duo was being escorted by OZ soldiers. Did he get captured? I heard the announcer ramble on. "OZ has commented that the arrest will assist them as they increase efforts to eradicate rebels and their respective organizations..." He WAS captured. I knew that it didn't look good for Duo. They probably started interrogating him the moment they got him to a secure location. And I was pretty sure OZ's idea of interrogation was anyone else's idea of torture. I have to do something.

The location Duo was being held was nearby the colony where I was currently staying. After a bit of searching OZ's files I found there was a regularly scheduled supply transport from this colony to there. I hid on board and used that to infiltrate the defenses.

I slowly snuck around the supply storage area, setting up my distraction before I made my way to the detention block. Passing by a partially open door I saw that the cells were barely bigger than a closet, and didn't even have basic amenities. I felt a thread of anger course through me. OZ didn't even bother to treat prisoners with even a modicum of respect, and these were the people holding Duo captive. Thoughts circled in my head. Is Duo still ok? Have they broken him? Is he even still alive? I felt a thread of fear course through me, and it only fueled my anger. When I found the cell with the guard posted outside I was too angry. I didn't even bother with a glamour, I just knocked the man unconscious.

I punched the button to open the door and tossed the unconscious guard unceremoniously to the floor. I glanced up. Duo! He was slumped against the far wall. Even in the dim lighting I could make out bruises beginning to form. Did they break him? He looked horrible. Am I too late?

Would it be better to put him out of his misery? I lifted my gun.

"Just in time. They were about to use me and my Gundam for their wicked plans." Duo used the wall as leverage to stand up. "If I'm gonna die it would seem appropriate for you to do it." He closed his eyes. "Here. Go right ahead and shoot me."

His rambling made it seem like he still retained his mind and his spirit, but the words confused me. Does he WANT me to kill him? Is he in that much pain? I moved my finger on the trigger, starting to pull it back. My finger hesitated. I don't want to lose his light.

"Hey! You're really gonna shoot me, aren't ya?"

"If that's what you want me to do." He didn't answer. I decided to simply make the choice for him. "Your right hand's still ok, isn't it?" I tossed him the gun and picked up the automatic rifle the guard had dropped. I propped Duo's arm over my shoulder to support him as we left the cell.

I pressed the detonation switch for my distraction, setting off the bombs I placed earlier. They had the desired result. It was easy to avoid guards during the chaos. We made our way to the mobile suit launching bay. I loaded a couple Leos onto a shuttle and launched it. The Taurus mobile dolls attacked it as planned and their A.I. registered Leos as an enemy, causing the Tauruses in the base to start attacking all the stored Leos.

While that was drawing the attention of OZ troops, I found a storage locker holding one of OZ's flight suits. I put it on quickly then fired upon one of the mobile dolls, causing them to register the OZ flight suits as enemies as well. The Taurus followed my predictions and started to attack the OZ troops for us.

While the mobile dolls continued the chaos, Duo and I entered another shuttle to make our escape.

Using fake information, I checked Duo into a small civilian hospital. He argued it wasn't safe, but I had to make sure he was okay. Cuts, bruises, broken bones? I can handle all those. Internal bleeding or brain swelling? Outside the realm of my field medic training. The small hospital was lightly staffed and I was sure I could handle them if needed. I estimated the travel time for an OZ response team from the nearest base and swore to Duo that even if the doctor wasn't done by then, I'd help him escape before that time. That helped calm him.

I raided the hospital's supplies as the doctor looked Duo over. As soon as they were sure he had no serious injuries I then helped him make a break for it. I took him to my apartment and laid him out on the bed.

I watched him sleep. Why was I so worried about him? Why am I so glad he's fine? I didn't know the answers to any of the questions running through my head.

I wanted to stay until Duo was healed but I had a job to do. OZ had captured Dr. J and the other scientists, and was ordering large quantities of Gundanium alloy. I was sure they were using the scientists to design a new type of mobile suit. I needed to go to Lunar Base.

Duo wasn't happy about being left behind. I once again tried, and failed, at casting a glamour on him. I wanted him to stay and rest. Luckily even though I couldn't force him to take it easy, he still agreed anyways. Hopefully he stays there.

I left Duo to recover in my apartment and caught a shuttle headed to the Moon.

-x-

-Author's Note-

Warning: Do not mess with live wires with your bare hands! (And it's a good idea to not hotwire cars too btw.)

Slight change in this chapter, and I'd call it more a fix than a change. When Duo and Quatre were attacking the OZ spaceport, at one point they check the news coverage from their Gundams and see the other Gundams (including Wing) attacking spaceports of their own, but then when Heero rescues Duo later, he says he didn't bring Wing to space. So what'd he do? Attack the base with his Gundam, fly off to hide it, then mosey on back to steal a shuttle? Makes no sense to me so I figure the whole showing Wing fighting was more symbolic for the viewers' understanding than actually happening.

Btw, wth is Pagan? Dude can find secret OZ information, pilot planes, etc. Fucking secret agent.

Timeline: Episodes 16-20

I can't find info on what power source the Gundams in AC use. (I wish I could just say they all use GN drives and then imagine them all as sparkle Gundams. *heart* sparkle Gundams!)