Several people have been asking me questions via anonymous reviews. I will answer them here this once. If this continues, however, they will go unanswered. You have been warned.

Guest: Why is this getting reposted?

It is being reposted because I am in the process of finishing the story, and have completed editing what has already been written to smooth out the story somewhat. Also because I thought it might be a good idea to have the whole story in one place and I didn't want to have to bother the person behind SC Round Robins anymore than absolutely necessary. Essentially, I have adopted this story.

Guest: will this be yoai? with a Heerox Duo pairing?

Yes, it will be Heero x Duo. Also Trowa x Quatre.

Solo16: Will Harry be paired w/ anybody from the GW world?

Probably not. Except for Mariemaia, even the youngest of the characters is at least ten years older than him – and he sees them as brothers. Also, even if he is paired with anyone at all, it will not be for a long while.

Guest: will you be updating regularly and will you be sticking close to the original or changing it slightly

I will be updating once a week. For the most part it is the same as the original, but there are a few places where I rewrote it a little.

CHAPTER TWO: A Haven (Knoteach and Me)

The journey to Earth was thankfully uneventful. Now Duo had to figure out what to do with the boy while he took care of his first target.

Sighing, Duo pulled his flight suite helmet off, and twisted around to look at the small boy tucked behind his seat. Duo couldn't help but smile at the boy, curled up; hugging one of the pillows Duo had given him, fast asleep.

Duo watched the small boy for a couple minutes. Asleep, the child looked positively angelic... and extremely young. In the slightly too large flight suit, curled into a semi-fetal position, Harry didn't look more than three years old, where last night Duo would have put his age at about four or five. Considering the damage that neglect and abuse could do, Duo was pretty sure the boy was older than he appeared, but until he had time to sit the boy down and talk, he would have to just make his best guess.

Still, he had a mission to get to, and he sure wasn't going to bring the boy along!

Very carefully, Duo pulled the boy's helmet off and lifted him out of his hiding spot. Slinging a duffel full of supplies over his shoulder, Duo climbed out of Deathscythe's cockpit and rode the zip line to the ground. Slipping away from the Gundam's hiding place, Duo looked around for a place to change their clothes and a phone. Duo hadn't been planning on making contact with Howard until after his mission, but with Harry to consider, he was moving up that timetable. After slipping into an old shed, Duo gently shook Harry awake.

"Hey, Little Man, time to wake up," Duo whispered. He had to grin at the adorable picture the little boy made, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Duo?" Harry muttered, yawning again.

Duo pressed a gentle figure to the boy's lips. "We need to be quiet, Harry. We're on Earth now, so we need to change our clothes."

At the mention of being back on Earth, Harry perked up a bit. Carefully and quietly, Harry and Duo changed into normal street clothes. Duo frowned at having to put Harry back into the over-sized clothes he had been wearing the night before. After he finished his mission he was going to have to get the boy some more clothes! After they were both changed, Duo picked the boy back up and they slipped out of the shed and were on their way.

"Well, Little Man, I need to call a friend to help us on our adventure," Duo told the boy quietly as he continued looking for a phone. Spotting a pay phone up ahead, Duo trotted over. "Ah ha! Here we go."

After a short conversation with Howard, Duo headed for the marina.

Drawing closer to Howard's salvage vessel, Duo whistles an off-key tune. Duo strode up the gang plank as if he didn't have a worry in the world.

"Duo!" Duo smiled and the tall lanky man.

"Hi, Howard," Duo greeted the man, shaking his hand.

"I wasn't expecting to see you for a few more days. What you need, kid?" the old mechanic asked casting a speculative glance over the young man his brother had trained.

"I picked up something special a couple nights ago, and I need a place to stash it before my mission," Duo explained lightly.

Howard looked at Duo in confusion. "If you're needin' to store something, you know you can leave it with us. You always did have a habit of pickin' up interestin' tidbits that would come in handy later."

Duo looked a bit uncomfortable, before adding, "Well, this is a little different from my usual salvages." Seeing Howard's continued confusion, Duo sighed and turned back to the dock. Whistling a sharp rising note, Duo watched Harry slip out of the hiding place Duo had found for him.

Howard followed his young friend, a bit confused about what in the world he was talking about. Following the boy's line of sight, Howard's jaw dropped open when he saw the small boy appear. Looking from the boy to Duo, Howard swallowed hard, "That's your find?" he asked.

"Yeah," Duo muttered, walking toward the small black-haired child. "Found him last night after he ran away from his uncle." As Duo picked up the boy, he made sure to shift the larger shirt enough to show Howard the bruises on the boy's upper back.

Howard watched the two boys carefully, noticing the bruises decorating the younger boy's face and back. Howard's eyes hardened as he turned to meet Duo's gaze. Nodding tightly he turned and lead the way back onto the ship. "He can stay in your cabin while you're gone. I'm sure the guys wouldn't mind havin' a kid aboard again."

Duo released a silent sight of relief. "Thanks, Howard. Hate to drop and run, but I've got a mission to get complete." Seeing Howard's nod of understanding, Duo set Harry down on the deck of the ship, and squatted down to talk to the very confused little boy. "Harry, I've got to go away for a little while, but I'll be back in a couple of hours. Howard, here, is a good friend of mine, and he will be taking care of you while I'm gone."

Harry cast a nervous glance at Howard, before looking back at Duo. "Why can't I go with you?"

Duo gave the boy a small pained smile, "I can't do that, Little Man. I have a job I have to do, but it isn't something you should have to see. No child should." Duo's voice had been quiet when he started speaking and only grew more so as he continued.

Harry still looked confused as he eyes seemed to search Duo's face for several moments. Suddenly he asked just as quietly as Duo had spoken, "Like my uncle?"

Duo was slightly shocked that Harry had figured that much out, but nodded his head. "Kind of."

Harry wasn't sure what to think. Duo had rescued him, but he had also killed Uncle Vernon. Well, Harry wasn't absolutely sure he had, but Duo hadn't denied it. Now he was going to go out and kill more people. Still Duo had killed Uncle Vernon to protect himself and Harry, so maybe he had a similar reason to kill whoever these other people were? He was so nice; Harry couldn't believe he would kill for no reason.

"Okay," Harry said, still reluctant to have his rescuer leave.

Duo gave the little boy a huge grin and a short hug. "Alright! Now, you go on with Howard, and I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

Harry nodded, turning to go stand beside Howard.

Howard watched the two boys interact with interest. Duo seemed to really care about the kid, even though they apparently had only known each other for about a day. Laying a gentle hand on the small boy's shoulder as he stopped beside him, Howard reassured Duo, "We'll take good care of the kid while you're away. You just worry about your mission, 'kay?"

Duo nodded and threw a lopsided grin his way. Glancing at Harry one more time with a bright smile, Duo turned and trotted back down the gangplank and off toward Deathscythe. He wanted to get this mission over with fast.

Harry watched Duo run off with mixed emotions. While he didn't want Duo to leave him here, he also didn't want to go with him and have to watch if he was going to have to kill someone. Glancing up at Howard, he was glad to find a genuine smile still on the man's face.

"Well, I'll show you to a bunk near Duo's and get you squared away, then show you around the ship. Most of the crew really likes kids, so there'll be plenty of people willing to give you directions if you get lost. Come on," Howard said as he waved Harry toward the stern of the ship.

Harry followed the older man in the brightly colored shirt, wondering what being a square had to with anything. He was led through the narrow hallway, surprisingly, it was neither dark nor overly dusty, as he had expected from the outside. He walked a few steps behind the colorful man, still wary of him. Life had not been kind to him, and one of the first lessons he had learned was that you can only really trust yourself. Despite the contradiction that was his almost unwavering trust in the boy who'd killed to save him, he did not trust easily, especially when it came to adults. And nothing, not Duo's own trust in the man or the general feeling of 'nice' that came from him, could break him of that habit so soon.

Harry's thoughts strayed to the strange, braided boy, his savior, and he felt a pang of fear. What if Duo decided that it would be too much trouble to come back for a freak? Despite the short time he had known the boy, Harry had already become attached to his rescuer, and he knew that it would hurt immensely to lose him.

"-id? Kid?" Harry jumped back as a hand crossed his field of vision, far too close to his face for comfort. Howard stepped back at the boy's obvious unease, his hands up in front of him, where Harry could clearly see them.

"You okay? You zoned out for a minute there, kid." Harry blushed.

"S-sorry, sir." He turned his gaze to the floor, steeling himself for a slap; surely the man wouldn't let him get away with not paying attention.

"Well, come on then. This will be your bunk." Harry looked up, staring at the old man in astonishment. No punishment? His own bunk?

Howard was standing right outside a door, gesturing for Harry to enter. Harry did so, hurrying so as not to make him wait.

The room wasn't very large, a bit smaller than the Dursley's smallest bedroom. To the right of the door, there were two bunks, Harry wasn't tall enough to see the top one, but the lower one was made up with a simple black comforter tucked neatly into the mattress. It seemed to Harry that it was a bit too... tidy for the boy he had met, but maybe he had judged the boy wrong.

Then he turned to left- the entire left side of the room was taken up by a long narrow table (rather, a board draped over a couple of file cabinets). The tabletop was littered with bits of metal, wire, and plastic, with no apparent rhyme or reason to it. Harry smiled slightly, this fit what he had seen of Duo's personality much better.

"Okay, kid... First thing, what's your name? Can't keep calling you kid, can I?" Howard grinned, trying and apparently succeeding at putting Harry at ease, as Harry answered with a shy smile.

"Fre- Harry, sir."

Howard's eyes narrowed at the hesitation, but, thankfully, he didn't pursue the matter, instead opting to lay out the rules. "Alright, Harry. First rule, no messing with the junk." He gestured wildly towards the messy table, "You never know what stuff Duo's been messing with, and it's best not to risk having anything... blow up on you. Second, don't go running around without anyone with you. Wouldn't want you to get lost, or hurt, after all. Third – not really a rule, but don't mess with anything you don't know what it is. Fourth..." He scratched his head as he thought, before grinning sheepishly, "That's actually all there is. Got it?"

Harry nodded seriously, "Yes, sir. Don't touch the stuff on the table, don't go running around alone, and don't touch anything I don't know what it is."

Howard grimaced, "And stop calling me 'sir' already. It's Howard, okay?"

"Yes, si- Howard."

"See, it's not that hard, is it?"

Harry shook his head, trying not to smile.

"Alright, you can have the bottom bunk, at least for now. Why don't you stash the bag and I can show you around, introduce you to everyone."

Harry nodded before carefully laying his backpack on the bed.

Howard turned to leave, stopped by the small hand that had grabbed the hem of his shirt. "Um... Thank you, si- Howard." The boy's voice was small and unsure, but it made him smile.

"No problem, kid."

TBC.