If you recognise it… I don't own it.

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"Gundam Wing" – Middle

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Quatre's POV:

I didn't get time to react. A pair of arms shot underneath my arms, forcing them upwards and a pair of hands linked behind my head.

I was effectively and efficiently pinned. My assailant pulled me backwards and off-balance.

I couldn't fight back… Or rather I could, but it wouldn't be effective. There was no way I could escape the hold.

I tried to assess my assailant. A difficult task considering all I could see of them was their arms.

The arms were wirey. They were slim, but strong. The figure was a fraction shorter than me. However they knew how to keep me off balance and pinned.

"Drop the gun, agent." Hillux smirked.

I let my gun go. There wasn't really any point in holding on to it. I couldn't use it accurately.

"Kick it over here."

I obeyed. In my ear I could hear the others calling out their statuses as they cleared areas.

I could tell when they realised I hadn't responded for a while. They started call out for me to respond.

Technically I could have replied, but I knew that if I did there was a chance that Hillux or his men would realise I was wired. And that somehow the hold my assailant had on me, meant that he was pressing the "talk" button on my communicator. Instead I would have to be subtle.

"You won't get away, Hillux," I declared, "This whole base is surrounded."

"You have no idea of the forces I have at my command." Hillux sneered

"You mean a bunch of old suits and a half finished Gundam?" I retorted.

"Oh-Four," I heard Heero's voice from my earpiece, "Are you captured?"

"You know nothing! Did you honestly believe that your insignificant little mind could possibly outthink me?"

"Affirmative." I answered both questions at once.

"Then you will be sorely disappointed." Hillux smirked, "Sariel! Search him. Destroy his communicator. Remove his weapons."

The hold was released. I did not move. There was still a gun pointed in my direction, and at that point fighting back was unlikely to succeed. I knew I would only have one shot at taking my captors down.

I had to bide my time.

I would say that the pair of hands and searched me were efficient…

Well, there was certainly quick. And they were good at their job.

I was quickly divested of my earpiece and microphone, which were then stamped on… I hoped the microphone hadn't been on at the time… The noise would hurt.

They also found my backup guns. One in the small of my back, one in the shoulder holster, one on my left ankle, and the last strapped to my right thigh.

My belt of spare ammo was also removed. Though that was fairly obvious.

My baton was removed from my coat, along with the flash grenades.

Hey! When I go out armed, I mean it!

However they missed the knife sheaves on my forearms. Hidden under my shirt.

All the weapons the hands found were slid across the floor to Hillux and his Lieutenant. Neither of whom moved to pick them up.

It was only when I could no longer feel Sariel's hands that the Lieutenant moved to pile the weapons on the desk, after claiming my favourite gun as his own.

Very faintly I could just make out the sounds of Sariel's breath behind me. It was frustratingly tantalising to know that every behind me was the Children of Heaven's main enforcer. Identity unknown.

Sariel had to be an alias. No parent would name a child after the Angel of Death.

I was tempted to turn around. But the risk was too great. I had to bide my time. A chance would come… There would only be one opportunity to use the daggers that Sariel's search has failed to find.

Allah! It was infuriating. I desired nothing more than to wipe the smug smirk off Hillux's face.

And yet I had to bide my time. It was taking all the patient and experience I had accumulated in hundreds of board and business meetings.

"Sariel. Come." Hillux ordered.

I remember thinking that the wording was little strange. Like he was talking to a dog. Not one of the most feared people in the Sphere.

However further thought flew out of my head, as Sariel moved into my line of sight.

I would recognize that walk anywhere. That casual, seemingly unconscious, mixture of alert, cautious, prepared and deadly, all usually hidden under the coat of distracted and childish appearance.

It was like watching a cat meander, seemingly to be a domesticated pet, all the while disguising the untamed and untameable wildcat it was in actuality.

So many people dismiss the only person I knew who moved like that.

I didn't. For I had seen the wildcat first. And then marvelled as I watched the domestic cat take its place.

My fingers twitched towards my daggers. I forced them into stillness.

Movement turned into form. And my fears… Hopes… I'm not quite sure what! Turned into reality.

For as well as I knew the movement, the unconscious saunter, I knew the form even better.

Skin so pale it was nearly white. Skin that burned instead of tanned, no matter how it was treated. And also liberally scattered with scars.

Hair deep chestnut brown, long and luxurious enough to make any woman weep with envy. All bound back into a long braid.

Duo.

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I stared at Duo. He stood there his face completely blank. His torso was liberally scattered with injuries and scars, which I could easily see, because he was only wearing a pair of flimsy shorts… And a black leather collar around his neck.

His eyes… Oh, Allah! His eyes were empty. Nothing of Duo lay behind them.

It was as if something else was inside Duo's body, controlling his actions.

"Duo!" I called out desperately, "Please Duo. Snap out of it. Come back to me. Please Duo. I know you're in there."

I was frantic. I knew that with Duo's help I could turn the tide of the fight. Change the current situation in a heart-beat. But without him… I couldn't hurt him. I just couldn't. During the War… Yes, I could of.

But this wasn't the War. And Duo hadn't chosen to turn against us.

He had been turned. By force.

It was Duo's body that stood before me. But Allah only knew where his mind was!

Even so, I couldn't harm him. Nor could I allow harm to come to him.

"Oh? You know him? Which one are you? Tro, Fei, Cat or Hee? He cried out for all of you. Begged you to come and save him."

I went cold at Hillux's accusation. I could almost hear the begging Duo had done. And we hadn't even realized that he was in trouble.

"Once he realised you weren't coming… He broke. Just like that." The snap of the man's fingers made me jump slightly.

I wasn't really looking at him. All I could see were Duo's dead violet eyes, looking blankly ahead. He wasn't even seeing me. I didn't think he was seeing anything.

Suddenly those eyes turned away from me.

I took in the changed scene. Hillux had turned Duo's head away from me and towards himself. He kissed Duo. Though it was more like a strange kind of rape. Duo did not respond at all. He didn't protest… But nor did he kiss back. He was simply passive.

"He used to protest so hard." Hillux smirked as he released Duo, "Now he agrees to whatever I say. He does whatever I want."

Duo hadn't moved. His head was still twisted in the direction Hillux had forced it.

"Duo, please." I tried again, "Listen to me. It's Quatre. We came for you. It's going to be alright. Please Duo… You can fight this. I know you can."

"He can't hear you." Hillux smirked, "Mine is the only voice he'll ever hear."

"Duo!" I begged, "Please. I know you're in there. I know you can hear me. My brother, please."

"You're that close?" Hillux raised his eyebrows in surprise, "No matter. He obeys me. He has no thoughts or will of his own."

"He is his own person." I spat back.

"Sariel," Hillux addressed Duo, "Kill him. Shoot him."

Duo's head turned to face me, once again; Hillux pushing a gun into Duo's hand.

He stood there. The gun limp in his hand as if he were about to drop it.

Slowly he raised the gun to aim it at me.

In sheer desperation I reached out with my Space Heart, tried to find some emotion in Duo… Some sign of him…

But it was like he wasn't there. I couldn't sense him. He had no emotions. Allah! He was completely empty. A shell of a human.

The gun stopped rising when it was level with my heart.

In slow motion, the safety was released.

"It's alright Duo." I spoke to my friend and brother, hoping against hope that he could hear me, under all the conditioning and brainwashing, "It's all right. It's not your fault. I won't blame you. This is not your fault. I'll never blame you. No one will. You will never need to be forgiven. As this is not your fault."

I expected to be interrupted… To be killed as I rambled on. But nothing happened.

"What are you waiting for?" Hillux yelled, "Kill him!"

Again nothing happened. Duo's face didn't change. He didn't move.

"He won't do it." I whispered in shock, "He won't do it." I repeated, "He's still in there. Duo won't kill me. He's not your slave. He can still resist. He has a will and mind of his own."

Hillux tore the gun from Duo's hands.

"Why?" Hillux seemed to demand of Duo, as he slapped him, "Why do you defy me?"

"It's not the first time, is it?" I smirked slightly, as several pieces started to make sense to me, "Your Gundam is complete… But Duo won't fly it. He may not yell and scream and shout… But Duo's in there. And he's fighting you!"

"He will obey me!"

"Not yet. Not ever. Duo's fighting you. Maybe it's a small rebellion. But he won't kill, will he? No matter what you do to him. If you want me dead. You're going to have to do it yourself."

I know I sounded blasé about my own death. But I'd already come to terms with it, seconds earlier. At least it wouldn't be at the hands of a friend… A brother.

At least Duo wouldn't blame himself, when the others managed to restore him to his right mind.

I watched, helpless, as Duo was knocked to the floor in Hillux's anger.

"It's alright, Duo." I smiled at him, "They're coming. They'll fix this. They'll fix you. Don't worry. It's okay. I love you."

I doubted the others would make it to us, before Hillux shot me. Even if they did, Hillux would shoot me, just to hurt Duo. Just to break him that little bit more.

Duo was already smashed china shards glued together by his own determination; I dreaded to think what condition he would be in after this. But I knew the others wouldn't rest until they fixed him.

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Please Review.

Before anyone asks… Yes, Duo is brainwashed… But not completely.