Pairings: Duo/Heero, Quatre/Trowa

Warnings: possibilities of later violence, supernatural stuff, kinky moments, guns...um...gundams, implied sex

Author's comment: I believe next chapter we'll start commencing into some real battles...maybe.

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Operation Blank Conspiracy 27

Wufei felt like he could breathe a little easier knowing that they were finally heading back to HQ. He had Treize's "little gift" in his pocket and to him it felt like it weighed a ton. There was no way he'd be able to use this thing on Duo. But what if Treize was telling him the truth? What if Duo really was dying and the only way to save him was to use this thing?

He was in the middle of boarding the shuttle when he stopped and frowned turning around feeling like he was being watched. Sure enough as he turned and looked towards where the OZ shuttle was he saw the Romefeller representative standing there watching him. He seemed to half ignore the others of his crew talking his ear off, his eyes staring at Wufei's long enough to make the young Chinese male tense up.

Why was Treize so interested in him? Wufei didn't understand it. What would make a man so interested in someone that wanted nothing to do with him? And Treize even thought he'd come begging for more of that weird blue stuff? Was he kidding?

He realized he was staring at the older man and quickly turned away to head into the shuttle with the Colonel to avoid that staring gaze. He didn't want to think about why his cheeks felt a little hot or why he suddenly wanted to punch something hard enough to knock out all these weird feelings.

"Quit looking like you ate a really bad pepper." Colonel Po looked down at him when he looked up at her frowning deeply.

"What?"

"You're looking like you want to kill something." Tossing her head back, she sent her pigtails flying behind her before resting a hand on Wufei's shoulder. "Relax we'll be back at HQ before you know it."

"The sooner the better," he grumped. It relaxed him to feel the shuttle powering up as he went and took a seat sitting closes to the window. Arms went across his chest as he closed his eyes letting his chin tilt down feeling like he was finally getting some rest after the stress of Treize stalking him during this whole meeting. The thing in his pocket seemed to burn and he knew he'd have to get someone to analyze it. This must have been the Fly-Z stuff that made Duo the way he was.

But then…if he did that and Duo really did start dying, he'd never be able to get a new supply. He was stuck, trapped in between a righteous decision and a personal one. What was more important? Finding out what made the Fly-Z or keeping Duo alive?

Opening his eyes he looked down pulling out his phone and opening it up to the last message he'd received from the brunet. It put a smile on his face as he finally started putting in his reply. He hadn't known what to say yesterday but now he had an idea of what he wanted to send. Just five simple words were all he needed.

"I'm always by your side."

Sure, it sounded a bit cheesy but he really was dedicated to protecting the people close to him. And he hadn't felt like protecting anyone since things happened at his home colony. He still didn't like thinking about it, never even talked about it with anyone. The only one who knew anything about his past was Sally Po. And she only knew about it because she was the one to find him as he floated along through space in the half destroyed mobile suit.

And now he was a Preventer and helping to keep the world safe from terrorists and Romefeller's oppression. He wouldn't give it up for the world. If he could protect someone else's future, he'd do it.

He'd rid the world of all wrongs and all evil any way he could.

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"Zero reporting it. I have the coordination of the unidentified space station."

"Ok to send the coordination through the secured line. Please comply." A message popped up on Wing Zero's scene and Heero didn't even read it as he pressed the ok button. He knew what the control room was doing watching as the link popped up and he saw the information being downloaded from his system's memory. He sat back looking out from the darkness of space and letting his thoughts wonder. He hoped Duo was doing ok. He didn't know what was going to happen to him.

Hero remembered when he'd first connected with Wing Zero. It flooded him with bad memories, things he didn't want to remember. It seemed to rip him up from the inside before giving him release and flooding his brain with ideas and thoughts. He could see his enemies, could predict their next move. He was faster than them, smarter than them. His only challenge was the others of his fellow gundam fighters.

All of them experienced the same thing, that feeling of despair and helplessness. But then they'd all said they felt the presence of something near them, comforting, strong, an ally. They were safe in the hands of these gundams. They wouldn't receive any harm.

But Duo was different. He didn't feel like the rest of them. He seemed to lose his consciousness when he got scared but needed no help with being strong. What would he do if he was able to fly a gundam?

"Zero, there's movement on your left." Trowa said from Heavyarms interior.

"Hm?" Heero pulled his thoughts away and sat up typing on the keyboard before he lifted a brow. Seems like they'd been discovered. "Copy that. Counting three…four mobile suits heading in our direction." Without hesitation he pulled free his saber sword enjoying the rush as he lifted it up and he took off heading towards the giant mechas. "Commencing with destroying the enemy."

"Destroy all hostiles in the area," the commander center said. "Leave no evidence that you were there."

"Roger that." Connection was cut again as Heero took off flying toward the four suits not even struggling as he chopped through two of them slashing through their cockpits to destroy the pilot inside. He turned to attack the third one when he heard Heavyarms's gatling gun spinning and shooting into the third mobile suit completely riddling it with holes.

"I can't let you have all the fun," Trowa said sounding like he was grinning as he turned his gun to the fourth one destroy it just as easily.

"Hm…" Heero frowned but lowered his hand letting the saber sword die out. So much for the excitement. "They should have just left you back with you boyfriend."

There was a pause before the voice spoke out with amusement. "I could say the same of you and 02. You two have been quite on the buddy buddy side lately."

"You're starting to sound like Wufei."

"Even Wufei's noticed it?" There was silence after the question, a sign that Trowa was analyzing all of this information. It made Heero grunt in frustration knowing how good both Wufei and Trowa were when it came to reading people. And with Quatre being able to sense what's in a person's heart, it left Heero out as the one man not in touch with other people's emotions. "…Interesting."

Heero grunted putting his sword up just in time for the transfer on his screen to say completed. "Let's head back. Our mission is complete."

"You think it's really OZ?" Heero looked over towards the mystery space station had he'd had to zoom in to see on his screen. It was large but it didn't resemble OZ per say. The mobile suits they had fought didn't either. This looked like a new kind of group, probably a regular terrorist group that was just forming or even just some group. They'd have to take it out, but first they needed to figure out who they were and what they were after. Infiltration would be the best option for this.

"We'll find out later. Right now we need to report back and figure out a plan." In a new place like this, Heero didn't suspect that Trowa would be the one sent back in. They'd probably have a few mobile suits keep an eye on the ship until they were ready to proceed. But he didn't really care about some back alley terrorist group or OZ. He wanted to get back now to hopefully stop Duo from blowing up every person in the space shuttle should his fear get the better of him.

He was glad to make it back, landing his Wing Zero back in its customary spot at the space station. The helmet came off his head freeing him from sweaty locks that stuck to the sides of his face. As the hatch opened, he jumped down, only feeling a small hum of approval from Wing Zero before he started floating down to the ground.

"Good work, Heero," Dr. J said as Heero landed in front of him looking like he could care less. He couldn't. He really didn't care about these kinds of missions. "The higher ups are looking into what to do. I'm sure one of you will get a call about the plan so be prepared."

Heero glanced over feeling eyes on him and frowned noticing Trowa staring at him. But he ignored it, turning his eyes back to J as he nodded his head. "Alright." He floated off to the changing area slipping out of the tight suit and back into his regular clothes. It was only after that that he looked over towards the darkened corner where the new gundam was located.

His eyes found Duo standing in the darkened corner near the new gundam. Frowning he floated closer to where the braided one was. Professor G stood in front of Deathscythe's terminal typing away and completely ignored the brunet standing behind him like he was sleep. Heero saw the testing utensils attached to his forehead and knew he was being mentally tested for the use of gundam. Every few seconds an eyebrow would twitched letting Heero know that Duo was deep in his thoughts.

"Good timing," Professor G said looking up to see Heero landing in front of the braided male. He reached over to the terminal and pressed one button, the system giving a beep of acknowledgement. "Duo needs to be tested on the simulator to see if he's able to pilot a gundam." G turned looking at Heero before his eyes flickered over to the slumbering boy. "Duo Maxwell."

At his voice, Duo's eyes opened up looking like someone that had just awoken from sleep. He stared straight ahead before his eyes focused on Heero standing in front of him. His eyes did seem to light up more when he saw Heero staring at him in return. A small smile appeared on his lip but it looked tired and more like a person relieved to be back in the world of the conscious.

The things Heero wanted to do to him letting his eyes rake over that body. But he frowned when he met those eyes again, eyes that somehow looked haunted after having relived a past he probably didn't want to see ever again.

"Come on," Heero said resisting the urge to grab his hand as he realized everyone was staring at them. There was something about the way they stared at Duo that bothered him. It was like they knew everything about him, like they knew his past. But it wasn't like they could know something they weren't a part of, right? "We're going down to the first floor to the simulation room."

"I'm finally learning to do something useful huh?" Heero didn't say anything as he turned leaving the room and the watchful eyes of the scientists as they stared at the retreating back of Duo Maxwell. Making it to the privacy of the elevator was easy and made him relax to be away from all the watchful eyes. That was when he turned around and really took a look at Duo trying to read more into those guarded indigo eyes.

"Something wrong, Heero?" Duo smiled at him not quite showing the full effects of his latest actions. His eyes were still keeping their guard up and Heero knew he must have been holding everything back. Heero remembered his first time. He'd been really young then but the results had been the same with all of the other pilots, even Quatre who had joined them much later. Feeling like you were choking and being left on your knees to throw up every food you'd had that day. Feeling like you were going to have a heart attack, eyes wide and red and watery from reliving a past and a fear you never thought you'd see again.

None of that was evident on Duo's face, as if it were just…natural to connect with a gundam that way. It only happened during that initial time and after that it was like second nature. Sometimes you'd get a brief view of something, but it was never anything that would obstruct the mission. He honestly believed that the gundams were alive in some way. Because they seemed to know how to calm each of their respective pilots. And though he could really use any one of the gundams, he did best with the one he'd become the primary user for. The same couldn't be said of the rest of the pilots since Wing Zero was computed in a slightly different way that was hard for just anyone to handle.

The only indicator that Duo had been affected at all was the fact that his usually bright indigo eyes were much dimmer than usual looking like a darker blue, haunted by a past Heero knew nothing about. The longer he stared at them, the more he was able to read. Sadness. Resentment. Frustration. Hatred. Regret. Conflict. More things kept popping into his mind before the spell was broken as Duo glanced away from him as if noticing what he was doing. He'd obviously felt the effects of the gundam, just not like how they had.

A weird little tone played for a second just as the elevator opened. He stepped out and turned around watching Duo follow him. Heero's eyes narrowed staring at the cellphone in Duo's hand, a phone he never knew about. Did Duo buy one for himself? Wasn't he trying to save up money for food?

"Where did you get that?" Heero asked staring at him and meeting indigo eyes that looked up from the screen.

"Oh, Wufei bought it for me." Something about the way Duo smiled bothered him. He couldn't exactly figure out why only that seeing that kind of a smile on his face when talking about someone that wasn't Heero didn't sit right with him. "He gave it to me and said I could contact him if I ever needed anything." He stared at the screen and apparently read a text that was good because his eyes lit up looking more like their vibrant self. "Wow, Wufei, that's so sappy but cool."

"…" Heero turned away frowning as he started to walk away not wanting to see that sight. Just that easily, just from one text from Wufei, Duo was able to cheer up just that easily. Apparently, Duo hadn't noticed as he started following behind him. When Heero looked back he saw the other staring at the screen, the sound indicating that another text had just been sent.

"Hey, he's coming back tomorrow! Wow, I can't wait to see him and tell him about everything that's happened!"

Heero ignored him heading into the simulation room. He didn't know why his heart felt like it wanted to rip itself from his chest. He knew a part of it was the fact that Wufei and Duo did get along together very well. The two of them were able to click in a way that he and Duo couldn't seem to do. He was awkward around Duo or sometimes just quiet, watchful. He made Duo nervous, he noticed that. Yet Wufei talked with him without a problem.

Leading Duo over to the gundam simulation, Heero turning around and pointed towards the seat, his face an expression of indifference. "Sit." Duo must have picked up on his tone because the braided male frowned before he looked up at him. Well just because he could keep what he was thinking off his face didn't mean he could always keep it out of his voice.

"Hey no reason to sound so mad. I'll sit, ok?" His frown seemed to deepen as Heero looked away from him, his jaw clenching tight before he turned around starting to type on the terminal.

"Whatever," Heero said typing quickly and pulling up Deathscythe's schematics. "Let's get this over with. You can talk to Wufei all you want afterwards." He'd said the name more harshly than he'd meant to. But he couldn't help his frustration at the man whom he'd argued with just before he left and about the very person standing in the room with him at that moment.

He only typed for a few more seconds before his fingers froze and he felt arms wrap around his stomach. His body tensed up unused to the embrace but he could feel his heart beating fast as the butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He wasn't worried about observers. He knew they were the only ones in the room at the moment. That was the first thing he looked for when he came into the room. He didn't like surprises.

"You're jealous of Wufei, aren't you?" Heero frowned and tried to ignore how easily Duo was able to turn him around. He tried to ignore the frown on Duo's lips or the way the indigo eyes stared at him shimmering with worry. It was hard to do when he wanted nothing more than to just stare into those eyes all day. "You have nothing to worry about. Wufei's my friend but it's not like we're like…well like this." Duo seemed to blush resting his hands on Heero's waist and pulling him closer resting his head on his shoulder and whispering his next words to him. "My love interest lies with you. The only way you're getting rid of me is if you kill me." It wasn't exactly the kind of words he wanted to hear but it did make him relax some.

Heero thought he felt wetness dripping on his shoulder and started to pull back thinking that the ceiling must be leaking but the stronger arms of Duo wrapped around him fully holding onto the back of his shirt tightly and keeping him in place. For a moment he thought he felt the body tremble against him. He started to speak but Duo beat him to it, silencing him quickly.

"Sorry," Duo said, voice sounding a little croaked. "Just…just give me a few more minutes." Heero hesitated before giving a nod. Tears. That's what he'd felt. Maybe the effects of the gundam Deathscythe were finally getting to him. He didn't lie. It happened to all of them, no matter how much they tried to avoid it. But it was the only way to open up fully to the gundams. You had to trust the gundams in order for them to trust you. That's how he saw it anyway.

Instinct told him to soothe the other in some sort of way. He wasn't good with this kind of thing though. So the only thing he could think of to do was lift his hand and gently pet the back of the man in front of him, the one that had been through so much pain in his past. They'd never get another chance to allow these emotions to run torrent. This was the only time they could before becoming full fledge pilots. Once this was over, it would be like it never happened and life would go on.

Based on Heero's internal clock, it took about five minutes for the shakes to slow and the body to calm down in front of him. Heero had gone through the tears too, but for him he'd been still just a child himself. Even then he didn't like to cry in front of anyone. He was sure that was the case for Duo as well. For Heero, his support had been Nurse Sicily. For Wufei it had been Sally Po. Trowa and Quatre had both had their sibling to lean on. And now Heero was being the support for Duo. It made him feel special, important. It also made him feel even more protective of the braided male.

"Come on," Heero said pulling back and giving Duo the decency to not look at his face as he turned around looking at the terminal again. "Let's see how well you can actually fly a gundam."

"Yeah…" Duo cleared his throat and sat down in the chair looking at the helmet set up before slipping it onto his head. Heero set everything up on the computer before he looked over at Duo finding the other appearing to be staring at him.

He walked over to him and reached out resting his hand on Duo's shoulder and giving it a squeeze of confidence. "When you're ready to start just say, 'clear to take off.' When you're finished with everything just say, 'mission complete.' It's just to see how fast and well you can move. Don't worry about if anything goes wrong. I'll be right here."

"I trust you," Duo said. Heero tensed up and stared down at him looking just a little bewildered to hear the words.

"…What?"

"I said I trust you," Duo repeated like it wasn't an issue. How did Duo trust him so easily? How had he trusted him so easily to allow his family to be taken away by the people that Heero worked for? Didn't he worry that something might have happened to them? Didn't he worry about himself? Wasn't he scared of being around a group of people he'd never met before?

"…I trust you," Heero found himself saying and realized it was true. He did trust Duo. He had no reasons not to. "I trust you…Duo." The other's smile was large, probably the biggest he'd seen before Duo leaned back in the chair and stared ahead of him.

"Clear to take off." Duo's breathing changed as his body relaxed and he was transported into the system's internal networking to battle against computer created mobile suits.

"Roger that," Heero said staring down at him. He must have been staring for a while when his phone went off and he held it up to his ear pressing the answer button.

"Heero, this is Quatre. Are you still inside the simulation room?"

"…Yeah."

"Good. Colonel Noin said for all of us to meet up in the briefing room. It's about the next mission." Heero grunted glancing down at Duo before he returned his eyes to the terminal reading the output numbers. So far they all excelled. Had Duo ever flown in a mobile suit before? He was really good at it. He'd been going at it for at least thirty minutes now and didn't look the least bit tired from Heero's observation.

"Roger that. What time?"

"…Right now actually." Heero frowned.

"Duo's still doing his simulation."

"She said that doesn't matter. She wants all of us there now…Duo too. She said to just print out what you have of his results and bring those with you."

"Hn…" Heero frowned wondering what they wanted with Duo but he couldn't go against his colonels. "Fine, I'll there shortly." He hung up before he walked over to the terminal pressing the code to end the simulation and went about printing out the results. It took a few minutes for him to hear Duo moving around behind him probably just getting readjusted to being in the real world again.

"Rise and shine," Heero said in his most deadpan voice. "Colonels want to see us."

"Oh really?" Heero glanced back watching as Duo sat up and stretched looking like he's just woken up from a good nap. He slipped the helmet off his head looking at Heero with his once again vibrant colored eyes before he smiled at him. "Finally going to decide what to do with me huh?"

"Possibly," Heero said not mention the mission since it was likely that Duo wouldn't know about that much yet anyway. He ripped the paper away from the printer and turned around waiting for Duo to stand before he gestured with his head back behind them. "Come on, let's go." He went out first with Duo behind him, curious about what the results would be. It was obvious he was going to join them in being an elitist but the problem was what Division he'd best fit in with. Well, guess he'd find out today once and for all.

TBC….

I wasn't too fond of this chapter as I had a hard time focusing on it thanks to a lot of stress this week. Hope this doesn't sound like some weird, sporadic moment or something. Also maybe I shouldn't watch such creepy anime before bed…yeah that.