Pairings: Duo/Heero, Quatre/Trowa

Warnings: violence, supernatural stuff, kinky moments, guns...um...gundams, implied sex, men in drag, etc...

Author's comment: Extremely late update this time Dx I apologized. I did my best on proofing but I'm so sleepy I kept falling asleep during it. x.x So excuse my typos.

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Operation Blank Conspiracy 45

The annoyingly loud buzzing sound of alarms going off seemed unnecessary to Heero since the rumbling of the ship making him lose his balance and fall against the wall was enough to let him know something was wrong. He saw many of the guards running off likely heading to where the commotion was and followed after them.

The alert overhead didn't mention an attack, emergency lights being the only things illumination the otherwise dark ship. The lack of an attack meant that there must have been a breech on the ship. That or a system malfunction. Soldiers moved through the organized chaos without panicking, looking for the culprit or at least some clue as to what the problem was. Heero walked through the halls feeling a certain vibe reaching out to him. He had a feeling that whatever it was, that wasn't a breech but more caused by something already on the ship.

The strong pull he'd followed led him to the boiler room. Seeing the door cracked, thanks to the broken handle half hanging off, he had a feeling the culprit OZ was looking for was in here. Maybe he should have reported it to Treize first. But with the Fly-Z flowing in his blood, he shouldn't have any problems subduing the offender hiding inside.

He slipped in unnoticed with help from the darkness and the blind spot that hid the door. The boiler room was even darker than the hallway, the emergency lights providing very little in the way of sight.

Somehow the air in the room felt heavy, almost suffocating. There was no invitation to it at all. In fact, it seemed to be warning Heero not to come in. Whatever was stirring up trouble on the ship was definitely inside this room. He started to reach for his gun before remembering he'd left it behind in his room. It wasn't like he needed it, not with the Fly-Z coursing through his body beating in his veins strongly with anticipation to what was going to happen.

The further in he went, the harsher the pressure of being there felt. The air felt like it was sparking with something lethal, like the whole place could explode with just the blink of an eye. Heero felt the urge to recoil, to hunch over and throw everything back up that he'd eaten this morning. His stomach felt like it was squeezing in on itself, like something was trying to twist his whole body into nonexistence. He came close to falling to his knees and clutching at his body in vain.

The figure standing in front of him was the problem. Unnaturally dark eyes stared back at him in the barely illuminated darkness of the boiler room. They were eyes that normally glowed a brilliant indigo color, eyes that used to make him feel calm instead of this feeling like he was staring into death's unwelcoming gaze. He wanted to run. He really wanted to run away. The stare was too smothering. Yet still Heero took a step forward moving closer, eyes wide and watchful.

"Duo?"

The figure before him shifted slightly, his attention fully focused on him with a more attentive feel coming from his body as he watched Heero come closer. Whatever the feelings wafting off the braided boy were, they weren't Duo's.

"Duo, it's me."

No response except for the tilting of a head as if the being in front of him was staring at a foreign creature. Heero hesitated on what to do next. He could feel the fear shaking in his bones…and he wasn't used to it. He'd never really been scared of anything before in his life. But right now, at this moment, he felt like he could really die. No, maybe it wasn't really death that he was afraid of…maybe it was something more than just that. Maybe it was the fear that Duo wasn't himself…that he may never be himself again. And it was that fear that finally drove him to move forward again.

"Duo!"

He reached out grabbing Duo's shoulders and felt his whole body jolt in pain. He fell to his knees panting hard and swallowing deeply to keep his bile down. His eyes were clenched shut, body remembering the pain he'd just felt, of feeling like a bolt of electricity had just flowed through his body. What had that been? He knew his version of the Fly-Z did nothing against the pain. Though he wondered if Duo's did either. From the sounds of it, it was all psychological, that Duo really just believed he couldn't feel the pain after years of enduring it. It was only speculation. After all, they'd never learn anything without Duo's approval to go through a checkup.

"Duo…" Heero tried it again, reaching up and grabbing ahold of Duo's hands feeling the jolt to his body again. This time, though, he held on. He didn't let go of Duo's hands as he pulled the other down to him hugging him tight despite feeling like every hair on his body was standing on end. It didn't matter that he'd avoided touching Duo like this since they rescued him from White Fang. He felt like if he didn't try something, he'd lose Duo forever to whatever this thing was. Whatever it took, he was going to make him better. "Duo, come back. Duo!"

The shocks coursing through his body stopped as the body against him tense up, a gasp escaping from Duo's mouth into Heero's ear. Metal from the pipes around them screeched noisily as the explosive pressure Heero felt earlier seemed to dissipate as if it'd never been. Holding onto Duo's shoulders, Heero slowly pushed him back staring into glowing, vibrant indigo eyes as they stared back at him with confusion and just a little bit of shock.

"Heero?"

Heero felt the relief in his body as he pulled Duo into another hug glad the man was back to his senses. He could feel the other's hands move hesitantly before they reached up and wrapped around him in return. When the hands suddenly dropped down and the head drooped forward, Heero tensed up in alarm before hearing the soft sound of snoring coming from his braided companion. He couldn't stop the sigh of relief from escaping his lips before he picked the other up easily carrying him in his arms as he headed for the boiler room door.

Overhead the lights suddenly flicked on, the intercom cutting on mentioning that everything was returning to normal. Whatever problems they'd had on their side was fixed now, though there would probably be a group sent out to check every room for extra surveillance. They'd get a big surprise once they got to the boiler room. With his luck, they'd just think that one of the gaskets blew and that's what caused the whole ship to shake. They didn't need to know that the cause for it had been Duo. It wouldn't explain the door being broken.

But luckily no one saw him when he'd exited the boiler room with his charge in hand. He took them back to his room, lying Duo down on his bed before he sat on the side looking down at him. He hadn't had the chance to stare at this face for a few days now, not like this when it was so unguarded. Reaching down, he brushed his thumb against the lips smiling slightly when the lips parted with a sigh. Duo looked exhausted, the rings under his eyes noticeable in the light. When had his last gotten a good night's sleep? When had he last slept? For Duo to be this exhausted told Heero that the Fly-Z made no change to what was considered a normal human action. He needed to sleep. He'd probably just worn himself out to the point he couldn't control his actions.

Yeah, that would explain what that had been earlier. Because if he couldn't find a reason, he'd have to believe that there was something else completely mysterious, if not inhuman, about the braided pilot.

Duo shifted slightly, a small whimper escaping from his lips. The feeling from earlier was slowly starting to grow again, the light glow of darkness starting to shine around him. Alarmed, Heero quickly reached down touching the other's cheek quickly in a soothing matter. Instantly, the feeling vanished again, Duo's body relaxing once more as the sleep returned to him. It didn't make the frown leave Heero's face though as he kept caressing the other's cheek. Something was wrong. He wasn't sure what it was but he knew it meant that Duo needed to be checked out. The problem was how he planned on going through with it without getting everyone on the ship killed?

Maybe it couldn't hurt to talk to Treize. But he'd wait until Duo was awake to do that. Because at this point, he wasn't going to be able to leave the guy behind. Not when he was reacting like this. Heero lay down next to Duo, reaching down to hold the other's hand glad to be of some relief to the other as he stayed rested.

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Pissed didn't even begin to explain how Wufei felt when he'd woken up to find himself on the ship heading to Preventer HQ. Even worse, he'd tried calling Treize to cuss him out but didn't receive a response back yet. He didn't even say a word to Relena or Trowa who only watched on worriedly from their point of view.

Now that they were back at HQ, he thought he would have cooled own enough in regards to what Treize did to him. But it wasn't working. He was still seething just thinking about it. The fact that that man had actually drugged him then forced him to leave against his own will…urgh! He didn't want to think about it anymore.

But then he did think about it. He thought about it for two days now, frowning as he sat on his bed staring down at the phone, at the 12th text he'd sent to Treize demanding answers while voicing concern over his comrades left behind.

Nothing. He hadn't gotten a single thing from the man. Had he blocked his number? Was it because he was finally tired of Wufei? He tried not to show how much that thought bothered him. Treize didn't want him around anymore. Did it just work out that this was the perfect opportunity to get rid of him? Not like he cared. He shouldn't have cared. So why did his chest keep clenching up like it was trying to suppress something deep inside of him?

This was so annoying! He had a right to just grab a shuttle and head off to OZ. But the problem was he didn't know where they were now. He was sure they'd have moved locations by now. He would have texted Duo but he was pretty sure his phone was either destroyed, or confiscated on White Fang's ship. He gently brushed his fingers against the small panda accessory that Duo had bought for him, giving a soft smile to himself. He hoped the idiot was doing ok. He hoped that he'd listened to his advice and talked to Heero. And he seriously hoped that nothing was wrong back on Treize's ship.

There was a knock on the door before the soft sound of a female's voice invaded his privacy. "Wufei, are you in there?" He thought about saying nothing and letting her walk away. But she was pretty persistent. How many times had she come by looking for him? He looked down at his phone guiltily. How many times had he ignored her phone calls since his return? He gave a sigh before pushing up from the bed and walking over to the door, cracking it a bit before looking at Sally Po whose eyes met his before he opened the door all the way letting her in.

Her response was a quick thanks before she was heading inside. He closed the door heading back to his bed and flopping down to stare down at the phone again. It was silent for a moment before he looked up at her frowning. "You're a pretty persistent stalker."

"I have to be with someone like you." She waited until he looked up at her again before she gave him a smile. "So are you going to tell me what's been bothering you?"

"Last I remembered my mother was dead." It was something of a snide comment to the way he felt like she was babying him. But when he didn't get a reaction out of her he sighed frowning and staring down at the phone. "I'm just a little stressed." Well it wasn't like he could tell her the real reason. Until they found out who the spy was at HQ, no one else was supposed to know about the fact that two of their preventers, one of which had a unique ability, were hiding out in OZ's headquarters.

"It's fine," Sally said walking over and sitting beside him resting a hand on his shoulder. "I understand that you're worried about your teammates. But you must remember that you can't let it get in the way of your own wellbeing."

"I think I can handle myself," Wufei said standing up and walking away from her. He had the option of standing near the small window that showed space beyond it but instead chose to stand at the middle of the room staring off into his own familiar space. The phone sat like a heavy weight in his hand and he glanced down at it rubbing his thumb over the number screen as if hoping for something, anything to pop up. Maybe he should text Heero to see how Duo was doing. Maybe when no one was around, he'd get a chance to call and hear his voice. Maybe he could convince him to let him talk to Treize.

Wait…wait why did he want to talk to Treize? That jerk! That traitor! He was the reason Wufei was sitting here right now doing nothing! Both Trowa and Quatre were taking turns guarding Relena. They were giving him his space. What would they think if they knew where his thoughts were, that he was sitting here thinking about Treize of all people? He tried not to blush as he remembered the sound of Treize's voice saying his real name. Ugh…why did he tell him his name?

"You're acting like a lovesick puppy now," Sally said giving him an amused, suspicious look. He looked back at her finding her eyes landing on the phone in his hand before she looked up at him again. Frowning, he slid the phone into his back pocket out of sight as he glared at her.

"If you're just here to make jokes, you're free to leave."

"Come now. That's no reason to start getting like your old self." She smiled at him with a bit more apathy at least. "I'd actually be glad to see you moving on. It's been almost four years since-

"Don't bring that up." It was still a touchy spot for him. His home, L5. He still didn't fully understand what had happened to it besides there being an explosion. He blamed OZ because they seemed the likely target at the time. The only one that knew about his past was Sally Po. Well…her and the Gundam Shenlong which had mentally forced him to relive his past. It was a requirement that they all had to go through to pilot the Gundams. As far as he knew, everyone had reacted in the same way. He still woke up with nightmares sometimes, though they seemed much better lately.

"You can sit around here all day if you want," Wufei said walking to the door. "I'm going for a walk." She didn't make like she was going to follow him, watching him escape from his own room into the peace and quiet of the empty hallway. As he walked, he glanced down at his phone frowning seeing nothing having come back in return. This was so bothered. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't know OZ's coordinates or if they moved already, he would have grabbed a shuttle and headed back by now.

His wandering the halls took him to where the cafeteria was. It seemed like a good enough time for him to eat. Wufei started to head inside when he almost ran into Trowa on the way out. He frowned at the older man, backing up with a quick word of apology before he started to walk past him.

"Wufei…let's talk."

"…About what?" Wufei said looking over his shoulder at him suspiciously. One of the things he hated about Trowa was the fact that he was probably the hardest one of them to read. His face literally stayed as a blank slate to the point it was hard to figure out if he was lying or not. It was why he was the better of the two of them when it came to infiltration. He stayed calm, collected, never getting angry. In fact, when had Wufei ever seen the other throw a punch with any kind of emotion on his face?

"The plan." Wufei lifted a brow at that. Ah right, the thing about Noin being a possible spy. Not like he had the rights to even call her one considering that he felt like one himself. He'd been working with Treize for how long now? Except in his case, Treize had no intentions of hurting Duo as far as he knew. In fact…the man seemed to have an honorable sense of justice even if he was planning a coup against Romefeller. He was a truthful man…up until he forced Wufei to leave anyway.

"It's still bothering you," Trowa said walking beside him. When had they started moving? "The fact that he forced you to leave."

"Of course it does," Wufei said keeping his anger in check and his voice down so he wasn't drawing attention to them. "I had no intentions of leaving Duo behind in that place. Especially right now when he's like that."

"Do you like Duo?" Trowa asked, the question sounding out of the blue as he walked into his room just as if he'd asked if Wufei liked the sun. Wufei frowned before he followed him inside closing the door behind him.

"Of course I do. He is one of our comrades. Even Heero is at least tolerable to some degree."

"Hmm." Trowa nodded, just the smallest of a smile showing up on his face at the mention of the other pilot. But then the smile dropped again as he turned his emerald eyes onto the Chinese pilot, his arms folding as he rested his back against the wall. Honestly, his room was just as bland at Heero's. At least Wufei had a few things that he felt were customary to have, even if he didn't care for them.

"I'll reword it then," Trowa said closing his eyes for a moment. "Do you love Duo?"

"What?!" The word came out louder than he'd expected. "Why the…no! Of course not! Besides the fact that he's obviously with Heero, I doubt I could ever…we're just friends." His frown deepened. What exactly was Trowa trying to do by asking him that question? From the nod that Trowa did, it seemed that was the answer he was expecting. But it didn't feel like he was done. That was the part that was bothering Wufei now. And he knew the reason for why he couldn't get comfortable when Trowa asked his next question, the eyes shooting up to look at him making him feel like he was being interrogated.

"Then…Treize?" Wufei couldn't kill the blush on his cheeks even if he'd cut his cheeks off. The name of the man he hadn't seen for weeks made him react more than he would have wanted to admit. He swallowed, looking away quickly at the nearest wall hating himself for acting like this in front of a fellow companion. His heart was beating faster…there was no denying it.

"O-Of course not. Why the hell would I…t-there's no way." He turned looking at the taller male again, glaring to hide from the feelings Trowa was trying to force him to admit to. "Trowa, what the hell are you doing asking me these things?" It wasn't like it was any of his business who Wufei liked anyway.

"You're distracted," Trowa said simply as he fiddled with his phone. "Right now, you're not focused on the mission." The phone flew from Trowa's hand as he tossed it to Wufei before walking past him to the door. "His number is in my phone. Talk to him. Figure out what you plan to do. Leave the phone on the bed when you're done. I'm going to check on Relena."

"W-Wh ah…T-Trowa, wait!" Too late. When Wufei turned around, the door was already closed shut up leaving him alone in Trowa's room. He looked down at the phone, his cheeks a brighter red as he stared down at the open screen seeing the initials TK for Treize. What was Trowa doing with his phone number? Well it was true that they were all staying there not long ago. Not to mention that Trowa had pretended to be one of Treize's soldiers for a little while. It made sense to have his number, even temporarily.

Wufei sighed, his finger hovering over the call button. He needed to get this over with. Trowa was right. He was letting this impede on the mission. He'd just call him and tell his mind. For one, he was mad at Treize for tricking him. Sneaking drugs into his drink was not ok. Neither was making him leave against his will. For what reason? Why did Treize make him leave? And why was Treize not answering his phone calls or texting him back?

Pressing the call button, he almost quickly reached over to press end when he heard it start to ring. He was biting his lips out of nervousness and hating himself for it. Palms felt sweaty as he rubbed his free hand against his pants leg almost willing for Treize not to answer.

"Treize speaking."

"….Uh…" Ugh! Damn it, throat! Don't clamp up now! He needed to speak. Even if he was a little shocked and mildly hurt to see how easily Treize answered a phone call that wasn't from him.

"Trowa?"

"I-It's…uh…W-Wufei…." God, he was stuttering too. He must have sounded like a complete idiot. Deep breath…he needed to just calm down and take a deep breath and speak clearly. This was just Treize. It wasn't like he needed to be respected considering who he was. There was hesitation on the other end of the line that Wufei almost thought he'd been hung up on. "…Treize?"

"I'm here." He sounded…irritated? Frustrated? It was faint, but Wufei was certain he was hearing something that resembled dissatisfaction. Was Treize that annoyed to hear his voice? "Is there a reason you're calling me?"

"B…Because you wouldn't…why are you not answering my calls?" Wufei forced himself to sit down in Trowa's computer chair, willing himself to relax even though he gripped the phone tightly. It felt like someone was trying to crush his heart from the inside. It hurt…for some reason his heart was aching. And he knew that it must have been because of this man.

"…There is no reason for you to associate yourself with me anymore." That wasn't an answer to his question. In fact, it almost seemed like Treize was avoiding the question altogether. "You are now once again a part of the Preventers."

"I wasn't ready to leave," Wufei said feeling the anger starting to swell up again in his chest taking over for the pain he felt. "I told you I didn't want to. Why did you force me to leave?"

"It was the correct decision at the time. Your friends here are able to take care of themselves. This was the only way to keep you safe."

"Damn it, Treize! I'm a damn Gundam Pilot! I can take care of myself! I don't need you making decisions on my life when you have nothing to do with it!" There was silence after Wufei's outburst. It wasn't exactly the words that Wufei wanted to say. They felt almost cruel in a way.

"…Wufei…" His name being said seemed to draw his attention. He could feel his cheeks heating up against just from hearing it and almost slapped himself to make it stop. "It pains me to hear you say that. Your life is very significant. I realized this when you risked your life to protect me. You are too important for me to allow you to die because of me."

Wufei blinked then frowned into the phone. "What the hell are you saying, Treize? If you're talking about what happened at White Fang then you need to listen to my words again. It's my life. I made that choice to protect you." Even if a part of it was to keep playing the part of Treize's protector. "As it stands, I am the only one allowed to take you down, do you hear me? Not even my comrades will be allowed to have that honor."

There was a small chuckle from Treize on the other end of the line, the sound sending a shiver down Wufei's spine that he hadn't felt in a while. "I'd almost forgotten how feisty you can be," Treize said, his chuckles dying down. "Then does this mean that my life is in your hands?"

Wufei blushed at the words not fully getting what they implied. His mind didn't mind playing out a bunch of scenarios for him. "It means that you are not allowed to replace me. I'll be back before you realize it, sometime after my task here is complete at the least. In the meantime, you are not allowed to ignore my phone calls." Because there was just no way he could bring himself to go through with that again, especially now that his heart was feeling at ease again.

"Intriguing," Treize said sounding far too amused. "Then am I allowed to ask one question?"

His brow lifted before he could stop it, curious as to what Treize was going to ask him. "…Fine. But only one question."

"…What are you wearing?"

The blush just about covered his whole body at the unexpected question. "You idiot! Don't ask me a question like that!" He was about ready to throw the phone up against the wall before he remembered that this wasn't his phone or his room even. "Look, I have to go. Keep me posted on how things are going over there. I'll let you know if anything comes up on this side."

"Yes sir," Treize said the amusement still there in his voice. "Good night…Wufei."

"G…Good night," Wufei said in return, swallowing nervously as he hung up the phone. He never would have thought that his name would sound so good coming from the older man. Treize seemed to enjoy saying it…and Wufei couldn't deny that he enjoyed hearing it. A slight smirk appeared on his lips before he tossed the phone onto the bed leaving out of the room.

He had a feeling that Trowa would be with Quatre somewhere. It was time to work out a plan. Right now they had nothing that could point the finger at Noin as being a traitor. Frankly, he wasn't even sure if she was one or not. They had to trap her some kind of way, force her into a corner where she had no choice but to reveal the truth. It would help to remember the details of where she was when Zechs had supposedly died. As of yet, no one knew the older man was alive aside from the five pilots and Treize.

Either way, the fun was about to begin. They had a lot of work ahead of them. Because not only was Noin on the agenda, but they had to figure out what to do about White Fang. Meaning, it wouldn't be a bad idea to test them out a little and see just how strong they really were. Besides, the faster they got this done, the faster he could get back to Tre-Duo. He frowned honestly hoping the other young man was doing fine. Did Duo take his advice and talk to Heero? He really hoped so otherwise he wasn't sure how long the other would last in his mentally unstable state.

TBC…