Disclaimer: Usually I write out a very specific disclaimer explaining exactly what it is I don't own but I find myself not really interested in doing so this time as it is very tedious. Suffice it to say I own nothing that was created by anyone else and I am not making any money off of this story or any of the other stories I have written.

Warnings: Mild to moderate violence, character death, foul language, brief mentions of implied rape (no descriptions), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), angst, drama, Dumbledore and Snape bashing, implied bashing of select Weasleys (no specifics mentioned), OOC moments, and who knows what else.

AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.

Chapter 7: The Trouble with Magic

After Harry brought up the sandwiches he'd made, he deposited them on the table alongside the chips and drinks and grabbed one of the bottles of butterbeer he'd brought up. He stared down at that little reminder of home for several long minutes before he opened it and took a sip. Memories of his first time drinking butterbeer with Ron and Hermione just over three years earlier flashed through his mind before he could suppress them and he felt the familiar ache of loss that always accompanied memories of his one time friends followed by the bitter aftertaste of betrayal.

Any warmth that Harry normally would have felt when drinking butterbeer was buried beneath the weight of knowing that after third year Ron had no longer been his friend (if he had ever in fact been Harry's friend). Only the fact that he'd had close to two years to come to terms with Ron's bitter jealousy and backstabbing lies and the knowledge that Hermione hadn't betrayed him as well (as far as he knew) prevented him from giving into the rage and grief that often reared up whenever Harry was reminded of his one time friend. Shoving aside the hurt in his heart, Harry slammed his bottle of butterbeer down on the table harder than necessary, making both taller teens jump at the unexpectedly loud sound.

He purposely ignored the stares of both teens and the concern that filled Heero's gaze as he turned his back on the virtual strangers and stalked out of the room while ignoring the growing pain in his knee as best he could. He absolutely hated not being in full control his emotions and he was ultimately thankful that he wasn't throwing around accidental magic each time he got blindsided by painful memories like he had during the first six months of his isolation. He had no desire to find out how negatively Heero or the other teen would react to seeing him destroy every piece of furniture in the room (which he'd done more than once and was the reason he didn't use any of the furniture from his trunks) or heaven forbid if he blew one of them up like he had Aunt Marge prior to his third year.

Limping down the stairs to his supply trunk, Harry shoved his agitation to the back of his mind as he headed for the shelf of potions and grabbed a Pepper-Up Potion, a Strengthening Solution, a Rejuvenation Draught, and after reflecting on the pain he felt radiating from his injuries due to his earlier recklessness (something he'd been trying to ignore since he'd woken up from his exhaustion induced faint) a mild pain relieving potion. A glance down at his now blood soaked shirt had him grabbing a fresh roll of gauze and a vial of Blood Replenisher that he immediately drank to start replacing the blood he was stilling losing.

Next he headed over to where he kept the few changes of clothes he'd resized and grabbed a clean shirt and another pair of pants. After recalling the state of Heero's and Duo's clothes, he also grabbed two sets of the clothes he had not yet resized (because he was optimistic that he would grow and not forever be stuck in the body of an eight year old) and another set of sheets and blankets since he didn't know how long Heero would keep the other teen around while he was questioning him.

Harry then growled when he realized he was carrying too much and he couldn't even use his wand to manage everything because he had to save up his energy to move the stupid robot and it would destabilize the spells on the trunk. Annoyed again, Harry set everything he was carrying down on the floor and then picked up the potions so he could tuck them into his pockets before he neatly stacked the clothes inside of the blankets and rolled it up into a tight bundle that was slightly easier to handle. He prayed there was nothing else he would need because he didn't think he could stand making another trip into one of the trunks because of how tired and sore he was at the moment.

Opening the lid of the trunk so he could climb out, Harry nearly tumbled backwards in shock as he unexpectedly came face to face with Heero. Once he regained his balance, Harry glared at the teen and pushed him out of the way so he could step out of the trunk. To his horror, he stumbled as his knee buckled from the stress of climbing up yet another set of stairs. Heero moved nearly as fast as a professional Seeker on a broom and the next thing Harry knew he was once again being carried. Harry, as usual, took immediate offense and began struggling.

"Let me go! Can't you just leave me alone!? Put me down you… you… half-rotten flobberworm carcass!"

"Harry, stop fighting me. Must we go through this every time I pick you up in order to prevent you from hurting yourself further?" Heero demanded wearily as Harry resentfully stilled in his arms thanks to the direct order but continued glaring up at him. "Never mind, stupid question."

"I told you, I don't need your help or your pity and in this case it's your fault anyway."

"Stubborn brat."

"Why don't ya pick on someone your own size?" Duo growled loudly from where he was he was sitting in the kitchen area watching them with a scowl.

"I didn't ask for your help either," Harry hissed as he glared at the other teen. "You're just as much to blame as Heero for my current condition because you had to butt in where you weren't wanted!"

"Damned if I do and damned if I don't," Duo huffed as he rolled his eyes and shifted uncomfortably on the chair due to his hands still being tightly secured behind his back. "Maybe ungrateful brat would be a more apt description, no?"

"I'd be extremely grateful if you both disappeared," Harry countered in a sweet voice that dripped with sarcasm and undisguised hope before he glared up at Heero. "Now will you put me down?"

"Only if you promise to sit still while I check on your injuries."

Harry growled and crossed his arms over the bundle of clothes and blankets he still held as he contemplated the merits of offering the requested promise as opposed to ignoring it and just waiting for Heero to grow bored. He then remembered the robot sitting outside of his wards and grimaced as he as he looked up to meet Heero's gaze as he replied, "I'll sit still if you promise to not touch me."

"How am I supposed to clean and rebandage all of your injuries (and you can't tell me they don't need it because I can see the blood soaking your shirt and pants just as easily as you can) if you don't allow me to touch you?"

Harry huffed and crossed his arms as he hunched in on himself but said nothing further and made no move to fight Heero as the teen instructed him to remove his pants so he could take care of Harry's knee first. Harry was at least thankful that Heero hadn't tried to help with the undressing part. Just before letting the pilot clean the still gaping wound on Harry's knee, Harry drank the pain relieving potion to dull the pain. Heero then worked quickly to clean the injury before applying a fresh bandage.

Once he was finished tending Harry's knee; he moved on to deal with the scrapes on Harry's right thigh. He then helped Harry remove his shirt (much to Harry's disgruntlement) and peeled off the soaked bandages wrapped around Harry's chest and back. Harry shot a scowl in direction of the long haired teen as the other pilot began cursing loud and long as the teen took in the state of Harry's half-healed wounds while Heero cleaned them, applied the healing ointment, and rewrapped them.

Twenty minutes later, a much cleaner Harry was sitting at the table across from the recently untied Duo as he ate a sandwich and drank his butterbeer. Heero had chosen to sit on the counter behind Harry where he could keep an eye on both Harry and Duo and Harry couldn't help but scrunch his shoulders up every time he felt Heero's eyes boring a hole in his back. Lined up on the table in front of him were the last three potions he still needed to take.

The long haired pilot was constantly frowning at those potions and Harry couldn't help but silently snicker each time the teen glanced at them as he tried to figure out what they were (Heero had used his body to block the teen's view when Harry had drank the pain potion earlier). Duo also continuously tried to engage Harry and Heero in a conversation only to end up complaining to himself and making petulant observations when neither of them responded to his attempts; all of which made Harry's fingers inch to hex the teen.

Finishing the last bite of his half sandwich, Harry turned to look over his shoulder and waited for Heero to nod in permission; the teen had been insistent that Harry eat a set amount before being allowed to take the potions he needed. Harry, in turn, had argued against eating too much as his stomach had been bruised when Heero had punched him which meant he couldn't even eat as much as he normally did without making his stomach hurt. And Harry had never been a big eater in the first place thanks to the Dursleys being far too stingy about giving him food for the majority of his childhood.

Harry reached out and opened the first vial and openly smirked as Duo sat up straighter and stared at Harry intently. He was half tempted to clink the vial against the half-empty butterbeer bottle that Duo was drinking from but instead simply downed the Pepper-Up Potion in one go and shuddered as he felt steam pour out of his ears. The look on Duo's face was rather comical and this time Harry couldn't quite suppress a snicker of amusement when a quick glance over his shoulder revealed the same expression on Heero's face; that being the first time the teen had seen the results of Harry taking that particular potion.

Ignoring both teens, Harry quickly downed the Strengthening Solution and snickered again as they stared at him intently; both of them obviously expecting further special effects. Harry then stood up, gathered up the two empty vials (no sense leaving them around so his unwanted guests could study the potions inside) and stretched out his back, arms, and shoulders before pulling out his wand and giving it an experimental twirl as he searched inwards for a response from his magic. When he felt the sluggish tugging that indicated his reserves were still too low (most of his available magic struggling to heal his numerous injuries), Harry scowled and slipped the wand back into his back pocket before looking to Heero and shaking his head.

"Too soon still," Harry muttered as he reached out and picked up the Rejuvenation Potion that he'd hoped to avoid taking because while it boosted the amount of magic he had available it also made his exhaustion ten times worse when it wore off and he'd already taken it three times already over the past two days.

"How much longer do you need?"

"Twenty minutes… maybe," Harry replied pensively after downing the potion. He then scowled down at the ground for a full minute as he felt the need to explain, "I've never pushed myself quite so far since I ended up on this Merlin cursed beach and I wasn't exactly in the best of conditions to start with; I'm actually surprised I'm not still unconscious to tell you the truth. By rights I should have been out for at least three days straight after the last two days, my demonstration in the cave, and dropping the stupid bot on top of my injuries, the amount of blood I've lost, and the perpetual exhaustion I've been feeling since I first pulled the robots out of the ocean."

"Go lay down and rest for a bit then; I'll come wake you in an hour unless something comes up sooner."

Harry scowled and glared at the teen but complied as he headed to the couches by the desk instead of the bed since he didn't want to get too comfortable right now because he feared he'd have nightmares again after everything that had happened over the past few days. Curling up in the corner of the couch that was sitting perpendicular to the wall with his back to the wall (to ensure that no one would be able to sneak up behind him), Harry closed his eyes and slowly relaxed enough to fall into a light doze that allowed him to remain somewhat aware of his surroundings.

It was a skill left over from his years of living in the cupboard beneath the stairs when any one of his relatives could turn up in an instant to order him to complete some chore or other demeaning task. Not moving quickly enough at those times had often earned him more than a few slaps and twice as much work so he'd learned to only partially shut his body down instead of actually sleeping. Unfortunately, keeping his consciousness active that way forced his magic to compensate for the lack of proper rest which meant that more of his magic was being tied up in keeping his body functioning.

As he hovered somewhere between sleep and consciousness, Harry listened to the near hissed argument going on between the two teens.

"You're allowin' da kid ta take drugs?" Duo's voice cut out cold as steel.

"No… not that it's any of your business."

"It is too my business damn it; he's just a kid. Shit like that screws with both body and mind and he sure da hell doesn't need ya ta be encouragin' him ta take them even if he is already addicted."

"No, it's not any of your business because you don't have a fucking clue as to what you're talking about."

Harry almost snorted in disbelief over Heero's remark, clearly recalling the brunette's reaction the previous afternoon after he'd taken a few potions to wash away the exhaustion he'd felt after spending hours enlarging the other cave. The pint-sized wizard briefly wondered if Heero appreciated the hypocrisy of defending Harry's right to drink the various potions when he'd originally tried to get him to stop taking them first. The moment of contemplation passed quickly as Harry's attention was drawn back to the conversation taking place across the room.

"I don't know if you're too stupid ta realize it but I sat here just da same as ya and watched da kid drink down those three bottles of whatever they were. Ya can't tell me you didn't see it because I saw da look on your face. If those weren't some sort of drug then what were they!?"

"Harry wasn't taking drugs. I thought he was at first too but they are actually a form of homemade medicines that he uses sparingly. Think of them as homeopathic remedies instead of your typical over the counter stuff or the higher grade prescription meds a doctor would prescribe."

"Why da hell didn't ya just say that in da first place?"

"I wanted to know if you were truly concerned over his wellbeing or if you were simply blowing hot air," Heero replied after a few minutes.

"Ya coulda just asked."

"What would the fun in that be?" Heero flippantly shot back and Harry could easily picture the knowing smirk the teen had to be wearing based upon the blatant humor he could hear in the teen's voice.

"How do ya know ya can trust anything I say?"

"Because, I always know whether or not someone can be trusted; once I knock them off balance to the point where they can't mask their emotions. It's one of the reasons why I grudgingly told Harry to let you in here in the first place. Not that I really trust you or anything but now I know you don't actually mean the kid any harm and that is all that matters," Heero calmly explained before he let out a soft growl as he added, "It would have been nice if I could have relied upon that skill in regards to the runt because it would have saved the kid a lot of grief. Unfortunately, I kept getting mixed readings from the stubborn brat."

Harry frowned and shifted a bit as he tried to figure out what Heero was talking about before forcing his body to relax once more in order to avoid drawing any more attention from either of the taller teens as the silence drew out longer than he expected given the topic of discussion. Heero, at least, had to have been watching him because the moment Harry settled back down, the teen continued on with the conversation; his voice had gone hard and cold as he stated, "It's time for you to answer a few questions."

"You're welcome ta ask but that doesn't mean I'm gonna answer ya."

"Why were you trying to find the Gundam that sank off the coast?"

"None of your business."

"It is my business; it was my Gundam that you were trying to locate."

"Originally it was ta keep it out of OZ's hands," Duo replied after a moment and Harry imagined that Heero had been giving the long haired teen one of his ice cold glares (one of the ones that promised certain death or long drawn out and painful dismemberment). "I also wouldn't have minded havin' it on hand in case I needed replacement parts for my Gundam."

"Who are you working for and how did you know that someone was searching for a downed Gundam in the first place?"

"Who says I'm workin' for anyone? I could simply be workin' on my own. And it's my job ta know what kinda trouble OZ is up ta."

"I know you aren't working alone because I wasn't working alone. The only real question is which scientist worked on creating your Gundam and whether or not you have a contact on earth helping you," Heero replied with certainty; a hint of annoyance lacing his voice.

"I could have simply stolen da suit."

"Only if you were familiar enough with the Gundam in the first place and that would have required working closely with the man who built the suit. And don't think I didn't notice that you didn't deny having a contact here on Earth… which means you do and you just don't want to admit it. Can your man get parts?"

"If I can get in touch with him, yeah; he can get me anythin' I need."

"What would it take to get you to help me fix my Gundam?"

"I want ta know everything about da weapon da kid used ta shut Deathscythe down; who made it, how many were made, who else might have one, how it works, and how it can be destroyed. I also want ta know how da hell ya were able ta hide your presence because I'd been scannin' everything within five hundred miles of here for a good five or six hours and never once knew ya were here until I got da report of abnormal seismic activity in da area. I'd also need access ta a phone or da internet as well in order ta get in touch with my man and find out what's goin' on outside."

"Can't help you with the communication problem since I'm in the same boat as you right now and there is absolutely no technology here aside from the suits (which, if you'll recall, aren't exactly in working order at the moment). Not that it would matter if there was, given that this island hasn't been wired for electricity."

"Ya have got ta be shittin' me. No technology? Who da hell lives without access ta any technology?"

"The kid… for nearly two years now from what little bit I've managed to learn from him."

"Two years without a phone or an internet connection? Without electricity? How is that even possible? Where would he store his food? How does he keep warm? How could anyone live like that?"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"Try me… and I noticed ya never answered my other questions about da weapon or how ya hid this place from pryin' eyes."

"There is no weapon; not in the normal sense anyway," Heero replied and Harry tensed slightly as he heard footsteps approaching the couch where he was resting. "No matter what happens I can't allow anyone in the Alliance, particularly those within the Alliance associated with the Organization of the Zodiac, to get their hands on the kid. Hell, if it comes down to it, there is no way in hell I want anyone to get their hands on the kid no matter whose side they're on; I wouldn't even trust Dr. J not to try and use him at this point."

"And just what is it that makes that boy so special?"

"You recall how easily he took down your suit?"

"That's not exactly something I'm gonna forget any time soon," Duo deadpanned. "I'm still waitin' for ya ta answer my questions regardin' da weapon the kid used."

"That's just it; it wasn't a weapon that neutralized your Gundam. It was the kid," Heero stated from where he stood beside the couch looking down at Harry and Harry (uncomfortable with the feeling of the teen's eyes boring down on him) opened his eyes to stare up at Heero with an unreadable expression on his face as the blue eyed teen continued speaking. "Technically, you could say the kid is the weapon and a weapon is exactly what he would be turned into should anyone get their hands on him and discover just what he can do. That is why I would die to protect him; to save him from becoming a heartless soldier."

"Ya mean ta keep him from becomin' a monster just like us," Duo stated as he moved to stand beside Heero on silent feet and Harry shifted his eyes to stare at the long haired pilot.

"I'm already a monster," Harry whispered without any emotion as he sat up and climbed over the back of the couch in order to put distance between himself and the two pilots. "If the two of you were smart, you'd run as far away from me as you can get and forget you ever saw me before you end up dead or worse."

"Brat, I already told you I wasn't leaving," Heero huffed before he changed the subject as he took in Harry's stubborn and defensive stance. "Did you get enough rest or do we need to wait a little longer?"

"Now is fine… another hour or two or waiting until tomorrow would be even better but you already said we don't have that much time," Harry replied as he turned his back on the two teens and headed towards the east wall.

Slipping out of the cave, Harry scolded himself for his current weaknesses as he walked to the edge of his wards and scanned the beach with his eyes before casting the weakest detection spell he knew in order to make certain there was no one hiding in the immediate area only to flinch when the spell told him there was one person standing a few feet behind him. He sent a glare over his shoulder at Heero (who'd followed to keep an eye on him) before he faced forward again, stepped beyond the ward, and prepared to cast the first spell.

"Accio weapon," Harry intoned as he kept a firm picture of the strange energy weapon that the Gundam had tried attacking them with; he was rewarded a few minutes later when the device dropped into the sand at his feet and he grabbed hold of the thing and awkwardly dragged the heavy device backwards into the wards. Heero took it from him a heartbeat later and Harry didn't even bother to scowl at the teen as he stepped back out to deal with the robot. He pointed his wand at the huge machine, closed his eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath as he concentrated on marshaling his magic. Once he was ready, Harry opened his eyes and focused entirely on the task of moving the cumbersome machine.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Harry chanted firmly as he gave his wand a swish and flick; his eyes never leaving the huge robot as his magic wrapped around the machine and lifted it up into the air.

Slowly, so as not to break his concentration, Harry walked backwards into the safety of the wards as he pulled the robot with him, using his wand like a fishing pole or marionette strings in order to make the machine go where he wanted it to. The head and shoulders of the thing had just been pulled through the wards when Harry unexpectedly backed into the green robot. The cold aura the suit radiated washed over Harry and he jerked away from the feeling as he spun around to glare at the unpleasant machine.

Focus broken, Harry lost control of the spell and the Gundam crashed to the ground and Harry growled in frustration because he didn't know if he could muster up enough energy to lift it a second time. Not that it mattered because he didn't know where he was going to hide the damn thing as he just realized that there wasn't enough room on the beach inside of the wards because of the scraps he'd salvaged along with the other two robot machines.

"What happened?"

"No room… not enough… space… because of every… thing else," Harry panted as he folded over in an effort to catch his breath.

"Will it fit in the cave you were making?" Heero inquired as he glanced between Harry, the suit, and the cave in question.

"No… you were in there… earlier; it's no where near… big enough. The robot's far too big… to even fit through the doorway and… I'm in no condition to expand it right now. Hell… I'm not even sure if I could lift the damned pile of junk again right now."

"I think you're going to have to try," Heero replied in a tight voice that instantly caught Harry's attention and the green eyed teen trapped in a child's body glanced up sharply to see the other teen staring out at the ocean. "We don't have any more time."

Whipping around, Harry immediately knew what Heero was talking about as he saw several aircraft rapidly approaching the beach in addition to several more robots and three large ships that Harry guessed would be carrying even more of the robots. Fear crept up Harry's spine as he recalled what Heero had said not that long ago about there being people out there that would not hesitate to turn him into a weapon if they should learn about his magic. Harry half whined and half growled as he snapped around to face the cave he'd been carving out of the cliff and snapped off three high powered and precisely placed blasting curses (the extended and repeated use of the spell over the past two days having given him far more control over that spell than he'd previously had).

The blasting curses were followed by several banishing charms to shove the avalanche of rock and dirt that had once been the face of the cliff hiding the new cave out of the way. He then whipped back around to face the robot, fired a shrinking spell that cut the suit's size in half (something he had half feared wouldn't work), and once again levitated the Gundam. His desperation and determination pulled more power from his core than he thought he had available (given his earlier exhaustion and the amount of magic in the spells he'd just used – most of it being redirected from healing his many injuries) and Harry pulled the robot suit up so that it soared over his and Heero's heads before swinging it around and dropping it down as he banished it into the cave he'd been carving out the cliff.

He never saw Heero jump in astonishment beside him or the wince that crossed the teen's face as the Gundam scraped across the low ceiling as Harry forcefully stuffed the highly advanced mobile suit into the cave by sheer force. He only managed to get about three-quarters of the half shrunken robot into the cave before he ran out of room (the cave far too short and the ceiling towards the back of the cave far too low) and if not for Heero tackling him out of the way at the last minute, they would have been crushed as the machine's feet dropped down practically right where Harry and Heero had been standing.

Harry wasn't really paying attention to the suit any longer though; his eyes now firmly fixed on the mobile suits that had started raining fire on the entire beach as their pilots witnessed the disappearance of the Gundam and, upon thinking the suit was simply cloaked, opened fire in the hopes of pinpointing the location of the now semi-secured suit. And while the men inside of the suits and their technology couldn't penetrate the wards, the blasts of energy they fired could and did; the beams peppering the cliff wall at what would be chest height on a standing suit.

The sheer magnitude of destruction those giant man driven machines made terrified Harry on a level even greater than Heero's threats from the day before. And for the first time since pulling the taciturn and often violent teen off the beach, Harry turned to the other boy and clung desperately to him; seeking comfort from what he deemed was the lesser of two evils. In that instant, Harry was no longer a seventeen year old wizard trapped inside the body of a child; he was simply a boy alone in a world that he didn't understand surrounded by a level of violence that surpassed anything he'd witnessed from Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Two minutes after the first shot had been fired, his mind fled under the combination of terror and complete and utter exhaustion.

Heero hardly dared to breathe as he held his body protectively over Harry's and watched the Leos finally retreat after they'd damn near blasted apart the entire cliff in their desire to flush out the Gundam. He could hardly believe that they hadn't been found; sitting out in the open like they were just mere feet away from more than one of the enemy suits. A swift glance down at Harry showed the kid to be in a state of complete shock; his complexion a pasty gray, his eyes glassy and unfocused, and his body trembling like a leaf.

He prayed it wasn't anything more than shock because he had no way of treating the kid if there was something else wrong with him and Heero wasn't sure if the kid was in any condition to lend him even a grudging hand at this point.

"That was far too fucking close for comfort," Heero muttered as sat up and glanced up at the mangled face of the cliff above him. "Hope your hocus pocus tricks don't fail because of that since I suspect this entire island is going to be under very close surveillance for quite some time."

He glanced out at the remains of three Leos that had been destroyed during the one-sided battle and shuddered as he recalled what had happened to those suits the moment they brushed up against the wards. One second the three Leos had been advancing towards the point where Duo's Gundam had last been seen and the next all three suits had short circuited before detonating spectacularly as they were violently flung backwards. If not for their destruction, Heero was certain the Alliance would have retreated over an hour earlier instead of keeping up a continuous barrage of attacks; which included more than one missile being launched from the ships just off the coast.

Thankfully, projectile type attacks hadn't been able to penetrate the wards; otherwise Heero doubted they would have survived the ordeal.

"Come on, let's get you inside where you'll be safer (I hope) and get you cleaned up again," Heero stated as he scooped the ornery wizard into his arms and climbed to his feet. Heero felt a flash of fear that he quickly squashed when the kid didn't react as expected over being picked up.

As much as he hated it when Harry fought him he much preferred the kid's usual feistiness when compared to his current near lifelessness. Ignoring the pain snaking across his back from where more than a few rocks had landed on him during the barrage of enemy fire, Heero slowly made his way back to Harry's cave. He was nearly bowled over the moment he stepped inside of the cave by an agitated Duo, who'd been pacing frantically back and forth in front of the cave's hidden entrance (Duo not keyed into the wards and therefore unable to see or move beyond the barrier hiding the mouth of the cave).

"Where da hell have ya been for da last two hours? What da hell happened out there? What da hell happened ta da kid? Is he gonna be alright? Did something happen ta my Gundam? Were we under attack or was that something da two of ya were doin'?"

"We were under attack," Heero replied wearily as he glared half-heartedly at the rather obnoxious teen. "They caught sight of your suit before Harry could get it secured and opened fire on us and the cliff. Three of their suits were destroyed and they stuck around correctly guessing we were somewhere in the vicinity before they finally gave up. I have no doubt that they'll be watching the beach closely for the next week or two which means we're pretty much stuck here for the time being because otherwise they'll just pick us up the moment we step outside. Your Gundam is safe for now, though it might be a little more scratched up than it was before the attack."

"And da kid?"

"Nothing more than a combination of extreme exhaustion and shock, I hope."

"Did ya mean what ya said about it bein' da kid who shut my suit down? And not just some weapon that he found or stole?" Duo asked pensively as blue eyes met blue eyes.

"Yeah… I meant it."

"So… you're sayin' da kid has some kind of Newtype ability?"

"Something like that," Heero hedged as he broke his gaze away from Duo's and carried Harry into the bedroom alcove where he gently settled the almost catatonic kid onto the bed before striping him out of the filthy clothes he was wearing so he could make sure the kid's wounds hadn't been reopened during the ordeal. "He… his abilities are completely unlike anything I have ever seen or heard about and I am certain I've only seen the smallest fraction of what he can do."

"What's gonna happen ta da kid when ya get your next mission?" Duo asked as he leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and stared down at the unresponsive kid while Heero tended to his injuries; his sharp blue eyes taking in the numerous bruises and scrapes peeking out from under the wealth of bandages now that he was close enough to clearly see the full extent of the kid's injuries.

Heero looked up sharply at Duo before he returned his attention back to what he was doing, his shoulders tense as he thought back to the decision he'd reached after the realization that he'd come close to losing his humanity the previous night. He worked silently for a while before he gently tucked Harry beneath the covers and softly ordered the boy to get so sleep; relieved to see the kid's magic (what a strange thing to call the kid's power) enforce the order as his eyes drifted closed. Heero then stood and watched Harry for a full minute before he looked up to find Duo watching him with calculating blue eyes.

"I don't plan to accept any more missions," Heero finally stated. "From this point forward, I will fight against OZ my own way. I might occasionally be willing to take out a target that would have likely ended up as a mission but I won't just blindly accept whatever order is sent my way like I would have in the past." He broke his gaze away and looked back down at Harry before adding. "I'm also dismantling the auto-destruct sequence on my Gundam because I have a feeling that I won't be flying alone in the future, except on rare occasions, unless I find someone I can trust to watch over the kid for me."

"Ya got some balls, I'll give ya that," Duo barked as he flashed a grin at Heero. "What are ya gonna do if your deflection causes your scientist ta give another Gundam pilot a mission ta destroy ya because ya've gone rogue?"

"Whatever it takes to protect the kid; no matter what the cost."

Nothing more was said as the two pilots stood silently watching Harry sleep; their thoughts miles away as they both considered the implications and possibilities of everything they had learned that day.

While Duo and Heero were performing a complicated dance of wits in their efforts to sound each other out; the other three pilots were simultaneously receiving an urgent mission from their respective contacts. There were rumors flying thick and fast over private networks and private phones lines about two Gundams and their respective pilots mysteriously disappearing under suspicious circumstances. The disappearances wouldn't have been that troubling if not for the fact that both suits had disappeared from the same general area within days of each other without any prior warning.

Wufei immediately began researching the new assignment right after he accepted the mission; trying to find any clues that might link the two suits or the two pilots together. Trowa and Quatre, on the other hand, both began making plans to investigate the area where the suits had vanished; the two of them deciding to work together once they learned they'd been given the same mission for a second time (the two teens had kept in touch with each other even after Trowa had returned to the circus).

They figured that if a single Gundam could be overwhelmed so easily, then working together would reduce their chances of being captured or killed. Quatre was also not protesting the Maganacs' insistence that they be included in the mission simply because an extra two dozen sets of eyes or could very well mean the difference between life and death.

In high level government offices around the world, various individuals sent out orders for information to be found or sat back and watched the chaos unfold with knowing superiority (even if they had no idea exactly what was going on). Out in the depths of space, five like minded scientists felt a measure of biting worry for their charges, for their agendas, and for the fate of both the Colonies and Earth as they waited for more information about the disappearance of two of the five Gundam suits that had been sent to Earth in a last ditch effort to prevent a war between earth and the colonies.

03-13-16: This chapter has replaced with an edited and revised edition that added forty-seven words to the story content and removed any unnecessary author's notes. ~ Jenn