A/N:Hey everyone! I do not own any of the g-boys but I do have a few OC outside of them that were of my creation. Here's another idea that I came up with recently that I thought would be somewhat of a challenge to write. I am still pretty iffy on this one, so let me know what you think.

Summary: After Project Meteor, the G-boys went their separate ways. 7 years later, a new race has made an appearance. The movement is called the "Genesis" movement. The G-boys come together to help Preventers bring a halt to the illegal experiments that have been taking place. Eventual Duo/Heero get together fic. The story centralizes around the "Genesis" movement and the trials and tribulations the G-boys face in the process.

Shout-out to my girl Sake!

Thank you so much for the review. I loved the feedback and agree with you on so many levels! I admire that you were able to see the underlay of the story and the feel I was trying to get across. I am not usually one to lay in hidden messages but it's unavoidable, I found when doing the first-person view. Thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter as well :)

The Space Between Us

Chapter 3

Duo's POV

I docked my shuttle the next day, as expected. Howard greeted me as I exited my shuttle. "Hey, old man! Just as I promised" I bowed then looked up with a smirk on my face.

Howard snorted at my antics and wrapped his arm around my neck in a hug, "Been a while kid! What did you bring us this time?"

"I was out by L4, found quite a bit. Nothing solid that needed towing in but there is plenty of scrap in the bay." Howard motioned to a few of his crew to start unloading.

We walked to his office and I flopped myself down on his well-used couch. He took his usual seat behind his desk and leaned back, resting his feet on its surface. "Feel's like it's been longer than a couple of days. Business has been booming lately for the scrap you pull in. Apparently, it's being shipped down to L1 and L4 for prototypes. The gundanium alloy isn't as heavy so it works great with whatever research they are doing colony side."

"Glad to be of service! So, you were talkin' about a retrieval job on the com yesterday, spill it." I leaned back and put my hands behind my head, stretching my long legs out in front of me and crossing them at the ankles.

"I dunno kid, the more I thought about it, it doesn't seem like a good idea. The ol' bitch is in pretty bad shape, it will take you quite a bit of your time to fix er' up."

"What type of problems are you aware of" I inquired.

"Her attachment gear is in dire shape. From what we can tell we don't have anything up here that can fix the problem, we may need to go colony side to pick up what we need. We don't have that type a shit on hand out here. We also need to make a supply run here soon, guys are getting sick of the gruel up here."

I sighed and sat up, resting my arms on my knees and brought my hand to my face, "Can't ya have that stuff shipped up?"

Howard pulled out his tablet and made a few tapping motions on it before displaying it on the blank wall across from him, " From the looks of it, if we wait on them ta bring it to us it will take a couple of weeks. If we went down ourselves it would be a shorter wait for the parts and supplies. Problem is my crew is backed up with other jobs, I can't seem ta' find someone willin' to do the footwork." He looked up at me expectantly.

I shook my head and held my hands up in surrender, "Oh no old man, I'm not gonna be your delivery boy. I prefer to keep myself space side, things are nuts down there."

"Come on kid, you're all I have available at the moment. It's not like you can do anything about the retrieval without the parts, and the guys need food ya' know. Would it kill ya to touch down for a bit?"

/It just might/ I thought as I dramatically sighed and flopped back on the couch, "What about Gerald and Charlie. They usually are the ones to do this shit."

Howard got a serious look on his face as he closed the projection on the screen, "Here's the deal Duo, it's more than a one-man job. I'll be sending those two down with ya' to help with the loading. I'm counting on you to get the parts for old bitch. Charlie and Gerald don't have the negotiating skills as you do. I know I can trust you not to break our bank getting the shit she needs." He leaned back and propped his feet up on his desk in finality.

I groaned and rubbed my hand over my face, "'Aight old man, you're the boss. I'll do it but you tell Charlie and Gerald that this is a run, not a party, no going off-job to find a good bar and a gal to sink their dicks into."

Howard laughed loudly and shook his head, "Think my word could stop 'im? They do what they want you know that. The run will take a few days to get everything together, let them get their jollies off, and maybe you can find someone to loosen that stick in your ass."

I pointed my finger at him and smirked, "Not funny old man."

He laughed again and we both stood up from our spots. He walked over to me and slapped his hand on my back, "Go make yourself presentable for a colony side visit. You'll be going to L1 ta' get the stuff we need."

/Shit.../ Was all I thought as I caught my breath from his hit. "Seriously?"

Howard just nodded and walked out of the office, waving behind him as he returned to the docking bay.

/I'm fucked.../

I took my time enjoying the warm running water over my bare skin. I had been taking cold showers to conserve energy on my ship. She's a beauty and gets the job done but shit when it comes to fuel. I laid my head against the steel of the wall as the hot water pelted down on my back. I couldn't believe Howard asked me to do this run, he knows why I avoid L1. I slammed my hand against the steel and let out a puff of air.

I reached up and lathered my hair, it didn't take as long as it used to. I can't say I miss it as much as I thought I would. It got stuck in vac and almost ripped out my head. It was either cut the damn thing or get a concussion from the force my head would hit the closed door. It came just below my shoulders now, still long enough to braid but I usually opted to put it up in a ponytail or pinned to my head with sticks. I leaned my head under the spray and rinsed the shampoo out before applying conditioner. So sue me, I still didn't want split ends. I put my face in the spray and sighed.

This trip wasn't going to be pleasant, I just knew I would run into one of the guys with my luck. Especially since the parts needed to be picked up from the Preventer owned and operated garage. They keep close tabs on shit that is being constructed and the reason the parts are needed. The people there can be real assholes, askin' thousands of questions, and doing everything short of a background check to allow anything out.

I finished rinsing my hair and started lathering up. The feel of the actual soap made my skin tingle. My ship was great but, as I said, the bathroom wasn't that glorious, I usually opted for chemical soap that caused fewer problems in the plumbing and skipped washing my hair if at all possible. The smell of the chemical soap smelled too much like antiseptic for my liking. I inhaled the air around me, smelling the chamomile and vanilla of my preferred shampoo. I rinsed off, lazied in the spray until it started to cool and stepped out.

Wrapping the towel around my middle I looked up at the mirror above my sink as I towel-dried my hair. Over the years I had become taller; had bulked up in all the places that mattered and no longer had the cherub-looking face. I ran my hand over my day-old scruff and opted to shave it off. I wrapped my hair in the towel and proceeded to shave, leaving only a little patch on my chin at an attempt at a go-tea. /not bad, think I'll keep it./

A loud bang on the door made me jump and nick my neck. "GOD DAMNIT! WHAT!"

The voice on the other side of the door let out a hearty laugh, "Hurry up pretty boy! There are others out here that need to take a piss."

I put all my things into my bag, yanked open the door with a look of frustration on my face, and came face-to-face with Charlie. He looked me up and down and laughed, he looked about ready to collapse, "What's that shit on your face Maxwell!"

Gerald stood behind him with an amused look on his face and shook his head, "We leave in 30, be ready to go."

I growled and stepped over Charlie on the floor to walk to my room, he made a catcall after me before standing up and walking into the bathroom. I shook my head and smirked myself, fucking a-holes sometimes.

I went into my quarters, if that is what you want to call it. I would say it was more like a closet that happened to have a bed and dresser in it. Space was valuable on the port so the rooms tended to be pretty small, only big enough for the necessities, and nothing more, they certainly weren't meant for glorious living.

I threw the towel around my waist down on the bed and riffled through my dresser for some clothes. The bag on my bed had most of my crap in it but I wasn't about to wear pants and shirts that probably would stand up on their own if they weren't contained. I was able to find a half-sleeve, high neck dark purple fitted top and threw it on the bed to join the black silk boxers and faded tight-fit pants. I really needed to do the laundry. I quickly got dressed and went about brushing my hair. Not wanting to mess with it, I pulled my sides back and wrapped it around a stick, and used another stick to hold it in place. I wasn't looking to please anybody but with it being wet as it was I didn't want to take the time to dry it, this was the most efficient way to keep it out of my face but still look somewhat presentable. The sticks were black and purple and matched the shirt I was wearing. I took a few minutes fussing over my clothes, smoothing the tight fit jeans and top down, grabbed the bag on the bed, and walked out the door, slinging it over my shoulder.

The guys were waiting near the shuttle and had matching smirks on their faces, "Glad to see you grace us with your presents Maxwell," Charlie commented.

"Shove off man," I smirked and pushed him aside as I made my way into the shuttle. The guys followed behind and took their respective seats in the cockpit. As they went through the checklist Gerald turned to look at me, "What's the getup for Maxwell, looks like you plan to go out once we get there."

I strapped my things down and proceeded to strap myself down in the seat in the cabin. The shuttle wasn't big, I would call it a 'puddle jumper', it's all we really needed since the trip would only take about 8 hours to touch down on L1.

"Need to look presentable if I'm gonna go rounds with the people at the shop for the parts. You know how it is." I smirked, "also was out of clean clothes, this is all I could muster up. Figured I would wash a load once we set down."

"What, the washer's up here not good enough for ya?" Charlie chipped in.

"Nah, would take to long and we would be late getting out o' here, everything checks out?" I asked.

"We're Green and ready to go, kid!" Gerald answered.

Gerald and Charlie started up the boosters and headed out of the landing bay. "L1 here we come! Thank god, I was getting antsy up here!" Charlie exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes and rested my elbow on the arm of my chair, then proceeded to rest my chin in my palm. "Yeah...great." I sarcastically added.

Charlie looked back at me in question. They guys didn't know the reasons I had for not wanting to go land-side. I just glanced at him out of the corner of my eye before returning them to the porthole. I saw him shrug before he turned away and resumed typing in the coordinates at the counsel.

"Don't look so irritated kid, you'll get wrinkles on that perty brow of yours," Charlie stated. I picked up the nearest thing I could grab and tossed it at his head in a playful rebuke. He rubbed the back of his head and chuckled at my response. "Can't be that bad, whatever it is your avoidin'."

/You don't know the half of it.../ I thought to myself. "Can ya turn on the music man? It's too quiet in this place and I rather not hear you jacking off up there." Was my response.

Charlie laughed loudly and Gerald just shook his head before reaching down and switching on the track they had in the player. It wasn't my first choice but it was better than the deafening silence.

Usually, when I was on a job, I would play my music. The silence always reminded me of how alone and empty it was out here. Not only that, but it also soothed my anxiety quite a bit, it kept my mind off the fact that if anything went wrong I would be an instant corpse outside the shuttle. As beautiful as space could be, it had its downfalls; like the silence and the knowledge of there being no way to live outside without and oxygen tank. There was no atmosphere to support life in space, just death to the unlucky bastards that get pulled out into it without the respective gear.

I looked up at the guys up front, "What's the ETA."

Gerald looked back for a second before returning to the view window, "It will be about 8 pm L1 time by the time we land, not much time to do anything but set down and find a place to crash for the night."

I nodded and sighed, I was hoping we would set down earlier. It would take us up to at least 10 pm colony side to run landing protocol and do the shut down of the ship. Not to mention it would probably be wise to refuel.

"Don't know about you kid, but I plan to get the shit done and over with and find myself a decent bar." He winked back at me, "Care to join. Don't want you feelin' like you got all spiffed up for nothin'." Charlie commented.

"By the time we get done in port, it will be closer to 10, with the run down and refueling. You two can go ahead, I'll do what needs to be done and get us checked in somewhere close by. I'll send you the information once it's done. Do you have the order forms for the supplies and parts filled out?"

Charlie scratched the back of his head in thought, "the old man filled out what was needed, said you could fill out the rest and send it over on the way down."

I pulled out my tablet in frustration. The man was useless when it came to filling out the proper forms, no wonder it took so long to get their parts. I pulled up the form and groaned. Howard put in what was needed but didn't bother to do much of anything else.

It took me about two hours to fill out the forms and include the missing detail that was needed to get the request underway. I also sent a rather colorful email over to Howard to read up on the regulations instead of depending on him to do it. Sometimes that old man just needed some sense knocked into him. I sent the finished forms over to him to sign and waited for a few minutes before it was sent back with a message attached;

Good eye, kid! Thanks for fillin' out the information. This old man is too busy to deal with the red tape. Remind me to give ya' a raise. I also attached the list of supplies we need food-wise, enjoy your trip. Don't come down too hard on the guys, and get that stick loosened for god's sake!"

-Howie

I could practically hear him laughing at his subtle joke. He knew my preferences and likes to poke fun at it, it's all in good humor though. They knew it didn't interfere with my job, I did damn good at keeping business and pleasure separate and planned to keep it that way. Not that it mattered, to his knowledge he was the only one in port that jumped the fence and found the other side greener. I shook my head and sent the finished forms to the shop to be processed and then sent the list of supplies to Gerald and Charlie's tablets.

"The old man sends his best guys and gave you a little present. I sent the list to your tablets, make sure you get only what is on the list this time! We can't live off corn chips and Fritos!"

Charlie laughed, "Ah, but if we didn't what would you eat kid!"

I balked at his retort and shook my head, a small smirk on my face, "touche...If you're going to get it at least make the flavors edible, I can't live on cardboard." They both laughed at my response before falling silent and letting the music play.

I put my tablet away and went back to admiring the view out the port. I watched as the stars went by the window and the occasion blinking of satellites nearby. As much as I hated doing this run, I had to admit it would kind of be nice to have a change of scenery. It's been years since I saw trees, felt the simulated wind on my face, and the warmth of the sun cycle; as artificial as it was. I let my head fall back on my chair and opted to rest until we landed, there was a lot that had to be done once they arrived, and he needed fresh eyes to make sure it was done properly.

A/N: Chapter three completed. I want to let my reader's know that I am still working on my other story "The Entertainer" formerly known as "The Story of Saturia" as well, I just needed a break from it, I was coming up dry on where I was going to go next. I hope this story does the wait justice. Feel free to leave feedback! Critique is welcome, until next time :)