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.

Sake: Thanks again for the review! I'm glad you like it so far. I've been on a roll with this one, despite the challenge of it being first person view. Don't know if you caught it but Duo also doesn't know about Heero's sexual preferences. He's been out of the loop for at least 3 years, and the only one he has really spoken to was Quatre. So I hope to make this exciting for everyone reading. Thanks again :)

The Space Between Us

Chapter 5

Duo's POV

Once I got back to port I started shoving the things I thought I would need, angrily into my bag. I couldn't believe that the others failed to mention anything about Heero! Where did they get off thinking I wouldn't want to know! I threw my bag down by the hatch and ran my hand through my hair before punching the side of the ship, hearing it reverberate through the silent hull. I needed to get myself under control before I did some serious damage. I turned to lean against the wall and slowly slid down to sit by my bag, my hands buried in my hair. I was not prepared to deal with this in the state I was in.

In the first few years we split we had made an effort to contact each other at least once a week, then life got in the way and things went sideways. Quatre was sucked into his family business, Trowa was busy keeping him sane, Wufei and Heero joined preventers, and I had the yard. The calls became less frequent and the conversations were less personal.

I gently bumped my head on the wall behind me, "...Fuck..." I looked down at my data watch and sighed.

/What now Maxwell../ I wondered to myself as I closed my eyes. This whole thing was probably a bad move, I shouldn't be staying with him in his place.

I stood up and punched the code into the door and stepped out, bag slung over my shoulder. The door shut behind me and I made my way to the diner to meet up. I was so fucked...

When I got to the front of the diner he was standing by the post I was leaning on earlier, his brows drawn together in thought as he stared down at my cigarette bud I put out earlier.

"Looks like we both have things that the other didn't know about," He said before looking up and making eye contact. "When did you pick up the habit?"

I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed, "After me and Hilde split, I kinda went off the deep end. If it wasn't for Howard I probably would still be in a bar somewhere...It's the one thing I haven't been able to kick. As for drinking, I just avoid it all together...It's better not to have the temptation."

He nodded as if he understood and tilted his head in the direction we would be going before he turned and started walking. I came up beside him and we walked in silence, the sound of our footsteps echoed on the pavement as a few cars drove by.

"So, I take it you and the banshee split up, I doubt she would move from her cushy mansion to live in the city." I kicked an empty can into the street as we passed it.

"...We were together for three years before I ended things. She had...a skewed image of who I was or who I should have been."

"When was that?" I inquired.

"Winter AC199...a week before her Christmas celebration..."

I winced and sucked air between my teeth, "Harsh...I mean, I'm not one to judge but yeah man...brutal."

I heard him sigh and pause as if debating if he should continue, "She...wasn't a fan of the scars I carry from the war,"

I know he wasn't referring to the physical ones. "She was a constant thing after the war. At first, I found it annoying but she eventually..." He shook his head, "She helped me, got me some counseling, helped me put myself together."

I just nodded and looked up at the stars, they looked so much different when landside, "I get it. Hilde had similar issues with me but failed to say anything about it. Instead, she just up and fucked someone while we were still a thing then broke it off, taking the money and company with her." I sighed in memory. I placed my hands in my back pockets as we turned a corner.

He nodded and didn't ask for any other explanation. It's not surprising, most of them were made aware of my break with Hilde, it was everything after that they weren't privy on.

I decided to drop the subject for the time, "So, I have heard a bit about this "Genesis" movement? How are things in that department."

"They are smart, cautious, and always steps ahead. Every time we think we have a lead on where their operating from they move. The only way they would have information on our movements is if there is a..."

I cut him off, "Rat?" He nodded and stopped to wait for the crosswalk to light up green.

"Une has been busy trying to figure out who is leaking the information but they are covering their tracks well." He added and started walking across the street.

I followed a step behind him. He looked a lot different from the last time we had seen each other. His hair looked slightly longer, he gained a few inches in height from what I could tell, and Preventers had done...great...on his body. I took a minute to watch his back as he walked. Don't judge me, I'm not blind and anybody would be able to see that he was handsome and, despite the leg, looked really good. He turned down the sidewalk and stopped in front of a large building with four floors. The building was modern and well taken care of. There was a pathway between the two buildings that looked to lead to a pool. There was another building between the two, on the other side of the gated in pool, that looked to be a gym.

I walked up beside him as he put a code into the pad on the left building keypad. "Not bad 'Ro."

He smirked and looked over his shoulder as the door clicked open, "I hope it's better than, 'not bad' with the rent I pay."

I followed him to the elevator and we waited as the light above went from floor to floor before making it to us. We stepped inside and he pushed '4' on the pad as the doors shut.

"You live on the top floor? Man...must have been a bitch to get everything up there but I bet the view is awesome. Do you have a balcony?" I inquired.

He nodded and watched the numbers climb, "It's on the poolside, you get a clear view of the colony and can see the port and park clearly."

"Nice, that's Preventers pay for ya'!" the elevator dinged and we made our way off and down the hall. His apartment sat at the end of the building, number 405. He put his key in the door and we stepped in.

I took a moment to appreciate the complex. The décor was very modern and sleek; navy blue suede couch, black metal end tables, and coffee table with glass tops, silver lamps with off-white shades. In front of the couch was a large matching entertainment center with a decent sized TV, movies were on the shelves on either side. Above the tv, there were CDs and a simple player. Two standing speakers were on either side of the TV stand.

To the right there were glass sliding doors that lead to the balcony, navy-blue curtains hung on either side of the doors. To the left was the kitchen. There was plenty of cabinet and basic appliances. There was a counter that doubled as an island and the table sat between it and the living room. There was a hallway to the left of the entertainment center that probably leads to the two rooms and the bathroom. The walls had a warm white color to them except the wall the TV was against, it was an accent wall of a light storm gray. The floors were light-colored wood and the kitchen had white tile to match the counters. The appliances were black and the cabinets themselves were dark mahogany wood.

"Wow...yeah...I see what you meant about the rent. Nice place 'Ro really."

He gave a small almost unnoticed smile and toed off his shoes before stepping into the kitchen. I followed his lead and removed my boots and set my bag down by the door in front of a small coat closet, before walking over to the island. I leaned against the counter and just watched as he rummaged through a cabinet near the fridge, can ya blame me? He had a nice backside.

"Still not a fan of tea?" He asked as he looked over his shoulder, catching me staring. I felt my face heat slightly and I cleared my throat.

"Yeah, no. Do you have any coffee?" I asked, bringing my eyes up to meet his.

"Unfortunately, no...I've never been a fan of the taste." He pulled down his tea before shutting the cupboard and opening the fridge, "I have some protein drinks..."

I smirk and step up behind him to look in over his shoulder. Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed the 'blue frost' protein drink, my chest came in contact with his back and my arm slightly touched his in the process. I felt him tense up and I stepped back slowly, "Sorry man, it's been a while since I had to work around a personal space if you know what I mean."

I saw him swallow and step back to shut the fridge door and lean against the counter, "It's okay...just wasn't expected. I didn't hear you approach..."

We stood there for a minute in comfortable silence. I took the time to look around the kitchen and its layout. I was brought out of my admiring by the feel of something rubbing against my leg. "shit!" I dropped the bottle in my surprise and it clattered to the floor.

"Jynx!" He bent down and picked up the black cat by my leg. "I'm sorry about her, I should have mentioned I had a cat." He reached down with his free hand and picked up the bottle before handing it to me.

He had a cat, the great Heero Yuy had a cat named Jynx. I smiled and shook my head before reaching over and petting the small cat in his arms. It's green eyes closed in delight and it started to purr as I softly scratched between its ears. "It's cute." I said with a soft smile, "friendly thing isn't it."

He nodded and held it as it purred and soaked in the attention. "She's very docile and loves attention."

I chuckled before dropping my hand and taking the offered drink out of his, "When did you get her?"

"About a year ago, Wufei's Cat had a litter and he thought I needed something to keep me company." He explained, "She was the runt of the litter, he didn't even think she would survive but she was determined. It was a small litter of two so he decided to keep the other and offered her to me." He set her down on the ground and turned to prepare his tea.

I took a seat at the island and just watched as he worked, "So..."

"Go ahead and ask Duo...It's not a sore topic much anymore" He interjected.

The questions that were whirling around in my head just came flowing out of my mouth, "Your leg...what happened? When? Why wasn't I told? How long were you in the hospital..."

He put his hand up to get me to pause as he steeped his tea with the other, "Slow down, I can only answer one question at a time." I saw a small upturned movement at the corner of his mouth and I paused to take a breath.

He threw away the tea bag and turned around, rested his elbows on the other side of the island, and cupped his tea in his hand. Our eyes met and he proceeded, "It was two years ago. There was a bombing at a venue Relena was giving a speech at. I wasn't on the team that swept the building because I was investigating a lead on "Genesis". I accompanied her to the venue as her guard and there was a pressure plate under a mat by the podium. She stepped on it, I heard a click and I acted on instinct. She came out with a few scrapes and bruises but the scaffolding fell on me and crushed my leg and injured my back. My leg was not able to be saved so they had to amputate..." He paused for a moment to let the information sink in.

My eyes were wide, I couldn't believe I wasn't told about this by anybody! Did they think I didn't care? That I didn't want to be bothered?

"They ended up using bionics to fix my spine, they had to completely restructure it. As for the leg..." He continued, "I entered the testing trials for prosthetics they were experimenting with. At the time it was still new tech and they needed someone willing to take part in it. I didn't see any other choice at the time due to working for preventers, I couldn't accomplish much with just one leg, especially since I'm an active agent."

He willingly went into the trails? It wasn't something Genesis did as a 'fuck you' to the system? I sat my drink down and ran my hand through my hair in thought. Being that it happened two years ago it lined up with the little political knowledge I had. The Government had decided that it was best to make a legal route for people to get augmentations done to avoid rioting, to keep the peace. It still didn't please the masses because Genesis was still going on and finding new things to experiment with such as gene splicing, which was prohibited due to the side effects.

"I was informed that I was in a coma for a month before I finally came to, Sally was surprised I'd survived, any normal person wouldn't have." he said in conclusion.

"That's not hard to believe, we had some shit done to us to make us that way though...thanks to those bastard scientists..." He nodded in agreement.

"All I can recall after I agreed was a lot of pain, I was in and out of consciousness due to the stress it caused on my body. It took about three weeks of surgeries and modifications were done to my leg just to set It up to accept the prosthetic..."

"Gawd, 'Ro...I am so damn sorry." I couldn't help myself, I slowly reached out and touched his wrist. His hands tightened slightly around his mug before they relaxed.

"It was six months of physical therapy to get me walking again and familiar with the prosthetic. Sally said it was a major thing because most that undergo back surgery takes longer than that to regain the ability to walk." He took a sip of his tea before setting it down. He never tried to dislodge my comforting touch from his wrist.

I could feel the anger rising in my gut. I was so pissed at myself for not being there and not staying on top of things. He had to go through all this shit without someone to help and I fucking hated myself for it.

"I'm still, in the trials, the prosthetics need to be refined before they are available for the general public. I still have therapy sessions going on to make sure everything is functioning properly. I've been through three different prosthetics so far and each time I had to re-familiarize myself with them. My rare blood type and unique make-up have been causing issues..."

I didn't know what to say, I was completely speechless. I sat back slightly on the stool and took a long swig from the protein drink before continuing, "How so...I assume there is still a problem now?"

He picked up his mug and walked toward the living room, I was a step behind him with my drink and joined him on the couch. He set the cane against the end table and reached down to undo the latches on his leg,

"The leg works like a regular leg by contact plates. They surgically adhered the contact plates to the muscles in my leg and similar plates are in the prosthetic. When the two plates connect, it allows the electrical outputs from my brain to send messages down the prostheses, allowing it to function as if it was still my own."

I watched as he removed the prostheses turned to face me on the couch and pulled his shorts up slightly so I could see what he was talking about. The bottom of his leg had a metal plate on it that looked to function as the knee cap. I hesitantly reached out and paused. I looked up at him and waited to see if he would answer my silent question.

He nodded slightly and tensed up, as if to brace himself for the touch. I looked back down at the plate and let my fingers run over it with a feather-light touch. I felt him shudder and I pulled away immediately before I shot my eyes back up to make contact with his.

His brows were slightly creased and his breathing had become a little shaky. "Sorry..."

He shook his head in answer and swallowed hard enough that I visibly noticed the slow movement of his Adam's apple in his neck, "It's...it's not painful...just sensitive. The muscles and nerves attached to it are still alive...so when you touch..." He didn't seem to have the words to explain the feeling, not that I could accurately picture it anyway.

I rested my hand above the plate on his leg and took a minute to look at the plate. Given its purpose I understood why it was so thin but no metal that thin would be able to withstand much wear n tear without damage over time, considering his job. "Do you have the prostheses somewhere that you don't have to move to get it?"

I felt the muscles in his legs relax a fraction when he realized I wasn't going to touch the plate again, "The one I have right now is a basic one, no bionics are in it. The one that connects to these plates are in my room..."

I just nodded and inspected the plate further, I didn't need the prosthetic to know a similar plate would be in the joint that fitted to his leg to make his knee. "What kind of issues have you been having?"

"It binds...Depending on how long I've been standing and moving around that day, the conducting jell becomes thin and the connection becomes broken. The best way I can explain it is like a live wire that has nothing to send the energy to, it sends shocks between the gap and causes shock waves up my right side, which sometimes messes with the bionics in my spine, causing my back to hurt and in severe cases a disk to slip. I usually don't allow it to get to that level of severity, but when it does it requires me to go in and have my back readjusted. The process is not pleasant..."

I could imagine. I shook my head and sat back against the arm of the couch just staring, "And they haven't come up with any better way to fix it?"

He shook his head and pulled his shorts back down over the end of his leg, "They have a new model they are testing right now that involves some sort of flexible material, allowing the contact to be more constant."

"Have you considered..." He cut me off.

"Wufei already suggested that I give it a try. I explained that I couldn't miss more work due to the thing. If it weren't for my job I probably wouldn't have entered the trials, to begin with." He sounded short and irritated, as if he had heard the same thing more times then he cared to.

I held my arms up in surrender, rested my hands behind my head, and leaned back against the side of the couch. I could understand why he wouldn't want to go through the process again. From the sounds of it, he would be going back to square one. "Okay, I get it..."

I looked over at the display on the wall and realized we'd been talking for a couple of hours. As if on cue, I yawned and stretched my arms out above my head. "Damn...didn't realize how late it is." I looked over at Heero and he seemed to be lost in his thoughts, absently rubbing at his leg.

"Maybe we should call it a night, I gotta get down to the license place early tomorrow to fill out some paperwork." I suggested.

He nodded in agreement, "Sorry...I didn't mean to cut you off. I'm just tired of having the same argument with everyone. Wufei suggested it, Relena has insisted on it on top of everything else she is doing, and then I hear it from you."

"Look, I get it, man. I'm not tryin' to pressure you or anything, but it's something to consider. From the sounds of it, this may help with the issue you're having and would cause you less grief in the long run. But I want you to know I got your back regardless of whatcha do."

"I appreciate it..." He stood up slowly, using his cane as a crutch, "If you want to get your stuff, I'll take you to the room."

I stretched before standing and grabbing my bag from the front door. Following him down the hall he stopped at the first door on the left and opened it, "This is the spare, my room is right across the hall if you need anything and the bathroom is at the end of the hall if you need to use it."

I nodded and gave him a grin, "I appreciate it man...talk to you in the morning?"

He nodded and stepped aside to let me through the door. I didn't have much energy left to burn after that conversation. I walked into the room, shut the door behind me and the last thing I remember was collapsing on the twin size bed in the room before passing out.

My last thought was tomorrow was going to be interesting before I drifted off into blissful darkness.

A/N: Another chapter finished. I have got a lot of ideas about where this story could go. I hope you all don't find it droning or slow. I've always been one that liked the books that had over 600 pages...or more, anything less doesn't capture and hold my interest for long and the plot always seems to have holes. Critique and comments welcome, Until next time :)