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 group 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.

The Space Between Us

Chapter 8

Heero's POV

I watched as Duo made laps in the pool, my head resting on the side of the hot tub. I couldn't help but notice how graceful he was, slicing through the water like he was born to it. He barely made a ripple in the water as he went back and forth, coming up occasionally for a breath of air. It still amazed me that he was even here. With the way we separated, I wasn't sure he would be coming back and if he would even bother to contact anybody if he had.

Duo came up to the edge of the pool that was facing me and smiled, no words were spoken. We simply enjoyed the quiet since there was nobody at the pool during this hour. I took a moment to appreciate the stage he set. The water in his hair shown with artificial night lighting, illuminating him in a way that is hard to explain. He almost looked ethereal as the shadows on the water's surface played over his face and his dark, violet eyes. He seemed relaxed and enjoying himself despite the stress-filled day he had.

I made my way to the opposite side of the hot tub so that I could lean against its edge while watching him. I took the time to reflect on all those times that I tried to reach out, before he took off, and how Hilde always seemed to make excuses that prevented him from taking the calls. Hilde was never really a fan of how close I and Duo had become during the war, even though it was platonic and I had no clue what I wanted at the time. She was always short, almost annoyed when she spoke with me specifically. It was like she saw me as a threat to her life with Duo; like I would try and take him away and ruin her plans for their business endeavors.

He crossed his arms on the side of the pool and rested his head on them, "Penny for your thoughts?"

I shrugged and laid my head back and stared up at the starry sky. He chuckled at my lack of response. "You had a pretty serious look on your face, doubt there isn't anything going on up there." I heard the water slosh as he pointed at his temple.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it..." I responded. I heard him sigh softly at my response.

"I'm curious..."

I snorted, "When are you not Maxwell."

From the corner of my eye, I saw him put his hand to his chest and feign hurt before smiling and levering himself out of the pool. He came over and crouched beside me looking down at me from above. His stance was relaxed as he spoke.

"Can I ask you a question?" I stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue.

He sat down and propped his arm on his upturned knee, staring up at the stars. "Something you said earlier..."

I shut my eyes and listened to his voice as he continued, "Earlier you said that most don't show concern in regards to your situation...Did the others not come to help out?"

That was unexpected, "Yeah, when they could...It was mainly Wufei and Relena though. Quatre was busy with the company and Triton was busy watching his back. It's not that they didn't care, they just didn't have the means to be here as often as Wufei was."

He snorted in disbelief, "Triton...Quatre informed me that he had his name changed. Probably a way to keep the past in the past, not to mention 'Trowa' wasn't his actual name, to begin with, just what he went by."

I nodded, "It suits him..."

"Was Wufei there at least?" He inquired.

"I'm not sure...The first few weeks were hazy, since I was in and out and medicated." I drew my eyebrows together in thought, eyes still closed, "I know he was there when I first came out of the coma...He had to anchor me."

I felt his fingers lightly skim over my forehead, tracing the creases there, "You shouldn't think so hard...you'll get wrinkles."

I chuckled at his attempt at humor, "Really though...He took me to my physical therapy sessions and he was present every time they were affixing a different prosthetic, but he had a job as well and his workload doubled while I was out of action."

"And Quatre? Where was he during all this," He sounded a bit irritated.

"He and Triton were busy on L3, they stopped by after the first month to see how I was but mainly just kept in touch by phone or video call."

He snorted and I felt his hand grace the top of the water, causing ripples by my left arm, "He's become a real peach huh..."

I sighed and looked over at him, "He has a lot on his plate Duo, it's hard for him to get away for personal visits...What exactly happened between you two anyway."

His mouth set in a stern line, he didn't seem willing to offer up the information.

"If you're going to request I not tell the others that you are here, I would like to know why you're trying to avoid them Duo..."

He sighed and let his head fall, his hair obscured his face, "He is one of the few that knew how far I fell after Hilde..."

"The drugs?" I questioned.

He nodded and pushed his hair behind his ear, "I just wanted to forget everything that happened. That business was my life, I didn't have anything after she took that..it was what drove me to go to college. After she ended it and asked me to sign over the business I helped her build from the ground up, I was at a loss."

I didn't know how to comfort him, I may be better than I used to be with interaction, but there didn't seem to be anything I could do. I regretted even bringing it up.

"I had asked him for money on several occasions to support the habit. He wasn't aware of what I used the money for and when he asked I would avoid answering. Howard found me in that sorry state at the bar, I was high as a kite and drunk as a skunk. Quatre's number was the last one on my phone so Howard called him to chew him out for not helping me. When Quatre found out about my state he and I exchanged words...some were pretty low-blows." He explained in a quiet, monotone voice.

"And what about Trowa?" I had leaned forward and rested my hand on his ankle while he spoke.

"Trowa was livid. I wasn't surprised with his reaction given his past, being raised by Mercer's..." He sighed and looked over at me.

Trowa was well educated in drugs and what they could do to someone, it wasn't something he was unfamiliar with. Sometimes I forget that he and Duo had similar backgrounds. Both being orphans of war and had to do whatever it took to get by before they took part in the fight.

"Quatre demanded that I get my shit together and Trowa threatened bodily harm for even thinking that drugs and alcohol were an acceptable solution. When I refused to let him put me in a facility he pretty much stopped contacting me. On the rare occasions that he and Trowa did it was just to make sure I wasn't in a bar somewhere or dead."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Through the war, Quatre was nothing but helpful and caring. With his empathy he was able to help the rest of us out of some tough situations, hearing that he just abandoned Duo was hard to even imagine.

"And Wufei?" I quietly asked.

He sighed and leaned back on his hands, "He and I have never really seen eye-to-eye 'Ro, you know that."

He was right, he and Wufei were opposite when it came to personality and behavior. Where Wufei was honor-bound and big on justice, Duo shot from the hip and made rash decisions.

"Before I and Hilds had split he had offered a spot at Preventers in the mechanic's division several times but I shot it down, Hilde wasn't very fond of his persistence either. After I ghosted he tried to reach out a couple of times to see how things were going but I avoided talking about anything personal. His calls became less frequent after that, I guess he figured it was a losing battle. He wasn't aware of the shit I got myself into and it was never mentioned...I would like to keep it that way." He gave me a sideways glance as if warning me to keep my mouth shut.

"I'm not sure where he and I stand now. He was pretty pissed when he and you were able to track me down to Howard's Spaceport. Conversations were always stuffy and non-personal with him. I wasn't expecting anything else considering we were never really close."

Now that I thought about it, he was right. Wufei didn't seem to talk about his conversations with Duo. I figured it was because he was just as sparse at contacting him like the rest of us.

He shook his head, pulled his leg away from my hand to cross them, and looked down at me with a smirk, "What about you? Here I am telling you everything about how my life has been shitty, It's only fair that I get to ask some stuff."

"You know most of it." I leaned back into my original seated position against the side of the hot tub.

"You said that Wufei still bothered you over the leg, but never finished the sentence."

I had hoped he forgot about that, "It's the normal expected people Duo. Wufei being the main one, Relena being another."

He playfully poked my shoulder with a mischievous look in his eye, "I know there are others that you aren't mentioning, I highly doubt that your better half wouldn't be on that list."

I leaned my head back and waved my hand nonchalantly, "I'm sure they would too if there was one." I didn't want to think about Mikhail at that moment. The subject was a tender one but I didn't expect him to know that.

The look of astonishment crossed his face at my comment, "Come on 'Ro, you can't expect me to believe its only been Relena."

"There have been others but I don't wish to speak about it. To answer your question, yes they usually were just as relentless as Wufei and Relena, it gets tiring after a while." Why was he so interested anyway? He never really spoke of his past and avoided any conversation that involved Hilde.

"How about you, I can't believe that you would be single after Hilde. You probably had all the girls falling over you. I bet you cause Howard a lot of trouble." Anybody with eyes could see that he was handsome, there is no way he has been single all this time.

He shrugged and got a goofy smile on his face, "You know me, they could never resist all this." He motioned to himself.

"So that's a yes?" I was honestly interested to hear about how his life had been. All I've heard so far was morbid, there had to be some happiness in there despite his slip.

He shrugged and ran his hand through his wet hair, "Yeah, there had been others but nothing serious. Being mainly Space-side my options were pretty slim. I wasn't land-side long enough to make any connections. What I did do with others before I went space-side was out of...desperation." His playful smile fell, "Look, I'm not proud of what I did to get my fix, but money was tight and it seemed easier to just give my dealer a little somethin' than try and scrounge up the money once Quatre found out."

"Jeezus, Duo..." My voice was barely a whisper.

How desperate does one have to be to go that far? I shook my head in disbelief and let the subject drop. He sat there staring up at the stars, leaning back on his hands, lost in thought as the silence dragged on. He spoke about it like it was no big deal to just pawn his body off. I couldn't even talk about sex the way he just did.

"It was a long time ago Heero...like I said I'm not proud of it."

"But to go that far?" He got a hurt look in his eyes, I realized how my comment could sound like I was judging him.

"I'm not judging you Duo...It's just hard to believe you would let yourself fall that far. You could have contacted me or even Wufei, we would have helped you."

"I didn't want you, and definitely didn't want him, to know how screwed-up I was. I know it sounds irrational but I don't think I could have handled it if you would have come at me as Quatre did," he responded in a defensive tone.

"I couldn't live with you, my best friend, looking at me like I was some...degenerate. Quatre was already disgusted with me and Trowa wanted to kick my ass. I wouldn't have been able to handle disappointing anyone else. I had nowhere to go, nobody to turn to...so I left. I changed my number and distanced myself from you and the others. You guys seemed well off and I didn't want to put a wrench in anybody's well-laid-out plans." He fell silent after that, his arms had fallen between his raised knees and his head was hung in defeat.

There was nothing I could say that would turn this conversation around. I wasn't expecting it to go as deep as it did and I certainly didn't mean to bring up bad memories.

"I'm sorry, Duo...But you're doing better now, right? You'd mentioned you kicked the drugs and turned yourself around and tried to make the best of your situation. I just wish you would have said something to me at least."

He sighed and marginally nodded his head, "I think I've had enough water for the night..." He stood up slowly, grabbed his towel, and proceeded to dry himself off.

With nothing else to say and no way to deactivate the mines I just set off in his head I just nodded. I pulled myself out of the hot tub, grabbed my towel, and wrapped it around my waist. After I was able to dry off we headed back to the apartment for the night.

The walk back to the apartment was done in silence. Once we got inside, Duo excused himself to take a shower and turn in for the night. I stood there, watching his bare, broad back as he disappeared into the bathroom. With a sigh, I headed to my room to change out of my wet trunks and t-shirt.

Why is it he always seemed to get the shitty end of the stick? He went through the war afraid to get too close to others due to the carnage and death that seemed to follow him. None of us expected to live to see peace but if anybody deserved a better chance at life it was Duo. After growing up on the streets, losing everyone he called family, watching his friends die from the plague...How much can one person take before breaking? Then the situation with Hilde and the Yard...

I shook my head and changed into some sweats and a green tank top then headed out to do the dishes. I heard the water running as I walked down the hall to the kitchen. He probably needed some space after the things we have been discussing lately. As I finished with the dishes I heard the water shut off and the door open shortly thereafter. Believing that he would talk when he was ready I proceeded to make myself a cup of tea.

While I waited for the water to boil I reached over and grabbed the book I was currently reading off the island. Not feeling tired I decided I would sit and enjoy my tea and do some light reading. Once my water was done I poured it into a cup, pulled down a tea bag, and let it steep as I carried it over to the couch. I took my prosthetic off and made myself comfortable as I settled down to read for a while.

I saw Duo enter the living room out of the corner of my eye, he was wearing his sweats from earlier that day and was sticking hair sticks into his hair. I tried to focus on my book but the view that he presented was hard to ignore. I hadn't noticed earlier how well-toned his arms were; how his broad shoulders almost made a v-shape down his broad chest to his narrow hips. The muscles worked in his arms as he finished putting his hair back and made his way over to the patio doors.

/What are you doing Yuy! You just drudged up every bad memory the man had and your thinking about how well put-together his body is? This is Duo we are talking about, your best friend! You shouldn't even be looking in his direction you baka!/

I shook away the lustful thoughts and stared at his back while he smoked, the book was completely forgotten in my lap. Despite disappearing I still considered him my best friend and I didn't want to screw that up, given my track record with relationships. I would probably mess something up and lose him for good. Not to mention he was only here because of a job and we just happened to cross paths in the process, he would have to go back eventually. How would that even work out? He just recently failed at trying to do a long-distance relationship and it was short-lived, it was pointless to even entertain the thought or try, given what consequences could come of it.

As he made his way in I noticed that he had earbuds in and a little palm-sized player was clipped to the top of his sweats. Breaking out of my thoughts I picked the book back up and brought it back up before he looked up. His slim fingers reached up and removed a bud from his ear, he attempted a small smile on his sullen face before resting his hand on the back of the couch by my shoulder.

"Think I'm gonna call it a night, been a long day...Want me to grab anything before I turn in?"

I shook my head and flipped a page, "No, thanks though..."

He just nodded and made his way to the spare room and softly shut the door. I let out the breath I was holding, set my book down in my lap, and ran my hand through my hair. I had really made a mess of things, we were doing good up until that last conversation.

My hand got caught in the half ponytail I had and felt grimy from the chlorine and I knew that if I left it be it would be a mess in the morning. Setting the book on the Coffee table, I took a sip from my cooling tea and made my way back to the bathroom to take a shower.

Duo's POV

-Dream sequence-

Blood...I could smell it, taste it...

Screams from children, men, and women echoed through the dark, empty, space. I crouched down and covered my ears to try and dull the screams, to block them out.

I felt the blood soaking through my pants, running down my wrists and the screams wouldn't stop!

Pain...so much pain and suffering wracked my senses...

So much blood...I brought my hands down and stared at them. Deep crimson-stained skin greeted my eyes.

Piercing pricks tracked up my arms, causing small rivulets of blood to flow down my pale arms...

NO! I looked around the blackness, trying to find something, anything to help me...nobody...they were gone all of them were gone.

Blood colored silhouettes started to appear on black ground...no color besides red covered the floor as it slowly flowed my way, threatening to pull me in with the bodies that scattered the black floor.

Shoes came into my line of sight, I didn't dare look up...

My body began to shake as small cuts appeared on my wrists, my blood adding to the puddle that had grown under my knees...

An aerie voice penetrated the screams that never seemed to end, a woman's voice that I could never forget.

"How could you Duo? How could you do this to them...to yourself..."

I closed my eyes tight and brought my blood-covered hands to my ears in a failed attempt to block out her voice.

"STOP!" I yelled but my voice fell on deaf ears, nobody would come to end their suffering...end my suffering...

"You did this to them...to yourself, you have nobody to blame...I'm disappointed in you...How could you!"

A hand fell on my shoulder with so much pressure I felt it give under the force. I looked up fast with wide eyes to see her.

She stood there in a nun's garb, her white hood stained in blood that flowed from her throat...She had a look of disgust in her dead glossy eyes. She stared into me...seeing everything and nothing, piercing my very soul. Blood blossomed on the dark black fabric above her heart and flowed freely down the lower parts of her legs.

Her voice came out a disgusted yell of disapproval and pain, "HOW COULD YOU!"

There was so much pain in her voice, so much anger toward me.

"I COULDN'T TAKE IT! ...SO MUCH PAIN, I NEEDED IT TO STOP! I JUST WANTED IT TO STOP!" I yelled back, my voice cracking with the strain.

Bloodied hands came up from the puddle under my knees, grabbing me pinning me in place. The blood runs freely from the cuts and puncture wounds down my arms and thighs. The grip of the hands tightened, leaving bloody hand-prints on my jeans pulling me down to drown.

"I JUST WANTED IT ALL TO STOP!" My voice was desperate, asking her for forgiveness...begging her to understand.

Her eyes held pity and sorrow in there cold depths, "I can't help you now...nobody can..."

"NO!"

-End of Dream Sequence-

My eyes flew open and I gasped for air, gulping it down like I couldn't get enough of it. I looked around the room, still not fully aware, nothing looked familiar. My heart was pounding so hard that it was painful; like it was trying to escape from my rib cage. My music had turned off at some point and silence greeted me, just darkness and pure silence.

My hair was soaked with sweat and plastered to my face and neck, it had come out of the hair tie that I put in before I went to sleep. I threw a shaky arm over my sweat-covered face, gasping at the air as I tried to calm myself down. The sheets were partially off the bed and wrapped around my legs in disarray from what I could feel and every muscle in my body ached from being strung so tight. My throat felt like I had been screaming for hours and my brain was loaded with cotton as I tried to shake the hold the nightmare had on my senses.

It had been a while since I had one that bad, I couldn't recall when the last time was that I had one that shook me like that. I tried to swallow but my mouth was dry of all liquid, my tongue felt like sandpaper against the roof of my mouth. With one long inhale of breath, I let it out slowly and rubbed my gritty eyes against the clammy skin of my arm. Once I felt like I had my heart back to normal and I was no longer hyperventilating, I removed the arm from my eyes and took a moment to get my bearings.

That's right, I was on L1, at Heero's in his spare room. Shadowy shapes of the dresser and side tables started to form as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. From what I could tell the lights had been turned off, there was no faint glow from underneath the door that would hint otherwise. Looking over to the side table I looked at the time, 3:00 am glared back at me in bright blue against its black backdrop. I felt exhausted, I had managed to drift off around mid-night that I could recall and I doubted I got any restful sleep in that time.

I sat up shakily and rested my bare feet on the cool wood floor. Running my shaky hand down my face I knew there was no way I would be able to fall back asleep after that, I absently scratched at my arms, I could still feel the burn of needles resonating through my body along with the ache of cuts. When I looked down I could make out raw red lines from my wrists up to the crook of my elbows. I must have been tearing into them pretty badly while I slept. Thank god I didn't scream this time, I would have been embarrassed if Heero happened to see me like this. It took a lot of effort to get myself to stop scratching at my arms as the shakes slowly left my body.

With a shiver, I stood up slowly and made my way to the door. I needed a drink but I doubted Heero had any of the stuff my body was craving laying around. From the way he made it seem he had also had a drinking problem at some point and it would be asking for trouble to keep some on hand.

I quietly made my way into the moonlit kitchen and scrounged through his cabinets quietly as possible to find a glass. I was able to find one in the cabinet above the sink and filled it with much-needed water. I took a long swallow, the cool water didn't dull the craving but it was a great relief to my sandpaper tongue and throat. I drained the rest of the glass before filling it again and leaning against the counter by the sink.

I should have expected this to happen, the stuff we talked about earlier was bound to trigger a bad reaction. My hands were still slightly shaking as I sipped at the water and stared across the room out the glass doors as the nightmare slowly faded from my mind taking the aches with it. I wasn't sure how long I stood there just staring, mind numb, no thoughts playing through my mind as I sipped at my water.

There was no way I was going to get back to sleep without help and I wasn't about to crawl into Heero's bed to find solace. There were times during the war that we used to sleep in each other's arms if only to fool ourselves into thinking we were safe because the other was watching the others back. Things seemed simpler during those times, nobody questioned why we sought each other out when the nightmares came to roost. Sometimes we would just talk to one another about mundane things, falling asleep to the other's droning voice. Sometimes the feeling of security that the other provided was enough and, after a time, we would go back to our assigned rooms. It's been 7 years since we were kids, I doubted the same actions would be welcomed or work now.

I set my empty glass in the sink and made my way out to the porch. I could feel the effects of lack of sleep taking its toll on me, my limbs felt heavy and my legs were unsteady and felt like they could give under my weight but I was determined to get a smoke in to calm my rattled nerves; I was too keyed up.

I stepped out into the cool air and took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. As much as I liked the solace of space, getting the chance to breathe non-recycled air was welcomed. Hell, being able to step outside and not worry about dying was a relief. You would think with my anxiety and all my issues that I wouldn't be able to handle the isolation of space.

I grabbed my pack of Sonic's off the small glass table and sat down in the plastic lounge chair, staring up at the sky as I lit my cigarette and took a much needed inhale. I closed my eyes and let it out slowly. It wasn't a beer but it was better than nothing. I listened to the nightlife of the town, unable to hear anything else over the cars. Heero's apartment could be considered in the 'hub' of the colony. It wasn't the night district by any means but there were bars and diners of the like that were open for patrons looking for a place to eat after a good night. I sat there, absently taking drags from my cigarette as I appreciated the sounds of life...of peace.

Once I finished off the last drag I put the but out on the metal banister and set it on the table to collect later. I opened the door quietly, thanking whatever maintenance man that kept it rolling smooth, and shut it with a quiet 'ssk' behind me before quietly making my way back to my temporary room. Heero's door was slightly ajar giving me a view of his shadowed face and the chair next to the head of the bed. The moonlight from his window glinted off its surface, lighting up the prosthetic that laid in it. I stood there for a minute and just watched his face, he looked at peace despite the card life had dealt him. Taking one more short glance I slowly entered my room and shut the door and hunted around in the dark for my bag.

Rooting around, I was able to pull out the bottle of sleeping pills from the small inner pocket and I was relieved. I couldn't remember if I managed to grab them before taking off from the port, good thing I did or I would have been fucked on sleep for the night. I shook the bottle slightly, there were only a few left, I would need to get a refill soon. Taking one out, I popped it into my mouth and swallowed the small red pill dry, I didn't want to chance waking Heero up just for water. I replaced the bottle in my bag and stretched, hearing my joins pop, before laying back down. I replaced the buds in my ears and started my music back up, picking a larger file this time. I didn't want to chance it turning off again while I slept, not that anything would happen once the sleeping pills took hold. With a sigh I turned on my side, my back facing the closed door, closed my grainy eyes, and waited as the pills lulled me into a dreamless sleep.

A/N: Another chapter finished! I want to apologize for the title wave I put Duo through in this chapter. I honestly didn't intend it to go this way but once I started it just formed into its own beast, I couldn't stop the words from forming. Tell me what you think, until next time! :)