Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Forged Together ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

A/n- cheer me. It's my let's be mean to Duo week. I am evil.

 

Chapter 18

 

Duo found out Heero hadn't changed much as a traveling companion. He tapped away none stop at his laptop, pausing only to eat and an occasional toilet break. Duo spent most of his time in Deathscythe, hoping the extended cloaking he had tinkered up[tinkered with or installed] would fully cover the plane they were in, while doing an extensive overhaul on his Gundam to get it ready for underwater travel. Some of Deathscythe's systems were still calibrated for space and he needed to adjust them to function in a place with greater pressure. While Deathscythe's cloaking was better than good, it was stretched to the limit and working inside his Gundam gave him an excuse to keep an eye on the system. Since Heero had not informed the Sanq air force they were coming, the chances of them getting shot down if seen was a possibility. So he patiently suffered the none-stop flight, occasionally checking up on the autopilot.

 

“You should sleep,” Heero said, coming up quietly behind him and Duo jumped, slipping off the side of his Gundam, only to be caught by a pair of strong hands before he hit the hard floor of the plane.

 

“Do you have to sneak up behind me?” Duo said, shaken by the near fall, as he shook himself free and moved back a bit. Heero had been sitting in one place while he had been the one to run around, so it was understandable that he was the one with loose hair creeping out of his braid and sweat patches under his armpits while sexbot looked as if he was carved out of ice. Overall, Heero looked the same, with his unmanageable hair flopping over his eyes, blue jeans and tank top, all of which gave him a sexy look, while Duo simply came across as scruffy. He could understand why Wufei would choose Heero over Duo and he didn't like that thought.

 

“We'll be landing in another five and a half hours,” Heero informed Duo. “Perhaps you should get some rest.”

 

“Fine,” snapped Duo, taking another step back. He knew the other boy had an exceptional sense of smell and he did not want Heero to think he neglected his hygiene. He smelled of grease and sweat; a mixture even Duo, who was used to the odours of the street, had a hard time bearing his own presence; he decidedly did not fancy the thought of Heero getting a whiff of it.

 

On the top of it, he could smell Heero; gunmetal and a heady scent which Duo was rather familiar with. He and Heero had been working together during the war and in close quarters so it was understandable that he was familiar with it. However, the whole situation was making him regret that he had chosen to come along. Maybe he should have asked Quatre, or preferably Wufei, to come with them to provide back up or…or …buffer between them

 

Though the thought of Wufei with the two of them did not bode well. Duo could, in a way, see what the Chinese pilot had seen in Heero. He could imagine the way Heero's skin must have shone with sweat as Wufei had thrust into him. Did Heero want to do it it face-to-face or from behind? Wufei had said Heero was a bossy bottom, but maybe it was because Wufei had no idea what to do. He could imagine how those two must have been entwined, all muscles and bone, both darker skinned than Duo but of different shades. He knew how Wufei moved, all fluid grace and power; Heero was all quick, efficient, calculated movements bent on getting the maximum results in the shortest time. Had sex been like that for those two…?

 

“Huh,” he said, looking at Heero, suddenly aware he was being spoken to. And that his pants were starting to feel tight.

 

“You should rest if you can't concentrate,” Heero said as he took Duo firmly by the upper arm.

 

“I'm not going to be manhandled by you,” Duo mumbled, feeling stupid. “Where're you taking me?”

 

“I need to show you the blueprints I found,” Heero said as he dragged Duo towards his lap top.

 

They sat in front of the screen and Heero called up the information he had gathered; everything from modern day magazine quotes to historical documents, which dated back to time the original Castle was built on. He had highlighted the important points and made a chronological list of the changes done to the castle all during the time

duo had been simply fiddling with the controls. Duo was starting to feel rather dim-witted…

 

He did feel jealous but like an artist who could look at a more talented painters' work and grudgingly admit that the work was better than his- Duo knew Heero was superior to him. He knew Heero had a lot more to offer to Wufei than he ever could. The only person who could keep up with Heero's unrelenting energy was Wufei. Duo had been a tag along. His worst fear was that Wufei would one day release that while Duo was all fun and games, Heero was the one he wanted to be with.

 

“You are not paying attention,” Heero said as he continued to look at Duo.

 

“I…uh,” said Duo returning his attention to the screen. “Come on, man, this is more than enough. No one is going to be able to go through all this and come up with a solution. Plus, you've been through this before so why do you need my input?”

 

“No, one person is enough to go through this,” Heero admitted without any pride. “But we must assume if someone is looking for a weakness in the Sanc castle they will have many people to help them. I need you to see if I have made any errors.”

 

“Ok,” said Duo slowly. “You're right, group of people, not one person.” He got up after giving it a cursory look at the screen. “Well, I'm sure you have this end covered so I'll go back to…”

 

“Why have you been avoiding me?” Heero asked abruptly as Duo almost made it to the doorway of the small cabin.

 

“Me!” laughed Duo to cover up the awkward pause as he searched for a probable excuse without resorting to outright lying. “What makes you thank that?”

 

Heero took the question literally. “Before, when we went on missions, you usually sat next to me and talked nonstop about inconsequential things. Now, you seem more intent on doing pointless work.”

 

“Not exactly pointless.” Duo hedged towards the exit. “Look, I'll just check the auto pilot and…”

 

“Maybe,” Heero conceded. “But you have not denied my accusation.”

 

“No,” said Duo in agreement trying not to squeak. “Is this where you pull out your gun and shoot me?” he joked weakly.

 

“Should I?” Heero asked seriously and Duo was reminded that Heero had no sense of humor. He was about to make a dash for his gundam when Heero looked at him squarely and smirked. “Sit down, Duo,” he said pleasantly.

 

“Oh, well,” said Duo, squeezing into the seat next to Heero with trepidation. “As you wish.”

 

“During the war you were closer to me,” Heero said with a shrug. “Did I do something to offend you?”

 

Duo looked around to see if there was anyway they were being subjected to mind altering rays or something similar. Maybe this wasn't Heero but his clone sent on infiltrating their group. “Er, no,” he said after a while. It was true, Wufei had been the one who was guilty not Heero. Heero didn't even know Duo and Wufei were an item.

 

“I see,” said Heero slowly, though Duo could not see anything. “Have you done something you feel ashamed of, something that concerns me?”

 

“Uh,” said Duo startled. “What…me…?” He remembered the time he'd spent with Wufei and thought about it a bit. But no, he hadn't done anything wrong, Wufei was his. “Nooo…” said Duo hesitantly.

 

“You don't lie,” Heero said. “So does that mean you haven't done anything yet but you are contemplating to do something?”

 

“No!” snapped Duo irritated by the questioning. “What do you think I'm going to do to you? Give you up to the authorities?”

 

“I was thinking something more personal,” Heero said as he turned in attention to the screen. “Whatever it might be, we'll have the conversation later. I believe it will be detrimental to the mission for us to bring up issues that aren't related to it now.”

 

“Fine,” said Duo, throwing up his hands. “Whatever you say.”

 

“Then let me show you our approach,” Heero said, calling up a map of Sanc on the screen. Duo reluctantly leaned closer as Heero started showing him some underground waterway, which should flow right under the castle and…

 

…he jerked awake, neck stiff, head at an unnatural angle, leaning against Heero's shoulder. The other boy was typing one handed, the left arm wound around Duo's waist to hold him steady.

 

“I fell asleep,” Duo said as he straightened, wincing as his muscles protested. “Why didn't you wake me up?”

 

“You needed it,” Heero said. He let go of Duo and much to Duo's surprise, he found himself missing the presence of the arm around him. “You need to be alert for the upcoming mission and we are approaching our drop off point in ten minutes.”

 

“You should have woken me earlier,” Duo said grumpily, trying to get through the fog of sleep.

 

“There was enough time,” Heero said, closing his laptop and getting up abruptly, making Duo almost fall over the side.

 

“You could have at least woken me up and told me to haul my ass somewhere else other than your shoulder,” Duo groused as he stood up as well, yawing widely. He put his hands on his hips and arched back to work a few kinks out of his back, grimacing.

 

“You weren't a bother,” Heero said as he started to walk towards the gundam. “And I like the way your hair smells.”

 

--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--

 

Deathscythe hit the sea like the heavy object it was and sank directly to the bottom. Duo squirmed in his harness as Heero's hands on either side of his seat tightened briefly against his shoulders. Heero's body was able to take the shock while standing since there was only room for one of them to sit. Pulling out the emergency plank that served as a bed would have been impractical and the descent itself took only a couple of seconds. Once they'd hit the sea floor, Duo started to move his Gundam in the direction of their destination without waiting for the water to clear. His radar was good enough and he could steer using his sensors instead of his sight.

 

“Wow,” he said as a school of orange fish swam infront of his camera. The colonies did not have any marine life, only few selected mammals, small and easily manageable. Which was why Trowa's lions were such a hit with the crowd. “Did you see that?” Duo asked turning around in his seat. “Wish we had more time to look at those.”

 

“We'll come back when we have time,” Heero said as the gundam moved past the fish only using minimum lighting to keep moving.

 

Duo hoped the plane made it back to the Maganac base safely on auto pilot that he had programmed. He also wished he was not in the cramped cockpit with Heero as a companion. True, he had had a crush on Heero during the war. It might have started when he'd decided to bust him out of the OZ hospital or when he'd seen Heero set his own leg. He had always admired those who were stronger than him and Heero certainly fitted the bill. But while he had liked Heero, he did not think the other boy had ever reciprocated his feelings. He did not think Heero even had a part of him which was ever interested in anything other than killing people or laughing maniacally afterwards. Ok, maybe it was the laugh that had turned him off of him; at least Quatre had cured Heero of that.

 

Then to find out Heero had been with Trowa had come as a bit of a shock. Not that he blamed anyone but he did wonder about missed opportunities. Still, Wufei was there and Duo did like Wufei a lot so who was he to complain? And Wufei at least spoke like a normal person at times and blushed an adorable red when being teased.

 

Then the radar pinged once and Duo looked at his screen with trepidation.

 

“Border patrol,” Heero said without a blink. “There is a ravine here.” He tapped the screen. “Try to go that way and then under. They never go in that direction so we should be safe until the next shift.”

 

“Fine,” said Duo, powering up before one of the border patrol crafts made a visual sighting of him. “But why don't they go there?”

 

“Too deep, most likely,” Heero said as Duo maneuvered into the trench. He let Deathscythe fall slowly, using the thrusters to balance the descent.

 

“Er...ok,” said Duo, squinting at the radar to make sure there was no one chasing them. He did not think Sanc technology was backward but still, there must be a reson for them to avoid the trench and deep was as good an excuse as any. Underwater battles were the last thing they wanted when they were trying to sneak into the kingdom. There was slight blip in the far corner of the radar screen and as he watched, it began to grow and move towards them…and grow. “Heero,” Duo said hesitantly, his eyes fixed on the screen.

 

“I see it,” said Heero, also peering over Duo's shoulder.

 

“What is it?” Duo asked, sounding a little worried. “It came from below so it's not with the rest of the Sanc guards.”

 

“Wait,” said Heero, sounding puzzled as well. “Whatever it is, it's coming this way.”

 

And it continued to fill the radar screen in a shapeless mass of …”Heero,” Duo said softly, his voice trembling a little as his left hand fumbled for the visual switch. “What is that?”

 

There was no reply but hands grasped his shoulders hard as something long and organic swam past the gundam making it rock in it's wake. Duo could not see the full image and he found out he did not want to .Whatever it was, was dull brown with black speckles and oddly shaped suckers and…it was larger than Deathscythe.

 

“Oh, god,” Duo breathed as the thing ignored them completely. He could feel fear coursing through his chest like an electrical pulse and he wanted to scream and run or something. He reached for the thrusters but Heero beat him to it, clamping down on his arm hard.

 

“No sudden movements,” Heero said as the thing disappeared from the radar, moving rapidly. “It's gone.”

 

“It was…alive,” Duo said in a shaky voice. Give him a battleship any day. An animal larger than his gundam was not something he wanted to deal with. He was going to have nightmares about it for years to come. On second thought, wait till he told Wufei about this. “You know that sightseeing trip?” he said with a shaky smile. “Mind if I postpone it?”

 

“Now we know why no one patrols the trench,” Heero said thoughtfully, still staring at the radar, but Duo noted that the grip on his shoulder was not loosening. Apparently, there were some things that could shake Heero's unshakable countenance after all.

 

“Can we go now?” Duo asked in a small voice, already firing the engines.

 

--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111--

 

Duo crouched low and looked at the dark passage in front of him, squinting at the darkness. “You sure this is the only way in?” he asked. He wished they could storm the castle in his Gundam rather than crawling through openings so narrow he was sure even Trowa would have problems fitting in. Instead here he was kneeling in wet sand, getting his trousers soaked, while Deathscythe was hidden in the sea nearby. He hoped that the undersea monster would not swallow it whole while he was playing cave explorer with Heero.

 

“The most logical place,” Heero replied as he moved aside the bush covering the entrance and crawled through.

 

“Romantic getaway on an island kingdom,” murmured Duo before following Heero, holding his flashlight between his teeth. Once they'd cleared the opening, the tunnel widened enough for them to stand up. Trowa would have had to stoop but it was almost as if it was build for people their height. Duo took the flashlight and swung it in a low arc overhead. “With the handsome guy of your dreams.” And promptly stepped on some half-dead sea weed and fell. “Eep,” he said on his way down and landed on his bottom, hard, the torch rolling into the dark.

 

There was slight sound and it took Duo three seconds to recognize it as Heero sniggering. “Found that funny, did you?” Duo asked as he struggled to get to his feet, trying to brush off his back which was now wet and covered with something slimy.

 

“You talk too much,” Heero said, grabbing Duo by the collar and pulling him to his feet effortlessly.

 

“I lost my torch,” Duo grumbled.

 

“You don't need light,” Heero said as he started to walk inwards.

 

“Give me a break,” Duo grumbled. “I'm not exactly blessed with night vision you know.”

 

“Hold on to my shoulder,” Heero said as he moved forward and Duo rushed to catch up with him. The slight daylight that had seeped in through the entrance wasn't enough to light the passage they were in and further inside it was going to be pitch dark. He hurriedly put hand on Heero's shoulder and much to his surprise, it wasn't shrugged off.

 

They started to walk at a steady pace, Duo cursing the cold as it seeped into his clothes. The passage was made by the flow of water which had been diverted at one time or another. Probably during the time the castle had been built. It was a natural formation with a slippery bottom where a sluggish stream flowed to the sea with odd phosphorous growth adorning the walls. There were also a few odd shell creatures sticking to the sides and some sort of half-dead seaweeds and odd green tendrils of underwater plants collected at the bottom of the sides.

 

The entire bottom was caked with a layer of slimy green growth which was slippery and felt like jelly to the touch. Duo grimaced as water from stalactites dripped on him as they proceeded. He was glad that he had had the foresight to wear his boots. Which brought up the question, didn't Heero mind wet sneakers and didn't the guy ever slip? There had been a few more close calls and in each case, he'd ridden it out by hanging onto the shoulder in front of him -- and Heero hadn't even slowed.

 

“Damn,” said Duo as they progressed. He was in shape but this was really starting to tell on him. “You wouldn't have anything to eat would you?”

 

There was steady silence for a couple of more steps then Heero spoke rather reluctantly. “There should be a bar of chocolate in my left pocket.”

 

“Since when do you carry anything other than a gun in your pocket,” said Duo as he squinted at Heero's butt which was unmarred by the shape of anything resembling a chocolate bar. Oh, well. Maybe Heero was joking- that is, if he had a sense of humor. “So, what sort of a bar is it?”

 

“It's a…” Heero paused slightly. “..just…” the hand on the shoulder was suddenly holding something wrapped in crinkling paper and square in shape.

 

“Uh, thanks,” said Duo, switching hands so he had steady hold while trying to unwrap it with one hand. He finally managed it by tearing it off with his mouth. He thought about spitting it down; thought about pollution and all the fish that would die if they swallowed the wrapper by accident- he also thought about what would happen if he let go of Heero. He spat out the wrapper and took a bite off the bar. Not bad; he had no idea what it was but it was nice and a little crunch and oh…well...probably intended for Heero. “Here,” he said blindly reaching around the other boy's neck, found Heero's lips by touching and pushed the rest of it into his mouth.

 

Heero stopped so fast Duo didn't even know they'd stopped.

 

“What?” he asked. “Not your flavor?” Heero was not chewing it. Duo was sure it wasn't going to dissolve in his mouth so what was he waiting for?

 

“It's fine,” said Heero pulling away just as abruptly as he'd stopped, leaving Duo on his knees on the floor.

 

“Damn, Heero,” said Duo as his hands sank up to the wrists in murky water. “Give a guy some warning will, ya?” He pulled his hands free from the water, hoping he was not going to come down with something, when a patch of gray in the water caught his attention.

 

“You should be more…”

 

“Heero,” said Duo urgently. “Do you have a light?”

 

“What is it?”

 

“There's no sludge in one spot,” Duo pointed out.

 

Heero automatically dropped to his knees next to Duo and looked at where he was pointing. “We're not alone,” he said.

 

“You just had to pick the popular route, didn't you?” Duo mumbled half heartedly.

 

--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--

 

They proceeded forward with more caution though Duo found it hard to see the difference. They occasionally stopped to see where the sides of the wall had been scraped by the passing of several people.

 

“Four at least,” Duo said as he studied the wall. Now that he knew what he was looking for it was easier. “And they were dragging something with them…metal cylindrical. I'd say cutting equipment, and Oxy-Acetylene-based from the color of the paint left here.”

 

“The way into the Castle is blocked by a metal grill,” Heero said with a shrug. “Maybe they are trying to cut it out.”

 

“Well, it's convenient they have this stuff with them,” said Duo, feeling a little angry that he had not been told of it in advance. “What were you planning on doing? There's only so many iron bars you can bend with your bare hands.”

 

“Blow it up,” Heero said with a shrug.

 

“Brilliant solution, but wouldn't that make it a bit impossible for us to go in stealthily,” Duo muttered as he almost slipped. “I…”

 

Heero turned back and clapped a hand over Duo's mouth. “I see a light ahead.”

 

“I thought the main aim in life is to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Duo said in a low voice as he crouched near Heero and looked around the slight bend.

 

There were four people and five cylinders in a small room-like widening of the passage. And they were working away at a thick metal grill Duo was certain Heero couldn't even dent. Well, two of them were while one held out a light and the other simply stood, keeping a lookout. Duo was sure there wasn't a gun in sight though there was the distinct shape of a gun under the armpit of the Watch Out guy. “They're not going to use guns,” Duo whispered to Heero's ear as the other boy crouched in front of him. “Closed space and all those combustible cylinders.”

 

“Stay here,” Heero said, and the next moment he was gone.

 

“Of all the…” muttered Duo, annoyed at being left behind as the other boy got to his feet and walked confidently towards the men.

 

Heero managed to walk causally behind one of them and knock him down before the crew was even aware of an intruder. The man he had knocked down, whom Duo dubbed `Idiot 1' did not faint. Instead he dropped the light he was holding and rolled on the ground away from Heero's grasp and got to his feet smoothly. It was then Duo knew they were against a bunch of professionals.

 

“Oh, shit,” he managed as the others turned as one, taking their wielding masks off. Then the one who had been keeping watch pulled out something which resembled a small five inch cylinder and… “Light sabers,” Duo said to himself. “They have light sabers. Knew it, there's the castle, the princess, the light sabers…next I'm going to find I've a long lost twin sister.”

 

Heero literally kicked the first man down, ducking under the light saber and Duo winced as the hot white blade passed just inches over Heero's shoulder. The others slowly started to join in and Duo rolled his eyes at the whole thing.

 

“This is ridiculous,” he said, reaching for his back pocket and pulling out his gun. He aimed it carefully at `idiot1' and pulled the trigger, making sure the aim was well away from the cylinders. Which left him with welder 1 and welder 2, one of whom dropped his light saber and pulled out a gun, which would have put Wing's buster rifle to shame- and aimed at Duo. Duo dropped to the wet floor as bullets whizzed over his head and he was showered with sharp fragments of stone from the wall behind him.

 

“Damn,” he said as Heero jumped around at the sound, reached for Wielder 1 and chopped him down neatly. Behind Heero, the arc of the light saber glowed brightly even as Duo screamed. “Behind you.” Much to his satisfaction, both Wielder 2 and Heero looked over their shoulders, giving time for Heero to punch him down. The man fell to the ground kicking Heero's feet from under him. They both fell to the floor, grappling over the light saber and the Watch Out guy brought his up.

 

“Man,” said Duo getting to his feet and rushing towards the action. He jumped the Watch Out guy knocking him down and kicking him in the middle. What he lacked in shear strength and martial arts training he made up for in experience in fighting dirty. As the other man fell he swiped at Duo's head. Duo smelt something felt the heat on his back but he was too busy to notice. He plummeted the guy hard, kicking him between the legs and finally under the chin, which knocked him out.

 

He straightened, feeling satisfied, tipped back his head and put his hands on his hips… and found out that his head felt …light.

 

--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--

 

Heero got to his feet and looked around to see if there was anyone standing. All the men were on the floor and Duo was sitting on a patch of dead seaweed, hyperventilating. He knelt down immediately, feeling his knees rest on something soft, probably more seaweed and started looking over the other boy for injuries. When he couldn't find any, he looked into Duo's eyes, holding up a torch he had picked up from the ground. Duo was in shock, breathing rapidly, but as far as Heero could see he didn't have any injuries. Nothing more serious than a few scratches.

 

“Duo,” he said firmly. “Duo.” No change.

 

Heero leaned back and slapped Duo hard across the cheek. Still nothing. What had happened? He leaned closer, grabbed him by the shoulder and realized that what he was kneeling on wasn't seaweed. He decided to borrow a phrase from Duo. “Oh, shit.”

 

Heero walked to the grill and studied it for a moment, leaving Duo on the ground. The metal had been cut through professionally, leaving on a scant centimeter still connected. Heero pulled the grill as hard as he could until the side gave, and he was almost crushed under the metal bars. It was only by skillful maneuvering that he escaped from the whole thing toppling on him. The metal grill fell to the floor with a loud clang which vibrated throughout the tunnel.

 

Duo did not react. With a sigh, Heero pocketed everything he thought they'd need -- and one thing that belonged to Duo. He pulled the other boy and tried to make him move towards the now open tunnel. Duo did not do much to walk on his own, just dragged his feet, which was impractical with the unevenness of the floor and the fact they were ankle deep in cold water. If he had been the type to roll his eyes, Heero would have. Instead, he pulled Duo to his feet and slung him over his shoulder. The other boy did not even protest.

 

Further along, the tunnel stooped, narrowing to the point where a person would have to crawl on his stomach in order to pass. However, there were metal rungs set to the wall which meant the next part of the mission was upwards. Heero set Duo down on his feet, slapped him, again and looked directly into his eyes.

 

“Duo,” he said firmly. “I need you to climb. Can you climb up…fast. We don't know if there are reinforcements coming.”

 

“Ok,” Duo said faintly and Heero mentally sighed. He did not want to drag a comatose pilot with him on a mission. If Duo was not going to recover he might be forced to knock him out and keep him somewhere until Heero could come back to retrieve him. He could always shoot him, which meant he didn't have to come back for Duo but the thought of actually killing Duo did not sit well with him. He had grown rather fond of the Deathscythe pilot

 

Duo climbed mechanically, one foot over the other, hands gripping the metal rungs one after another. Heero climbed behind him, ready to catch him, should Duo slip. Halfway through the climb Duo stopped and looked down. “Heero.”

 

“Keep climbing,” Heero snapped.

 

“They cut it …off,” Duo whispered in a hoarse voice.

 

“Not all,” Heero said. He thought about showing what he had in his pocket but then changed him mind. People were known to go into shock at the sight of their limb separate from their body and he did not need Duo to go into shock thirty feet above the ground.

 

“But…”

 

“Climb,” Heero snapped and Duo complied quietly which was so unlike him. It was obvious Duo was totally useless for the mission now.

 

Once they've reached the main wing of the castle, Heero considered knocking Duo out with a nerve pinch, tying him up and stuffing him into a broom closet. With one problem out of the way, he would have his hands free. But then Duo was coming out of his shock, gasping, hands shaking, and Heero did not feel like doing that to the boy. “I'm going to see Relena,” Heero told Duo. “Can you stay here without getting into trouble?”

 

“Figures,” Duo said. “Go…she needs you more than I do.”

 

“She does not need me,” Heero said, mystified. “I have to tell her that there are four men lying at the bottom of a hole under the castle.”

 

“Oh…ok,” Duo said in a low voice. “I'll be fine. You go…”

 

Heero did not trust Duo to be fine tying his own shoe laces, so he pried open a closet door, hoping it was a broom closet. Apparently, castles did not have broom closest since it turned out to be a disused bedroom with purple …everything and a photo of a young Milliardo on the wall. There was also a thick layer of dust which meant it wasn't in use, and Heero did not think it was Zechs' room. He did not think the man was crazy enough to have purple wall paper, carpeting, bedding and draping in a room he occupied. Plus, there was a stuffed rabbit in a corner, which really did not go with the image of the Lightning Baron.

 

“Stay here and don't move,” said Heero, thrusting Duo inside and snapping the door shut. He considered locking it but gave up since Duo could handle any lock.

 

“Hey,” shouted Duo, suddenly becoming more animated. “Why can't I come?”

 

“Your hands are shaking,” Heero told him from the other side of the closed door before striding out to find Noin or whoever was in charge of security now.

 

Heero found Lady Une and Noin in a deep conversation with Relena in a large conference room on the same floor. There had been no guards and as far as he could see there was no one to look over Relena. He was about to step into the room when he saw a small movement in the shadows.

 

It was the hair color that gave her away. Otherwise she would have made the perfect shadow. Dorothy stood in a corner of the room, hidden behind the window drapes, her hands crossed. He scraped his foot on the carpet carefully and she snapped around, looking directly at Heero. He nodded to her in recognition, stepped into the room, ready for anything, pulling out Duo's gun from his waistband. He centered it on Relena's head and spoke.

 

“Your security is lax.”

 

Both Une and Noin spun around, reaching for their weapons, but relaxed at the sight of Heero.

 

“Heero,” said Relena with a faint smile. “Why does this feel familiar?”

 

“Because he's been doing that since the day he met you,” Dorothy spoke from the shadows and it was obvious from the startled glace of the others they had not been aware of her presence. “Oh, don't look so surprised, I was just eavesdropping on you. Put away the gun Heero before you shoot yourself.”

 

Heero put down the gun and continued to stare at Relena as she got up and walked towards him. He did a quick assessment and it was obvious she had grown taller - perhaps taller than him. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel anything about it but it made her look slimmer and more graceful.

 

“This is the security expert I was talking about,” Relena told Noin. “I told you we missed something.”

 

“You missed a lot,” Heero told Noin who looked slightly embarrassed.

 

“Why don't we all sit down and discuss this?”Lady Une suggested diplomatically.

 

“Yes, why don't us,” said Relena. “Shall I order tea?”

 

“No,” said Heero. People paused to drink tea, which meant they might take longer than necessary, which in turn meant he was going to be delayed returning to Duo. “I will show you where I came in,” he told Noin. “There are four men who were also trying to break in through the same route and I think three of them are alive. Take them in for questioning.”

 

“Shouldn't that be the priority?” said Lady Une standing up. “Come,” she said decisively. “We'll talk as we walk. Noin, call some of our men.”

 

--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--

 

Still it took longer than anticipated and it was four hours later that he returned to the room where he'd put Duo. He had seen no use to inform others of Duo - they were Gundam pilots and they did not share their problems with outsiders. And frankly, he did not expect Duo to be in the room when he returned - he expected the other boy to be somewhere else, foraging for food. What he did not expect was to find Duo curled up on the bed, sobbing quietly clutching what was left of his braid.