By Kitsune no Miko

Yaoi 3*4, 1*2*5, fluff, angst, Some lime (eventually) um…yeah.

Konnichi wa. Welcome to my first fic. There is no mention of ANY Anne Rice characters in this fic, and I do not own any characters, events, places, gundams, etc. mentioned herein. I got a little chapter-happy *ahem* but they're mostly there for short summaries to be possible. I'd recommend at least reading the chapter titles, some of them are pretty funny *snicker* but otherwise just ignore them *snicker* <<a loud ker-WHAP is heard, and a small, winged figure sails out the window>> Sorry; my muse acting stoned again. She'll probably pop in a few times just to annoy the hell out of me. Anyway, on with the show…

Mighty thankness to the great and benevolent Arwen/Mai-chan for putting up with numerous plot ideas, re-editing, re-writes, and MORE re-writes. All Hail to Thee, Mighty Spooky-Amazon-Anime-Queen!

Speaking of re-writes, this entire thing will be COMPLETELY re-written sometime in the future (probably about the time we start colonizing Mars O.o) In the mean time, I will try to have consistent updates on the fic, and I will be asking for reader feedback quite often. If you have any ideas, fer chrissake E-MAIL ME!! Either at the site for Arwen-chan's stuff, or at my own personal one; [email protected] Thanks!

Ja ne!

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Prologue Interview with the Miko

Chapter 1 In Which Duo Makes Interesting Noises

Chapter 2 In Which Heero Discovers the Dangers of Mixing Gundams and Sugar

Chapter 3 In Which Duo Commits Copyright Infringement

Chapter 4 In Which Duo Makes More Interesting Noises

Chapter 5 In Which Duo Gets In Heero's Pants. Literally.

Chapter 6 In Which Trowa Talks

Chapter 7 In Which Duo Takes a Shower, and Wufei Attempts Humor

Chapter 8 In Which There is Plot Twist

Chapter 9 In Which There is More Plot

Chapter 10 In Which Wufei is Not Dead

**Chapter 11 In Which Wufei is Still Not Dead

**Chapter 12 In Which Duo and Heero Make Interesting Noises That Amuse Quatre and Trowa

** = Coming soon (I hope O.o)

Suing is pointless; I own nothing

Chapter 1

Trouble with Oatmeal

Duo Maxwell sighed and stared out the kitchen window. Slate-gray clouds covered the sky, and snow covered three-quarters of the second-story kitchen window. He heaved another sky and turned back to the uninteresting breakfast in front of him. The other four pilots were arrayed around the table, and all were eyeing the lumpy oatmeal with distaste.

"Quatre, please…" Duo began.

"Duo, for the fifteenth time, we can't go grocery shopping!" The blonde snapped, his usually tolerant disposition severely limited by over three weeks in close quarters with the braided pilot. "One, the garage is buried by a good eighteen feet of snow, and two…"

"We're supposed to be laying low." Heero interjected with a steely glance at Duo. Quatre nodded.

"Hai. Waltzing into a grocery store isn't the smartest thing to do right now." Trowa and Wufei both remained silent. They were the only two at the table actually attempting to eat. Duo sighed again, and went back to stirring his oatmeal. The sticky, gray goo made wet thlbbbttt noises each time he moved his spoon. Duo wondered what other interesting noises he could make with oatmeal, not noticing that the rest of the table had gone deadly silent. (1)

"Duo!" Quatre nearly screamed. He jumped up from the table, knocking his chair over in the process and leaned forward to yell directly into Duo's very surprised face. "If you don't like the oatmeal, don't eat it! Starve, for all I care! Put some milk or something in it to make it edible but stop making those noises!!!" Quatre righted his chair and sat down with a huff. Trowa was staring at his beloved in surprise, or whatever passed for surprise with Trowa, while Wufei had turned an interesting shade of green, and ceased eating altogether. Duo perked up.

"Anything?" He asked, slowly. Heero glanced up from the three-week-old paper that was the only reading material in the house. There was an odd edge to Duo's voice, and he had that grin…oh no...

Quatre's eyes flashed. (2) Before another screaming fit could ensue, Trowa placed a restraining hand on Quatre's arm."Yes."

A slow, deranged smile spread across Duo's face. Heero lunged, but it was too late. Duo was across the room in a flash and rummaging in the cabinets. He halted suddenly, his smile growing impossibly wider. A collective wince ran around the table as Duo held up a brown, plastic baggie in triumph.

"All right! Sugar!" Quatre looked ready to cry, Wufei looked like he'd swallowed a live frog, Heero looked ready to kill something, and Trowa…well…Trowa was trying to calm Quatre down.

"I've got to finish my katas." Wufei said quickly, and headed for the stairs.

"We'll watch." Trowa offered, dragging Quatre behind him. Quatre looked back at his neat, orderly kitchen and moaned slightly before disappearing downstairs. Heero just sighed.

"Go easy on the sugar. Quatre had a hard time on the last mission, and he doesn't need you messing up /another/ safehouse." Duo glared at him

"Hey, If I had /known/ that there was a tracker on the damned chip, I wouldn't have been followed, and I wouldn't have had to blow up the house. And besides, /whose/ job was it to research the mission?"

"Yours."

"I…oh. Yeah."

Heero snorted and headed for the garage. In a matter of seconds, Duo was left alone at the table. He shrugged, and proceeded to dump half the bag of sugar into the oatmeal, which took on the texture of wet sand. Duo smiled, and happily scarfed down his breakfast. Now where were those cartoons…

Chapter 2

Jigoku no yo Duo

"Wheee!" Maniacal laughter floated out of the living room all the way down to the huge garage where Heero was putting the finishing touches on the zero system. Heero glowered at the dangling wires in front of him. Not that they had done anything to particularly annoy him, besides three nasty shocks and a scraped knuckle, but Duo had been laughing continuously for the past ten minutes. Literally.

"Doesn't he ever breathe?" Heero muttered. He set the control panel back in place with a snap, and pressed a key. Immediately, a low hum began deep within Wing Zero…and an answering hum from Deathscythe. He nodded grimly, and headed up the stairs to where the laughter was. Shoving the door open all the way, he gaped at the tableau in front of him. Duo was…well…not exactly sitting on the couch. His legs were draped over the back, his head just barely touching the floor. His sugar-encrusted braid wound up and down, and then under the couch like some shy breed of shedding snake. The bag was propped next to his left ear, and he was attempting to feed himself sugar, upside-down, from a spoon. He jumped as Heero entered the room, promptly getting sugar up his nose. (1)

"Yaah! Heero! Don't you ever knock?!" Duo righted himself, and began snorting frantically to get the sugar out of his nose. Heero rolled his eyes, and grabbed the braid that lay across the couch.

"Come on." He started for the stairs. Duo staggered to his feet and stumbled forward, still complaining. Heero just sighed again, and led the way towards the gundams. It was a good thing that Duo never talked in his sleep. Otherwise, he'd have killed him months ago.

"Oi, Heero. Whatcha doin'? It's cold down here, why can't I go finish my cartoons? My nose itches. Is there something wrong with the system? I…" Heero stopped short, and Duo ran into his back. "Ow! Hey, why'd ya stop? Do you wanna show me something? Leggo my braid. Can I go get my sugar? Heero, let go! Come on, pl…" Duo stopped mid-sentence and looked at a humming Wing Zero. Then at a humming Deathscythe. Then at Heero… "You touched Deathscythe." He stated flatly, all trace of sugar-high insanity gone. Heero glared at him.

"No. It's a remote, wireless connection. Now get in." Duo still eyed him warily, but a trace of his former, maniac glee was returning.

"Groceries?" he asked hopefully.

If looks could kill…

"No groceries for Duo?" He asked, crestfallen.

Heero considered killing him right then and there. Well, maybe not. Quatre would likely make him clean up the mess, and picking tiny little Duo pieces out of corners was not how he wanted to spend his afternoon.

"Iya." Heero managed at last. "Now get in."

"No groceries?"

Heero saw red. It was possible that Duo actually noticed because he abruptly shut up and began staring at the metal wind-chime Trowa had fashioned out of spare parts. "Shii-iiny!" He said, singsong voice.

Then again, maybe not.

Heero must have blinked, because one second Duo was in front of him, staring dreamily at the wind-chime, and the next he was perched on the one-inch railing a good fifteen feet above Heero's head and batting at it.

"No! Duo! Get down here!" Duo looked down and grinned at him.

"Shii-iiiny!"

"Now, Duo. Duo! DUO!" Heero gave him his best 'omae o korosu' glare. Duo sighed, pouted, and then proceeded to slide down the railing headfirst. Heero flinched as Duo's head met the concrete, dented it, and then bounced over to Heero.

"So what're we doin? Playtime?" Heero resisted the urge to smack him.

"Yeah…sort of. We're going to play…" Heero was cut off as Duo flung himself into his arms, planting a wet, sloppy, cloying kiss on Heero's lips as his hands slid down…

"Nnnmmmm…"/oh, wow. He's good at this. Now what was... / "DUO!" Heero yelled, prying Duo's wandering hands off him. "Wrong play." He smirked. Duo pouted, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Wanna play nowww!" Duo whined.

"Later." Heero promised, "Right now we're training."

"Oh." Duo quirked an eyebrow. "Huzzah?"

"Get in Deathscythe. I've already set the simulators so that we'll be fighting each other, and mobile dolls."

Duo grinned "Wow. Aren't we just more fun than a barrel of monkeys today?" Heero just sighed and walked towards his Gundam…only to be tackled around the middle.

"Oof! Duo! Get off me!" Duo looked up at him with glazed purple eyes.

"Play later? Heero promised to play later, and I reeeally wanna play." He snickered suggestively. Heero gazed at his insane beauty, and almost smiled.

"Fine, Duo. Now get in your gundam…?" Duo grinned and released his hold, sashaying towards Deathscythe. Heero would have sworn the little bastard was making his braid twitch like that on purpose. He suppressed images of himself clutching handfuls of Duo's beautiful chestnut hair as Duo…down boy. Making sure that Duo actually did clamber into Deathscythe, he hopped into Wing and activated the system.

"HIYA, SPANDEX!" Duo's voice blasted over the comm set. Heero flinched.

"Dammit, Duo! Quit yelling!"

"WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I TURNED THE LITTLE DOOHICKEY ALL THE WAY DOWN…"

"Duo! You baka, you turned it all the way up!"

"OH."

"Baka."

"There, better?"

"Much. Now Duo?"

"Hai?"

"Turn your headset off."

"Nani? Why?"

"Because we're going to be fighting each other, so no communication."

"Awww, but…" Heero snapped off his own set with a muttered curse.

"System: go." Heero settled back into his seat and prepared for a looong day.

Chapter 3

Gundam Gladiator…

Duo hummed happily as he killed yet another 'mobile doll'. Somehow, his sugar-saturated brain had made up new lyrics to the 'Mary had a little lamb' song.

"Duo was the God of Death,"

Boom.

"God of Death,"

Slice. Stab. Kaboom.

"God of Death"

Duck. Boom.

"Duo was the God of Death,"

Duck. Pirouette. Boom.

"Shinigaahaamiiiii…"

Kablooie.

"His koibito was Heero, Heero, Heeeeero,"

Dodge. Slice. Slice. Boom. Boom

"His koibito was Heero,"

Bash.

"The spandex-wearing freaaaaak!" (1)

Duo blew sweaty bangs out of his forehead and glanced around for a new target. There were none. There was just Zero, drifting behind a chunk of asteroid doing the same thing. Duo grinned, and moved silently into position. Wing rotated slowly, realizing that it was too quiet…

"HEEYAAAHHH!!" Duo tackled Zero around the middle in a unwieldy parody of his earlier tackle. He raised his scythe, as Zero lowered his beam saber. Just then, a brilliant red warning flashed on his screen. Duo frowned, keying the comm override. "Um, Heero…?" He started. A muffled curse came over the speaker.

"Omae o korosu, Duo!!" Heero yelled.

Duo smirked. "They don't call me Shinigami 'cause I'm good between the sheets…" Smiling, Duo swung his scythe in a huge arc, just as Wing's beam saber began to descend. The warning in the corner of his screen shrieked, and everything went white.

Duo screamed.

What the hell does he know? ^_^

Chapter 4

The Screams of the Perfect Soldier

Quatre was close to tears. Duo was a sweet kid, but sometimes…He felt his fingers tightening into claws and had to force himself to bend them straight. There was a liberal dusting of sugar on everything. Even the TV remote. Trowa took one look at the speckled carpet, and went to go find a vacuum as Quatre slowly gathered up the scattered, and slightly sticky, couch cushions. Trowa reappeared, carting the vacuum, and paused long enough to kiss Quatre's cheek.

"You okay?" He asked. Quatre managed a watery smile.

"Ye-esss." He managed, slowly. Unfortunately, what suspiciously sounded like a muffled, slightly drunk Duo singing came drifting up the stairs. Quatre's face crumpled. "Noooo." He corrected himself and collapsed on the couch. Trowa leaned down and folded the smaller boy in a tight embrace. Quatre sniffled into his shoulder. "Why can't we just tie him up in the basement like any other lunatic?" Trowa chuckled.

A scream echoed from the basement. Quatre's head shot up. "That sounded like…Duo?" Trowa nodded, looking absolutely calm.

"Sounds like Heero just…" A second scream came from the basement. Trowa stopped in mid-sentence, his one visible eye widening.

"That was Heero!" Quatre gasped, and charged towards the stairs, Trowa hot on his heels. For Heero Yuy to actually scream meant that something had gone apocalyptically wrong.

Chapter 5

Heero Maxwell or Duo Yuy?!

Or

TGFT (Thank God For Trowa)

Duo groaned and opened his eyes slowly. His eyelashes felt gummy, and already he could feel the prickle of dried sweat between his shoulderblades. He stretched slightly and the itching increased. The red warning light was gone from his screen, and the screen itself was in blank waiting mode. Licking dry lips, Duo reached for the hatch-open lever…and missed. Duo frowned. He never missed anything in Deathscythe. Looking down, he groped a few more times before hitting the actual lever. Maybe living off oatmeal and lima beans for a week had seriously fried his reflexes. Duo sighed in relief and stood up as the hatch popped open.

Squinting against the sudden change in lighting, he glanced around the garage. The wind-chime sang softly at the other end of the garage, and there was Deathscythe at the foot of the stairs, looking up at the wind-chime, just as he'd done a few hours ago. He noted, somewhat lazily, that his gundam had acquired a few more dents and patches than was absolutely necessary. He'd have to talk to Howard. That is, if he ever got off this damnable rock of a planet …if he…Deathscythe… Duo blinked a few times just to make sure. There was Deathscythe, all right, all the way across the garage. Duo felt the blood drain from his face, reached up to rub his eyes…and stopped in horror. The hand he held up was hard, callused, and tanned. Duo never tanned, and his hands weren't that callused. He gulped, and glanced down. Duo screamed again. There, on a lean, wiry frame he knew all too well, was the uniform green tanktop and spandex shorts. Just as he was about to hyperventilate, Deathscythe's hatch popped open…and…and…Duo stepped out. He watched in terror as he stretched, stopped, glanced around, glanced down, and screamed as well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Quatre tore down the stairs with Trowa right behind him. Both boys stopped dead at the tableau in front of him. Duo was standing in Deathscythe, and staring at his hands like he'd suddenly realized they were attached to his body, and Heero…

Was babbling (babbling?!) frantically at the empty air in front of him, clutching at his tanktop; "OhmigodwhatthefuckhappenedtomewhythehelldoIlooklikeHeerowhatthe

bleedingfuckhappenedIdon'twannabeHeerowhythefuckinghelldoIlooklikeHeero…"

Neither one of them appeared to be hurt…

"Um, guys?" Quatre asked slowly. Both boys turned to look at him, and then all hell broke loose. Heero jumped down off of Wing and alternated between clutching and babbling at his tanktop, and clutching and babbling at Quatre, while Duo simply stared at Trowa, holding his hands out for the taller boy to examine. "Heero!" Quatre protested at last.

"Nuh…uh…Nani?" Duo asked, still dazed. Both Trowa and Quatre turned to stare at him.

"Duo?" Trowa asked softly.

"What?!" Heero stopped clawing at Quatre's shirt and stared at Trowa. Quatre blinked, seriously considered having a hysterical nervous breakdown, and decided against it. Looking hard into the cobalt eyes in front of him, Quatre licked dry lips.

"Heero?"

"What?" Duo answered, sounding a little impatient. Turning pale, Quatre then turned to the braided pilot.

"Duo?"

"Yes?" Heero visibly restrained another babbling fit. Quatre leaned back against Trowa, who was looking almost as stunned as he felt. His thoughts ran around and around his head like trapped mice. Before he could even come up with anything of anything remotely sane, Trowa spoke up.

"What happened?" Oh, yes. Good. Thank God for Trowa! Yes, let's hear why the hell you two are answering to each other's names, and what the hell made Heero Yuy scream! Heero started to babble again, a definite edge to hysteria coloring his voice.

"Baka!" Duo leapt down from Deathscythe, and smacked Heero upside the head. "Just shut up for a minute." Quatre flinched, and waited for Heero to smack the other pilot through the wall. Heero shut up. Quatre felt his jaw unhinge as the boy did nothing more than scowl at Duo and rub the back of his head.

"He…Heero? Are you feeling okay?" Quatre leaned forward to place a hand on the other boy's forehead. Aqua eyes met frightened, cobalt blue ones.

"I'm not Heero." He sniffled.

Chapter 6

The Silent One Speaks…

"Okay, so let me get this straight." Quatre handed a cup of hot chocolate to Duo…er…Heero…whoever. Duo/Heero was seated among the couch cushions still on the floor, Heero/Duo was slouched in one of the repulsive armchairs that had come with the house, and Quatre took his seat next to Trowa on the couch. "You two were fighting each other, right?" Both boys nodded in agreement. Heero/Duo still seemed to be in shock. "And a warning started flashing in the corner of the screen?" More nods. "And you ignored it, and tried to kill each other anyway?" Nods. Quatre sighed, and held his poor, aching head in his hands.

" Fascinating." Quatre glanced up to see Trowa staring at the two pilots with a slight smirk on his face.

"I don't see how you can find this fascinating." Heero-in-Duo's-body snarled. Trowa looked at him calmly.

"Simple. When you re-wired the zero system, you didn't disconnect the friend-or-foe firing system. That wouldn't have been a problem, but you programmed in mobile dolls as well. The system isn't designed to handle the matrix functions for two gundams and a fleet of mobile dolls at the same time. That sent the system into a loop-snarl, and then when you fired on each other, I'd imagine that the resulting power surge would have frozen the matrix. That amount of power just might have affected the electronic impulses into you brain enough that instead of your weapons hitting each other, your brainwaves did." Quatre, Heero and Duo all turned to stare at him. Trowa just blinked, and suppressed another smirk.

"Okay, so, waitaminute…" Duo-in-Heero's body chewed absently at a hangnail. "So that means, there's still Heero's physical brain up here?" He tapped his forehead. Trowa nodded.

"Yes, but with your speech patterns, your memories, and quite possibly your subconscious as well." Duo seemed to consider that. Just then, footsteps sounded on the stairs leading to the basement.

"Maxwell, if you and Yuy are going to fornicate, at least take it into the bedroom. I could hear you all the way through a three-foot-thick wall. Nearly sliced my foot off." A very cranky, sweaty Wufei came into view.

"Too bad it wasn't your…" Duo/Heero muttered.

"Duo!" Quatre warned. Wufei looked back and forth between Quatre and Heero in confusion.

"Did I just hear you call Yuy Duo?"

Quatre sighed. "There was some loop-snarl in the zero system, and Heero and Duo have switched bodies. Temporarily, we hope."

Wufei remained deadpan. "Don't tell me; it's foolish April day again, right?"

"It's 'April Fools Day', dipshit, and no. It's not April," what looked like Heero replied. Wufei went suddenly pale.

"Shinsei…!" He sank down in the remaining easy chair. "You're not joking?" Four heads shook a definite negative. Wufei settled back into the chair, dazed. If it weren't so serious, it would have been damned funny…

Heehee! Am I twisted or what? My muse finally decided to come out of hibernation and get some work done…

{Morgan} Hey! Back off.

Hell no! You desert me for a month on end, leaving Tech Wars languishing not even half finished on my laptop, and then sashay back from the Bahamas with a head full of ideas, and expect me to cut you a break??

{Morgan} Sweetie, you lost everyone.

Oh! Yeah! Hi…um…ignore this

{Morgan} Please do.

Chapter 7

Father Yuy

Duo woke up all at once.

"Dammit, Quatre!" He muttered. The blond had slipped some sort of sedative into his hot chocolate last night. But why…? He couldn't remember. Duo groaned and rolled out of bed in a tangle of sheets and blankets. Heading for the bathroom, he grabbed the toothpaste and glanced in the mirror.

Oh yeah. That.

Duo clutched the sink and stared at (his?) unruly, SHORT brown hair and blue eyes. "K'so." He muttered, scowling. Now that looked like Heero. Duo smiled his perkiest smile, and giggled at the effect. To see Heero actually smiling, and not sadistically…His cheeks were beginning to hurt. Heero never used those muscles if he could help it, obviously. He glanced down at the sheet he had clutched around his waist. Heero was filthy from the work and exercise he'd done yesterday. Duo eyed the shower uncertainly. He knew from experience that Heero was fairly…ah…well endowed, but to actually shower…?

"Hn…instant death, or slow suffocation in my own stink…" Duo chewed his lip for a moment. "Well…maybe if I wear swim trunks…" Satisfied with his solution, Duo headed back into his room. Apparently, Quatre had retained enough sanity to put him and Heero in their respective rooms. Duo grabbed his swim shorts from a pile of clean clothing behind the door. Whistling, he slid the shorts on quickly, and headed back for the shower.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ohayo gozen, everyone!" Duo bounced down the stairs wearing his cheeriest smile. Wufei gawked at him, dribbling half a mouthful of egg down his chin, while Trowa and Quatre just stared. Taking enough time to set the pan of hot bacon he was carrying on the table, Quatre collapsed into his chair, laughing hysterically. Duo's smile faltered.

"What?" He asked indignantly.

"I…I'm…sorry…Duo…" Quatre gasped between laughing fits, "It's…it's just that…you…er, Heero…and…smile…" The blond dissolved into hysterics. Trowa was actually cracking a smile, and Wufei was carefully studying his scrambled eggs, hiding a smirk. Duo looked down at himself. So? He was dressed the way he usually was. The black pants, black tunic, and priest's collar. It was what he always…Oh yeah.

"Yeah yeah. Shut up. We have real food?" He grinned sheepishly, sliding into a seat next to Wufei. Wufei shoved the skillet of eggs and bacon towards him.

"Yes. Seems Quatre was saving these for a special occasion. I guess you and Yuy switching bodies warrants 'real food'." Duo glared at him. Wufei's rare attempts at a sense of humor could be really annoying.

"Konnichiwa." Heero padded down the stairs. Duo froze, and stared at…well…himself. Heero paused, and took in Duo's outfit with growing horror on his face.

"No way!" They both glared at each other.

"Duo, there is no way in hell I am being seen in that…getup, and…did you shower?!"

"Why in Hades would you want to wear that awful insta-wedgie outfit? I could barely sit down yesterday…hey! I wore swim trunks!"

"Kisama o korosu, what possessed you to wear that god-awful gothic crap…swim trunks?!"

"Well, you weren't exactly a bundle of roses, spandex boy. And yeah; S-W-I-M T-R…"

Quatre smiled. "Aren't they cute?" He asked Trowa.

"Adorable." Trowa agreed.

Chapter 8

Plot Development

Wufei carefully studied his scrambled eggs, avoiding any glance at the two boys directly in front of him. The priest outfit was just a little too small for Heero, and the cloth strained provocatively whenever Duo reached for anything on the table, and Duo…in spandex…no modest, neck-to-ankles black outfit…Dammit, Wufei! He gave himself a mental slap, and went back to poking at his breakfast. It didn't help matters that his room was right next to Heero's, and Duo had taken to sleeping in there for the past month and a half. Granted, they obviously tried to be as quiet as possible, but shit…

"K'so." He muttered under his breath.

"Whad'ja say, Wufei?" Duo asked. Wufei sent up a silent prayer of thanks for his dark skin.

"Nothing, Yu…Maxwell." Other than the fact that if you bend over to pick up something again, I'm going to flee the room screaming. As if the little bastard could read minds, Duo knocked his fork off the table for the fourth time. Wufei's overtaxed nerves screamed in protest, and he went back to shoving his food around on his plate again.

"Wufei? Are you not hungry?" Quatre glanced over at the Chinese pilot from behind a stack of dirty dishes.

"Hey, yeah, you aren't getting sick are you?" Duo/Heero's concerned face popped into view. He giggled suddenly, causing the Shenlong pilot to facevault. "You didn't really slice off anything yesterday, did you?" Wufei swallowed, uncomfortably aware that the rest of the table was watching him as well.

"I…uh…"

"Don't like eggs, ne? Is that it?" Duo asked, somehow making even Heero's Prussian features look perky. Wufei nodded, grateful for such an opportune story.

"Hai. That's it, Duo."

Quatre frowned. "Wufei, if you didn't like eggs, you should have told me. We always have more oatmeal." The blond added in a fit of maliciousness. Duo mock-glared at him, and tossed the last two pieces of bacon from his plate to Wufei's.

"No…hanase. Domo, but…"

"But nothing. I already had six pieces, and you've hardly eaten anything." He grinned, and shoved his chair back from the table.

"Arigato…" Wufei stammered.

"No sweat. Tro, you wanna head for the garage and work on the decoder program?" Duo grinned in spite of…himself. Heero simply shoveled the remaining food on his plate into his face, and stood up as well. Trowa nodded and headed towards the basement. Wufei watched them leave with a resigned sigh. Maybe more katas would help him relax. Right, Wufei, wave a sword around for hours on end, when you'd rather be waving…Dammit!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Duo frowned at the computer screen in front of him as thousands of numbers scrolled past.

"So now what?" He asked impatiently.

"We wait." Trowa said grimly. Duo glanced up at the other pilot and sighed. Trowa (1) looked none too happy about the delay either. Heero just scowled.

"Three weeks. We have to wait three weeks because this baka…" Duo stood up and glared at Heero, using the new, several inches in height difference to his advantage.

"Excuse me? Mister Lets-Go-Play-Homicide-Because-It's-Easier-Than-Actually-Killing-You?" Heero glared back, Duo's elfin features detracting from what was usually a very intimidating stare, and opened his mouth for a scathing retort.

"Shut up. Both of you." Trowa turned and headed back for the stairs, effectively diffusing a potentially nasty argument. Duo goggled.

"I think that's the closest I've ever heard Trowa come to swearing!" Heero nodded in mute agreement. Duo glanced back at the computer screen.

"Staring at it isn't going to make it decode any faster." Heero came up behind him, and began rubbing the too-tense muscles in the back of Duo's neck. Duo sighed and dropped his eyes to the callused hands that rested in his lap.

"I know. No offense or anything, but I really want to get back in my own body." Heero stopped rubbing his neck and came around to face the taller pilot. Then, to Duo's utter shock, he wrapped his arms around the now-taller pilot.

"It's okay. We'll get through this." Heero said over Duo's shoulder. "We've been through worse…" Duo snorted in disbelief, "Well…maybe not recently, but we'll be okay." Duo hugged him back, blinking back sudden tears.

"I wish I could believe that." He said, wistfully.

"We will." Duo nodded and looked away. Pale fingers gently tilted his chin upwards until he was staring into a pair of very familiar indigo eyes. "Duo," Heero said gently, "we will." Tears blurred Duo's sight, and he clung to the other boy, sniffling into the tanktop. "Shh, shh. It's all right, Duo…"

Chapter 9

More Plot…

Wufei executed a particularly complex parry with utter abandonment, not caring if his sword went flying, not caring if he happened to slice off an arm or a leg, or ribcage. It was the only thing keeping him from running screaming out into the storm, or breaking down and weeping like a coward. A weakling.

"Hitsa!" He finished one kata and moved violently into the next. Stupid, stupid, stupid, worthless fool! To think that he of all people could even think he had a chance… He had wandered oh-so-innocently down the stairs to the garage to tell Heero and Duo that dinner was ready, only to find the two of them locked in an embrace. Heero had actually been comforting Duo, and the love shining in Duo's now-blue eyes…it was too much. Wufei had fled, ignoring a startled Quatre's protests as he nearly ran the other boy down…

And now he was here. Brandishing his katana like he could slice away all the weakness that had permitted him to…burning pain from his right arm distracted him suddenly. Blinking away sweat and tears, he saw a red line trickling down his forearms. Furious at any interruption, he laid his sword reverently on the dented worktable. He rotated his arm slightly, and felt his eyes widen in shock. A huge gash led from his shoulder down to his elbow, about three quarters of an inch deep, and even now blood was pooling on the cement floor. Wufei fought down a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea, as he looked for something to staunch the bleeding. Nothing was in sight. Gritting his teeth against movement, he reached down and tore a strip from the bottom of his pants. The blood-pool was getting larger. Wufei grunted and staggered over to the stairs. "K'so." Hell, he'd had worse injuries than this! So why was the room waltzing around him? He bit down hard on his lip to keep from screaming as he tied the impromptu bandage tightly around his biceps. Tying the end in place, he sighed in relief as he leaned back against the railing. Some perverse, inner demon urged him not to go upstairs, that they would be there. Wufei ignored the voice, and started to stand up, using the railing as a crutch. He made it up two steps before they faded into nothingness beneath his feet...

Chapter 10

Beware the stairs…

"Guys?" Quatre's voice floated down the stairs towards them. Duo pulled back slightly, and Heero let him.

"Yeah, Q?" Duo rubbed his nose on the back of his hand, and pushed unruly brown bangs out of his eyes.

"Dinner's ready!"

"Be right up." Heero readjusted his tanktop, and reached up to brush a last few strands out of Duo's eyes before heading up the stairs. Quatre stood at the top, a slight frown marring his otherwise perfect features. "What?" Heero asked.

"You didn't say anything that might have…upset…Wufei, did you?" The blond asked with uncharacteristic sort-of bluntness.

"No. Did he come down here?" Duo came up behind them, nuzzling Heero's neck on his way past. Quatre sighed and ran a hand trough his hair.

"Well, he went down here to tell you two it was time for dinner, and five minutes later, he came tearing up the stairs looking like hell warmed over." Duo frowned in perplexity.

"Where's he now?" Quatre jerked his head in the direction of the second basement. Duo nodded. "Okay. You two get food. I'll go see what's bothering Justice." Duo paused dramatically, one hand over his heart, with a patriotic, misty-eyed look on his face. Quatre smiled gratefully, and stepped aside. "See ya in a few!" Duo said cheerfully, bouncing out of sight down the second flight of stairs.

"I don't know how he does it, but he even makes you look perky." The blond pilot commented. Heero blinked.

"Domo."

"You're welcome."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Duo peered forward into the gloom of the basement. All the lights were off. He flicked the switch absently a few times. Nothing happened; the light had burned out. Muttering expletives, Duo made his way carefully down the steps. On the last stair, he slipped in something. Screeching in protest, he clutched at the railing.

"Nani jigoku?" He flailed briefly with his right arm and found the light cord. Bright light flared suddenly, and Duo was forced to blink away sunspots. He glanced down, and felt the ground lurch beneath him. Wufei was propped up against the railing, a badly bandaged cut still soaking the material he had tied around it, sitting in a pool of blood. "Oh my God…" The Chinese pilot had gone white underneath his bronze skin, and Duo wasn't sure he was breathing. "Oh my God! Help! Somebody, get down here! Wufei's dead!" Duo screamed. Clumsy with dread, Duo knelt in front of the Chinese pilot, and felt for a pulse. "Come on, Wu-man, don't be dead. Please, don't do this to me! You've got to be alive, you've just got to…" There, faintly against his searching fingers, was Wufei's pulse. He didn't even flinch as Duo dug his fingers deeper, reassuring himself that Wufei was alive. Sobbing in relief, Duo cradled the other boy against his chest, afraid to move him, lest he do worse damage. "Help!" He screamed. "Oh, God, Wufei. Please be all right! Please!" Pounding footsteps sounded overhead, and the basement door slammed open. Duo shot a desperate glance up to the three blurry figures that stood on the stairway. "Oh God, oh God, ohGodohGodohGod." He gibbered. A quiet, asserting voice cut through his hysterical weeping.

"Quatre, get the medical supplies. Trowa, find someplace we can put him where he won't get disturbed." Two of the shapes vanished up the stairs.

"Oh God, oh god, oh my god…" Duo babbled, rocking back and forth with a still-unconscious Wufei cradled in his arms. Cool hands gently pried Duo's deathgrip on Wufei's good arm off, and gently began maneuvering Wufei into a more comfortable position.