Black Death by Elf
Standard disclaimers apply

---

It was 2:26 in the morning when Duo Maxwell got the call.

Groggily, the young pilot rolled over, ignoring the beeping in his laptop. It didn't stop. He groaned as he rolled back over and picked up the laptop. Cursing softly, he opened it and turned on the COMlink.

Staring him in the face was the wizened features, sharp, unnaturally long nose, and mushroomed shape hair of Professor G. Mad scientist, engineer, the creator of Deathscythe HELL, and Duo's contact. It had been a couple of months since Duo had escaped from Moon Base with the rebuilt Deathscythe, a couple of months since the scientists had beat the shit out of him.

Duo glared at the God of Plague and hissed, "What do you want? Its . . ." he leaned over and looked at his alarm clock, "2:29 in the fucking morning. This had better be good, Prof, or I'll . . ."

"You'll kill me yourself, Little Demon," Prof. G finished with a chuckle.

Duo shifted in his bed. He would have to be quiet or he'd awake Hilde in the next room. And if Prof. G had a mission, which he probably wouldn't accept, Hilde shouldn't hear it. It would make her a risk.

Duo yawned and said, "Get with it, old man. I've gotta get my beauty sleep."

"Yes, you're going to need that infamous charm of yours," Prof. G told him. Duo was instantly awake as he looked at the old man. He had seduced others on missions before; it wasn't hard, most people found his violet eyes and meter long braid very attractive. He ran his fingers through his bangs as he looked at the mad scientist.

Prof. G went on, "It's on Earth, Duo. New York to be precise. There you will meet up with your partner and find out all you can about this man." A picture of a handsome, middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair and bright blue eyes appeared on the screen instead of Prof. G's scarecrow features.

Duo asked, "Who's the guy?"

"Dr. Jacob Blackwell. He's a terrorist hellbent on destroying the colonies, Duo. We just don't know how he's going to do it," Prof. G answered.

Duo yawned again and replied, "I'm not sleeping with a guy. That old crone on L3 was bad enough, but not a guy. I've got my limits, you know."

"I wasn't expecting you to. Blackwell's got a niece that he's the legal guardian, Duo. She's the key," Prof. G told him as the image changed. Duo expected some mousy little girl or some over weight girl who's face would be covered with acne. He was pleasantly surprised to see a pretty girl with large green eyes and long, pale auburn hair. Still, he was uncomfortable with seducing anyone right now and the reason was sound asleep in the next room.

Hilde had been discharged from OZ and needed a place to stay. Duo needed a good secretary. Besides, there was something about the German girl that made his heart beat oddly.

Duo asked, "So, when do I meet up with my 'partner' on Earth?"

"Tomorrow at Twenty three-hundred hours at a place called the Raven. This is strictly a covert operation, Duo. You cannot use your Gundam," Prof G. told him.

The kiss of death. Still, he was up to the challenge. Duo smiled and sighed, "Anyway you'll tell me who my partner is?"

"You'll know when you see him," Prof. G answered cryptically.

 

******

Duo arrived at twenty-one hundred hours, just to get a feel for the place. After he took a quick look at the clientele, he went back to his safe house and changed. After all, his priest collar would stick out in a place like this.

So, Duo Maxwell was standing in line wearing tight, black leather pants, combat boots, and a black silk tank top. He was conservatively dressed compared to most of the people. He spotted a young woman wearing a thick leather studded halter top and a leather thong, leaving her exposed rump for all the world to see.

He felt perfectly at home. He'd been in and out of places like this and generally knew the rundown. Still, he wondered if there would be stocks, whips, and racks in this club. One never knew unless they were a regular guest or walked in. If it was just a dance club playing to the S&M wannabes, then Duo shouldn't have any problem at all.

The bouncer took one look at him and waved him in. Not that Duo expected that he would have any problem walking in, but, still, shit happens. So, Duo started to walk around, getting a feel for the place.

It was dimly lit with flashes of dark colored lights every so often. Loud acid rock poured through the speakers and smoke rose from the floor. Duo took a whiff and grimaced. There was a slight trace of some sort of exotic drug in the smoke. Duo frowned as he fumbled through his pockets. He took a tiny capsule from his pocket, popped it into his mouth, and swallowed it dry. After all, he needed his wits about him if he was going to go through this mission.

He wandered to the bar and perched himself, facing the door, to watch the club. He wasn't going to make contact with Blackwell's niece until his partner appeared. So, Duo ordered a Sex on the Beach (with coconut rum mixed in) and waited.

Twenty-three hundred hours rolled in. And so did his partner.

Duo almost spit out his drink in surprise as he saw the slender, Asian boy dressed in a dark-green tank top and black spandex shorts. His unruly dark brown hair fell into eyes that Duo knew where a dark, intense blue, like the color of the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Duo snorted, Prof. G was right, he would know Heero Yuy on sight.

People almost instinctively backed away from the Wing pilot as he walked through the club. Duo leaned back and started sipping on his drink again. Let Heero find him. Still, Duo was happy to see the stoic pilot alive. Sure, Heero Yuy was a tight ass, but they had an unspoken relationship, mainly because they were running tabs on who saved whom, and Duo was one of the few people Heero didn't point his gun at and say, "Omae O Korosu."

Duo swore that he saw Heero's eyes brighten as he saw him sitting at the bar. The Wing pilot made his way over to him and looked him over. Heero grunted something in a greeting and Duo smiled. The Shinigami said, "Nice to see you again, Heero."

"What do you think the problem is?" Heero asked as he sat down at the bar beside him. The bartender gave him a look and Heero sent him the Trade Marked Death Glare. The look sent most people skittering for safety, and huge, hulking bartenders were not an exception.

Duo shrugged and answered, "I don't know. Prof. G told me that his niece knows a lot. That's all I know, Heero."

"That's all I know as well," Heero replied in his monotone as he looked at Duo.

Duo itched to ask how he was doing, what he'd been up too, how did he get away, and what the hell happened with Oz getting a hold of Wing ZERO. Duo didn't ask any of this though, he started to look around the club.

Many pairs of eyes eventually strayed to the two teenage boys sitting at the bar. Heero stiffened viably as he noticed this as well. Duo sighed and continued to look around. To his surprise, an Asian girl wearing pig tails and a skimpy kimono and a girl dressed in a crimson Merry Widow's corset, knee-high stiletto boots and not much else with dark blond hair strutted over to them. The Asian wrapped one of her arms around Heero and smiled fetchingly at him while the red latex chick almost hopped onto Duo's lap and placed a hand between his legs.

Heero snorted, "Get off me."

"Aw, come on, sweetheart, you two looked so lonely from where we were standing at," the Asian girl purred.

The corset girl started to gently rub Duo's thigh. She looked at him with light blue eyes and smiled. She said, "And we wanted to have a little fun, so I thought we'd come over and say hi."

Duo smirked as her hand traveled to his inner thigh. He gently caressed her cheek and moved his face closer to hers. He asked, "How much per hour, honey?"

"What?" the girl hissed, looking shocked. At that time, the Asian girl gave a nervous cry as Heero dumped her to the floor. Heero promptly ignored her and turned back to the bar, looking at Duo and the Latex Princess.

Duo smirked and made sure that their lips were only inches away. He replied, "Baby, I've been around and I know a whore when I see one. Maybe not by profession, but by deed."

"Fuck you," the Latex Princess hissed as she tried to slap Duo.

Duo deftly caught her wrist. After all, she was just a mere mortal, not like Heero beside him. He purred, "You tried, babe, but you didn't get it."

"Go to hell," the blond snapped at him as she scrambled away from Duo. She lifted up the Asian girl, who looked at Heero with her bewildered sloe eyes. She soothed, "Come on Usagi, lets leave these fags alone." With that, they stormed away.

Heero looked at Duo in askance. Duo straitened his silk shirt and frowned. He said, "I grew up on L2, Heero, avoiding pimps and drug dealers. One over-sexed nymph isn't going to bother me."

Heero looked around and pointed. "It's her," was all he said. Duo looked over to where he was pointing. Sitting there was this little, curvy girl with a mane of long, pale auburn hair. She was dressed in a black velvet body suit.

Heero began to sit up and Duo grabbed his arm. Heero gave him a Death Glare and Duo simply smiled back. Duo said, "Okay, Heero, pop quiz, if you're a sixteen-year old girl would you talk to a phsyco whose first words are, 'I will kill you," and are not Relena, would you talk to him?"

Heero's dark eyes looked blank for a moment. Duo stood up and smiled. He placed his hand on Heero's chest and pushed him down. "Heero, you kick ass at military situations but when it comes to stuff like this, I'm the Perfect Soldier." With that, Duo walked over to talk to the girl.

 

******

"Heero, you kick ass at military situations but when it comes to stuff like this, I'm the Perfect Soldier," Duo told him with that same manic smile as he sauntered off to Blackwell's niece.

Heero looked at Duo's drink and sighed. He wondered how much alcohol that Duo had consumed tonight, or if was just the fumes from the aromatic drugs floating around the place. He knew that he took an antidote to almost every form illegal drug out there, and ones that were legal too.

Or maybe because Duo Maxwell was one of the few people to look Heero in the eye and tell him exactly what he thought and that he wasn't afraid. Or maybe because this was Duo's world and not his. That fact bothered Heero more than anything. Then, he watched as the braided baka walked over to the girl.

Duo did have a point. Heero would have simply pointed his pistol at the girl and threatened to kill her if she didn't tell him everything she knew about her uncle. After he had gotten all the information that he could, he would simply shoot her. Duo, on the other hand, would get the information without killing.

And that bothered Heero more than he would admit.

 

******

Duo watched as the girl tightened a rubber tourniquet around her arm and checked the hypo in her hands. Duo noticed the thick black liquid in the syringe and wondered what the hell she was shooting up. He quickly looked down at himself. He looked good and his cross was hidden. So, he just had to stop her from shooting up and get all the information he could.

She tapped the needle, studying it with clear, stormy green eyes. Duo stepped in front of her and grabbed the needle from her hand. She glared for a moment before she took a good look at him. Broad shoulders for a sixteen-year-old, elfin features, a wide, mobile mouth that promised wicked things in dark rooms, and huge, brilliant violet eyes. Duo knew exactly what she was looking at. Her face spread into a quick smile.

She told him, "That's over nine hundred credits that you're holding in your hands."

"Pretty expensive trip," he replied as he sat down. He knew this game all too well, a dance that he could do blind folded. Which, he was planning to do, but he knew not to get too cocky, that would only make him slip up.

She shrugged as she licked her lips and looked at the needle in Duo's hands. He was dealing with a druggie. A pure, simple Doper. And that bothered him, What a waste, he thought to himself as he looked at her beautiful features.

She replied, "I can afford it."

Duo spun the syringe in his nimble fingers and smiled mischievously at her. He asked, "So, do you have a name or should I just call you Babe?"

"Katharine, my friends call me Kat though," she replied with a snort. She looked him over and asked, "Do you have a name or should I just make you my walking dildo for the night?"

Duo gave an exaggerated flinch. He knew her type. She was escaping from realty, putting up walls and shields so high that no one could climb them. He understood this type more than the others because he was escaping too. Except his escape involved climbing into a massive battle machine and becoming a God of Death.

Hey, everyone had to have their fixes, it was just that Kat's was in the palm of his hand.

He answered, "Well, that does sound like fun, but my name's Solo."

"Woah, did ya give that name to yourself or what?" she replied, the sarcasm as thick as plasma residue in her voice.

Duo smirked and thought, No, but I did name myself Duo Maxwell, the God of Death, if you're interested. Instead, he said, "Naw, I would have given myself a cooler name like Razor or Blade, or something like that."

"Interesting, so why did you come walk all the way over here and stop me from taking a hit?" she replied, crossing her legs.

Duo smirked and told her, "Well, I'm horny, you're cute, and I'd thought that we could fuck."

"Not a chance. I saw the Latex Bitch and the Geisha girl over there. If you're so horny, why didn't you just take the chick who almost gave you a hand job a few minutes ago?" she snapped back at him.

Duo smiled and held out his hands in a defeated gesture. He answered, "Okay, okay, you caught me. You just seemed sort of lost over here and I really don't like chicks who look like they want to strap you down, okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied in a cold, yet tired voice.

Duo waved the hypo and asked, "Then why you have this, babe?"

"You wouldn't understand," she hissed as she lunged for the needle.

Duo shook his head and studied Kat. He jerked his arm back and relaxed in the chair. She gave a frustrated and defeated sigh as she sat back in her chair. "Damn you, Solo, damn you, you son of a bitch," she growled at him.

Duo gave a bitter smile as he replied, "Too late, baby. Way too late for that." She chuckled and ran her fingers through her hair. She looked at him with her stormy green eyes for a moment.

He leaned closer and asked, "So, what's bothering you?"

"My uncle, and I have no idea why I'm telling you that," she answered with a chuckle.

Duo placed the hypo down and looked at her. He asked, "What is he doing?"

"Oh, god, why should I tell you?" she laughed at him.

Duo looked at her very seriously. He said, "Because I know something about being lost and alone myself." He wasn't lying, per say, but he was bending the truth to get information. That, though, crawled under his skin and bothered him.

She chuckled and said, "My uncle is a biochemist. And a huge colony hater. He says that they're a plague on humanity and must be destroyed. So, he made a virus to do that."

Duo froze. There were two types of viruses: computer and the ones that wiped out colonies like L2. He kept the snarl that wanted to form on his features at bay. Instead, he gave her a comforting smile that didn't reach his eyes.

A plague, a virus. Well, I'd like to show you what the damned God of Death can do, you son of a bitch, Duo thought coldly as he kept that smile plastered on his features. Heero and Trowa had their mask and he had his. She looked at him and shook her head.

"I told you too much," she told him as she stood up. She didn't even give the hypo another look. She started to flee, but Duo caught her arm.

As he did, he slipped a tracer onto her sleeve. He stood up, easily holding her and looking at her. She almost collapsed into his arms. She whispered, "I can't take this, Solo. I can't fucking take this."

Duo sighed and knew that the next part of the Dance would be to "comfort" her. It was the part of the Dance that he was going to neglect. Besides, she would run back home to her biochemist uncle and that would be it. Then Heero and Duo would see if this virus was what Duo was fearing it was.

Duo gave her a wan smile. He told her, "I wish I could help you."

She gave him a watered down smile and replied, "You did, Solo. Thanks." With that, she turned and leaved him. He noticed that he left her hypo on the table. He picked it up in his hand and looked at the black liquid and frowned. He walked back over to Heero.

Heero asked, "What did you get?"

Duo held out the hypo and Heero took it from him. He answered, "She's a druggie, that's for damn sure, Heero."

Heero asked, "What is it?"

"Dunno. Could be Death Hash, Black Frost, Ebony Tulip, I don't know. I haven't been on the streets for a while," Duo answered tiredly. There was a time where he knew almost every nickname for every drug sold. That bothered him.

Heero nodded and bit, "Go on."

"Her uncle's a biochemist. She said that he thinks the colonists are a plague and wants to wipe them out with a virus," Duo sneered. Damn, this case was really getting to him. He wanted to get this over with. He wanted to go find this bastard and kill him.

"Any location?" Heero asked in his monotone.

Duo did smile at him and replied, "No, but I did slip a tracer on Kat."

Heero nodded and said, "Lets go." With that, the two pilots walked out of the pulsing music of the club.

 

******

Heero calmly sat his laptop's screen as he watched the flashing blue light on a grid map of New York and the surrounding areas. Duo was changing back into his street clothing as he did this. Heero closed his eyes and listened to the alternative rock that was coming from Duo's speakers.

He wondered what Relena was up to as he watched the flashing blue light on the screen. He had told her that he had a mission and that he would be back. Why he told her these things, he didn't know, he just did. Quatre had been over worried about Trowa in the past few weeks after returning to Earth.

When he received this surprising call from Dr. J he decided that getting back into action with a mission was the best thing for him. Besides, it gave him a chance to be out of that horrible school uniform. He heard Duo softly singing along with the song as he stepped from his room.

Duo had been acting strangely after they left the night club. Sure, he'd been grinning and quipping the usual one liner as always, but there were subtle differences to Duo Maxwell. The first thing was how stiff his comrade was. Duo moved casually, easily, but after what had happened, Duo had been stiff most of the night. Also, Duo's fists were tightly clenched when he wasn't using them to communicate.

The Shinigami started pacing around the room, his braid twitching in frustration. Heero looked back at the screen. The flashing blue light had stopped. Heero stood up and gathered his things, mainly his pistol and his laptop.

He told Duo, "You're driving."

"Yeah, whatever," Duo said briskly as he looked at Heero. Heero turned around from the harsh expression on his face.

Heero told him, "If you can't handle this mission, I need to know now."

"Oh, I can handle it, Heero, there's no doubt about it," Duo replied with a bitter laugh.

Heero looked back at him and stated, "You've been acting strangely ever since we left the Raven. If you're a liability to the mission, leave."

"God, you don't get it, do you?" Duo replied with that same sharp, bitter laugh. "No, you wouldn't get it because no one even knows about it."

Heero waited. Duo didn't say anything else, just adjusted his collar. Heero had to ask, "Know about what?"

"Never mind. Let's see if we can stop this guy, okay? We have enough to worry about with the Romafeller foundation now. Lets go," Duo replied tersely as he began to walk out of the room. Heero only followed him, wondering what Duo was talking about.

 

******

The hospital was warm. That was the first thing he realized as he snuck in through the basement. Too warm, an artificial warmth that bothered the little boy as he snuck into the service elevator. He rode the elevator up.

The door opened and he quickly rushed past a startled nurse and nurse's aide. The nameless little boy hid in the shadows as he pushed his long, dirty hair from his face. He licked his lips as he looked around.

"Dammit," the little boy grumbled as he started to sulk in the shadows. He wondered where the lab was. He had to find it, too many people were depending on him. Sick people. Sick and dying while he was just as healthy and well, if a little malnourished, as ever. He grunted as he sprinted down the almost empty hallway.

He looked around the rooms, there were no patents. He smiled. Then he must be on the right track. Solo was depending on him.

His smile widened as he noticed the huge, stainless steel doors with the electronic lock. That had to be the place where they stored the antitoxin. He licked his dry lips and looked around. There had to be away to get in here.

That's when he saw the doctor in the long lab coat.

The little boy skittered back into the shadows and hid. He watched as the doctor unlocked the door. As he stepped in, the little boy rushed in after him.

The doctor spun around, surprised to see a six-year-old boy with obscenely long hair and huge, violet eyes. The little boy walked up and kicked him into the shin and ran to the cold storage area of the room. He opened up the freezer and pulled out the 0387RelentVac box. The antitoxin that would save the rest of his people.

The little boy opened the door and ran off. He heard the doctor call for security, but as they rounded down the corner, the little boy had disappeared into the shadows once again.

 

******

Duo shut the painful memory from his mind as he drove. Heero gave curt directions and Duo followed ditfuly. Heero had never seen a plague first hand. Duo had. He could still see their dying bodies, forever etched into his mind as a bloody, bleeding mass. He could still hear Solo's voice in his head as . . .

Don't go there, Duo, don't go there! His fists clinched the wheel as they drove. Heero said, "Turn left and go down 2.8 kilometers and stop. She hasn't moved for the past half hour."

Duo nodded and did. He parked near a vacant lot. They stood and looked down at the lot. Duo kicked the ground and hissed, "There's nothing there, Heero. The tracer might be a dud."

Heero ignored the Deathscythe pilot and walked a few feet away from him. He knelt on the ground, his laptop on his lap, and began to type. Within a few moments, the ground lurched on hydraulics. Duo whistled as a hidden entrance was revealed. Heero Yuy, the Perfect Soldier everyone! Duo thought as Heero calmly stood up and placed the laptop under his right arm.

Duo was surprised to know that Heero was left-handed. Sure, he was trained to be ambidextrous, but his choice had was left. Maybe Heero wasn't so perfect after all . . .

Duo said, "Well, there's no time like the present." Heero simply looked at him and said nothing. Duo sighed and thought, I forgot how stoic he was.

He started to walk into the dark passageway with Heero following. Within a few moments, ground shifted again, surprising Duo. He spun around and Heero grunted, "It's timed. Its fine. Keep going."

"Right," Duo replied grimly as he hit the button on his watch. (1) A small, crimson beam of light emitted from the titanium watch. The ruby light would cast enough light for them to see, but not enough light for them to be detected. This was the part of the mission that Duo was probably chosen for, or the fact that Prof. G and Dr. J were pretty good buddies and would like to see their young wards work together.

They walked deeper into the passageway. Dim lights suddenly came on, nearly blinding Duo. Heero blinked and reached over to turn off Duo's watch.

Duo paused to look around. They were standing in a huge, metal box. At least, that's what it looked like. This was almost like an abandoned OZ base. A sinking feeling quickly developed in Duo's stomach as he looked around. This doesn't feel right, he thought darkly as he looked around.

Heero nudged him and said, "Keep going."

"I don't like this," Duo confessed as they walked deeper into the base.

Heero shrugged and replied, "It doesn't matter. It's the mission."

"Yeah, the damn mission," Duo grumbled as they began to walk again. Heero's dark blue eyes were unreadable as he looked him over. Then there was a flicker in his friend's eyes as he sighed.

Heero said, "Someone told me, a long time ago, live by my emotions, Duo. What are your instincts about this?"

"I don't want go get into that," Duo managed as he started to walk again. Heero shrugged and followed. It wasn't too long before they reached an airtight door with another electronic lock. Almost automatically, Heero bent down and started to work on it with his laptop.

Within moments, the door opened and bright, white light flooded the two pilots. Duo automatically blinked and held up his arms to protect himself. Heero started to walk in. Duo sighed and grumbled, "He's gonna kill himself, one of these days." Then he followed Heero's unruly head in.

 

"Shit," he cursed as he looked around the room. It was a huge lab. Duo saw two huge vats filled with a pale brown liquid filled with tiny bubbles that glowed slightly. The two vats had computers and regulators strapped to them. "Son of a bitch," he swore again as he remembered a set up similar to this in the hospital that he stole the antitoxin from. Those regulators were for living organisms.

Heero walked to the huge computer and hooked up his laptop to it. Along with the soft, mechanical hum, a sound that would have comforted Duo at any other moment, there was the soft clacking of Heero's deft fingers on the keyboard. Heero sat there, perfect posture as he tried to find out the mad scientist's plan.

Duo walked over to one of the vats and felt a strange compulsion. He placed his hand on the thick plastic and shuttered. It was warm, human body warm. "Heero," he called out as he stepped away from the vat as if he had been burned.

"What?" Heero barked sharply as he continued to type.

Duo swallowed and managed, "This bastard's manufacturing bio-weapons, Heero. To wipe out all of the colonies." Anger raged in the young pilot as he hissed, "He's planning to kill us all. Son of a bitch."

"You're right. He has a plan that will spread this virus to all five of the lagrange points. So, we have to stop him now," Heero said as he disconnected his laptop.

Duo looked around at the different lighting and smiled. He pointed up and said, "Let's stop this bastard before he gets any farther."

Heero looked up at the lighting as well. Duo explained, "These can be switched over to the ultraviolet spectrum. They're illegal in most places now, but they'll kill most bacteria and viruses. It's the old asshole's escape hole." He smiled broadly and pointed up. "So, let's use the old guy's loop hole and make him regret the day he called the colonies a plague!"

Duo paused as he snickered, "I'll show them what a plague is."

Heero replied, "Understood."

Duo grinned and said, "Let's get to work."

 

******

"Forty-five seconds till the ultraviolet lights come on," Duo stated as he looked down at his watch. The two pilots easily walked out of the lab as the doors locked once more. Heero turned to watch the doors as Duo leaned up against the wall.

Warning! Warning! Ultra-Violet contamination eminent in 35 seconds!

"Shit! Did you turn off the alarm," Duo snapped as he sprang to life.

Heero nodded, wondering what was going wrong. He took out his laptop and tried to ignore the crimson flashing lights or the loud siren that was blaring. 30 Seconds! Heero was connected to the mainframe once again.

28 Seconds!

Heero was in the alarm block of the program.

25 Seconds!

Suddenly, the lights stopped flashing, the coarse, male voice stopped shouting, and the alarm stopped screaming. Heero took a deep breath in relief and closed his laptop. He stood up to see Duo holding out his machine gun and looking around, getting ready to shoot whatever came into the corner.

Heero said, "Come on."

"Right, before the flashing lights and sirens give us away," Duo quipped as he looked at Heero with angry, violet eyes. Heero ignored his friend's glance as he turned away. He pressed the code for the doors and it came open.

Heero smirked softly as he noticed that the once vibrant tubes were now a thick, dirty yellowish-brown sludge. He walked to the computer and hooked up his laptop. He heard Duo snort, "Hey, it's not warm."

"What, baka?" Heero asked absently as he ran a bio-scan on the chemicals in the vats. He wanted a viral count. Before, there was a startlingly frightening amount of virus in those vats. Enough to kill a colony if they didn't have a cure. Heero didn't know about what the virus could do or what it was called, but the concentration would be enough to kill almost anyone.

Duo's voice was surprisingly soft as he answered, "They were warm, now they're just sort of room temperature."

"Good," Heero replied as he looked back at the virus vats. He looked back at the computer and chuckled. He closed his laptop when he read: Virus Count: 0. He looked at Duo and said, "Mission accomplished."

"About damn time," Duo grumbled as he started to walk out of the lab.

Heero followed the braided pilot out, keeping his eyes locked on the black clad figure. He wondered what was bothering Duo so much about this mission. Usually, Duo took missions with intense glee, wiping out everything in his path with a manic laugh. Heero was feeling something akin to worry as he followed Duo out of the lab. The doors shut behind them and Duo said, "Let's get the hell out of here."

Heero agreed wholeheartedly as they began to run. The light soon faded behind them, signaling that he would have to hack into the door's system again. That was no problem. The sooner he had this mission over with, he could return to the Sanq Kingdom and . . .

He didn't know what then. He knew that Duo was still fighting OZ and Romafeller in the colonies, but the Sanq kingdom needed protection. Relena needed protection.

For a brief moment, her face flashed into his mind. He could see the long fall of her dark blond hair around her round face. Her eyes were a bright, cornflower blue tinged with a hint of green. He could see the determined set on her features as she spoke out about her beliefs, no matter how misguided he thought they were.

Suddenly, he heard Duo coughing loudly right before his own lungs were filled with water. He blinked and looked up between dripping wet locks of hair. His clothing was soaked through and he was kneeling in a puddle of water. He spat water out and looked at Duo.

Duo was barely holding himself up with one arm as his other hand soothed his throat as he choked. He was dripping water as well as he coughed. Pale mucus dripped from his lips as he looked slightly panicked. Heero stood up, ignoring the irritation of his lungs as he wondered how he missed being coated with a sheet of water.

Baka, you were too busy thinking of Relena, a snide voice sneered in his mind. Heero ignored that nagging voice as his "Perfect Soldier" persona snapped into place. He automatically checked his laptop and was satisfied to see that it was functional. He checked his pistol and nodded in quiet mollification as he looked up.

The ceiling was dripping water and Heero licked his lips. He could faintly taste the chemicals used in sterilization on his tongue. He realized that a timed system released the water and chemicals into the hallway to prevent any stray germs or viruses to be released. It wasn't the system he would have used, but it was effective none the less. Besides, it explained why Duo kept on choking, curled up on the cold, metal floor, beside him.

"Get up, Duo," Heero snapped at the coughing boy.

Duo looked up at him, his lips thinly coated with spittle. He quickly wiped them off with the back of his hand as he shakily stood on his feet. He wavered for a moment and Heero automatically caught and stationed him upright. It was a pose that was routine for the two boys; either Duo was supporting an inured Heero or Heero was supporting an injured Duo.

"Can you walk?" Heero asked him briskly.

Duo gave him a watered down version of his Devil-May-Care grin. He answered, "Oh, don't worry about me pal, let's just get the hell out of here." Heero stepped away, satisfied that Duo could walk by himself. Duo took a few steps then looked back and gave him the full Devil-May-Care grin. Then he took off running. Heero shook his head despite himself and ran after him.

 

******

Dr. Jacob Blackwell looked at the image fleeing the video cameras with a burning fury. All of that work was burned away with a simple flash of UV light by two teenage boys. He snarled wordlessly in anger as he watched the two of them hack into his compound with ease.

His computer was to be the state of the line. His security system flawless, impregnatable, but some how those two teenage boys had managed to break in with military precision. Then they had managed to disable all the alarms, sounding long enough to be aware that something was happening, and destroy the virus.

Well, not all of it.

As he watched the two boys go through their final check, he recognized one of the boys from an Oz wanted poster. There was no mistaking that long, chestnut brown braid and priest collar of Gundam pilot 02. The Gundams were the most deadly plague that infected the earth, worse than the colonies that spawned them.

That gave him an idea. As a fail safe, he injected a weakened form of the virus into the cleansing solution that was released once a day through the corridor. The two pilots would make their way to the colonies and spread the virus before anyone knew what happened. They were coated with it and would soon contract it themselves.

Within a matter of a few days, they both would be dead and maybe his plan wasn't ruined after all. Blackwell threw back his head and laughed. Then, as a whim, he switched the camera to Kat's room.

The teenage girl had passed out on the bed, her chest rising and falling softly as she slept, still in her club clothes. At least she didn't come home high or stoned as she sometimes did. Tonight, she simply seemed bone weary. It didn't matter. His plan would work, one way or another.

 

******

Heero was trembling. He tried to type the message to Dr. J that his mission was complete, but his hands were shaking too badly. He swallowed, realizing that his throat was sore. He was hot, then suddenly shaking with cold. His head throbbed and he dimly realized that he was feeling ill.

He wondered why. He'd been fine the whole night. No, this just started as they reached the safe house again. Not even the shower he took helped.

He heard the shower still running. Duo had been in there for almost half an hour. Washing that obscenely long hair of his, he thought with distaste as he waited. The shower stopped, but it was a few minutes later before Duo stepped into the room, fully dressed, but combing his nearly knee-length hair.

"I think we should go back and kill the bastard," Duo told him as he deftly began to skillfully braid his hair. Heero was amazed on how distant and hollow his partner's voice was to him. The room lurched again, starting to spin.

Heero gripped the table as a wave of nausea and dizziness overcame him. Duo went on, "I mean, he could do this again without any warning. So, we need to go back and kill him." His voice sounded severely distant, metallic and slurred.

Duo's image began to blur and Heero blinked, bringing the black garbed pilot back into view. He only nodded, trying to keep a hold of the table. His knees were shaking. The whole room was dimming.

"Duo, are you all right?" Heero managed to ask. His own voice sounded slurred and distorted to him. He swallowed the bile that wanted to rise out of his throat. He was having trouble keeping himself standing.

Duo kept braiding his long hair as he snapped, "No, I'm not. I wanna go back and make sure that son of a bitch is dead . . ." He slipped the elastic hair tie into the end of the braid and looked over at Heero. Heero blinked as his arms began to shake on the table.

"Duo . . ." he managed right before he collapsed.

 

******

Golden eyes gleamed feverishly bright under a fall of dirty, blond hair. Solo was older than the boy who was holding his hand. He looked up into the bright, healthy violet eyes and said, "You've gotta help them all, Key. You're the Key, you know kid. The one I could I always count on." He coughed and a trickle of blood bubbled from his lips.

The boy was blinking away tears. He was a smart kid, a good kid, and Solo knew that he was really gonna be something someday. Too bad he wasn't going to see it.

He squeezed the boy's hand one last time. He reached out with a weak hand and stroked that long hair away from his gamine features. "Don't fail me, Key."

"No! Solo! Don't leave me!" the boy cried out, his violet eyes spilling tears.

Solo frowned as the boy's image started to darken. It was just so easy. All he had to do was slip and it would be over. Still, he had to tell the boy something.

He smiled faintly and said, "Key, you're really something, you know that. I'll catch ya in Hell, okay."

"Solo," he sobbed as the golden eyes closed. The boy stood up, wiping tears away from his face. Solo was dead, so he was planning to die too, but first he had to do something. He couldn't fail Solo.

 

******

Duo caught Heero's body as he fell. He was burning hot to the touch, trembling and weak. Heero's dark eyes were fever bright as he looked at Duo. "We failed," he rasped, coughing. Duo somehow managed to grab a paper napkin and hold it to Heero's lips. Thick, green phlegm was coughed up as Heero shook.

Heero said, "Kill me, Duo."

Duo shook his head and looked down at his fallen friend. He grabbed the laptop and settled Heero down in the chair. He said, "The mission's not over Heero Yuy. Not on my watch." He gathered up his machine gun, slipped a couple of clips and grenades into his pockets, and the laptop. Then, he reached up and lifted up Heero.

The Wing pilot's weight leaned heavily against him as he looked at Duo with those bright eyes. His face was extremely pale and ashen, just like Solo's and the others. He might not have been able to save Solo, but he could damn well save Heero.

"Come on, Heero, we have a mission to finish," he growled as he started toward the door. He swore that he saw a look of amazement on Heero's features as they hobbled out of the safe house. Or maybe he just imagined it.

 

******

The slight, brown haired boy ran through the allies with a sense of ease. He ran into the rundown, abandoned warehouse that his whole group had taken safe haven when the plague hit. He opened the rusty door and stepped in.

The smell of blood, vomit, and unwashed bodies almost overwhelmed the boy. He straitened his slight shoulders and shook his long hair out of his face. He looked at each of the children lying down on dirty, stolen blankets and thrown out mattresses. Their eyes, noses, mouth, and ears were trickling blood in crimson rivulets, their pale, ashen skin was covered in pustules as their immune system attacked each one. He was the only one unaffected and the only one who he did not catch it.

He bent down to each fellow child, skillfully giving them a dose of the antitoxin. He had enough for everyone except him. He clutched the last syringe in his tiny hand and let it drop on the floor. He sat, amidst the sickness and waited.

He felt just fine. "Dammit!" the little boy cried as he looked around. He wasn't to die this day. After all, Solo's spirit was watching him. He smiled briefly at that. The nameless boy stood up and looked up.

His huge, violet eyes almost glowed as he said, "Solo's with me. From now on, we'll be Duo."

 

******

"Damn Heero, you're getting heavy," Duo grumbled as he gingerly sat Heero to the ground. The strangest thing was that he felt absolutely fine. Perfectly healthy.

Heero, on the other hand looked like death warmed over. They had to stop every few minutes so Heero could cough up some more green shit from his lungs. His skin was as white as alabaster and a reddish rash had crept over it. He was burning hot to the touch and Duo wondered how much longer that Heero could take this fever before his brain fried.

Heero only looked up at him before he slumped to the ground. He then rasped, "Duo, kill me. We may not be able to find him."

"May not, different from will not," Duo chirped hopefully as he knelt down. He adjusted the machine gun's strap on his arm and hooked the laptop into the computerized lock. He typed almost as rapidly as Heero, but he was better at breaking and entering than he was. He'd simply had more practice at it.

In this one case, Duo was better than Heero. Sure, Heero was able to bend steel, fix broken bones with his own hands, and preform self-mutilation for the good of the mission, but Duo was the thief. Therefore, he was good at picking locks, no matter how complex they were.

He smiled as he said, "Open says me!" Heero groaned in disgust as the door lurched on its hydraulics. Duo walked over and lifted Heero up again. He slowly began to descend back into the dark corridor again.

Heero tugged at his sleeve and Duo looked down at him. Heero said, "I'm only slowing you down, let me go."

"Now, if I did that, then who would Relena stalk?" Duo replied with a smirk as they walked the dark path.

 

******

Blackwell sat in his study, drinking a sifter of brandy thoughtfully, and looked through a copy of Miltion's Paradise Lost. Beethoven's Fifth was playing in the background as he read. The brandy slightly burned his throat as he sipped between pages. He needed to relax a bit. He had full confidence in his plan, but he needed to rest.

Suddenly, the door opened and there stood his niece. She had changed from her velvet cat suit to green silk pajamas and a white robe. Her hair was loosely braided down her back, reminded him of the Gundam pilot. He smiled briefly to himself. The Gundam pilot who would spread the virus across the colonies.

Within forty-eight hours, each colony should be infected by his calculations. Within seventy-two hours, they would all be dead. He had a thought to sell his plague to the Romafeller foundation to get rid of that annoying Sanq kingdom. Or maybe not.

Kat rubbed her smoky green eyes and asked, "What are you still doing up, Jacob?"

Blackwell smiled fondly at his niece and told her, "Sweetheart, just thinking."

"Oh," she said, sounding tired. Not just physically, but mentally as well.

Blackwell replied, "Baby Doll, why don't you go back to bed?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," she said dully as she turned away. Blackwell frowned. Each night she'd been getting worse and worse and he made no move to stop her. He pushed the dark thoughts from his mind and focused on the upcoming cleansing.

 

******

Kat took down her hair, brushed out the pale, auburn strands, artistically put on make up to hide the circles under her eyes and her pale, drawn face. She changed from her pajamas into her favorite dress. It was black velvet with billowy, pointed sleeves to hide the needle tracks on her arms and a skirt that stopped right at her fingertips as she held them to her side. She added a pair of silver hoop earings and a silver locket to finish the picture.

She looked lovely. She reached over her dresser and opened a tiny box with a jade dragon painted on it. She pulled out a bottle of Black Frost, one of the most potent illegal drugs out there. It made crack look like baby aspirin in its strength. She looked at the murky black liquid with a slight smile on her face. Then she picked up the length of black silk cord that she had saved for this occasion and a hypodermic needle.

She stabbed the needle into the bottle and drew out the thick, murky liquid. She filled the syringe to the top, past the measurement markings. The dose she was about to take would be enough to kill an elephant. She wasn't going to chance it. She wanted to die, not become a vegetable for the rest of her life.

She laughed as she shut the box and headed out of her room. She made it to her study and sat the items down on a thick wooden table. Her uncle's room was filled with books, her study was filled with CDs of different kinds as well as a huge vidscreen.

She chose a CD, an ancient, 20th early 21st century band called Tool. She put the CD in the player and the lead singer's soft, haunting voice poured through the huge speakers. It was good music to die too, she thought as she sat down in her thick, upholstered chair. The same chair that she had watched countless slasher flicks and read countless romance novels in.

She just couldn't handle it anymore. She was lonely and there was no escape. Her uncle, even though he loved her, was insane, and he was all she had left. Except the syringe she held in her small hand.

She pushed up the sleeve and tied the black silk cord around her arm. She smiled as she held the needle up to the pale veins in her arm. She flinched as she injected the thick liquid inside of her. She withdrew the needle, untied the cord, and rolled down her sleeve.

She closed her eyes and sighed softly. She started to settle back into the music with a drowsy smile. It would all be over soon . . .

Then, red lights flashed as the siren blared louder than Tool. She looked up then settled back in her couch, comfortable but graceful. It didn't matter, nothing mattered now, she thought as the door opened.

 

******

Duo half carried, half drug Heero into the room. Ambient, haunting rock music blared in the room. Duo looked around to see a massive entertainment system, dark green drapes and carpet, a huge, cushioned black couch, and Kat sitting on said couch.

Her pale auburn hair spilled across her shoulders and sleepy face. Her make up was expertly done and silver earing glistened in her ears. She was dressed in a Gothic black velvet dress that had a plunging neckline. She was beautiful.

She was dying.

Duo noticed the hypo and the black silk cord that lay on the table beside her. He ignored the alarms he purposely forgot to disarm. He wanted to see that bastard and get the cure from him. Then he would kill him.

He gently draped a semiconscious Heero on the couch. His condition had worsened, the rash was spreading and turning a darker red, almost burgundy. Duo had to stop once to stop Heero's nose from bleeding. Then again to wipe blood from his ears.

Kat looked at them with hazed green eyes. She smiled and purred, "Ah, Solo, still wanna go at it?"

She held out a hand. Duo walked over to her and picked her up. Her drugged eyes flashed in surprise as he snapped, "I'm Duo Maxwell, Gundam Pilot of Deathscythe HELL, known to you as 02, the God of Death. Now, get your damn uncle in here before I kill you."

She laughed and pressed against him. Her body was weak and limp. She said, "I'm so sleepy, Duo Maxwell, Gundam Pilot of Deathscythe Hell, God of Death. Hey, I'm really dying then, aren't I?"

His heart twisted. She was purposely trying to OD. He asked, "How much did you take?"

"It was filled . . . filled past the lines with Black Frost," she slurred with a sleepy laugh. Her eyes started to shut and Duo slapped her. She opened them and smiled at him. She gave him a quick kiss, but he didn't respond.

Duo said, "Call him in here."

"Let the hell go of my niece," a cultured male voice hissed behind him.

Duo spun around, gently putting Kat down. He aimed his machine gun at the tall, distinguished guy before him. Jacob Blackwell's bright blue eyes looked Duo over then flickered to Heero.

Blackwell mused, "Why aren't you ill?"

"Give me the antidote!" Duo sneered, aiming his pistol at Blackwell.

The scientist said, "Leave my niece alone and you won't die."

"She's already dead you stupid ass hole!" Duo shouted, pointing at the syringe lying on the table. "She shot herself up with Black Frost, you stupid bastard! She's dying, check her vitals!"

He looked over at Kat. Her head was lying limply against her shoulder and her eyes were closed. The look on her face was peaceful, serene even. Blackwell's eyes widened as he walked over to her.

"Kat, Kitty," Blackwell murmured as he stroked his niece's face. She didn't stir. He shouted, "Kat! Wake up, sweetheart! Please!" She didn't move. Blackwell's fingers touched her neck and his face blanched.

Duo snarled, "How do you like losing someone?"

Blackwell turned to look at him with teary eyes. Heero rasped, "It's your fault that she killed herself."

Duo shook his head at Heero and hissed, "Keep still, Heero. I'll see you out of this, I swear it."

Blackwell looked at him with amazement then looked back at Heero again. Blackwell said, "You should be like your friend by now. I coated the both of you with the virus."

Duo's laugh was bitter, even to him. He pulled the safety off of his gun and hissed, "I know a lot about losing people, Jacob. Remember a plague that struck L2 about ten years ago?"

"Yes, the Federation quickly fixed the problem. I worked on that project," Blackwell answered with a nod.

Duo snarled and pointed his gun. He raged, "You stupid son of a bitch! What you did was kill thousands of innocent kids! Homeless people, people who couldn't afford the medicine to get better."

"There was a boy who was about five who broke into the hospital I was stationed at that stole enough of the antitoxin to save twenty-two children, despite our efforts," Blackwell snapped back.

Duo snarled, "I was that boy."

"The only one who wasn't infected," Blackwell drawled, "The only one who isn't infected now. Oh, this is too perfect. A person immune to most diseases. Imagine the antibodies we could draw from you and use against your fellow colonists."

Duo smiled as he walked closer. He sneered, "Go to hell." Then he used the gun barrel to hit Blackwell across the face. The doctor crumpled to the ground, giving Duo enough time to pull out a grenade.

He held it out and said, "I could just wipe us out now. All of us. No more virus, no more us. I'm ready to die, Heero's aching for it, what about you, old man? Ready to meet your maker?"

"No! Don't!" Blackwell shouted as he reached for Duo. Duo simply danced back, waving the grenade at the scientist's face. He chuckled and Heero gave him a sharp look. He gripped the grenade and moved his hand to the pin.

"No, you stupid little brat! It's in my study, the room across the hall, behind a copy of The Andromeda Strain! Just don't pull that pin!" Blackwell screamed.

Duo smiled, knowing that he'd won. He gathered up Heero in his arms as well as the laptop. He gave Kat's body one last look and gave her a quick prayer. He hoped that she would find her peace in the next world. He smiled as he carried Heero out of the room. "See you in Hell, you son of a bitch," he whispered.

Then he pulled the pin and threw the grenade in as the door closed behind him.

 

******

Heero was still weak, but he wasn't bearing any of the rash or coughing up green shit or bleeding. Duo considered that a vast improvement. He injected Heero with the anti-virus and he had been knocked out while Duo destroyed the underground compound.

Heero asked, "What happened? I remember Blackwell's niece ODing, you bluffing Blackwell, and you throwing the grenade into the room, but that's about it."

Duo smiled as he handed Heero his laptop. He said, "Well, while you were sleeping, I took out the compound, by myself I might add."

"Why didn't you get sick?" Heero asked in his monotone.

Duo smiled and looked up. He could see Solo's golden eyes and blond hair in his mind's eye. He answered, "Oh, someone must be looking out for me, I guess."

 

1) Anyone remember The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest? Well, Jonny had a watch that did similar things as Duo's did in this story. That's where I got the idea from.

*******

The End

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