Hold Her Down

Part 2

Ri-chan

 

A story inspired by the songs "Hold Her Down" by Toad the Wet Sprocket and "Angel" by Sarah McLachlin, but not a songfic. This story takes place a year after the battle with Dekim Barton and Mariemaia, AC 197.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not the boys, not the gundams. None of the songs included. Not even twelve cents. Just an original Nintendo gamepak. Sue and you can't have those, but you can have my sister's dog.

Warnings: Violence, lots of language, original characters, LEMON warning, AU. If I give the pairings here, it would spoil the story. You can't make me tell. >.<

Spoilers: Takes place after Endless Waltz.

 

 

 

 

******

  Anju tossed and turned into Alex. The two girls were sharing a bed at Quatre's house, who had graciously let them stay the night. The Winner heir had been concerned when Iria had offered for them to stay with her and her husband, since they weren't equipped to fight if Anju was found to be alive. She didn't like being in this situation: not knowing what had happened to her last week, the last month, nothing. She watched Alex sleep, lightly breathing and a serene expression on her face. Even with the demons that she had learned this girl struggled with, she was amazed that she could sleep at night.

  'Maybe I wasn't meant to be born into this world,' she thought. 'I should have been born earlier than this.' Laughing silently at the way her thoughts were turning, she went over who she had seen that day. Zechs and Noin had both talked to her, trying not to put any pressure on her to remember them. In Zechs' eyes there was a soft pleading, almost as if asking forgiveness for all that he had done before. She didn't understand why he was doing that, but she was afraid to ask why.

  Figuring that she would just wake up Alex if she laid there, Anju quietly got up and slid into some slippers. Softly closing the door, she wandered downstairs to the study. 'Maybe there's a good book to read,' she thought as she opened the door. She stopped when she saw Wufei sitting in one of the easy chairs, reading glasses perched on his nose.

  He looked up when he heard the door open, and was surprised to see Anju standing there.

  "I can come back," she said, turning around.

  "Wait!" Wufei didn't know where that had come from, but he couldn't stop himself. "There's plenty of room down here. You won't be disturbing me."

  Nodding shyly, Anju scanned the bookshelves, finally settling on an old book that looked like a good read. A little thick, it would keep her occupied, so she wouldn't have to think. Settling on the couch, she didn't notice that Wufei was watching her until she sat up to grab another pillow for her back. "What?"

  "Nothing," he said. "That book is good."

  "You've read it?" Anju sat up straighter.

  Nodding, Wufei set his book slightly to the side. He pulled his glasses off and leaned forward. "Yes, two nights ago."

  Anju looked at the size of the book again. "All in one night?" Her eyes widened when she saw him nod again.

  "Right now, I am reading the second book in the series." He lifted it up to show her. 'Along Came a Spider' the title read.

  Soon, the two settled into their reading, not noticing the sky slowly becoming lighter as dawn crept over the night sky. Anju blinked. The sun was beginning to shine in her eyes, indicating that it was morning. Looking back at the book, she found that she had read half of the book in the few hours she had been here in the library.

  She looked up and saw Wufei sitting with his eyes closed, book slipping from between his fingers as he slept. His face was different when he was relaxed, more open and the lines softer. Anju rose and quietly lifted his glasses off, putting them on a side table. She reached back for the book to find his eyes open.

  "Gomen," she whispered. "I just wanted to make you more comfortable."

  Wufei stared up in her eyes. He saw concern there, not what he had expected to see. "How do you feel about Alex-san?"

  Both of them were startled by Wufei's question. Blinking, Anju looked at him for a couple of seconds. "What do you mean?"

  "Do you like her?"

  "Y-yes. She's my friend."

  "Would you want her to be more than a friend?" Wufei wondered where these questions he was asking were coming from.

  "NO!" Anju turned around and went over to the couch. She picked up the book and closed it, not bothering to mark the place where she had left off. Turning towards the bookcase, she went to put the book back where she had found it when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

  "I'm sorry," Wufei said. 'I'm apologizing to Relena Peacecraft? Impossible!'

  Anju looked at him with hurt blue eyes. The hurt fading slightly, she mustered a small smile. "I understand. It's ok.... I realize that it may seem like I'm falling for Alex, the way I've been following her around. It's just right now, I feel like she's the only anchor I have holding onto my sanity."

  Wufei understood why Anju had been doing so. Trowa had drifted in much the same way, but somehow his personality hadn't been changed as much in his amnesia as Relena's had. He had even accepted his name, but this girl couldn't associate with her name. "Count me as another anchor, would you?" 'Chang Wufei, what did you just say!' His mind started to scream, but quieted down at the smile on the former queen of the world's face. 'Maybe she isn't such a stupid onna as I previously thought.'

 

******

  Duo woke up slowly, disoriented by the sun in his eyes. He could hear a rock beat on the other side of the wall, and someone singing, but it was too early in the morning to tell. Sitting up, he pulled his hair back from his face and saw Heero standing in the doorway. The other boy was...hesitating?

  Yawning, he motioned Heero to join him on the bed. The music got louder as both heard the water shut off. They recognized Alex's voice as she hummed along with the song on the radio.

  "She's noisy in the morning," Duo said, breaking the ice. He got up and pulled some clothes from the closet and began to get dressed.

  Heero nodded. He wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say now that he was here. He knew that the American was puzzled by his behavior, but his training hadn't prepared him for this.

  "Duo...."

  "Yeah, Heero?"

  "Um...."

  Duo smiled a little at how flustered Heero was. He had never seen him act like this, not even with being threatened with having to dress like a woman for a mission.

  Heero saw the smile and froze. Just then, a loud bang and a string of curses came from next door, breaking his reverie. Realizing he had been staring, he turned his head and realized that he was blushing.

  'Kawaii!' Duo was spellbound. Stepping closer, he held his hand out to help Heero off the bed. He was surprised when the Japanese boy took it, and instead of pulling him up, he was pulled down onto Heero's lap. "What...?"

  Heero just hugged him close, and buried his face in Duo's hair. He didn't understand these emotions that flowed through him whenever he saw the American. He just knew that what he was doing felt right.

  Wondering what had happened to the other boy, Duo tried to sit up, but Heero's arms tightened around him. 'This has got to be another dream,' he thought. He had been having some pretty hot and heavy dreams the last couple of nights and maybe this was just another one of them. 'Well, if it's a dream, I won't get hurt for doing this.' He pressed his lips against Heero's neck and felt him flinch. Expecting to get hit, Duo kept his eyes closed for a couple of seconds before doing it again, this time with his mouth open a little, his tongue tasting the salty skin.

  Heero couldn't believe the feelings rushing through him. He felt Duo's tongue and mouth move up his neck. It felt incredible, and he wanted more. Pulling back, he saw Duo's eyes flutter open and shut again as Heero kissed him lightly on the lips. He traced his tongue over the lips below his, urging Duo to open his mouth. Their tongues met with a clash, as each felt hunger flow through their veins.

  Everything that had been bottled within the two burst open, and they tried to get even closer. Duo whimpered as he felt Heero's lips leave his and move over his jaw, stopping at his ear. The whimper turned into a moan as his earlobe was delicately licked and nibbled on. Grabbing Heero's head, he blindly pressed his lips against the other boy's, needing more.

  A knock on the door stopped them. "Duo?" Quatre's voice was soft through the thick door. "Have you seen Heero?"

  Neither boy on the bed could answer, not able to think after the desire that had been running through them.

  Getting no answer, Quatre opened the door and stopped at the scene that met his eyes. Both boys turned to look at him and he was stunned at the emotion running through Heero's eyes. "Gomen," he squeaked, shutting the door quickly. He leaned against it and gathered his breath. He went back to his bedroom and found Trowa stepping out of the bedroom, combing his hair.

  Seeing Quatre flushed, he went over to him. He was surprised when the Arabian began laughing softly, soon clutching his stomach as he continued, growing louder.

  Gasping for breath, Quatre sputtered to a stop. He saw concern in Trowa's eyes and he smiled up at him. "It's ok, Trowa," he said. "It's just that I think Heero and Duo need some private time."

  Not grasping the concept for a moment, Trowa looked at Quatre. Suddenly it dawned on him what had happened and he smiled softly. "It's about time," was all he would say.

  Rising slightly on his toes, Quatre kissed Trowa on the lips. "It's time for breakfast. Shall we?"

  They headed for the kitchen and noticed the library door was open. Both were in for a surprise when they saw Wufei and Anju talking quietly to one another. This was almost more than their minds could deal with. Heero and Duo they could handle, but the pilot notorious for not liking women talking to the former queen of the world? It was too deep.

  Both went into the kitchen, distracted by what they saw.

  "Did you see what I saw?" Quatre looked at Trowa over the door of the refrigerator.

  Nodding, the silent pilot sat at the table.

  "Ok. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy on my own."

  Both looked up as Alex entered the kitchen yawning. Her hair lay in a lazy mess down her back, half-dried. "It's just too early in the morning to see that kind of stuff," she said as she yawned again. She grabbed the paper off the counter and didn't see the looks that the two boys were giving her.

  "What kind of stuff," Quatre wasn't quite sure he should ask, but he was curious.

  "Mushy stuff. Ugh!" Alex flipped to the funnies first. "Too much emotion at 7:30 in the morning."

  Silently laughing, Quatre understood that she had seen Heero and Duo. Or maybe Wufei and Anju. 'Don't go there, Quatre.'

  Upstairs, Heero and Duo looked at each other as Quatre shut the door. Neither of them knew what to say. Wiggling his way off Heero's lap, Duo stood up and quickly braided his hair, feeling the other boy's eyes following each move he made. He turned back to Heero before going over to the door, unsure of how he should act. Pulling it open, he went to step outside and found himself pulled into Heero's arms again. This time, the embrace wasn't as rushed as it had been a couple of minutes ago as the two held each other in a simple embrace.

  They both looked up as they heard somebody walk by. Alex was pushing her hair out of her face as she noticed the two locked in an embrace. Embarrassed by intruding on them, she walked quickly past.

  Duo laughed.

  "Nani?" Heero held him tighter for a couple more moments before releasing the American.

  "How cute," Duo said. "Her face was brighter than the spot on Jupiter."

  Heero looked at him for a few seconds before turning to head downstairs. Crooking his head at Duo, he silently asked for the other to join him. Nodding, the two walked side by side down the stairs. They paused by the library and saw the scene the other three had seen as they walked by. Shaking his head, Duo pulled Heero past the door.

  "Hn."

  "Weird."

 

******

  Lady Une looked at the stunned group in front of her.

  "You want what?!" Alex was standing in front of her, an angry look on her face.

  "I want Tenshi to get back together."

  "NO. WAY." Alex clenched her hands into tight fists, trying to resist the urge to hit something. Or at least Une.

  "Yes." Une looked at the others. They were all in different forms of shock at the mission that she had set before them. None of them had obviously expected this, but she knew that they could handle it. "You need to come back from the dead, Alex."

  "No. Nien. Nyet. Non. No. Iie. Ne. Na. I'm not doing it."

  "Impressive," Duo whispered to Heero. He was kind of looking forward to this. He wouldn't mind being in a rock band, especially if he got to be with Heero. Still a little stunned by what had happened this morning, he found himself floating on air. Even though Heero acted like he always did, there was a small glint in his eyes when Duo looked at him.

  "We need to get on the inside of that group, and the only way to do that is for the band to be reformed."

  "And what do I say when people ask me why I'm not dead?" Alex asked sarcastically. "As far as they know, the whole band died six months ago." Frustrated at what Une was doing, she went and looked out the window. 'I don't think I can handle this.'

  Une looked at the others. She would talk to Alex later. "I know that all of you can either play an instrument, or learn quickly. We should start rehearsal tomorrow." Turning back to Alex, "Do you have any new songs?"

  There was no answer from Alex.

  "Alex." Une went over to her and pulled her into the other room. "What is the problem?"

  "I can't handle it," Alex said softly. "I...they...I can't explain."

  "Please try," Une encouraged.

  "The songs are warped."

  "Warped?"

  "They made the songs warp. They play like a broken merry-go-round in my head and it won't stop! I don't know if I can sing like I used to. Singing in the shower is one thing, but Tenshi!" Alex started to pace the small room, opening and closing her fists.

  "You won't do it, not even to protect Anju?"

  Alex stopped dead. Une congratulated herself on bringing the other girl into it. If there was anything she did know about the girl in front of her, was that she was *very* protective of her friends.

  Alex looked at her with wavering eyes. "I don't know if I can."

 

  Anju paced the floor behind the couch. She was worried about her friend. Sitting down on the couch next to Wufei, she watched the others silently, gauging their reactions. Noticing that Wufei hadn't said a word, she looked at him in question. His black eyes were looking at something in the distance. Thinking, she looked at the others. Duo was already wailing on an air guitar as the other three watched in different stages of amusement. Everybody watched the door as it opened, revealing Une.

  Behind her, Alex was resigned with what she was going to have to do. Her shoulders slumped slightly, she refused to meet anybody's eyes.

  "We start rehearsal tomorrow," Une said. She looked at each person before dismissing them.

  Alex shot out of the door, too quick for anybody to catch her. Anju went to go after her, but was stopped by Wufei.

  "Anju-san." Une called her over. In her hands was Alex's fox bag. "She will need this."

  Holding it protectively, Anju left with the pilots.

 

  At her rooms, Alex looked around her bedroom. This had been the last safe place she had, and now it wasn't anymore. She had been comfortable at Quatre-san's house, but it wasn't home. She felt violated. She dug around in the bottom of a drawer, pulling out the false bottom. Lying scattered at the bottom were several photographs, all several years old. Picking one up, Alex looked at it for several minutes, never noticing that she was crying.

  After sitting there a while, she gathered up the pictures, carefully putting them in order and tucking them into a pocket. Feeling a little better, she started singing one of the few songs that played right in her head.

"Ag ambare be m'oige,

Is me bhi samh,

Gan erlas marbh

Bhi Me og san am,

 

Anois, taim buartha,

'S tad ar shiul an la.

Ochon 's ochon o.

 

Na laetha geal m'oige

Bhi siad lan de dhochas

An bealach mor a bhi romnam anonn

Bhi se i ndan domh gombamn, slan, slan.

 

Anois, taim buartha,

'S tad ar shiul an la.

Ochon 's ochon o."

  Humming, Alex didn't notice the audience she had gathered in the other room. Anju had lead the others down to her rooms. The haunting melody the girl was singing had stopped everybody in their tracks. Nobody dared to even breathe, not willing to break the spell that Alex was weaving.

"Na laetha geal m'oige

Bhi siad lan de dhochas

An bealach mor a bhi romnam anonn

Bhi se i ndan domh gombamn, slan, slan.

 

Anois, taim buartha,

'S tad ar shiul an la.

Ochon 's ochon o.[2]"

  Alex went from plant to plant as she sang, watering each one carefully. Coming out of the bathroom with more water, she looked towards the doorway, the last syllable of the song wavering slightly as she finished the song. Flushing, Alex stared at the pilots and Anju, all of them frozen in a tableau.

  Hurrying back into the bathroom, Alex set the watering can down. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she went out to face the others again. "Hi!" she said, forcing cheer into her voice.

  Realizing they had intruded on a private moment, Quatre started to herd the others into the other room. Duo hung back, wishing he could do something. Catching Heero's eye, he signaled that he was staying. Shutting the door behind him, Duo turned back to Alex, who looked a little lost. Through the door he could hear Quatre organizing everybody to help clean up the mess.

  "You ok?" he asked as he walked towards her.

  Nodding hesitantly, Alex stood stiffly. She held herself still as Duo put his hands on her shoulders. "I...I didn't realize that you were here."

  "You sure you're fine?" Duo looked into her eyes. He saw her take more control of herself as the stunned expression wore off her face. At her nod, he let go and sat on the bed, surprised when he bounced up and down on it.

  "It's a water bed," Alex explained.

  "I have got to get one of these," Duo said, excited. He could just imagine all the kinds of trouble he'd like to have on a bed like this.

  Alex sat down on the edge, sending Duo rolling on the waves she made. She started to cheer up as Duo let his wonder show at the bed. Laughing slightly, she watched him try to get up.

  "I usually just roll out of bed," she said, laughter in her voice.

  Duo was happy. He had hoped that he could play the joker to get her back to herself. He had found himself worried over Alex brooding by herself. Taking her advice, he started to roll off the bed as the door opened. Startled, Alex fell back, setting the bed into waves again as Heero walked in.

  The Japanese boy watched the bed undulate as the two scrambled to get off the bed. The two were laughing madly on opposite sides of the bed, ending up in the middle again as the waves sent them in the wrong direction. The situation tickling something inside of him, he went to help Duo up but somehow ended up on the bed as well.

  All three of them rolled around on the bed, laughing loudly.

  "Wait!" Alex said. Duo and Heero looked over at her. Trying not to laugh, she said, "If we hold still, the bed will calm down. Then we can get out."

  "But that's boring!" Duo said ecstatically, moving his body so there were more waves.

"I lay awake, listening to the clock

You're not coming home tonight again.

Is it another stop you didn't plan?

Or was it the one you did?

 

You said I'll be home by ten.

Now the time is four a.m.

Is it me? Or is it what you cannot have

That keeps you from home?"

  The stereo blasted the song loud and clear. Heero recognized it as one of Tenshi's songs. It had been playing on the radio when he had met up with Duo to battle Mariemaia.

  Duo noticed the two on the bed with him were still, both listening to the song intently.

  "Alex?"

  Alex looked over at Duo. "I...." Grabbing the side, she was able to pull herself over the side as the waves diminished.

"And you said I'll love you forever,

I'll keep you right by my side."

  The musical bridge played over the sound system in the rooms, flowing with its heavy bass keeping rhythm. The electric guitar played an intricate tune with the piano, each playing against the other as if battling. Soon, the husky voice of a woman sang again,

"And you said I'll love you forever,

I'll keep you right by my side."

 

I know I said I'd wait for you

But I'm tired of waiting myself.

I'm leaving this place and

This heart behind, I'm moving on.

 

You said I'll be home by ten.

Well, I'm not there anymore.

I decided I'd walk around the world

Searching for my peace again.

 

And you said I'll love you forever,

I'll keep you right by my side.[3]"

  The music drifted off as the song ended, a few lonely notes of the piano the last sound of the haunting song. The next song on the disc started playing, an upbeat rock tempo. A man's tenor voice started singing about the life he had left behind.

  Alex walked out of the bedroom, past a stunned Duo and Heero, still trying to get off the bed, and walked over to the stereo and shut it off.

  Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Anju stared at her.

  "Please pick a different disc." With that, Alex walked back into the bathroom in her bedroom and grabbed the watering can. She went back to watering the plants as if nothing had happened. Humming lightly, she looked at them with care.

  Finally able to stand, Duo looked at her, then at Heero, shrugging his shoulders. Walking out of the bedroom, Duo shut the door behind him and surveyed the clean up crew. They were standing around, not moving. Deciding that their brains were working half-time, Duo went over and picked up a different disc and popped it into the stereo. The disc automatically went to track 4, already programmed in the stereo. A heavy, fast beat came through the speakers, adding a heavy guitar as it progressed. The singer came in, shouting the lyrics.

"Step right up march push

Crawl right up on your knees

Please greed feed..."

  Duo shut off the song. He had kind of liked it, but he saw the faces of the others. "Well, I guess nobody wants to listen to Nine Inch Nails, huh?"

 

  In the bedroom, Heero studied Alex as she finished watering the plants. He felt a tug on his emotions when he was with this girl. It was so close to what he felt when he was with Duo. Confused, Heero decided to watch her more carefully.

  Alex went into the bathroom, putting the watering can away. Entering the bedroom, she saw Heero staring off into nothing. Walking over, she waved a hand in his face.

  Instinctively, he grabbed it and twisted it, a leftover from his training. He looked down and saw Alex looking at him, shock in her eyes. Releasing her wrist, Heero stepped back. He could have hurt her! Ever since 'shooting' Mariemaia, he had promised himself he wouldn't hurt anybody that didn't deserve it. As he watched Alex rub her wrist, he was overcome with remorse.

  "Heero-kun?" Alex went over to him as he sat on the edge of the bed. When he had grabbed her wrist, she knew that she had startled him. She couldn't understand why he was acting the way he was. "Daijobu?" She laid a hand on his arm in concern.

  He looked up into her golden eyes and didn't see fear there.

  "I didn't mean to startle you," she said, apologetically. "I'm sorry."

  "I should be telling you that I'm sorry," he said. "I hurt you."

  "It's ok. It's my mistake for doing that, so why should you be sorry?" Alex followed him as he stood up and walked over to the wall of plants near the bathroom. She put her hand on his arm again and pulled, wanting him to look at her.

  Heero looked down at her. He didn't understand what he was feeling. The desire he felt for Duo he could understand, and being close to him he thought he could handle, but this girl was making him feel all sorts of things he didn't want to feel. The same way he couldn't handle Duo looking at him with soft violet eyes.... Acting on impulse, he pulled Alex into his arms and hugged her. He needed this contact for some reason.

  Startled, she stood there stiffly for a couple of seconds. She heard the door open and she looked over to see Duo standing in the doorway, his mouth open to ask a question. He quickly shut the door when he saw Heero hugging Alex. Closing his eyes, he didn't want to believe it. Opening them again, he saw how stiff Alex was standing, and that Heero's face was scrunched up.

  "What's going on, Heero?" Duo tried to ask him in a cheerful voice, but it was strangled with emotion.

  "I..." Heero didn't know what to say. His head was spinning, and his chest hurt. Staggering over to the bed again, he heard a rushing noise in his ears.

  "Heero!" Duo cried and went over to him. Alex stood, still in shock, for a couple of seconds before going over.

  "Heero-kun!" She reached over and put her hand on top of his, Duo doing the same to the other one. She looked over at Duo, worry in her eyes. "Is he going to be ok?"

  "What happened?" Duo said as he watched Heero's blank eyes. Suddenly, the former wing pilot got a hold of himself and woke up from his trance. He looked over and saw Duo and Alex looking at him in concern. Turning his hands over, he grabbed both of their hands and held tight.

  "Heero?" The stereo sound of his name brought a glint to his eye that neither Duo nor Alex could interpret. All of a sudden, Heero pulled all three on the bed again.

  "Heero!" Duo looked over at the Japanese boy and found a genuine smile on his face. 'Whoa, is he beautiful,' Duo thought.

  Alex looked over and saw the smile on Heero's face and the stunned look on Duo's. 'I'm thinking that the smile doesn't appear very often,' she thought with a small smile.

  In the doorway, Quatre stood unnoticed. He had stayed behind to tell the three in the bedroom that they were going to the store to stock up the kitchen again when he saw what was going on. I don't understand those two anymore.

  Stepping away from the door, he wandered over to the stereo and looked at the disc that Alex had stopped. It was the album Tenshi had released. As he touched it, he felt his chest getting tight.

  In the bedroom, Alex put a hand to her head, a headache suddenly exploding behind her eyes.  Making her way off the bed, she left the two still on the bed to look into each other's eyes. She had been afraid that Duo would put the wrong take on what had been going on, and she was glad that it was all right. Heading into the kitchen, she saw Quatre standing in front of the stereo. She went over to him.

  "Quatre-san?" She bent forward to look into his eyes.

  Startled, he lifted his head and saw Alex in front of him.

  "Where are the others?" Alex turned to the stereo and put in a disk. The sprightly sounds of a John Philip Sousa march came through the speakers.

  His eyes widening slightly, Quatre listened to the music. It was much different than anything he had heard before. "They...they went to the store," he said, getting caught up in the fast-paced music.

  Alex smiled at him again and went into the kitchen. Getting a glass down, she got some water and drank it. These former pilots were even stranger than everybody she had met in the last year. 'I think that's a compliment,' she thought. 'Each of them are intriguing....'

 

******

  Making their way back to Quatre's house to gather up everything, the small group sat in front of the television watching a variety show a week later. For the past seven days, they had been practicing songs as they tested how the group would play. In between times, they had poured over the disk retrieved from Max, making plans to infiltrate the different mediums the revolutionary group were trying to use. At first they had seemed stiff, the only music the former pilots had been used to making as a group was the thunderous sound of mobile suits blowing up among a cacophony of bullets flying past. Anju had gotten into the act, singing fairly decently, but not wanting to sing lead, always background. Alex refused to sing at all as she listened to the others as she wrote down music. Never saying a word unless it was an instruction, she had sat off to one side watching carefully.

  It was now time to relax. They had rehearsed enough material to get a break into the music scene, and each could sit back for a little while. Wufei was reading a book, but every so often his eyes would drift to the TV before going back to the plot in front of him.

  Duo was cheering on the people competing for the grand prize of a trip to the moon for a week's vacation. Next to him, Alex was rating how well everybody was doing, joking about this and that. Anju was in one of the big chairs off to one side, watching silently both the television and those gathered around it.

  Quatre and Trowa were sitting together on the loveseat, neither of them sure of how they should act. Finally, Duo yelled at them to just start making out already. The others in the room looked away, trying not to laugh at how red the two's faces got.

  Heero sat off by himself, content to watch Duo. He was pretending to watch the television, but the American was what captured his attention. He wanted to know everything about him, but he didn't know what to do about it. For once, the Perfect Soldier didn't know what was going on. All he did know, was that Duo was tied into his happiness.

  Frowning, Heero thought about what had happened that afternoon. Lost in thought, he never noticed as Quatre and Trowa left the room early in the evening to Duo's catcalls. Anju excused herself a little after that, Wufei soon following. Alex and Duo continued to watch the television, switching the channel to an old anime movie. He finally looked up when he noticed that the end credits were in English, while the movie had been in Japanese.

  'Tenchi Muyo! In Love' read the credits as they rolled to a stop. Turning, Heero saw Duo and Alex curled up on either end of the couch, sound asleep and wrapped up in their own hair.

  Heero looked at the two. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the fox plushie bag of Alex's lying in the corner. He had seen her clutch it tight, and was curious to know what was in it. He went over and picked it up. Feeling along the fur, he found the zipper and opened it. Inside was a collection of disks and some photos. Making sure that nobody didn't see what he was doing, he gathered them up and went into the study next door.

  His laptop was still sitting on one of the side tables where he had set it when they came in. Booting it up back in the television room, he loaded one of the disks on it. If he could whistle, he would have. On the disk was an impressive amount of information, histories of people throughout the last three centuries.

  He skimmed over the entire disk, looking for the most recent update. He found that was several years old and opened it up. He saw that it had never been modified since it was created. In it, there was a picture of a young girl and a woman, her relative by appearances. Both smiled at the camera, identical grins on their faces, though they seemed forced. There was something familiar about the girl and he looked at the photo more closely. It was Alex around the age of seven. He read the bio closely and found that the woman beside her was her aunt, a famous singer at the time of the entry.

  Recognizing the last name, he made a mental note to check what had happened since. He continued reading and inhaled a sharp, silent breath. He glanced up at the couch and saw Alex still sleeping. Looking again at the screen, he couldn't believe what he read. The girl that was next to Duo was extremely smart. Her IQ had been rated at off the charts. She had learned seven languages in one year, and had been recommended for several scholarships to different schools.

  Matthew's Academy. His mind swiftly raced to what he had been told and what he had been able to find on the school that last couple of days. The school had been destroyed without the aid of explosives. The police were still looking for what really happened to the building, not able to find any traces of what destroyed it. 'Masaka! She destroyed it. But how?'

  A sudden noise behind him alerted him to movement. There was a sharp gasp as Duo stuck his face over Heero's shoulder to look at the computer. "God," the American whispered softly. "Heero?"

  "Hn?"

  "We can't let her know we looked at this," Duo said with almost no sound. Turning his head to look at Heero for a couple of seconds, Duo looked over at Alex, then the screen, and finally to Heero once more. Nodding, he stood and went over to the couch.

  Heero quickly shut the computer off, storing the disks where he had found them as Duo shook Alex's shoulders.

  Yawning, she sat up, yelping as she pulled her hair. "Is the movie over?"

  Duo nodded.

  "Aw man! I wanted to see how they defeated Kain! I always miss the ending." Standing up, she waved goodnight to the other two and headed off to bed, grabbing her bag.

  Going over to stand by Heero, Duo laid his head on the other boy's shoulder. "What now?"

  "What we saw is probably the reason why she could resist the system at Matthew's Academy. It was the system in the mobile dolls, and before that it was in Epyon. If she's that smart, she would be able to handle it."

  "Like you were?" Duo looked up at him in question. He saw the blue eyes slide away. "What?"

  "I couldn't handle it," Heero said. "Look what I did in Epyon."

  Duo stood up and put his face right in Heero's, his hands on the other boy's cheeks. "You did. You handled it better than Zechs ever did, and even he knows what he did wrong. You were strong enough to survive that!"

  Heero looked into the violet eyes that seemed to bore right into his. In them was a confidence that he didn't think he deserved. All his training hadn't prepared him for life outside a war. In front of him was a chance that he didn't think he would ever get.

  Duo looked at Heero, wanting him to understand that he couldn't do any wrong in the American's eyes. The look in the blue eyes let him know everything he wanted to know. Leaning in, Duo pressed his lips against Heero's, sighing softly as they met. Sparks started to fly between them as the kiss got more and more heated.

  "Heero," Duo sighed when Heero's lips moved over to his ear. "I love you."

  Heero froze.

  "Heero?" Duo stood there, the other boy's mouth still against his neck.

  He couldn't hear over the rushing in his ears. Duo loved him? And what did he feel about him in him return? Heero's mind was in panic as emotions threatened to overwhelm him. He backed up, raising wild eyes to Duo before turning and walking out of the room.

  "Wait!" Duo reached out a hand before dropping it. His heart sinking, Duo cursed himself for letting his emotions get the better of him. He had been trying to hold the words in all week after discovering that he loved the Japanese pilot the morning that he and Heero had first kissed. They had been sitting at the table, and Duo wished that every morning could be like it had been at that moment: peaceful, yet full of life as everybody talked about this and that. He had looked up from his bowl and found Heero's blue eyes watching him and he fell. Hard. The eyes looking at him had slid shyly away, leaving behind a stunned heart that leapt into triple time at the realization that love had finally hit Duo Maxwell.

  Sinking onto the couch cushions, he grabbed one of the throw pillows and hugged it to him. He wished he could go back to those few moments he had been in Heero's arms. He buried his face into the pillow, and never noticed the one tear that escaped.

  Heero raced up the stairs to his room and hurriedly shut the door behind him. He stared over at the bed he hadn't slept in the last week and a half, preferring to sleep in Duo's room, even if it was on the floor. The bed was turned down in an invitation to sleep. Choosing oblivion over the ache in his mind and chest, Heero fell into a deep slumber.

 

******

  Alex couldn't sleep. Anju was snoring softly, but that wasn't what was keeping her awake. She had a headache and the words she kept on wishing she could say all week were threatening to come pouring out. Finally tired of trying to sleep, she got dressed in clean clothes and headed downstairs.

  She passed the television room and went the opposite way to the kitchen. She hadn't been over on this side of the house and she was curious. Opening a door, she stood in the doorway in shock. In the middle of the room stood a Steinway grand piano, at least a couple of hundred years old. Walking over to it, Alex lovingly ran her hands over it, caressing it.

  Her mind whirled with the sudden joy this instrument brought to her. Maybe the words she was having such a hard time looking for wouldn't turn out like it always did. Sitting down carefully after raising the top, she ran her fingers lightly over the keys. Listening to each note as it sounded, Alex found that it was perfectly in tune. Hoping that she wasn't as rusty as she thought she was, in mind and in memory, she launched into a piece by Beethoven, becoming lost in the music.

  Duo raised his head, a slight pain in his neck reminding him that a couch really wasn't the best place to sleep. There it was again, the soft music that had woken him up. He was curious to know where it was coming from, so he started down the hallway. He stopped in front of an open door and watched as Alex played an intricate melody over the keys, fingers moving at lightening speed.

  Finishing the song with a couple of loud notes, Alex felt like she was being watched. Turning, she saw Duo walking into the room, coming to sit beside her on the bench.

  "That was pretty," he said.

  Alex noticed his face was drawn. "You ok?" She reached over and brushed some hair out of his eyes. Blushing, she pulled her hand back when she saw the startled look in his eyes. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." She waved her hand around, not sure where she should put it.

  Duo looked into her golden eyes with amusement starting to float through him. He found her attempts to brush off embarrassment funny, releasing him from the depressed state he had been in. "Why are you down here? I thought you had gone off to bed."

  "Couldn't sleep." Alex ran her hands up and down a couple of scales. "And you?"

  "Fell asleep on the couch."

  "From the way you answered that, I guess you don't want me to ask *why* you were sleeping on the couch?" She looked at him, arching an eyebrow. His eyes flashed back at her in answer. "Thought not."

  "Would you play something else? Short, yet fast?" Duo needed something to take his mind off the evening's events.

  "How about a little Chopin? There's a waltz that you're supposed to play under a minute," Alex said with a coy look in her eyes. "Wanna time me?"

  "You're on!" Duo's eyes lit up, ready for some action.

  After an hour of playing, Alex pleaded for a rest for her fingers. Getting off the bench, she roamed around the room, looking at the various instruments. Lovingly touching them, her face was wistful. Duo watched her as she picked up several stringed instruments and strummed her fingers across the taut strings. She came back to the bench and sat down again, holding her fingers just above the keys and letting them drop into discord.

  Duo looked at her for a couple of seconds before he put his hands on the keys. "Is this how it goes?" He ran his two pointer fingers in a hodgepodge of notes pounding hard then soft as a mouse. He mock-played the songs that Alex had played earlier, making them both laugh. He looked over at her for a couple of seconds before asking, "You didn't want to do this before, and now you want to?"

  She shook her head. "Playing the music isn't the hard part. The hard part is singing with the music. There's...there's something about the way the words twist in the music," Alex said haltingly. "I can't really explain. It's as if something in my brain doesn't recognize them and puts something in their place."

  He thought about it for a couple of seconds. "Would you be able to sing? Right now?"

  Alex sat for a minute, silent, and Duo could see the war waging in her eyes. The idea of hearing her sing had grown monumentally. The image of the poster flashed through his mind, the picture encompassing everything around him at the moment. He ignored the information that had written across its back, part of a plot to ruin humanity. What mattered to him was the part of humanity that sat next to him.

  "Sure," came the soft reply.

  Startled, Duo brought his attention back to the girl sitting next to him. He had been half expecting her to say no, that she wouldn't.

  Alex blinked hard a couple of times and took a deep breath. She could do this, she just knew that she could. Playing a couple of soft chords, she started singing an old song she had once heard.

"Spend all your time waiting for that second chance,

for a break that would make it okay,

there's always one reason to feel not good enough

and it's hard at the end of the day, I need some distraction,

beautiful release, memory seeps from my veins, let me be empty

and weightless and maybe I'll find some peace tonight,

 

In the arms of an angel, fly away from here, from this dark cold hotel room

and the endlessness that you fear, you are pulled from the wreckage

of your silent reverie you're in the arms of the angel,

may you find some comfort here.

 

So tired of the straight line and everywhere you turn

there's vultures and thieves at your back

and the storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lie,

that you make up for all that you lack,

it don't make no difference, escaping one last time,

it's easier to believe in this sweet madness, this glorious sadness

that brings my to my knees.

 

In the arms of an angel, fly away from here, from this dark cold hotel room

and the endlessness that you fear, you are pulled from the wreckage

of your silent reverie you're in the arms of the angel,

may you find some comfort here.

 

In the arms of the angel, may you find some comfort here."

  The last plaintive notes of the song hung in the air, followed by a hushed silence in the room. Both of its occupants didn't want to break the spell the song had woven over them.

  Duo looked over at Alex and was surprised to see tears silently making their way down her cheeks. Her eyes were closed tight trying to hold them in. He brushed his fingers over her face, wiping the tears from it as she opened her eyes. They were filled with emotion, even as her mouth opened and closed a couple of times as she tried to speak.

  "Shh," Duo hushed her. He put his cheek next to hers as he reached his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. He felt a swirl of feelings in the air trying to grab onto him, pulling him into their grip. The cheek next to his was hot and wet, the tears having dampened the skin. Duo heard Alex give a small sound before she put her arms around his neck and buried her face in the hollow between his neck and shoulder, her own heaving with holding back tears.

  Alex held onto her port in the storm. She had hardly been able to choke out the words. Duo was the only thing that was keeping her sane at the moment as her mind ran in a hundred different directions rather than face itself. Holding her tears back, she took several deep breaths and calmed herself. The faint scent of sandalwood still clung to Duo's skin, creating a haven that she didn't want to leave but knew she must.

  She sat back, pulling her arms from around Duo's neck. "I didn't mean to break down like that. Thanks," she said softy as she went to kiss his cheek.

  Duo turned his face and found his lips against hers. Both pulled back sharply.

  "I meant to kiss your cheek!" Alex's face was beet red.

  His matched hers. "I know." They looked away in embarrassment. Duo felt shame too. That small kiss had felt good and so different from Heero's. He wanted more, yet he loved the other boy. Confused, he looked back at Alex and found her watching him with a self-conscious and confused look in her eyes.

  Alex didn't want to admit that she had liked that kiss. She had seen the way the boy in front of her watched Heero, and didn't want to get in the way of their romance. Her promise floated through her mind and was shot down by the feelings the kiss had awakened. She opened her mouth to apologize again and found Duo's lips against hers again.

  Duo couldn't help himself. Her lips were so soft and warm they seemed to be inviting his to touch them. Brushing his tongue along the seam, he entreated Alex to open them. His wish granted, Duo groaned at the sweet taste that greeted him. He felt her arms wrap around his neck tightly as she returned the kiss and pulled her closer to him. Growing hotter, the kiss deepened as both became oblivious to everything but the other's mouth.

  Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, Duo knew that this was wrong. Somehow, though, it was also right. He didn't bother to continue the line of thinking as he touched his mouth to Alex's soft neck. Rubbing his lips against the skin, he slowly left a wet trail up to her ear to grab the lobe gently between his teeth. A soft moan came from sweet lips, beckoning Duo to taste them once more.

  She was drowning. That's all Alex could think about. Duo was kissing her like she had always wanted to be kissed. His tongue twined with hers as she tasted the slightly salty flavor of his lips. Her fingers dove into the hair above his braid, trying to pull his mouth closer to hers. She could feel his hands tugging the band that held her hair in its ponytail, the heavy weight pulling her head back as it fell to the floor.

  Her soft throat exposed even more than before, Duo leaned over and kissed its length down to the hollow that lay at its base. A deep throaty sigh escaped him as his lips roamed over Alex's shoulders.

  "Duo."

  Just a whisper, the sound broke the frenzy that had overtaken both of them. Alex looked up into Duo's eyes and found guilt weaving in the violet orbs. She couldn't believe what she had been doing. He loved somebody else, and the passion that he had showed her belonged to him. A small whimpering sound escaping her lips, Alex ran from the room and from the house as if demons chased her.

  Duo sat on the piano bench, stunned. He loved Heero, didn't he? He knew he did, but how could he have kissed Alex the way he had? He licked his lips, the remnants of her taste still on them. "I'm sorry," he whispered, not sure who he was apologizing to.

  "Sorry for what?" Wufei's voice came from the doorway. Walking into the room, he looked it over. "I never expected to see you in a room like this, Maxwell." He noticed Duo's swollen lips, but decided not to say anything. It wasn't his business who the American had been kissing and he certainly wasn't going to get involved.

  "Nothing, Wufei." Standing up, Duo didn't see the strange look on the Chinese boy's face at his name. The American crossed to the French doors that seemed to abound on the first floor of the house and went out into the garden.

  From an upstairs window, Heero watched Duo wander down the paths in the garden. He knew that he had hurt the other boy, but had no clue how to fix it. He went over to the other window, glad to have gotten a corner room. Out this one he could see Alex down by the small lake that Quatre's house sat beside. Her hair caught the rising sun, making it glow like the embers of a dying fire. 'Or a sunset over the desert.'

  Startled by the thought, Heero shook his head and headed for the kitchen. He found Wufei sitting at the table with the table, the nearby coffee pot starting to fill. Almost impatient for the coffee, he didn't realize that he started to pace, an action that was usually reserved for the American boy when he was restless.

  Wufei watched Heero. Something was bothering the Japanese pilot, but he wasn't going to get in the middle. His honor wouldn't let him. 'Maybe it's your heart that won't let you. You would have to start to feel again.' Wufei beat the thought down, refusing to let anything block what he had set out to do. He made himself read the paper once more, only stopping when Quatre came into the kitchen.

  The blonde boy headed over to the coffee and poured a cup and sipped slowly, savoring the rich flavor. He had been awakened several times in the night, his uchuruu no kokoru bothering him as he lay next to Trowa. Letting the caffeine sink into him, Quatre gave a small sigh before heading to the fridge to see what he could fix for breakfast.

  He and Wufei were startled when Heero abruptly set his coffee mug down and left the kitchen. The Japanese boy was always meticulous, rinsing off his dishes when he was through with them, and the mug sitting on the table was a good indication that something was wrong. Quatre looked over at the Chinese pilot in question, but the obsidian eyes didn't hold an answer.

  Anju walked in, followed by Trowa, and the atmosphere eased, the tension that had held the two pilots dissipating.

 

  Heero searched for Duo. As he had been drinking his coffee, the taste had brought back memories of their few kisses, the bitter taste a reminder of what was left in his mouth when he froze after hearing Duo's confession.

  He found the other boy sitting on a stone bench, the feet intricately carved in the shape of lion paws. Duo lifted his face when he approached and Heero saw his swollen lips, softly bruised from the kisses he had given Alex. The violet eyes looked away, but not before Heero saw the guilt and shame that lay in them. Kneeling in front of the American, he took Duo's chin in his hand and forced the other boy to look at him.

  "Doshite?"

  Duo stared at Heero. He had been dreading meeting up with him, both since last night and what had happened this morning. How could he face the boy he loved when he desired somebody else?

  "Tell me," Heero's voice became harsher. He was starting to get worried about Duo. The usually talkative boy wasn't talking at all. "Is it me?"

  That got Duo's attention.

  "You don't want to speak to me?" Heero looked in the violet eyes as he asked it. There was a flash in those eyes, too quick for him to read.

  "Yes," Duo uttered.

  "Yes, you want to? Or yes, you don't?"

  "Yes, I want to speak," Duo said. "I...I kissed Alex." The sentence hung in the air.

  'Nani?' Heero didn't understand. "Kissed?"

  "Yes," he said roughly. "I kissed her. Hard. And I liked it. Almost too much."

  Duo kissed Alex. The boy in front of Heero had told him that he loved him, and he was kissing somebody else afterwards? Heero's face tightened as anger and something else he couldn't define coursed through him. Clenching his fist, he raised it to punch Duo. He stopped half an inch from the other boy's cheek, who flinched. Not being able to control himself, Heero turned on his heel and left the garden, heading for the clump of trees in the distance.

  "He liked it," Heero muttered. "Did he not like my kisses? Were they not enough?"

  'Or was it the way you ran from him?'

  "NO!" He wasn't a coward.

  'Yes, you are.' His emotions were starting to overcome his logic. His chest began to ache as he thought about what had happened the day before. Duo had watched him all day, and he had liked that. The feeling that somebody was watching over him, making sure he was all right. Playing the music with him yesterday had felt good, as if his heart was warm. When they had started kissing last night, Heero had wondered if he could feel that way forever.

  Duo had stunned him when he told Heero that he loved him. He had never been told that, and wasn't able to deal with it. His training had prepared him for war, love never entering the equation. He walked through the forest, finding his way over to the lake. On the shore nearby, he saw Alex lying on the sand. Coming closer, he saw that she was sleeping, but he also saw the tracks left on her face from tears, her eyelids faintly pink.

  He had selfishly been thinking about what he felt, when he had also forgotten that two other people were involved. Duo had been sorry for what he had done and had admitted that he had liked it. Shame crept through him as he thought of how he had treated the American.

  In front of him was the other person, who had cried herself to sleep. Heero sat beside her, waiting for her to wake up. He needed to talk to her about what happened. He needed to know how she felt about Duo.

  Jealousy rose up in him. Pushing it down, he watched the sun climb through the sky, sending sparkles across the serene water before him.

  "Heero-kun?" Alex's voice wavered slightly as she spoke.

  Heero looked over at her and saw the sad look on her face. Raising his hand, he traced her cheek, driven by some unknown impulse. He saw Alex flinch at the first touch, but he kept his hand on her face. Tracing the tracks with his calloused fingers, Heero looked into her eyes. There was a mixture of confusion and sadness in the golden eyes, a little wary of what he might do. They were so different from the eyes he had looked in a short while ago.

  Alex watched Heero carefully. His fingers barely touched her skin, wiping away the last traces of tears. She didn't understand why he was here, why he had been sitting next to her. Was he mad at Duo? She closed her eyes at the thought of what could have happened. She didn't want to be responsible for a fight. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

  Heero was shocked. Alex was apologizing to him? Had the others seen what he and Duo had been doing? "Sorry for what?" he asked, his voice a little deeper than it usually was.

  "Sorry for kissing him." Alex looked at him her eyes now steady. "It's my fault, not his. I started it."

  "How?" The question slipped from between his lips.

  Alex's face pinkened. "What?"

  "Show me." Heero wanted to know, unable to stop the words.

  Her face deepening to a red, Alex shyly gave his lips a peck. She looked away, waiting for the anger to explode.

  Heero sat for a moment. A little kiss like that? From both of their reactions, it had probably been a lot more involved than that little kiss. He unconsciously licked his lips. Looking at the lake, he wondered what was going on. He didn't understand a world where peace surrounded him, this small piece of the Earth where Quatre's estate lay.

  Something burst within in, wanting to be let out. He wanted to know what Duo had liked so much. Without warning, he pulled Alex's face back to his and kissed her. He held them there as he felt Alex stiffen for a moment before relaxing. Her lips softened as well as he tasted them. He pulled back and looked into stunned eyes.

  Alex lifted a hand to her mouth. This kiss had been different, yet the same as Duo's. 'Maybe they gave each other lessons,' she thought. Then she gave up thinking for awhile as Heero pressed his lips against hers.

  Heero wanted more. Was this what Duo wanted this morning? He wanted to find out more, how this girl tasted, hear the sounds she made. He didn't understand what he was feeling, but he liked it. He thrust his tongue through parted lips, a sweet taste filling his senses. Heero twisted his tongue beside Alex's before running it along her teeth. He pulled back slightly as he moved over to her ear, lightly rubbing his tongue along the delicate shell. The soft cry that Alex made enflamed him more as he kissed his way down her neck and along her shoulder.

  Nudging the spaghetti strap of her shirt out of the way, Heero made his way down her chest. Stopped by the material of the tank top, he moved back up to her mouth, kissing Alex for all he was worth.

  Alex was drunk on pleasure. These kisses were exciting, and she wanted all that she could get. She slid her mouth away from Heero's, pleased to hear a small sound of displeasure. The sound turned into a moan as she ran her mouth over his strong jaw. She nuzzled the soft skin below his ear and felt him jump in surprise. Smiling slightly, she moved back to his mouth and pulled him into another kiss.

  Was this what Duo tasted when he kissed Heero? She was jealous.

  Duo. Oh God. What was she doing? Pulling back abruptly, she stared into Heero's passion-darkened blue eyes. Standing up, she ran swiftly into the trees.

  Heero sat on the beach. One second he had tasted one of the sweetest things he had ever known, the next he was by himself on the sand. Lost in thought, he didn't notice Duo walking towards him until the other boy sat down in front of him.

  "Heero?"

  He raised dark blue eyes to Duo, letting him see what had happened. Passion still flowing through his veins, Heero reached over and pulled him into a lust-filled kiss.

  Duo's eyes widened when he tasted Alex on Heero's lips. He had been kissing her! Pulling back and looking at Heero, he found the Japanese boy watching him, his eyelids heavy. Was he forgiven? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure if he could forgive Heero for kissing Alex, or even himself for that matter. His thoughts were cut off by a wet, open mouth pressing against his, a tongue seeking his. Duo melted into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Heero's neck. Tugging on the soft hair at the nape, he pulled the other boy on top of him as he sank back into the sand.

  The two boys kissed heatedly, trying to kiss away their guilt. Each wanted to reassure themselves of what they felt for the other. With each sub-sequential kiss, they felt more sure of their feelings and tried to disregard what they had felt for Alex.

  Kisses slowing down, Heero looked into Duo's eyes. They were almost black from passion, but behind them lurked a seed of guilt. Inside, he felt himself react to that as he realized he felt guilty, too. Both of them had kissed Alex, sweeping her up in their kisses when they were already with someone.

  Duo moved beneath him, breaking his thoughts.

  "Where's Alex?" Duo was reluctant to ask, but he was worried. Both of them had kissed her, and she was probably confused by their behavior.

  "I-I don't know," Heero said. He gestured over to the trees. "She went that way."

  "We should go find her."

  "Hn."

  "Heero?"

  He raised his head at the soft question. Swimming violet eyes looked at him.

  "I do love you."

  "Aa." Heero put his hand over Duo's. "I know. I...."

  "You don't have to..." Duo stopped when Heero spoke. "What did you say?"

  "Ai shiteru, Duo. I-I love you."

  The two boys looked at each other for a couple of seconds, reading the open expressions on the other's face.

  The call of a bird overhead broke the mood. Heero stood up and offered his hand to Duo. Together they made their way into the woods.

  "What do you feel for her?" Duo looked over at Heero. "I'm not sure of what exactly I feel for her, but I know feel something."

  Heero thought about it. "I feel like I'm with you when I'm with her."

  "You love her?"

  "I don't know. All I know is that I feel the same way with the two of you. It's just a little stronger with you."

  Duo mentally breathed a sigh of relief. He was a little jealous and a little torn over what was happening. He had only known Alex for a couple of weeks, and it felt like she had been a part of his life forever. "It's like I want to really know her. To find out every layer that makes her her."

  "Aa."

  "When we were gathered on the steps of the old church, Michael said that her real name's not Alex." Both stopped.

  "The disk said her name was Fianna," Heero said.

  "Why would she change her name?" Duo quietly said.

  "I can't tell you," Heero replied.

  "But I could." Alex's voice came from above them. "You found that disk, huh?" She jumped lightly out of the tree and stood in front of them. Only slightly red eyes were evidence of what she had been doing since running from Heero, and her lips still bruised and swollen from kisses. "You obviously didn't see all of what was on there."

  "What?" Duo looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face.

  "I'll show you," she said. Carefully keeping her eyes blank, she led them back to the house. Going in a side door, they headed up to the room that Alex shared with Anju. She grabbed her bag and headed to Heero's room with him and Duo. She opened the disk when the computer had warmed up and went to the page that Heero had found.

  She clicked on a small spot on the picture, and it was overwritten with words. Within the picture had been an entirely new set of files. "There you go. Happy reading!" Alex said, cheer forced through the words. Both boys looked at her as she left the room. They had both heard the strain in her voice. Turning back to the screen, they read what Alex had pulled up.

 

  "Heero?"

  His thoughts cut into, Heero glanced over at Duo. From the expression on the American's face, it was obvious he was concerned for Alex. Each of them had read what her life had been like until the age of nine when her aunt had died, when the files had been written. The only info missing on her was the missing six years between that and the formation of Tenshi. "Hai?"

  "Are you ok with this?" Duo really wanted to know. She had had a childhood like him and the rest of the pilots. The only difference he could see between his and hers was that he had at least had Sister Helen and Solo. From everything in the file, Alex's aunt had been a hard taskmaster, hauling her from city to city, a meal ticket for the older woman, being gifted with mental abilities far beyond the rest of the population. From a young age, the girl had essentially been a freak show, lost among the adults she was forced to entertain with a powerful memory and the heritage of a line of psychics.

  "Aa. Are you ok?" Heero finally answered him, his blue eyes holding some hidden spark deep within.

  Duo nodded and smiled when he saw the look in Heero's eyes. "Let's go find her, shall we?"

  Alex was sitting in the middle of a garden. Surrounded by plants, she was seated on the ground next to a bench that was her backrest. Opening her eyes at the sound of them entering, Duo and Heero were met with a blank expression.

  'She expects us to reject her,' Heero thought.

  He went over to her as she stood up. Reaching a hand out to her face, he moved his head towards her, pressing his lips against hers. He could hear Duo gasp and felt Alex stiffen, but this was the way he wanted to show her that he wouldn't reject her. Pulling back, Heero looked into her bewildered eyes, which shot between Duo and himself.

  Duo had been a little shocked for a couple of seconds. Giving Alex a little recovery time, he also bent forward and kissed her. He lightly brushed her lips for a few moments before pulling back. Licking his lips, he could taste both Heero and Alex. "Mmm."

  He watched as the other two turned a slight pink and laughed softly as the blush spread across pale and tan cheeks alike. 'I think I'm gonna like this,' he thought.

  Alex looked at the two boys in front of her. They were both confident in themselves and their love for each other. She could see that as they looked at each other. What did she feel for them? Desire certainly. She also knew that she could fall in love with them, but was scared. The only person that she had loved before had been killed, and she didn't want that to happen again. She wouldn't be able to handle that. Torture, she could take. Pain was nothing. But to have to live without the one she loved she didn't ever want to do.

  Masking her thoughts, she sat down on the bench, pulling on Duo's and Heero's hands. They started to talk about nothing in particular. Well, Duo and Alex did, while Heero was content to sit and listen.

 

  Anju looked out the window and saw the three of them. She had been worried when she woke up to find Alex missing. After breakfast, she had found herself wandering over the house, moving from room to room. Wufei must have been picked, because he had come over after a talk with Quatre and Trowa. His movements dragged, indicating that he wasn't as willing to talk to her as he tried to act. Finally, she had moved into the library, the Chinese boy helping to pick out a book.

  She turned her head back to Wufei. He was caught up in the book he was reading, his face relaxed. It was much different than the face he showed to the world when he thought someone was watching. Anju laughed softly at the idea of the former pilot hiding something.

  Wufei looked up at the noise. Anju wasn't reading the book in her hands. Rather, she was staring at the wall opposite the sofa she sat on. He started to wonder what she could have been thinking about, but his memory reminded him that he had said he would stay out of other people's business. He really couldn't push out the feeling to know what was going on, though. Setting the book to one side, he leaned forward in the chair, clasping his hands together between his slightly opened knees.

  Anju saw him move, his actions a question that he probably wouldn't ask.

  "Why do you hide from the world?" she asked all of a sudden.

  "Hide?" Wufei averted his eyes, unaware that he had given himself away by doing so.

  "Yes." Anju turned to face him fully. "You act like you don't care, but somewhere inside you, hidden however deep it is, you really want to set it free." She saw him frown but she knew she was right.

  He stood up. What Anju was saying hurt his honor. 'Honor be damned for once. You know you're hiding behind it,' his conscious said. For once, it was siding with his heart. Deep inside, he knew he couldn't hide it for long. It was getting too hard to do anymore.

  Wufei looked over at the former queen of the world. She was softer, as if her memories had been holding her back. Even though she had presented a soft side, it was as if she had also been unable to let go, to take that final step towards liking yourself. He had gone for too many years relying on himself, and now couldn't reconcile his life with the world around him. Wufei had always believed that he was in control of his life, but now he found he wasn't.

  To think that the girl he had never liked as a person could make him think so much. He had never like Relena as a girl. Rather it was more of what she stood for that he had tolerated her. Those feelings had been blown up when he was in Mariemaia's army, the idea that they would be able to create peace for humanity growing.

  The two sat like this for a long time, neither one noticing they had sunk deep in thought about the other.

 

******

  A week later, Quatre stood watching as Duo and Alex were discussing some music. Well, they were really arguing, but what was strange about it was that Alex was talking. She had gradually been more and more talkative the past week when they got to the small studio. He looked through the glass partition to see Trowa and Pieter talking about something. The other man had come to help when it came to mixing up what needed to be recorded.

  Smiling at his beloved, he turned back to see Duo and Alex walking out the door, the arguing stopping abruptly on the other side. Noticing that nobody else had seen them go, Quatre looked around the door. What he saw made his heart stop for a second.

  The two were trying to swallow each other's tongue by the look of it. Pulling his head back into the studio, he tried to catch his breath. What had happened with Duo and Heero? He didn't understand how the two pilots had gone from finally revealing their feelings to Duo kissing somebody else. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the pair walk in, lips swollen and eyes shining slightly. He turned to see what Heero thought of it when he saw a glint in the Japanese pilot's eyes.

  Now he was really confused. Heero didn't mind? His uchuruu no kokoru didn't feel anything bad, so what was going on? Puzzled, he failed to notice that Trowa had come to stand next to him.

  "Quatre?"

  Startled, the Arabian looked up at his lover. "Trowa. Did you want something?"

  Nodding, the other boy led the other into the hallway. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he leaned down and pulled the shorter boy into a soft kiss.

  Quatre didn't know what was going on, but he liked it. He pressed further into the kiss.

  "Hey, what's this? The place for kissing?"

  Both pilots jerked away from the kiss and turned. Duo, Heero, and Alex stood in the doorway, all three with smiles on their faces (a smirk in Heero's case). Alex started to fan herself.

  "It's getting mighty hot in here, isn't it?"

  A dangerous glint had formed in her eyes and Quatre didn't want to know what was going to happen. He dragged the silent boy next to him back into the studio. Sagging slightly in relief just inside the studio, he blushed when he heard noises from the hallway that sounded suspiciously like those of passion.

  Trowa lifted an eyebrow. "Do threesomes work?"

  Blushing beet red, Quatre said nothing. Instead, he eyed Trowa balefully and went over to where Anju was sitting at the piano.

  Out in the hallway, there was a passionate war going on between the three. Duo and Alex had decided that the best entertainment of the afternoon would be to see if they could get Heero to make as much noise as possible. Duo slid his tongue up the other boy's neck while Alex delicately nibbled on his ear.

  Biting back a groan, Heero leaned back against the wall. Each of his hands were roaming over various body parts as his mind went even further. This was the most they had done in the past week, deciding that a slow pace would actually be the best for once. After all, a fight to keep world peace is not the best place to be conducting romance. A soft mouth brushed over his, pulling his thoughts from the past abruptly into the present. Sharp teeth bit gently into his lower lip, releasing the groan he had been holding. Encouraged, the mouth ghosted away to his temple as another took its place. As a wet tongue entwined with his, Heero could hardly breathe.

  Duo ran his hands through Heero's hair as he kissed the former pilot. He could feel Alex's ponytail brushing against his cheek as she turned her attention once again to Heero's ear. She must have hit something good, because a moan escaped the wonderful lips he was kissing.

  He pulled back and surveyed his work. The Japanese boy's eyes were closed, lips glistening, blood rushing through his cheeks as Alex also pulled away when she noticed his departure. Duo leaned over to the girl and kissed her, tasting Heero on her lips as well as her own taste.

  Heero opened his eyes. He almost felt abandoned when the two had stopped their delicious version of torture. He saw the other two kissing frenetically. Even watching was having an adverse effect on his control, for the two moved as if one.

  A loud clearing of the throat shook all three from the passion they had been indulging in. Next to them stood Wufei, his cheeks faintly pink under his golden skin. "We're ready now." He hurried into the studio rather quickly.

  Alex and Duo stood glued to the floor for a couple of seconds before a rusty laugh came from the boy to the side. It was something that was rarely heard: Heero's laughter. Rare as his smiles were, his laughter when even harder to find than a second Hope diamond. Overjoyed at this, the two glomped onto the laughing boy and joined in. A minute later, the three tried to enter the studio conspicuously, but judging from the faces that looked at them, it didn't work.

  Trowa watched Heero. The other boy was acting odd. He was more carefree than he had ever been, and no longer stiff towards other people. He had seen Quatre's puzzlement over the three's behavior, but it actually made some sense to him. As long as he was with his love, he didn't mind the others' behavior. They obviously didn't mind that he and Quatre were together, so why would he mind them?

  He gathered up his guitar when he saw the others get their instruments. They were going to record one of the songs they had hurriedly put together. Uncomfortable about having to sing, he made his way to stand next to Quatre. The Arabian was behind an electric keyboard, his fingers resting lightly on the keys. He smiled up at Trowa, who relaxed. That smile could make any day seem brighter than it already was.

  "We're set," Pieter said through the intercom. He stood behind the glass with Anju, who sat at the control board with an overwhelmed look on her face. Pieter said something to her that the others couldn't hear and she visibly relaxed. "On my mark, and 3, 2..." He raised his hand.

 

******

  Duo woke up, disoriented by the warmth along one side of his body. He started to stretch when a small moan of displeasure came from beside him. Opening his eyes further than the slits they had been, he saw Heero nestled next to him on the couch, Alex on his other side.

  They had been watching a movie, and it had bored the three. He looked over at the television to find some infomercial about hair loss on. It must be really late, since infomercials had been banned from most stations until the late-night hours. He looked back down at the two on the couch with him. In sleep, their faces were relaxed, the stress of the day no longer bothering them. He knew that both were bothered by what they were doing, Heero because he felt they were taking too much time, and Alex because it brought back bad memories.

  He sighed softly. Duo wanted to help both of them, but didn't know how. It had been almost a month now that they had started practicing. Lady Une had released a press announcement the same day of the first rehearsal that Relena had been found. Nobody had come forward, trying to assassinate the agent Une had put in Relena's place. Everybody was worried about the situation, which was heading nowhere. Their only hope was to continue with the path they were walking.

  Duo sighed again, not noticing he had woken Heero up.

  The Japanese boy looked up at Duo. What would make the other boy think so deeply in the middle of the night? He felt Alex snuggle closer to his other side, her warm body keeping his warm. Heero felt Duo sigh again and was about to say something when the American relaxed his body, trying to fall asleep again.

  Waiting twenty minutes, Heero was certain that Duo and Alex were fast asleep. Slowly moving from between them, he nudged Alex closer to Duo as she started to fall over on the couch, his body no longer supporting hers. He looked at the two. They were serene in sleep, opposite from the life they projected when awake. Creeping up to his room, he got onto his computer. Searching different sources, he was looking for anything that would help get rid of the false sense of security he felt. Something big was going to happen, but he had no clue what it was. He had been digging into everything since Une had given them an update three days ago.

  Heero knew that Duo and Alex were worried about them. He had tried to hide what he was feeling, but it wasn't working. Both of them had been watching him with concern in their eyes. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, Heero continued searching for anything that would help.

 

******

  Anju crept down the hallway. Passing Heero's room, she heard the clicking of keys. Moving on, she went silently down the stairs and looked in the television room. Duo and Alex were curled up around each other, the TV still on infomercials. Shaking her head at the cheese-making device they were selling, she went on to the library.

  Anju had found the room a haven, since nobody but Wufei ever went in there besides herself. She was searching the shelves for a book when something from this afternoon came back to her. She and Une had been pouring over some clippings, trying to jar something in the memories that were locked away. As they had been sitting on the couch in Une's office, a man had barged in, claiming to have information on Relena Dorlian.

  Hurrying over to the small room, she took a swift glance at the man before entering. A small gasp escaped her lips as she shut the door. Luckily, she was wearing the fake glasses that Alex had given her when they had first decided to keep Anju hidden from the world, and her hair was still the soft strawberry blond they had rinsed it in. She was glad of her disguise, because she definitely knew the man that was in the other room. He had been one of the head guards when the Sanq Kingdom was going against OZ. Roman Harting had been one of the guards who had been on duty when the Sanq Kingdom had fallen the first time after the assassination of her real father.

  Going over to sit in her favorite chair, Anju was worried. This was one of the few memories that she had been able to get back, and it gave her a strange feeling. The vibes she got from the man were not good.

  She hadn't been able to tell Une about the man, for she had had to leave just after the man left on an emergency. Taking the underground route, Anju had wandered for a while through the sewers before stopping at Alex's rooms. Most of it was empty now, since most of the stuff that Alex had was now in storage, no longer needed for the most part. The plants had long since taken residence in Une's office, lending a soft touch and calming effect on what must be an extremely tough job. As she looked around the half empty living area, something had caught her eye. Picking it up, she had brought it back to Quatre's house.

  Pulling it out of her pocket, she looked at it in the dim light of the library. Gleaming in the dull light, it was a small piece of gold. As it flashed in the dim room, another memory flashed through her mind.

  It was the night she had been taken from the hotel. She had been walking with one of her guards up to her room when there was a disturbance at the end of the hallway. Sending her guard to see what it was, she had been grabbed by someone entering from the nearby stairwell. The flash of a gold-toothed smile was all she could see as they came out into a darkened alley behind the hotel.

  Anju curled up into a ball in the big chair. She twirled the small piece of gold between two fingers, her eyes not really seeing it. If she had been looking in the doorway, she would have seen a barely perceptible shadow pass by.

  The person that the shadow belonged to didn't recognize the girl in that room. He was after bigger prey. Searching the other rooms, he soon found the television room. Two boys were sleeping cuddled together. It was obvious to the intruder that they had fallen asleep while watching something. Neither of them were the girl he was looking for. He had orders to bring back Relena Dorlian, who was believed to have sought shelter with the Winner family after 'escaping' her captors.

  He had been forced to lay low the last couple of weeks, the money funneled into his bank account frozen for not finishing the job he had been given. Now he had been given the chance to correct his mistake and finish the job good this time.

  Creeping upstairs, he failed to notice that two shadows had joined his in the dark house.

  Duo had felt like he was being watched. Waking up suddenly, he had jolted Alex from her sleep as well when he sat up. Both looked for Heero, but soon realized that he must have gone upstairs. Then, a soft creak from the kitchen hallway caught their attention. None of them ever used that stairway, since the steps needed to be replaced.

  After a quick signal between them, the two followed the intruder as they avoided the steps known to creak. As they moved behind the shadow, Duo noticed something odd about the guy. Tall, he had a noticeable limp, making him shuffle silently rather than walk. He also saw that he seemed to be looking for something in particular. Could Quatre have something precious and valuable in the house? Nah. The Q-man wouldn't have it lying around the house where it could break. A fleeting memory of a certain vase Duo broke ran in and out of his mind as he and Alex followed the man.

  The man stopped at the end of the hall. Heero's room. The clicking of keys could be heard, alerting the intruder that somebody was still up. He heard giggling all of a sudden as Alex and Duo pretended to be coming up the other set of stairs. Panicking, the man swiftly dove into the nearest room, and right into the fist of one former Wing pilot.

  "He looks pretty familiar to me," was the first thing the man heard when he regained consciousness. Opening his eyes quickly, he found himself surrounded by a group of boys with serious expressions on their faces. Off in one corner sat the girl from downstairs, listening to the boys talk.

  "Oops, he's awake," said the one with the long braid. "You didn't punch him hard enough, koi."

  The boy the stranger dimly remembered as hitting him scowled and turned towards him. The cold look in the dark blue eyes made him shiver. He looked and saw all the boys with the same look. The one with blond hair spoke up.

  "Now we can talk to him," he said in a tenor voice. The boy beside him nodded slightly.

  The others agreed.

  "Can we do something fun with him afterward?" The stranger fainted.

  Alex cowered behind Duo as the others glared at her. "I'm sorry, ok? I thought it might make him talk."

  Duo twisted slightly. "You'll never make a good interrogator, Alex." He winked.

  "Sorry," came the little reply, with laughter running through her voice.

  Wufei looked away. The bakas were always flirting and he didn't think they needed to do that at the moment.

  He could have sworn he had seen this man before. Maybe on a case.

  "I think I know who he is," he said out loud. When everybody looked at him, he realized that he had spoken rather loud, his inner monologue apparently not working. "He's John Steel. He was an informant on a case a while back, getting off on the charges he had been brought in on. Out for hire, he pretty much will do anything as long as he gets paid."

  Anju came walking over. Now that she had gotten a good look at him, she did recognize him from the night she had been kidnapped. She felt the small gold piece burning in her pocket and she brought it out.

  The intruder woke up again and stared. In front of him was the prey he had been searching for. In the dim light of the library, he had mistaken her for some other girl. And this girl was holding his missing cap. His eyes widened, a motion that escaped none of the others.

  "You missing this?" The black-haired boy took the small piece from the girl's hand and held it in front of his mouth. Standing back, the boy nodded. "Yes, it's definitely him."

  Stony black eyes bored into fearful gray ones. The man started sweating. Today was a bad day to be a criminal and facing former gundam pilots.

 

******

  Wufei was not happy. They had been able to get a lot of information out of John Steel and now had a better idea of what was going to happen next. The revolutionary group, Mönteserra had decided to start playing the system over the radio and were holding auditions in a month. Which meant he had to sing. The lead. On one song that everybody insisted he sing. In other words, the Chinese man was not a happy camper.

  "Stupid bunch of onnas," he muttered under his breath. They had to play at least four songs, and they had chosen the one he had to sing for the first. He looked out at the stage from the wings as the band before them finished taking down their equipment. In the back of his mind he really didn't mind singing. He knew he had a good voice, but he wanted to keep it to himself.

  Walking on stage twenty minutes later, he reluctantly took the center stage, the other pilots and Alex arranged to the sides or back of him. He wanted to play the drums on all the songs, but Alex had volunteered so Wufei could sing.

  "Tenshi," announced a male voice over the speakers. In the darkened audience there were four people seated at a table, the judges for the 'contest' the bands were playing to win.

  An acoustic guitar softly played as Wufei stepped up to the mike.

  In the first chorus, he could have sworn that Duo was laughing at him. After all, the lyrics stated that "You're a god and I am not, and I just thought that you would know[4]." He shouldn't have told Maxwell about his talking to Nataku.

  As he sang the rest of the song, he heard the others join in the chorus. The song finished, he gratefully went back to his drums where he could hide, honor be damned for once in his embarrassment.

  Duo and Alex took center stage for a duet. There was a murmur in the crowd when they realized who one of the singers was. Both had their hair loose, and the rivers of hair caught the lights on the stage. It played as the strands moved in time with them as they sang a song in both English and Portuguese[5]. The haunting Spanish guitar joining in as their voiced blended at the end of the song. The two languages became one as the last note sounded.

  Waiting for everybody to change the set-up slightly, Wufei thought about the last month. They had gone into the studio and Alex had wanted to sing. All of them had been amazed at the stage presence she presented. Her hair down, she seemed to be a totally different person. The song she had chosen to sing at the audition had been a strange choice. At least, that's what he had thought at first. As Trowa played the beginning chord on the guitar in a stilted melody, he knew that each one of them had been searching like the person the song was about had.

"You've got such a pretty smile

It's a shame the things you hide behind it

Let 'em go give it up for awhile

Let 'em free and we will both confide it

 

I know there's nowhere you can hide it

I know the feeling of alone

I know that you do not feel invited

But come back, come back in from the cold.

 

Step away then from the edge

You're best friend in life is not your mirror

Back away, come back away, come back away, come back away,

I am here and I will be forever and ever

 

I know there's nowhere you can hide it

I know the feeling of alone

Trust me and don't keep it on the inside

Soon you'll, you'll be locked out on your own.

 

You're not alone

You're not alone

And don't say you've never been told

I'll be with you 'til we grow old

'Til I'm in the ground and I'm cold

I won't forget all that I've known

I'll be with you 'til we're both gone

Like a dog you can't always go home[6]."

  The music had increased with the last verse, and slowly faded with the last word, the soft chords echoing into the audience.

  Down to their last song, Heero stepped up to the front of the stage. He looked over to the American, who had no problem with singing in front of the people in the audience, then to Alex, who clung to the stage as if she was born to it, but Heero didn't like it. Duo and Alex had begged him to sing the song, both of them insisting he had a good voice. Finally caving into them, he now had to stand on stage, the lights beating down on him.

  The sounds of a mid-1970's rock song came on. The chorus was a tribute to old magical tales where "Abracadabra" completed the spell[7]. Dismantling their instruments, they hurried back into the room they had been given.

  Collapsing onto various pieces of furniture, the pilots watched as Alex bounced around the room.

  "How in the world did you ever do this?" Duo watched as one of his lovers grabbed sodas out of the mini fridge that had been provided.

  As she handed them out, Alex shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. All I know is that I'm ready to do something more." She bounded over to the door when there was a knock. Opening the door, she found Anju and Pieter on the other side. Letting them in, she closed the door and turned to look at them expectantly. "Did you hear anything?"

  Pieter shook his head. "No. At least nothing where we've been. Half of the bands think they're playing for money and don't realize its for a contract."

  Alex walked over to Anju and whispered in her ear. All the males watched as she turned bright red and stared at Alex. "You want me to do what?!"

  "You know what I said. It'll be fun." Alex grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door, waving goodbye to everybody and a wink to Duo and Heero. Those two just looked at each other. In stereo they said, "I don't want to know what she's up to now." They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before bursting out in laughter.

  The other pilots didn't know what to think. The Perfect Soldier was laughing? This was coming too close on the heels of discovering that the three were involved with each other. What was next, Treize returning from the dead?

 

******

  It wasn't quite like that, but people had been trying hard to resurrect revolution in their general's name. Some OZ soldiers had a hard time dealing with peace as they found it. A few of those hired themselves out to various groups, mercenaries in a time that didn't need them. The stable peace that Relena had fought for now stood in the way of many plans to rule the world.

  One such group was led by a former colonel who had served under Treize like Une had, along with a former guard of the most peaceful kingdom in the world. Crow Gordon had been an upstanding soldier, always willing to serve his general in the only way he knew how--bloodshed. When his general had died in battle, and OZ dismantled, he had found himself without a cause. Drifting through the world as a hired hit man, he soon found himself meeting up with a man named Roman Harting. Here was a man who had a personal mission to fulfill.

  The head guard of the Sanq Kingdom, he had developed a hatred for the Peacecrafts. Believing that they were responsible for his wife leaving him because of his job, he had begun to focus on several plans that would crush his enemies and make him a man among men.

  Together, the two men sought out the old mobile doll system. Once they were able to deploy the system, they would be able to control the world and create true peace as they thought it should be. Gordon would be able to fight his battles and Harting would get his revenge.

  They learned that the system had been modified through the underground network they had set up. When Matthew's Academy had been destroyed, they had surveyed the damage. The buildings had been reduced to rubble by something terrible, but they were able to find enough pieces of the system to recreate it. Add in a couple of students that had somehow survived and successfully gone through the system, and they now had in their hands the ultimate weapon.

  Gordon had come up with the idea to send it over the various communication waves that the world used. The unsuspecting public would have no idea that it was being sent out while listening to their favorite band on the radio or show on the television. They could send it subliminally, letting it gradually creep into the minds of humanity and giving them control. The auditions they had held in the afternoon had given them even more possibilities, since there were many bands aching for the chance to be on the radio. There had even been a couple of bands returning, wanting another chance at stardom.

  Harting was pleased. The bands didn't even know that they would soon have no control over themselves. As he sat in the bar nursing a beer, he watched the people around him. The soldiers that he had collected over the past year had grown into a fine army. Each one was skilled in combat, having honed their skills through several wars. Some of them were trained in more than just hand to hand fighting, showing intelligence in strategy and intrigue. Grimacing, he also knew that some of them were incompetent. Already information had been leaked out. Fortunately, he had already taken care of a couple of them, and they were no longer around to give out details.

  Looking around the bar, he saw a young couple having dinner in a corner. That was something they still needed after they had gotten control. It would be interesting playing matchmaker. The young blond woman sat close to the dark-haired young man, a date if he'd ever seen one. It brought an idea to his mind. Some of those young women on the stage earlier had been fine looking. It would be no problem to 'convince' them to join him. But first, he would try something to make sure it would work.

  Standing, he placed his mug on the counter before walking over to the young couple. The woman raised stunning green eyes at the intrusion, the young man's dark brown ones promising mutilation. The woman looked oddly familiar.

  "Excuse me," Harting said pompously. "I was wondering if I could talk to you."

  Iria didn't like this man. She could feel Marius stiffening beside her. The burly man sat down after pulling up a chair from a nearby table. Sitting in it backwards, he crossed his arms over the back. This guy was major bad news.

 

  Across town, Quatre's chest began to ache fiercely.

  "Quatre?" Trowa was concerned. The blond boy was clutching at his chest, gasping for air.

  "S-something's happening," Quatre managed to get out. "Iria's in trouble."

  "Shit!" Duo shot out of his seat. "Can you find her?"

  Quatre nodded slightly, his chest starting to really hurt. The connection he had with this sister was probably the strongest next to the one he had with Trowa.

  "Pieter," Wufei said. "Stay here and wait for Anju and Alex to get back."

  Pieter nodded. "Just go and do whatever you can to help."

  The five ran out into the hallway towards the exit. They passed two young boys who were talking with one of the judges now that the contest was over. One of the boys looked over at them and nodded subtly to the other. Thanking the judge for his time, they spilt after the former pilots.

  Reaching the other side of town, Quatre pointed them at a neighborhood bar. It was close to Iria and Marius' house, so it was probably the one they went to. There was a scream from behind the bar and they ran there. Iria was struggling against a huge man, who held her in a vise-like grip. Marius was lying on the ground with a broken nose and gash across his forehead. Over him stood another man, directing another man to pick up the one at his feet.

  Out of the corner he saw the pilots. "Ah, some more people to join in the fun."

  Quatre was mad. "Let go of my sister," he said in a quiet voice.

  "Oh," the man said mockingly. "Are you her protector? What a shame." His voice hardened. "Then I guess you'll just have to join us." He pointed a gun at Iria as more men surrounded them.

  The pilots were in a shaky place. They had to get out of there, but with Quatre's sister being held hostage, they didn't want to take the chance that she could get hurt.

  Further down the alley, the two boys watched the scene behind a dumpster. The boy wearing the hat asked the other to watch behind them for anybody who could come after them that way. As the other boy did so, the first took off the hat, revealing dark red hair. 'Alex and Anju to the rescue,' Alex thought. 'Sometimes boys just don't think. This takes a woman's touch.'

  Anju watching her back, Alex closed her eyes and concentrated. If she did this wrong, somebody was going to get hurt. If all went well, all that would happen was that she would get a major headache.

  Heero was planning. If he could get close enough, he would be able to grab the gun away from the leader. Slowly moving towards him, he thought he heard somebody say "Matte!" Turning his head to Duo, he saw a puzzled look on his face. All the pilots looked around, sure they had heard somebody whispering.

  Harting saw the boys searching for something. He hadn't heard anything. About to take a step forward, he found he couldn't move. The muscles in his hand relaxed of their own volition, the gun slipping from between the fingers. His eyes widened as he saw Heero grab the gun before his own men. Now the gun was pointed at him.

  "Let them go," Heero said in a dead voice. He didn't know what made the man drop his gun, but he wouldn't get another chance to get it.

  "Not so fast," Harting said. "Look at the girl. See how the hands around her neck are placed? Even if you shoot the gun, the first instinct of those hands is to squeeze. And they will squeeze hard."

  Heero gripped the gun tighter. What the guy said was true. Behind him he could hear a slight shuffling sound and knew that the other pilots were ready to spring into action. Just about ready to strike, Iria escaped from her captor, who was bending over at the waist in pain.

  "Go, brother," she said.

  There was a seething mass of bodies as the gang and the pilots fought against each other. Even though the gang was bigger in body size, the pilots had the advantage of being fast and also better skilled at fighting. Soon, Harting was left facing the pilots by himself.

  He pulled another gun from his waistband. He casually waved it in front of him. "You know, I always have a back up." He pointed it at Heero, he pointed the gun he held back at the guy.

  "So do I," a soft voice whispered through the night.

  Harting froze again, no longer able to control his body. His mind panicked as he felt himself falling to the ground. The gun came free of his hand and slid down the alley, pulled by some invisible force.

  As the pilots watched, Alex took the gun and pointed it behind her at the man who was threatening Anju. "I would stop that if I were you." The man held his hands high as the two girls walked down the alley to the others.

  Iria made sure Marius was ok before going over to the others. She had to make sure that the others were ok, because something was going to happen soon. A vague feeling swept through her, hurt mixing with sadness. It was worse than the feeling she had had a little bit ago, before the man and his men had attacked her and her husband.

  The pilots stared. They had seen the gun travel down the alley and Alex pick it up, but they didn't want to believe how it got in her hands. As she talked to Iria, Anju walked over to them, shivering slightly in the night air. The boys watched her as if there was a mystery surrounding her that they couldn't figure out.

  "What was that?" Wufei asked Anju.

  Shrugging her shoulders, she looked over at Alex. "Ask her."

  Duo didn't want to think. Even though he had read that disk, he was having a hard time understanding what had just happened. Could people move objects without ever physically touching them? Alex had said that she could move small objects across the room, and had even showed them once or twice when none of them wanted to move after a busy day. This was something different. He knew he was being irrational, but he became angry that Alex could have been hurt. Heero as well.

  He turned angry eyes on Alex as she came over. Duo grabbed her wrist and pulled the gun out of her hand, surprising her and Heero.

  "Duo?" Alex looked up at him with worried eyes. She had never seen his eyes like they were now and it was a little scary. Her head started to hurt.

  "What were you doing?" Duo grabbed her shoulders after shoving the gun into his waistband. "You realize that somebody could have seen that? You could have blown our cover!"

  Heero watched as Duo grew more and more agitated. "Duo."

  "And you, Heero! What was the deal with risking your own life! Did you think about what we would feel if you were killed?" Duo turned angry violet eyes to the Japanese, not letting up his hurtful grip on Alex.

  "Duo. It hurts," Alex said softly. She couldn't escape the painful grip of Duo's hands.

  "It hurts me, too! I didn't want you involved!" Duo could hardly get the words out, he was so mad. "People could have gotten hurt if something had happened!"

  "Duo?" Heero wondered what had happened to him. He didn't see the pained look that Alex gave him as he looked at the American.

  "Involved?"

  "Yes! Involved with us!" Duo wanted to tell her that getting in the middle of fighting was no place for her.

  "Fine."

  Duo and Heero were shoved back by something. Alex looked at them with burning eyes.

  "I understand now. You didn't want to get hurt." Turning, she sped around a corner.

  Heero chased after her. "Alex!" He stopped around the corner. There was no sign of her. Slowly going over to Duo, he saw the sad look in his eyes. Tears forming in the corner of his eyes, the American lifted his head to look at Heero.

  "What have I done?"

 

 

 

 

[2] "Na Laetha Geal M'oige" by Enya, off "Watermark."

[3] A poem I wrote, and currently am setting to music. Please! It's mine. I worked really hard on it, and it's my copyright!!!!

[4] Off Vertical Horizon's "Everything You Want."

[5] The song I'm referring to is "Breath After Breath" by Duran Duran.

[6] "I Know" by Jude. It's on "The City of Angels" soundtrack.

[7] "Abracadabra" by The Steve Miller Band.