Chapter One:

Another boring staff meeting and security briefing.

Duo Maxwell sat at the back of a packed conference room surrounded by his colleagues. Professors, secretaries, student teachers, janitors, counselors and anyone essential for the operations and everyday maintenance of a college. Today was just another meeting, like so many before it, where the head of the school droned on about numbers, student surveys and what the professors had been failing to accomplish all semester. He felt his eyes blurring and crossing from the sheer monotony of it all. He watched as the Dean of Academics stood in front of the crowd and launched into her usual rant. Seated beside where she stood was Wufei, stiff collar and round glasses, nodding in rhythm with the points the dean was ticking off.

"Damn that Wufei Chang", Duo quietly grumbled under his breath. A young, stern looking professor who was seated beside him leveled a sideways glance his way before obediently turning back to fall into rhythmic nods with Wufei.

"…Furthermore, it is imperative that we make sure the students here at the Unified Space Colonies College feel safe and secure in their studies and their lives on campus… "

Duo sighed and rested his chin heavily in hand and resisted the urge to grumble any more. He was never one for formalities or lectures, which was one of the reasons he didn't go back to school after the wars. Sitting in a classroom having someone else tell you how to think just didn't bode well with him. He was tired of people telling him what to do, how to live, or what to believe. It had been hard enough as a kid having the nuns and the church teaching him one thing, while the world and all of its backassward politics and politicians touted something else. He was free to do as he wanted, to be who he wanted to be, and to develop whatever life philosophy he saw fit. He didn't need anyone confusing him while he discovered it.

He sighed into his palm and closed his eyes, welcoming the calm and solitude of his private and personal darkness. The dean was still speaking, but her voice seemed far away and small compared to the heavy whooshing of blood pounding in his ears. He was free. Finally. Free from poverty. Free from the war. Free from his role as a terrorist. Free from mobile suits, death and the cycle of violence that had ensnared him his entire adolescent life. It was finally over. He could start over again. He was on a new colony, with new people and holding a new job that, while he may not have chosen it initially, was a good paying gig that could support any endeavor he chose to pursue.

So why do I still feel like shit, he thought morosely. He reluctantly opened his eyes again at the sound of the faculty applauding the dean's speech. The dean nodded her head to signal that everyone was dismissed and the staff began to disperse, leaving only a few people behind in the conference room. Duo saw Wufei by the door speaking with one of the lab instructors. He seemed so in his element. He never was one for talking when they were younger. In fact while they were both detained during the war Wufei had hardly said anything. Now he seemed so at ease, so comfortable. He commanded an authority Duo had never seen in him before. Sure, he was always mightier-than-thou in the past but here he just seemed to belong. He was softer somehow, more flexible and open. His body language was relaxed. No longer did Wufei have the tense, crossed-arm stance he sported during the war. He leaned against tables, readily shook hands with his colleagues, and let his arms dangle limply at his side. His face was almost pleasant at times, his eyebrows no longer a knot in the center of his forehead. He belonged here. He was an academic. A thinker. These were his people.

Duo knew he didn't belong but he didn't know where else to go. He had tried a stint with the Preventers shortly after the war, but the work was too rigid and he found himself having a hard time following protocol. He had never had to work under those kinds of conditions during the war. He was just handed a mobile suit and told to accomplish a mission. There were no other instructions. He got a mission and then he accomplished it. He was left to his own devices. His own methods. There were loose codes of conduct in battle but those rules were often broken. War was a messy game but one that he had excelled in.

The Preventers had been interesting at first but he had been forced to resign after a few write-ups and disciplinary actions. It was frustrating work and there was more paperwork to file than actual fieldwork, which Duo had found extremely tedious and boring. So maybe he had cut a few corners, broke a few rules, ignored a couple of orders and cussed out a couple of commanding officers…

Wufei had seemed to thrive in the Preventers, but around the time Duo was having his third disciplinary action their Chinese philosopher had suddenly dropped out of the agency and began a teaching career at the newly established college on the completed space colony X-18999. Six months later Duo had dropped out of Preventers and shortly after received a phone call from Wufei who had been on the planet that week for a work related trip. They had caught up over lunch and somehow by the end of the visit Duo had been sold on moving out to X-18999 to take on a systems maintenance job at the college.

It wasn't a bad job. Duo needed hardly any training when he first arrived. His self-taught knowledge and study of computer hardware and networking systems definitely helped give him a marketable skill set. It had only been four months since he started his position and he practically ran everything on his own. He was given a small team of newly graduated IT students and a computer programming major to delegate work to. The other members of his team were all older than him but none of them seemed to mind being commanded by a nineteen-year-old former Gundam pilot. They all knew about his past but nobody ever brought it up. Sometimes Duo wished he had someone to talk to about it but most days he was thankful he could carry on like nothing had ever happened. Nobody on X-18999 really cared who he was or what he had done which was a stark contrast to the people of Earth. He had lost count of how many times he had been chased down in the streets of Cinq for either an autograph or a death threat.

"I commend you."

Duo was suddenly snapped back from his wandering thoughts to the harsh reality that was the now frustratingly bright conference room. Wufei had parted from his conversation to stand in front of him and was peering down through his absurdly round classes at him.

"Erm, for what?" Duo managed to utter before jumping to his feet. He smoothed out the front of his polo shirt and straightened the lanyard around his neck that held his ID and security pass.

"You didn't fall asleep this time," Wufei said with a smirk.

"Trust me, I was teetering on the edge," Duo replied. He picked his tablet up from the table and tucked it under his arm. Wufei huffed and fell into step beside him as he made his way out of the conference room.

"I am assuming you didn't absorb much of the brief, so I will highlight key points for you." Wufei said while acknowledging a few of his coworkers as they walked down the hallway. "Last month's bomb threats were investigated but they can't seem to find the source. None of the usual protest groups, terrorists and the like has claimed responsibility. The dean is concerned that even if they are just pranks from lazy students trying to get out of exams the business of the college will continue to be disrupted. She thinks that enrollment for the next semester is down because the locals don't feel the school is safe. I suggested that she hire a few outside security agencies to assess the situation and possibly manage the threats as they come."

Duo blinked and paused in mid-step to glance over at his colleague. "You mean, you asked her to have the Preventers come and check it out." Wufei nodded. Duo grunted in disapproval.

"Preventers are one option, but I was thinking about calling Quatre and asking him if he could lend some of his manpower from his local investigative office. He still has a large presence here on the colony ever since he completed its major construction. I haven't spoken to him in a while, but I suggested that the dean contact him and ask for his assistance. She said she would reach out to both agencies and get them to collaborate with local law enforcement and campus police. The reason I am bringing this up to you, Duo, is that if Quatre does come he will probably bring Heero."

Duo stopped and spun around to face Wufei. At the mention of the former Wing pilot's name his face began to grow hot. "Why the hell would Heero be-"

Wufei grabbed Duo's shoulder and narrowed his dark eyes through his glasses. "Calm down." A student hurried past them on his way to class and another faculty member standing at the end of the hallway watched them curiously. Duo tensed under Wufei's firm grasp and felt his anger rising like acid, boiling and churning relentlessly in his chest. "Heero has been working for Quatre for the past month. He was suspended from the Preventers once they started an investigation on the Angora Mission. They started his phase of the investigation shortly after you left. Quatre is charged with keeping an eye on him while they investigate. Catherine e-mailed me about it. Heero is currently helping Quatre with his restructuring of the resource mines in L3. Heero being monitored by Quatre and his men are one provision for his release."

Duo's hands balled into fists. "So, you knew he was here on X-18999 and you didn't feel the need to mention it to me?" He felt his words slip through his now tightly clenched teeth, the venom in them undeniable. Wufei shook his head and squeezed Duo's shoulder.

"I didn't think it was worth upsetting you over. However, I thought you should know now because they may show up here and Heero may become involved."

Duo shrugged Wufei's hand from his shoulder and shook his head. "Tell Quatre not to bring him, then."

Wufei sighed. "That isn't an option. Quatre is charged with watching him."

"Then tell Quatre to send his men instead. Why didn't you tell me Heero was here on the colony? Jesus, Chang!" Duo felt as if the ground was spinning. He turned on his heels and stomped in the direction of his office. He could hear Wufei calling his name behind him, but once he got his forward momentum there was no going back. He slammed his office door closed for good measure though the action did nothing to relieve the pressure building in his arms and legs. He felt heavy, as if every cell in his body were gradually hardening into lead. One of his IT team members, a middle aged graduate, looked up from her console at his sudden noisy entrance. She must have seen the seething anger on his face because after looking up she vanished quickly behind her monitor and began noisily typing, trying not to get involved.

He trudged sullenly to his desk, sat down and opened a work order and stared at the words on the screen. He couldn't manage to connect the required synapses to process what they said.

Heero was on the colony. Wufei knew, and failed to mention it to him. He just wanted to punch something. Frantically he grabbed a large yellow ball from the corner of his desk. It was a foam stress ball in the shape of a goofy cartoon sun that, ironically, Quatre had given to him for his birthday the year before. He began viciously squeezing it. With every compression the wide grin on the sun's cheery face contorted into a gaping visage of agony.

SQUISH. SQUEEZE. SQUISH.

That bastard is here. I could have run into him at any time and Wufei didn't have the nerve to even mention it to me!

SQUEEEEEZE

What if I had run into him? What if I had gone to the park and saw that sunnovabitch… I would have fucking killed him and then what?

SQUIIIIISHHHHHH

GoddamnmotherfuckingHeeroFuckingYuyFuckThatGuyMotherFuckingShitBagDonkeyFucking-

CRUSH SMOOSH SLAM!

The happy sun bounced of his desk and rolled away to find sweet sanctuary beneath a nearby bookcase covered in tangles of cords, wires, cables and other mysterious adapters that had no other home. Duo stood abruptly and began to grab his things.

"I am calling it a day," he spat out quickly as he retreated from the office. He couldn't get off the campus quick enough. He practically ran to the transit station and hopped on the red line metro. He slumped to a sit and stared out the window as the train waited for more passengers to board.

What am I doing? He felt as if he were outside his own body, unable to control it. The doors to the train began to slide closed. He watched as it pulled away from the station. The platform where the blue train -the one that went in the direction of his apartment-began to shrink away in the distance. He was going the opposite direction.

He began to bounce his knee feverishly, becoming more anxious as they passed stop after stop. He couldn't bring himself to get up and disembark. He began to grow unbearably tense the longer he rode it. Finally the announcement for Iria Square chimed on the intercom overhead. He felt his body spring up from his seat and soon he was running up the escalator to the city square, named after Quatre's late sister, where all of the Winner Corporation colony operations buildings were stationed.

He had only passed through this area once. Upon surfacing from the metro he was greeted by an ornate city square lined with modest but modern multi-story buildings. The center of the square featured a small grass park littered with various statues and Middle Eastern styled structures. The square boasted a pretty courtyard with a modern sandstone fountain stood flanked by large flower boxes overflowing with pastel purple and pink Acacia flowers and enormous, bobbing hibiscus blossoms. It was serene and a lovely tribute to the sister Quatre had so violently lost only a handful of years before.

However, the beauty and thoughtfulness was lost on Duo. He looked upon the decadence of the square with the same consideration as he would a plastic shopping bag in a gutter. He was too angry, too harnessed by his rage to think of anything in particular.

He was seething. He could barely focus on a single thought. Hurt, anger, and frustration fed his fervor. It was as if he were a man possessed. It wasn't until he reached the top of the five cement steps to the Winner Corporation Headquarters that he realized where he was and the potential repercussions for what he was about to do. The two massive automatic glass doors hissed open to reveal the front lobby. The lobby itself was sparse and shockingly utilitarian compared to the décor just outside in the square. A single security guard, clearly a Maganac by his uniform, stood behind a plain wooden desk with a tablet PC and a single phone.

The sight of the Maganac sent a shockwave through Duo's body.

What was he doing? Why did he come here? What did he hope to accomplish by coming all this way?

He felt sick. He backpedaled and jogged down the steps back toward the center of the square. A matching stone bench between two low, oblong planters had been placed just behind a large trellis covered in fragrant Jasmine. He collapsed on the bench and stared at the gurgling fountain, his mind strangely empty.

This is ridiculous. I am being stupid, he scolded himself. He leaned down and buried his face in his hands. He felt the weight of his long coil of hair tip over his shoulder and thump against his chest, its long silken tendrils pooling in his lap.

He couldn't think. He took a few deep breaths. The perfume of the flowers was surprisingly comforting. Finally his mind began to calm. He kneaded his forehead with his fingertips and sighed heavily before pushing himself up to a sit. He looked around the square. It was nearly 5pm and there were quite a few people milling about around the buildings and gathering at the metro station, preparing to end their workdays and go home to their families.

Family.

Duo had once considered Heero family. He had never had much in the way of family. Sure, he had the church orphanage when he was little, but he never felt like he truly belonged there. Solo, his only childhood friend, had once been family to him. Their brotherhood had been fleeting and just as soon as it had begun Solo succumbed to the deadly fever that claimed so many lives on L2. Sister Helen had died in his arms, the only mother he had ever known. Father Maxwell was murdered. Everything and everyone he had ever loved or considered close to him had died. He had become the "God of Death" then, because Death needed nothing. Nobody.

Then he had met the other pilots, and despite his vow to never let anyone get close to him again he learned to love them. They became his family. His brothers in arms. Mission after mission he felt closer to them. Wufei had always been so guarded during the war, but now Duo considered him a close friend. Trowa was always open and honest, and what was not to love about Quatre? Then there was Heero…

Heero had been the closest thing to a brother that he had ever had. The closest thing to Solo he could have ever hoped for. Sure, Heero had fucked him over plenty of times at the beginning. He threatened to kill him at gunpoint. He stole his mobile suit parts. He sucker punched him for the sake of the mission. He left him behind more than once for one reason or another, but every time he had reasonable justification.

What happened back in Cinq had no good reason. Heero had no excuse for what he had done. Duo had never felt such betrayal in his whole short life. Not from the soldiers who had lied to him as a child and killed his church family. Not from the people of the colonies and Earth for turning their back on him. He couldn't give a flying fuck about any of them. The one person who he thought knew him, who he could trust with anything and everything, had thrown him under the bus for his own personal gain. It wasn't about the mission. There wasn't a greater good. Heero had fucked him over, and what was worse, he had no remorse for it.

Duo felt his shoulders tense. The muscles on the back of his neck began to tighten and bunch up at his nape. His body began to ache from the stress of his sustained anger. He felt suddenly very tired. He leaned back against the stone bench and stared at the fountain, watching the glistening water take to air before careening down to gather in a crystal pool lined with octagonal sandstone border highlighted by pale blue stones, the same color as all Quatre and all of his many sister's eyes. Quatre had family. Trowa had a sister. Wufei had lost his colony, but he had grown quite close to Sally Po in his time with the Preventers. Heero had Relena. They all had each other.

Duo frowned and closed his eyes. He could remember every detail of what had happened. He remembered the rain. The rain was coming down in sheets, in a way that only ever happened on Earth. Heavy, pouring rain, unlike the regulated sprinkling of the watering systems on the colonies. They were on a stakeout. The subject was a man suspected of arms dealing. He had entered a hotel with a woman seven hours before but had yet to surface. It was 4:32 am and Heero had taken first shift so Duo was awake and watching while Heero slept in the passenger seat of their undercover sedan. He could remember Heero's light, steady breathing, keeping in time with the pounding rain. He turned the radio on to try and stay awake, but kept the volume so low you could barely hear the tune over the noise of the rain outside. He was getting tired. It had been 7 hours and the guy had yet to show up. He could still taste the stale convenience store coffee he had been drinking. Finally he had spotted some movement by the front door of the hotel. The man they had been following ducked out into the rain in a dark coat and hat and was rushing to hail a taxi. Duo elbowed Heero and his partner had snapped up to a sit, his eyes wide and alert as if he had never been asleep. The man boarded the taxi, and Duo had followed it to a warehouse district. At long last they were going to find the location of the arms dealing operation they had been investigating for nearly 11 months. The taxi stopped on a back street in front of a distribution center for Angora, a local chain of supermarkets. They waited until the man entered a small access door beside a larger metal industrial overhead door before running through the rain to cautiously enter the building.

Duo remembered the smell. Wood from the pallets, oil from the trucks, and the ether-like odor of the coolant from the refrigeration rooms. They had worked to clear the door and walkways as a team until they found the subject alone in a side office. He was flipping through a file cabinet. Heero approached the man at gunpoint. Duo followed suit. They told him to put the files down. The man seemed to comply, but then suddenly brandished a small handgun from the file cabinet. He shot at Heero, but missed. Duo could still hear the bullet as it whizzed by their heads and planted itself in the wall between them. Heero dropped to the ground and Duo pulled back to duck outside the door. He could barely see Heero from around the doorframe. The man was shooting at him but missing. Heero was on the ground, but not shooting back.

They had orders not to kill the man but to bring him in. He was the kingpin, the person who would lead them to so many other distributors and dealers. Months of tracking and research had finally led them to this point. This was it. They finally had their man. Duo heard the guy yell out. He looked around the corner and saw that Heero had knocked the guy in the head with something he found on the ground, and stunned him long enough to get behind him. They were struggling. Duo had his weapon trained on the guy, but couldn't get close enough to disarm him.

Heero was behind the subject. They were wrestling. Everything was moving so fast but finally Heero managed to knocked the gun out of the guy's hand and was holding him at gunpoint. The man was holding his hands up. Heero ordered him to lie on the floor. Duo was in the process of getting his handcuffs out when a gunshot rang out from the doorway. In less than millisecond Heero was struck in the neck. The man on the floor was rolling under his desk. He shoved Heero backward. Heero was sitting on the floor with his gun pointed toward the door behind Duo. A bullet flew by Duo's face and struck something behind him. He turned and saw a man fall to the ground, a gaping bullet hole oozing in the center his forehead. Their target, the man under the desk, was grabbing for something in a drawer. Another gun. Heero was pointing his weapon at the man, telling him to drop it and all Duo remembered after that was blood. The smell of blood. The taste of blood in his mouth as he bit his own lip. The sight of blood trickling down the center of his partner's chest from a gushing wound in the side of his neck. Heero had been gasping for breath, coughing up blood, pointing and rasping orders at their target, who was then lowering his muzzle to point it at Duo's partner. His friend. His brother.

So Duo pulled the trigger. The subject froze, his hand went limp and he dropped his gun and landed with a loud slam against the desk and then slumped lifelessly to the floor.

Everything up until that point was as clear to Duo as if it had happened only hours before. All the events after that point were a chaotic blur. He had run up to Heero and tried to stop the bleeding. Heero was fading, coming in and out of consciousness. Duo had called dispatch for help and just held Heero and tried to get him to breathe. It felt like an eternity but they finally showed up. A medical team came and carted Heero away. Duo couldn't move. He had sat on the ground, covered in his best friend's blood, in complete and utter shock. He had seen Heero in rough shape plenty of times before. The guy was always getting injured. However, he had never seen him lying lifeless like that. He hadn't seen that much blood since the Maxwell Church massacre.

The mission had been a disaster. It wasn't a complete failure. The recovery team had managed to get some documents from the file cabinet that would lead them to other suspects, but there was no evidence that could incriminate anyone. The man they hoped to convict and use to track down others had been killed. There were no weapons on the property.

Heero had been put on medical leave and was admitted to a regional hospital. Duo went to visit him every day he was there. Heero had some damage to his larynx, which made talking difficult. The specialist ordered him not to speak so they communicated through a notepad. Duo had apologized to Heero for not being able to stop the subject from shooting him, but Heero had only replied, "STOP" on the notepad. Duo was just happy his friend wasn't dead.

An investigation had been conducted on the assignment. Duo had killed the subject, which he was ordered explicitly not to do. It wasn't the first time Duo had disobeyed an order. This was his third offense. He was technically on probation from the last order he had ignored, but this was the first time he had killed anyone while wearing a Preventer's uniform, and he felt like they were trying to make an example of him. As much as the Preventer's mission was to stop violence and the use of weapons, they themselves frowned greatly on the use of force and touted themselves as a pacifist organization. He stood before a panel of fellow agents and told them everything that happened, and explained that if he had not stopped the subject Heero would have been killed. Investigators argued that Heero had a bulletproof vest. They said he knew what the risks were when he took the case, and that he put himself in a compromised position by rushing into the situation without properly securing the area or calling for backup. They blamed Heero for his own injury.

It had all been too much for Duo. He had given up on the Preventers. He took off his uniform jacket and threw it on the ground. He then ripped off his badge and slammed it on the table in front of Sally. He lamented that they were all morons and that they couldn't treat him like that. He explained that his friend was the best agent they had, and they didn't deserve him either. He told them where they could shove their protocols and stormed out of the hearing and went straight to the hospital.

When Duo arrived at Heero's room the Japanese agent was finishing writing his statement outlining what had happened. Duo had explained how they were trying to put them blame on them, and that he quit and that they didn't need their ridiculous organization anyway. Heero sat there and patiently listened to Duo rant and rave for nearly half an hour about the injustice of it all before handing Duo the statement he had written. Duo read it, and it had matched his own statement.

"They are just going to blame you," Duo had said. Heero nodded.

"But you weren't wrong!" Duo had exclaimed, incredulous. He had watched as Heero grabbed another piece of paper and began to write something.

"WE WERE BOTH WRONG."

Duo was floored. What did he mean they were WRONG? He was dumbstruck. He tried to tell Heero that he was a great agent and that they could find better work somewhere else. That his skills were incomparable, and that the Preventers didn't deserve him. Heero started to write something else.

"I'M NOT LEAVING."

Duo was angry. Why? Why would Heero stay with an organization that would put the blame on him? Why would he stay with a group that clearly didn't value his life, and treated him as an expendable commodity? Heero began to calmly write. He slid the paper across the small side table towards Duo and then looked at him with a serious, determined gaze.

"THERE CAN BE NO PEACE WITHOUT THE PREVENTERS. I MUST STAY."

"But I quit!" Duo had exclaimed, feeling angry. How could Heero choose to stay with the Preventers after the way they treated him? Didn't he want to stay a team? Didn't he care that they were going to terminate him? Heero reached over to add to the bottom of his last statement. He wrote slowly, as if regretful for his next words.

"YOU BROKE PROTOCOL. YOU WERE WRONG."

The words were like a slap in the face. A sharp pain emanated from his stomach. He stared at Heero's small, blocky handwriting in disbelief. He saved him. Duo had saved Heero's life, and this was the repayment he got. He would rather have died for the mission than have his life spared by his friend? He would rather stay with this crooked, self-serving organization than leave and be with him? The organization that would have rather seen them both dead, shot in the damn head, as long as they got their information?

Duo felt betrayed. He began to pace around the hospital room, words just pouring from his mouth as his heart began to break.

"I have stuck through everything with you, Heero-fucking-Yuy. I have broken you out of military compounds and prisons. I have faced hell on the battlefield with you more times than I can count. I have helped you set broken bones, stitch your wounds, fix your mobile suit. I have done everything you have ever asked me to. I have been there for you through everything. EVERYTHING. You are stupid. You are a god damn fool. There will never be peace. We can never be normal. You go… go right ahead and stay there with those ungrateful assholes. They have no idea what they are doing. They are gonna get you killed. You are going to die for nothing! You have so much more to give the world, and they would rather use you are a fucking lure for some low level criminal than let you do work that can make a fucking difference. Fine. Stay. You are just as delusional as they are!"

Duo marched to the door and bit back the sob that was attempting to leap from his throat. "You won't betray Preventers, but you would throw me under the bus? Fine. Don't you ever EVER speak to me again. You are dead to me."

Then he had left. He had left the hospital. He had left Cinq. He had left Earth.

Now here he was, on X-18999 in a peaceful garden, feeling at war with his emotions. He knew he had blown up. He had so many long nights alone to think about it. He may have walked out of there that day and left the situation but he was still unhappy about it. He had no closure from it.

He reached down to toy with the end of his braid absently, a nervous fiddling gesture he often did when he was deep in thought. He was still angry with Heero. He wanted to punch him in his face, and if the guy hadn't been in the hospital on the mend he would have. He was still pissed at the Preventers and all of the agents who had grilled him. He was angry. He wasn't sorry he had shot that guy in the head. He would have done it all over again if he had to. He didn't care what the protocol said. He didn't care about the mission. No amount of information or data would be worth losing Heero over.

Except he had. He had lost Heero anyway.

He took a deep breath and stood up. His legs felt like jello and he was tired. He wanted nothing more than a cold beer and to go to bed. He had to put this day behind him. He couldn't dwell on this anymore. He had spent so many months going through the motions, pretending nothing had happened, only to have this bullshit flung back into his lap and with it all of the emotional turmoil he could stomach.

He made his way slowly to the metro station and climbed into the blue line train. He found himself replaying the events of that night over and over in his head the entire ride home. He began to feel numb. His fingers were so numb he could barely fish out his door key to enter his room. He was greeted by Milo, the stray alleycat he had taken in when he first moved in 4 months ago. He went to lay on the floor in his living room so the cat could rub happily against his face and shoulders in greeting. He stared at his ceiling. He felt his pocket vibrate. Someone was trying to call him. He ignored it. It buzzed again. He reached in his pocket to tap the silence button. Milo, finally satiated, settled in a tight ball on his chest and began to purr loudly. Duo closed his eyes. He could see Heero's bloody visage in his mind's eye.

"That fucking idiot," he muttered.