Part One: Discovery

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Series: Zetsumei no Yochimu

Part: One of Six [unedited]

Part Title: Discovery

By: Shinigami Goddess (Lionna)

Rating: PG-13ish

Warnings: EW has not and will not happen for this story, MAJOR Relena bashing, some language, angst. Mild shonen-ai/yaoi hints.

Pairings: 3x4/4x3 (implied), 1+2 eventually

Started: June 26, 2000 Completed: July 5, 2000

"No need for tears, please promise not to cry," the boy whispered.

Tossing and turning over on his make-shift bed on the floor, a shorthaired boy moaned softly in his sleep as tears began to sparkle down his face.

"Don't… don't cry for me…" the voice whispered again in his dream state.

/No… don't leave…/ The tears shone on his face within the dim light of the room. /Why must you go…? How did you ever find out about this… Why…?/

~~~ Some Months' Time Earlier ~~~

"Group hug! C'mon guys, group hug!" Duo somehow managed to snag the other four into a brotherly embrace. He poked the others in the ribs while giving a cheeky smile before saying, "Lighten up a bit! We have to go and celebrate!"

Quatre was about to intervene when a voice shouted out through the hangar. "Heero, you're alright, thank God!" Relena Peacecraft brushed past the other pilots, causing Quatre some off balance. Trowa briefly glared at the obsessive girl before righting his lover in time to see a wince.

"Quatre…?" Duo questioned tentatively, tearing his gaze from Relena clamping onto Heero's arm. "Oi, man, daijoubu desu ka?" The blonde responded with a weak nod, and Duo's eyes snapped to where Quatre was holding his side tightly. Grimly Duo moved over and forced Quatre's hand out of the way. "Like hell you're alright," he muttered bitterly as he watched a few droplets of blood float in the low gravity.

Trowa was numb with shock and clutched Quatre a little steadier. "I'm getting you to Sally." To Relena he said, "Where's the medic area?"

Startled from her flirtations with Heero, Relena blinked quizzically at Trowa. "Nani? Medics?"

Duo suddenly blew up at her, "Yes, the medics! Where are they?! If you hadn't been so fucking obsessed over Yuy you might have realized that Quatre's lost and still losing precious amounts of blood!"

Stunned silence followed the American's outburst. The sound of a door hissing open brought them all back to reality. A group of people rushed to the five pilots. Familiar faces consisted of Howard, Noin, Une, and luckily Sally. "Quatre needs medical attention immediately. Please see to it," Trowa said calmly to Sally. The older woman quickly took hold of Quatre and ran a visual check as she led him away.

Trowa stared, detached, after Quatre for a while and then turned back. Relena had moved from Heero's side to stand before Duo with a fuming look. Duo's eyes were flashing angrily behind his smile that could also pass as a smirk.

"What were you saying before?" Relena all but hissed, trying to keep her calm. Everyone was rather startled since they hadn't expected the argument and disagreements between Relena and Duo to be that bad.

"Nothing of importance to you since it doesn't deal with Heero Yuy," the American countered. The furious blush that crept onto Relena's cheeks made Duo grin with triumph. Noin moved forward to sort out what was going on when a resounding crack stopped her.

Duo had faltered back and had it not been for the low gravity he would have been sitting on the floor from a result of the punch. Wide, violet-blue eyes were startled and betrayed as he looked at his attacker. Relena stood just in front of him with her arm raised, looking still quite ticked but now stunned. Blinking, she turned and managed a small smile. "Arigatou, Heero! I knew you -"

"Would you also like a bruise?" was Heero's icy reply as he turned and walked away. Wufei scowled at the retreating back as he went to help Duo up.

Staring silently at Heero's back, Duo swallowed a lump forming in his throat. /He protected her. Even if he said he'd punch her… he protected her from harmless insults. Okay… not so harmless./ Duo turned away to try and brush off Wufei's helping hands.

"You're already getting a bruise. Come, we'll give Sally a new patient," Wufei told the braided pilot. As both headed away they avoided Relena completely; getting some annoyed reactions from the others gathered.

Duo had the decency to wince as Sally applied a numbing cream to his cheek. She bandaged it lightly, explaining that some of the skin was near breaking. She handed Duo an ice pack and stood to leave the small medical room. Duo chewed absently on his lower lip and just as he heard Sally keying in the door command he halted her. "Sally… matte…"

"Nanda, Duo-kun?" Sally asked as she shut the door and looked back at him.

"I need you to run a few tests on me… for me… I… can you just do it?"

Casting a quizzical look at Duo, Sally came to sit next to him. "What's going on? Why tests? What do you suspect?"

"I…" Duo trailed off and adjusted the ice pack distractedly. "I don't really know. You must do the tests!" He turned to look at Sally with pleading eyes. "I beg you! Just this request! You mustn't let the other know, though…"

Raising an eyebrow, Sally said nothing for a while. "Okay… I guess I can do that. Wait until we're back on a colony and we have more resources, though. We're bringing Quatre into the hospital there." Duo nodded in agreement and didn't stop Sally as she headed out of the room again. /What is going on?/

"I thought Trowa and Quatre were the lovers," Wufei commented to his companion as they walked down the steps of the hospital.

"Then how do you explain Maxwell staying after for the first three days?" Wufei demanded.

A faint shrug was his response. "What does it matter?"

Wufei paused for that and hesitantly admitted, "something else is going on. We're just being left in the dark. There's something so wrong here…"

Heero said nothing, refusing to agree with the Chinese boy who always talked of justice.

"They're in." The voice all but made Duo fall from his nervous perch on an empty hospital bed. "Whoa, calm down. I've got to report our findings…" Sally's face took on a serious look and she sat on one of the two chairs within the room.

"Well…?" Duo inquired, seemingly the same jester.

Sally wanted so badly to smile at him and say to joke all he wanted. She couldn't, though. Taking a deep breath in preparation, she began. "Duo, with the results from the various checks we ran, we're finding some abnormal readings. Those that we're still looking to identify. Some things seem to signal towards the plague that hit a while back on L2, you lived there, right?" A weak nod greeted her. "The plague symptoms are mild but still there for some reason. They'll become stronger over time if we don't treat them."

"That all?" Duo asked, weary for some reason.

"No," Sally replied softly. She sighed and rubbed her temples. Duo's senses went hey-wire with the action, knowing it to be a foreboding omen. "There's a virus that's continuing to multiply within your body. It's too far along to stop it now… it had to have gone on for months."

"Duo-kun, there is no cure. The virus spreading in you is a type of… poison. Usually a large amount would be injected and kill the victim fairly quickly. You somehow managed to only take in a very small amount that continues to grow."

"Nothing we can do? Is there an idea how I got it?"

"The virus was used by the Romefellar foundation on their prisoners."

Duo finally found his voice, "Then… how… how long?"

Sally shut her eyes. "We can slow it down just barely, maybe add in a few months. Some things you won't be able to do anymore or risk damage to yourself. At tops?" She looked at him. "Maybe a year if we're lucky."

Duo smirked, which threw Sally off guard. "All I need. How `bout you clear up everything I need to know and give me the meds, `kay?" Sally only nodded numbly.

/He's taking it so… easily…?/

"You're unusually pouty, Maxwell," Wufei commented as he took another bite of his breakfast. Duo made a face in return and took his new `vitamins'. "I still don't see why you're taking those things."

"None of your business, Wuffie," Duo replied with a smile. Of course a Chang Death Glare ™ was glanced his way. Moods switching quickly, Duo turned to the others. "You really won't stay?"

"Stay where?" Quatre asked, looking around the hotel diner. "This is a hotel, not a house."

Duo stuck his tongue out. "Not here, silly. There's a place back on L2 that's waiting. I'd love some help to spiffy the place up a bit." He was met by negative answers. "Ah well. Keep in touch, then, so I can have you all over later." Inside his emotions plummeted. /They were supposed to come./

"Why not come to stay at one of my estates?"

Shaking his head, Duo responded, "It's tempting I'll tell you, but…" he sighed. /But I need to go home and make my old home into something livable. There's still so much to do…/

"Is there something you need to tell us?" Trowa inquired, taking a sip of coffee.

For a few minutes Duo buried himself in his own coffee and scuffed his toes along the floor. "No…"/I can't. Not now…/

The shuttle drifted calmly through open space; two of its passengers wished they could be just as calm. "I still say he's hiding something," the blonde pouted.

A comforting hand rested on his shoulder. "There's nothing we can do, he'll tell us if he wants to. We'll make sure to keep in touch."

/There is something we could do. All he wants is for all of us to stay with him./ A small tremor of pain laced through Quatre's chest as he looked out the window. /Something is wrong with Duo./

~~~ 3 months later ~~~

"Sorry, gotta get!" Duo called over his shoulder before swallowing a couple drinks from his water bottle.

"C'mon, man, we only played one game!" one of the high-school kids called out, taking hold of his basketball. "What's the rush?" Duo waved them off and apologized again as he moved away.

Walking down the streets of L2 he worked carefully on concentrating on moving. He did not need the problem of collapsing in the road. /Was it really that intense of game?/ he wondered as he tried for more oxygen.

Duo kept walking down various rundown streets until he reached a newly redone, one-story house. He had to be proud of the job he had done with the house. It had taken his first two months there to get the house cleaned out, rebuilt, and have electricity and heat put in. It was now quite livable and looked adequately nice too. /Wonder where the others are?/

The first thing Duo would always do upon walking in was to check his "Heero-type" laptop for messages from his old friends. Only Quatre had kept in touch every once in a while. The last message had informed Duo that Quatre and Trowa were separate for a while; Quatre dealing with the Winner businesses and Trowa taking a break at the circus for a while.

There were no new messages for that day so Duo went about gathering something for a snack. /I wonder what Wufei and Heero are doing? I wish they'd contact me./ He sighed and went to lay down on the couch. Within moments he was sleeping soundly with memories of the past for companions.

"Can't you locate him yet?" the blonde asked, sighing. The other person shook their head slightly and apologized. "Where is he? There's no way he can hide that well!"

"We're doing our best, Relena-sama," Noin replied. "When he wishes to hide, he most certainly can; I'm sure you know that. There's some leads I'm checking into personally. Why not try contacting the others?"

Relena's eyes narrowed just slightly at the thought of the `others'. She wasn't interested in them, they didn't treat her well at all. "Why should I?"

Containing a sigh, Noin pointed out, "With the help from the Winner resources plus our own there's a very close chance to tracking him down."

The young leader seemed to ponder that for a long while. Finally she turned back and made a face. "Would you please connect him on the line?"

"Yes, mame," Noin saluted and left the office.

The videophone buzzed and Relena reached forward to turn it on. The screen framed the beautiful, young, face of Quatre Raberba Winner. "What can I do for you Miss Relena?"

"Quatre!" she greeted. "I've been wanting to get a hold of all of you for a while but work has been busy," she easily lied to keep him un-suspecting. "I was so trying to contact Heero but he seems to have gone into hiding. Might you know where he is?"

There was a long pause on the other end and Relena could have sworn his eyes flickered from the screen. "Gomen, Miss Relena, I haven't seen him." There was a voice in the background she couldn't quite identify and she tried to focus on it but Quatre spoke again. "I'm sorry, a problem has arisen and I must see to it immediately. Good day, Miss Relena." His image slipped off screen and Relena fumed for a few moments. Settling herself down, she went to see if there were any new leads.

"I never thought I'd have to be hiding. Quatre… … … thanks…" the words were odd on his tongue and even the blonde Arab looked stunned.

"It was nothing, Heero. I know you want to be keeping a low profile for a while. Unfortunately, if you hang around here she'll find you sooner rather than later."

Heero nodded slightly and stared at the window onto the working colony of L4. /I'm sick and tired of moving around. Where can I go now?/

As if reading the other's mind, Quatre informed him, "I'm going to see Duo soon, I still haven't gotten to the bottom of what happened three months ago. He's probably lonely anyhow. Why not come along? We can't send advanced notice or Relena will find us."

"Aa." Heero thought some more and turned. "There's nothing better to do. When do we leave?"

Quatre smiled. "Just as soon as I assign some things. I'm already packed."

The persistent wail of an alarm reached Duo's ears. Wincing, he hit the clock with the thought of one person with the same persisting wail. [1] [Person: Relena] Grumbling to himself, he wondered why in the world he was forcing himself to get himself up at the ungodly hour of eight in the morning.. He stood and made it to the bathroom before he figured it out. Blinking himself into wakefulness, Duo hurried to dress and rebraid his hair. "Damnit, I better not be late!" he muttered.

He grabbed his black jacket and his keys before flinging the front door open. Two pairs of eyes greeted him and Duo righted himself before he could fall. Eyes large, he wondered, /Why now? What do I say?/

"Duo! Whoa, where are you heading?"

All the American could do at first was gape and stare. "Um… wha… what are you two doing here?!"

Quatre coughed discretely and explained. "Relena's searching everywhere for Heero. He came to me for a while but she's going to be checking in with me soon, I can tell. I didn't think you'd mind visitors so I brought us here."

Duo blinked and changed to a bubbly mood immediately. "Well sure! Ms. High and Might will never look into a hellhole like L2!" he smiled wanly. "There's three nights a week that I work and won't be home. Er, oh! Come on in already!" Duo ushered them in and closed the door, letting his appointment slip into the back of his mind. "There's two bedrooms, a study, living room, and kitchen. We'll have to figure out sleeping arrangements I guess! How you been? I'm so glad you came!"

Head whirling with the continued chatter, Quatre finally broke in. "Hold on Duo, calm down!" he laughed. "Weren't you headed somewhere?"

"Oh no! I'm SO late!" Duo jumped up from his seat and rushed to the front door. "So sorry! Really! I'm gonna get it for being late again!" With that, the door slammed shut and Quatre and Heero were left staring at nothing.

"That was strange. Hope he doesn't mind if we look around a bit…" Quatre said. Setting their bags down, the two ex-pilots began their exploring.

The kitchen wasn't perfectly organized but it wasn't a royal mess either. The shelves and refrigerator were stocked adequately with food enough for a very large family; that confused the two boys. Some dishes sat on the edge of the sink, obviously waiting to be cleaned. The living room adjoined the kitchen by a swinging door. Simple furnishings of a couch, armchair, VCR, and TV were within the room with a coffee table. The next room they entered was the guestroom obviously because of the scarce furnishings and completely organized order about it. A small dresser was all that accompanied the bed. The bathroom was to one side of the guestroom and on the other side of the bathroom was the other bedroom. The bed was hap-hazardly made with a rush and the black comforter dragged partly on the ground. A dark dresser with a mirror faced the door and various items were scattered about the top of it. Beside the lamp on the bedside table, Heero found something catching his eye. Stepping closer, he found it to be a type of perspiration drug. A very powerful drug. He showed it to Quatre but the blonde hadn't a clue what it was doing in Duo's room. It was rather disturbing, though.

The study was quite different from the other rooms. It hardly seemed redone with the tattered curtains and cushions about the floor. The glass looked filthy. The floor was fairly clean, however, and a new desk was set up. A laptop, printer, and piles of photographs, drawings, and papers were organized on top of the desk.

"Wonder why he kept it like that," Quatre mused aloud as they headed back to the kitchen to get something to drink. "It's really odd. Something was very… haunting, in there." He shivered. "I don't think I like it."

Hearing the front door being opened, Heero jumped into battle mode, preparing for any danger. He gazed at the door as it opened more and then watched as a young woman walked in with a large paper bag in her hands. She was smiling happily as she slipped off her shoes and called, "Duo-kun! Duo! I've got great news!"

Quatre emerged from the kitchen just as the woman walked in to find Heero sitting on the couch. She blinked in surprise. "Oh my! Duo didn't mention any guests…!"

Always being the formal one, Quatre bowed and explained, "We're friends of Duo. We dropped in sort of unexpected. Duo's out at the moment, he left in a rush."

The woman laughed, causing her shoulder-length, wavy, black hair to bounce a bit. "Late as usual… he's going to have to learn to be on time." She smiled a little sadly but brushed it off. "Let me introduce myself. The name's simply Aika," she set her bag down and bowed respectfully. "Thank your friend for the name."

Confused, the ex-gundam pilots exchanged a brief glance. There was something building in Heero as he wondered about what exactly Aika was doing within Duo's house. "My name is Quatre Raberba Winner, and this is my friend… Heero Yuy."

Aika suddenly grinned and nodded her head, "Of course! I thought I recognized you! Duo talks so much of his friends and seems to have photographs and sketches of everyone everywhere!" A rain of timid knocks began to sound on the door and Aika's hand flew to her forehead. "Oh dear, I must be running late too. Where's Duo when you need him…?" she grumbled as she hurried to put her bag on the kitchen table. Quatre and Heero followed out of interest.

Finally Aika rushed to the front door and the scene there startled the ex-pilots. A group of three, young kids stood at the doorway. One was shaking and had to be supported by the boy within the threesome. "Sick!" the smallest girl cried and pointed to the shaking girl.

"Don't worry, now, come in… lunch hasn't been started yet," Aika soothed as she picked up the shaking girl and brought her into the kitchen. The other little girl and boy clung to Aika's legs as they approached Heero and Quatre in the doorway. "You two, could you start making some sandwiches? There's ingredients in the refrigerator and in the bag I brought in. Tsuki needs some medical help so I'll take care of that. Go on you two," Aika directed her last statement to the two children clinging to her leg. "They'll be helping you until Duo gets back."

"Duo?" the small girl perked up and clapped happily.

Amazed, Heero and Quatre moved sluggishly to help the older woman. /I don't understand. What is going on here? And why can I be so at ease… I shouldn't be adapting to something like this quickly./ Heero frowned but followed orders by laying out the pieces of bread.

Within another half-hour there were five more tattered children sitting on the kitchen floor and two other sick children in the living room with Aika. Finally the door opened without a knock and Duo came in. The children in the kitchen cheered and promptly tackled Duo. The American struggled to keep balance but finally relented and let himself fall into a sit on the ground. "Oi, oi! You're so early!"

"You're late!" one child called and Duo made a playful face.

Looking up, Duo found Quatre and Heero standing in the doorway. Questions were written across their eyes while Quatre looked rather amused. Smiling Duo managed to stand and led the group of children back into the kitchen. "Heya guys, sorry that I didn't tell you `bout this before. I was in such a rush and I didn't think I'd be late." Looking into the living room he nodded solemnly to Aika as she treated her three patients. "Seems you met Aika, thanks for not going battle-mode. Anyhow, let's get their lunch finished! With three hands this oughtta be quick. Whatta ya say?" he changed his question to the kids gathered about them. Their eyes shined with unshed, joyous tears. Duo's smile nearly faltered but he managed to get to the counter and start making food before his mask fell for a bit.

The three teenaged boys worked quietly while the children seemed to come to life and began playing little games and talking with each other. It was another twenty minutes until the meal was done and Duo handed out the food to greedy hands. "Now, now, enjoy it nicely and you'll get a special treat!" Aika walked in with her three patients and they hurriedly grabbed their own share. Aika nodded to Duo, indicating the paper bag on the table. Making his way to her, Duo asked, "Can you watch them a bit? I need to talk to my friends."

"Of course, if they start wailing for you, though, I can't do a thing about it!" Aika responded with a grin.

"C'mon," Duo led Quatre and Heero from the room and into the study. Briefly Quatre shuddered. Taking a seat on one of the old cushions, Duo began. "Well I'm sure you're a little confused… this happens everyday about noon. I'm the only well off house in these areas. I'll be able to keep this up for about another year with all the money we ended up hacking into from the war." He shrugged and grinned a little.

"Who are they? Why are you doing this?" Heero asked.

Flashing him a smile, Duo replied, "Aa, Heero the ever-focused Yuy. They're street kids, if you couldn't tell. Some of `em have families. Some don't. Most of them don't even have a bit of shelter. When I came here, home, three months ago I found them all separate and most of them dying. Many of their families will not spare food to them…" he trailed off. "Oh hell, they were dying! Unlike… well… unlike what my… my parents did they didn't believe the youngest should live." He sighed and looked out through one of the broken panes of glass. "Some have died. I wasn't able to really set this up until a little over a month and a half ago. I ended up finding that girl who now is called Aika on the streets one day. She was starving and didn't have a place to stay, she'd do anything to survive. I do mean anything. I ended up giving her some money and told her I would find an apartment to stay in and get her started in a job just as long as she promised to help me take care of the kids still on the street. We started this, then, and have four different groups of kids. They only come in once every four days, hardly enough to keep them alive but it's the best we can do." He smiled briefly and stood. "Guess that's bout it…"

"Huh?" Duo blinked at Heero. "Oh yeah, forgot to explain that." Turning with his back to them, Duo crossed his arms over his chest. "As to why…? It's hell living on the streets. It's more like not living. You have to… enjoy life… while you can. There's no orphanage around here anymore so there's nowhere for the kids to go." His smile vanished completely as he hung his head. "When I was a kid we were lucky enough to have the Maxwell Church Orphanage to go to…" he clutched his cross and whispered, "They never should have taken in Shinigami."

Quatre stepped forward and began reaching out, unsure if he should comfort. "Duo…?"

Spinning around, Duo's lips twitched, trying to form a smile. "It was burned. They died. `kay? Anyhow… that was the last place anyone could look to. The last reason why?" He looked back to one of the corners of the room. "I won't let them end up like Solo. They deserve life just as much as he did."

"So you were on the streets for most of your life," Heero stated.

Angry, Duo snapped, "Yes! Do you have a damn problem with that?"

"Duo, calm down…" Quatre said. "I'm sure he's just a little surprised… I am! I never would have known… I mean you never hinted at it."

"Oi, Duo-kun," Aika called, walking in. "They're already wailing for ya. Go on in before we have a mob. There's cookies in the bag." She smiled. Duo grinned in return and left.

"Matte, Aika-san," Quatre called. The woman stopped and turned with a quizzical look on her face. "Has Duo been okay…? He kinda left us all hanging a few months ago."

A shocked look passed over the woman's face and she opened her mouth to speak just as Duo appeared back in the doorway. "C'mon, Aika, I need your help here!" She nodded and left with the American with a bewildered look still on her face.

"He's hiding something," Heero muttered softly. Quatre nodded with a worried expression. /I just… just wish I knew what it was./

Quatre: In the next chapter a turn of events causes Duo to reveal what's really going on. Sally slips and tells Wufei and so the two come to L2 to check up on Duo. Heero disappears when he gets frustrated with Duo and everything begins to tense! Follow on to Part Two: Revealings to see the confrontation between Heero and Duo as they begin to understand...