Darling Little Duo-Chan

Raihne

Duo stared at the scientist in anger, "You are not sticking Heero with that thing again I don't care if you've improved it!"

 "But I just wanted to. . ."

 "Do you realize what happened last time?! No! N. O." Duo growled protectively, thanking and
deities who may be listening that he had intercepted Heero's mission to see the Doctor.

 "Well I need to try it on someone. It is vital to the mission that you do not out grow your Gundams
before the war is over."

 "Test it on a damn monkey then! Keep that away from Heero."

 Doctor J got an odd look in his eyes.

 "What. . . oh no, no no no, I said a monkey! Monkey! Don't come near me." He backed away as J
advanced

 "Long hair, constantly chattering with no point to it. . . that sounds like a money to me."

 "You're nuts! Help! Get that thing away from me! Damn it! H~e~e~r~o~!!!!"
 
  Heero jerked awake and jumped out of bed, "Duo!"

 "What's wrong?" Quatre yawned leaning out of the room he shared with Trowa.

 "Duo is gone, he's in trouble."

 "How do you know?" Wufei asked. "Maybe he had a mission."

 Heero typed in a few quick key words and frowned, "He didn't. . . I did."

 Trowa frowned and Quatre's eyes widened in understanding.

 "J."

 When they arrived, "Doctor J was franticly trying to catch a crawling, around one year old butt
naked Duo who was reeking havoc on the lab.

 "Ooooh waaaa! lookie lookie!" Duo-chan squealed as he smashed a beaker of chemicals over the
computer console and freed the lab animals to play with them.

 "J!!!" The four boys yelled.

 Duo-chan looked up at them with huge violet eyes and a braid that reached past his toes and tripped
him when he tried to crawl. "omma!" He grinned and latched onto Heero's leg. "Hee- omma!" His
little voice squeaked high on the first syllable in a miniature giggle.

 Quatre, Trowa and Wufei took one look and burst out laughing, "H. . . Hee-momma!?"

 "Omae wa korosu!" Heero threatened them, but it didn't have to same affect when a tiny little
bundle, just old enough to crawl, was curled around ones leg.

 Heero reached down and plucked Duo up into his arms. "Duo?"

 "Hee-omma!" The baby giggled and threw two pudgy little arms around his neck, nuzzling Heero's
hair lovingly.

 Doctor J grinned, "Heero, congratulations, it's a boy."

 "No." Heero said firmly and handed the baby to Trowa.

 "Hee-omma?" Duo-chan looked up with wavering, tear filled eyes and his little lip began to tremble.

 Trowa shoved him back at Heero, "No way."

 "Heero." Doctor J said when Heero looked ready to hand the baby away again.

 "NANI?!" He roared.

 "Meet your new mission."

 "Oh hell no."

<Part 2>
____________________________________________________________________

 When they got back to the house, Heero dug out the case of clothing Duo had bought when he had been. . . He shook his head, //I don't want to think about it.//

 He dug around for a sleeper, the fluffy white towel and a diaper. As he was looking his battle
roughed hands slid over a fuzzy black footsie sleeper. A superman style S on the chest.

 <Hands running lightly over his chest. . . ‘S for Shinigami, because you are mine'>

 The perfect soldier shook his head and shoved those PJs back into the case, pulling out another pair,
also black. //He had me dressing like him.//

 The baby was covered in chemicals and such from the mess in Doctor J's lab. He was starting to itch
at his skin and Heero quickly readied a bath for the chibi Shi-chan. //little death, it seems to suit
you.//

 Heero settled Duo-chan into the bathtub and held on to the slippery little boy as he splashed happily.
And blew bubbles in the water with his little rosebud lips. Heero caught himself grinning and wiped
the expression off of his face. //Kuso! Get a hold of yourself Yuy!//

 Duo-chan squealed in delight and dodged Heero's hands as he tried to lather baby shampoo into the
chestnut mass that floated around the child. When he finally caught him, the suds slipped into the
babies eyes and Duo-chan started to cry.

 "Shh! Shh! It's ok! Tear free see. Oh damn it Yuy babies can't read! Ah. . . Kuso!" Heero quickly
stripped and climbed into the tub, wiping the suds from Duo's eyes and holding the slippery baby
close against his chest.

 Duo-chan sniffled and sucked on his fist as he gazed with his bright, sparkling purple/blue eyes up at
his protector. "Hee-omma." He sobbed and snuggled tighter.

 Heero could feel their body warmth combining. Warmth pooled around where the little one was
nestled and also around his heart, seeping into the cracks in it's icy casing that Duo had already made
with his friendship. Heero stared at his little friend and bit his lip, tentatively brushing his knuckles over
the soft hair as he rinsed it. By the time the bath was over, Duo-chan was asleep in his arms.

 //My little Shi-chan. My little death.// Heero fastened the diaper on and then the PJs and laid
Duo-chan beside him in their bed.

 In his sleep the baby reached out and grabbed Heero's hand, wrapping the boy's arm around him
and snuggling his little back up against Heero's warm and bare front, then he started to suckle one of
Heero's fingers in his sleep.

 Heero caught his breath and covered them both up. //He's so tiny!// He kissed the little one's softly
sloping neck and smiled in the darkness, where no one could see him. //So precious and soft.// He
pulled the babe's still slightly wet hair up over the pillow so it wouldn't touch him and nestled the baby
close resting his chin on the little head, and holding him against his heart. //So tiny. So innocent. You
depend on me now, don't you Duo.//

 The baby gave a soft yawn and turned in Heero's embrace to curl up chest to chest with him.
"Hee-omma." He sighed.

 //You know, I think I'm starting to depend on you too.// Heero closed his eyes and let the babies
soft breathing lull him to sleep.

<Parts 3 & 4>

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 Morning came for Heero at four a.m. when Duo-chan woke screaming.

 "Wha. . . !" Heero sat strait up and his hand shot out to steady the baby, "Duo what's wrong?"

 Duo just cried harder.

 "Hungry, I'll bet that's it. What do babies eat? Something soft and something that is not really
necessary to chew before you swallow. . . pudding? You want pudding?"

 The baby gurgled up at him with that tiny lip trembling in a way that, Heero had fast discovered, was
quite endearing.

 "Ok, let me get dressed and I'll get you some pudding."

 Heero slid into his clothing and scooped Duo-chan up tooting him into the kitchen. <Jell-O was
plastered everywhere. Duo trying to find something. . . a bowl of Jell-O. . . on my head!> Heero shook
the vague memory away and sat Duo in the baby seat Wufei had thrown together for him. "What is
this. . . ? A bottle?" Heero picked it up and read the note attached, ‘heat it in water and test it on
your wrist, so Duo-chan wont burn himself.' //Thank Quatre for my sanity.// Heero heated the bottle
tested it, then took Duo-chan into the living room. He lay back on the couch, cradling the baby in his
arms as Duo-chan sucked hungrily at the bottle. When he was done, the little one sprawled out belly
down on Heero's chest and after pulling an afghan over them both, Heero fell asleep once again to
Duo-chan's heat and tiny breaths.

 When he woke for the second time it was nearly noon! //I never sleep in!// Duo chan was still asleep
on his chest and Heero's lips twitched up a little at the corners. //precious.//

 A quick glance around told him that the others were all out, and Heero placed a quick kiss to the
sleeping baby's nose.

 Wufei came in from checking Nataku to find Heero still on the couch, awake now and trying not to
wake Duo-chan from his nap. The Chinese boy smiled and lifted the baby lightly to cradle him in the
crook of one arm. "I can watch him for a bit." He said quietly.

 Heero felt some kind of pain go through him as Wufei took the baby from him and Duo- chan didn't
wake and cry for him , almost like. . . jealousy? //No. Couldn't be that. . . this baby thing is getting to
me that's all.// "I'm going to take a shower."

 Wufei nodded and sat down with the sleeping infant. "He'll be ok for a little while."

 With a nod, Heero was gone.

 The hot water went a little way toward calming him but Heero was still tense. At the sound of Duo
crying he was out of the shower into a robe and out to the living room in under thirty seconds "What
happened?!"

 Wufei's eyes shot up startled, "Nothing Heero, He just woke up to a different face, that's all. Here
you go, all yours."

 Heero breathed out a sigh of relief and Duo-chan cooed happily.

 Wufei smirked.

 "Nani?" Heero demanded.

 "Nothing."

 "Nani Chang!"

 Wufei's smirk broadened, "You came awfully fast when he cried."

 Heero frowned, "He is my mission."

 "If you believe that Yuy," The black hair boy turned toward the door, "you are blind." Wufei said
softly over his shoulder.

 Heero glanced down at the squirming, giggling bundle and sighed. //I don't know if I can believe it.
That's the problem.// He tapped Duo's nose and was rewarded by a happy giggle and grin. "My
Shi-chan." He said in a hushed whisper. . . //mine.//

______________________________________________________________________
 

 Heero sat at his laptop and searched the internet for site's on child development and parenting. Duo-chan  sat on the desk in front of him dressed in tiny little jeans and a tiny tank top, discovering his toes. A light chuckle escaped Heero's lips when Duo-chan pulled his own foot up and accidentally hit himself in the face, then wrinkled his little nose and tried to glare at the offending foot.

 Heero plucked the baby up from the desk. An offending odor caught his nose and He frowned at
the baby. He knew what that smell meant. He lay Duo back on the desk and took out a disposable
diaper, powder and wipes. He got the other diaper off of Duo with little trouble. Disposing of it in the
diaper bin he clean the child and patted Duo's little bottom with powder but we he tried to put a new
diaper on Duo-chan started to kick.

 "Stay still." Heero ordered.

 Duo-chan grinned, grabbed the powder bottle and squeezed.

 The perfect soldier frowned and sneezed, and Duo-chan giggled louder.

 "Heero what was. . ." Quatre skidded to a halt outside the door, took one look at Heero and started
to giggle.

 "Not funny."

 "H. . . Heero." Quatre managed, "Your face!"

 "Hn?" He looked in the mirror and jumped, the motion sending powder everywhere. He was
covered head to chest in baby powder! "Duo!"

 Duo-chan giggled and cooed at him waving his tiny fists happily.

 A muscle worked in Heero's jaw and Quatre made a hasty retreat. Duo chan gazed up at him and
smiled. The blond poked his head back into the room long enough to grab the baby who sat on the
desk. As he ran Heero's roar shook the house, "DUO!!!"

 Trowa looked down at the baby as he finished fastening on a new diaper. "Even as a child he gets
under Heero's skin."

 "It's so cute!" Quatre smiled, "Heero doesn't have a clue what's happening to him!"

 "I will not be the one to tell him." Trowa frowned and set Duo on the floor.

 Quatre seconded that.

   Their eyes met and caught and neither noticed that Duo-chan had crawl out the door until much
later.
 
  Heero lay on his bed after a quick shower to get the powder off. His mind was in a whirl of
confusion. Thoughts refused to fit together coherently so he finally gave up and went outside to work
on Wing.

 Working on his Gundam was like meditation for Heero. It always focused him.

 He reached down from his perch on Wings chest to grab a part and instead, his hand found
something soft and silky. The perfect soldier turned his head and found Duo-chan watching him
quietly.

 "D. . . Duo?"

 The baby looked up at him with a very serious expression for one so small.

 Heero picked him up and cradled him in his arms, "How did you get out here?" He slid from the
Gundam and worried his lower lip hesitantly, "You. . . what is it?"

 Duo-chan held out his little hand and inside was his favorite toy. A little metal Gundam only an inch
tall. It looked like a cross between Deathscythe and Wing.

 "Huh?"

 The baby put it in Heero's hand and closed the startled boy's fingers over it. "No be sad." The child
begged, "me be good."

 Heero blink a few times, trying to process this then turned softened cobalt eyes on the little one. "I
know Shi-chan." He said softly, "I. . . I am not mad at you."

 "Ewo?"

 "I'm not mad at you."

 "No be sad." The child said softly, and pressed his little rosebud lips to the corner of Heero's eye,
kissing away the one tear that had found it's way past his defenses.

 "Duo, Shi-chan, I. . . I don't know how to be your mother. I am only a soldier."

 "‘ou duo so-jer." Duo-chan smiled.

 Heero froze and looked nervously down at the child and then smiled. "Duo's soldier."

 "Hai." The baby giggled and hugged Heero's neck.

 Quatre and Trowa slipped quietly from the doorway, unseen.

 "How long do you think it will take?"

 "For Heero to tell Duo he loves him?"

 "For Heero to realize it himself."

 "I give it a week at the most."

 Trowa nodded in agreement.

<Part 5>
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 Duo-chan was finally asleep! Heero sighed and tucked the covers close around the little shoulders then turned his attention to the chest of baby supplies. He folded Duo-chan's little clothes and was placing them carefully back inside when his knuckles brushed against something hard. He pulled it out. A data disk? It looked like a video CD. Odd.

 Ever the perfect soldier Heero pushed the disk into the computer and hacked into the visual file it
held. What greeted him was a picture of him, as a baby! He almost went into shock! Duo had gotten
it on tape?! When had he planed on telling him?!

 He was wearing those ridiculous fuzzy black PJ's and clutching a teddy bear. Duo's voice could be
heard in the back ground.

 ‘Oi, Hee-chan, Who is the most perfect baby in the whole wide world?'

 ‘Me?' he asked quietly.

 Duo laughed and the camera shook as he nodded, ‘Yes!'

 Heero watched his baby self giggle and fidget.

 ‘And who is the most precious baby in the world?'

 ‘Me?' he asked again.

 ‘Right!' Duo laughed, ‘and who is the most beautiful creature in the universe and beyond?'

 ‘DOO!' Hee-chan smiled brightly and Duo gasped. The camera quickly changed hands to Quatre
who giggled when Duo scooped up Hee-chan and hugged him close, tears in his eyes. ‘Doo
owchie?' Hee-chan asked worried and clumsily swiped at the moist rivers on the braided pilot's
cheeks.

 "No Heero-chan, I'm happy, that's all. I love you so much!"

 "A'sheru Doo."
 
  Heero sat enthralled at his computer, watching the data disk with wide eyes. Duo had taken such
good care of him. Always holding him and snuggling him, and telling Hee-chan how much he loved
him. Over and over. He realized that some of the film Duo hadn't recorded, there were some times
when Duo didn't seem to realize that he was being taped. It must have been Quatre.

 The perfect soldier watched Duo bath his baby form and massage him with baby oil.
 
  ‘We'll have to do this when you're back to normal, ne Hee-chan?'
 
  Heero suffered a massive nosebleed at the thought. He came back just in time to see a picture of the
two of them dancing in the rain together. He typed in a few commands and copied the disk onto
another and onto his laptop. It was something precious that he was loth to part with. A treasured little
piece of his time with Duo.

 //I need to take some pictures of Shi-chan.// He thought looking at the tiny bundle asleep in his bed.

 Heero slid a secret video camera from his computer and loaded a CD in then turned it toward Duo.
"My little Shi-chan." He smiled. After taping a minuet or so of the baby sleeping, he turned it off and
promised to get more later.

 //He really was good to me.// Heero thought. //I need to give him more time. He need's someone to
hug him and spoil him like he did Hee-chan.// "I will try Shi-chan. I will really try."

 The baby smiled in his sleep and Heero slid in beside Duo-chan and pulled him to his chest.

 "I will try."

<Part 6>
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 Heero decided one day that being inside all of the time wasn't good for Duo-chan. Duo needed to go outside to play a little.

 He tethered the energetic child to his Gundam as he worked and Duo-chan piled up sand and
proclaimed it a house. "Waaa! See ewo? Lookie!"

 Heero looked down at the formless pile of sand with a rock placed carefully on top. "It's nice
Shi-chan."

 Duo grinned and started pounding on it, leveling it in not even a tenth of the time he spent on it.
"Waaa!" He cheered, "sin'gami!"

 Heero couldn't help it, he started to laugh.

 Duo-chan looked up at the pilot and smiled wider than ever before.

 "What? You like me laughing?" Heero asked.

 Duo giggled and nodded.

 Heero slid down and untied the baby, lifting his carefully onto his shoulders, "Hn, you never
change."

 The baby grinned.

 "Let's go for a walk into town."

 "Why?"

 "I'll buy you a milkshake."

 "Waaaaaa!" Duo bounced on Heero's shoulders and giggle.

 Heero held onto his little hands and walked down the road, the town wasn't too far away, and
Duo-chan had been stuck inside for so long! He thrived on Duo's little giggles, pulling each one into
his heart to store there for later. Duo-chan took in the world through the same bright violet eyes he
always had and he took Heero with him for the journey.

 When they reached town Heero took Duo to a fast food restaurant and bought him his milk shake
and took it with them to the park. He poured it into a little bowl and gave Duo a spoon to eat it with.
"There you go Shi-chan.

 "Hee~ro!"

 Heero flinched at that voice. "Relena."

 "What a cute baby!" She smiled and tickled Duo-chan.

 He began to cry.

 Heero lifted Duo-chan onto his lap and soothed him, "Shh Shi-chan, don't do that."

 Relena watched them, envious of Heero's tenderness with the child. "Shi-chan? You call the baby
death? What kind of a parent names their child death?"

 "He named himself."

 "You. . . you mean. . ." Her eyes went wide. "Duo!?"

 Duo-chan squealed at her raised voice and tried to hide in under Heero's shirt. His little head
popped up through the neck next to Heero's to see if Relena was gone. When he saw she was still
there, he popped back inside the shirt, reached his arms through the arm holes, and pulled Heero's
arms around to shield him.

 Heero peeked into his shirt at the child, "Shi-chan, won't you come out?"

 Duo-chan shook his head.

 "Why not?"

 Duo-chan pulled Heero's head further into the darkness of the shirt and shivered.

 ". . . ?"

 Heero looked at Relena with a frown, "Relena you'll have to leave."

 "What?"

 "You're scaring him."

 "Me? How could I scare a baby?!"

 //Don't ask if you don't reeeeaaaaaly want to know.// Heero thought. "He's very particular about
who he likes." He lied.

 "But. . ."

 "This is my mission Relena. Do not interfere."

 That was what clinched it. Relena was not about to interfere with Heero's mission again. Not after
last time! She stood and nodded, "I'll see you soon!" She smiled.

 Heero frowned and nodded.

 Inside the warm shirt Duo-chan smiled up through the neck hole at Heero and cuddled deeper.

 "You coming out now? She's gone."

 "Wo'm"

 "Warm?"

 "Hai." Duo smiled and yawned, then curled up to sleep.

 If any of the pilots found it odd when Heero came in with a milk-shake covered Duo-chan tucked
into his shirt, they weren't suicidal enough to mention it. Trowa did however get some pictures when
Heero wasn't watching.

<Part 7>
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 It was Heero's turn to cook dinner. After he set the kitchen on fire however, they decided pizza was safer.

 Heero sat cross legged on the floor and Duo-chan sat on his lap.

 Duo-chan grabbed the pizza on Heero's plate and wailed, drawing his little hand back.

 Heero blew on the burning fingers and licked the hot sauce from them. "Shh, I'll cool some for you
Shi-chan."

 The others facevaulted. Heero was acting. . . human! And what had he called Duo? Little death?!

 Heero tore a little piece from his pizza and blew on it until it was cool, then he handed it to
Duo-chan.

 The baby picked at the chunk of pizza, gumming the cheese and licking the sauce off of his pudgy
baby fingers. When Heero tried to take a bite of his own, Duo-chan put his little hands on Heero's
arm.

 "Nani?" Heero looked at the child in question.

 Duo-chan frowned and blew on Heero's pizza just as Heero had his. He explained it all in one
childish pout. "‘ewo ouchie."

 Quatre and Wufei started laughing so hard they rolled on the floor. Even Trowa chuckled. Duo chan
smiled wide and bounced happily. He seemed to love their laughter so much! Heero smiled and gave
a slight salute, pizza in hand, then started to eat while the babe in his lap ripped apart the piece he had
been given. When dinner was through, Heero wiped off Duo-chan's face. (He had discovered how
valuable wet wipes could be with Duo-chan around and so always had one on hand now). Then it
was bedtime. Heero sat with Duo on their bed and brushed his long, silken hair out before he tied it
back in it's usual braid.  When Duo was playing, Heero had learned to wrap the braid like a crown
around his head so that he wouldn't trip over it. But in sleep, it wasn't necessary.  The soldier ran his
hand over Duo's beloved braid and smiled kindly. "Perfect."

 "Hee-omma?"

 "Hai Shi-chan?"

 "Towey?"

 "Story?"

 "Hai."

 "I don't know any stories." Heero suddenly realized that he didn't.

 Duo looked so sad that he had to do something!

 "I can make one up. Let's see. Once upon a time, in a land far away there was a great soldier named
Heero. He had everything a soldier could ask for but he was not happy."

 "Why?"

 "Because he was alone. The soldier could not accept the danger of giving his heart to anyone
because he saw that was weak, and he couldn't be weak." Heero smiled at Duo's concerned face.
"One day, the soldier was cleaning up after a battle when a dark shadow fell over him. He looked up
and saw the face of an angel under the guise of death. The boy was beautiful, and his voice touched
the soldiers soul from the first word. He asked the soldier, ‘do you want to die?'"

 Duo-chan shivered.

 Heero held him closer, "The soldier realized that for the first time in his life, he didn't! He didn't want
to die. He wanted to live to learn more about his angel. He told the angel so and he smiled and said,
‘my name is Duo, what's yours'"

 "Tha's me!" Duo-chan giggled.

 Heero nodded, "Hai, that is you. And the soldier took the boy's hand and the boy took the soldier's
heart. And they lived happily together forever."

 Duo-chan smiled in his sleep and cuddled closer to Heero and the perfect Soldier sighed. "And they
lived, together forever."

<Part 8>
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 Living with a baby Duo was nothing short of terrifying, but Heero seemed content. He and Duo-chan were never apart for very long. He called Duo Shi-chan openly now in front of the others, and in secret, he even smiled at the baby once or twice. Deep inside, he was starting to realize his heart.

 Duo-chan was a constant joy to him, a candle in the darkness of war. Always smiling and laughing,
so innocent and sweet. He lived in a constant fear though, of the day doctor J would call them back
to the lab. He wanted his Duo back, but Shi-chan. . . he didn't want to lose him, even if they were the
same person. It was easier to smile at a baby than the man you. . . //what? The man I what?// < ‘A
sheru Doo!' ‘I love you too Hee-chan.'> Heero looked down at the baby asleep in his arms and
smiled a tiny smile, "I. . . I love you too."

 Duo-chan woke up and yawned, stretching his little body out in Heero's arms, "Hi." He squeaked
and smiled at Heero, violet eyes twinkling with joy and love.

 "Hi." Heero felt tears prickling the back of his eyes but refused to let them form.

 "Play now?" Duo looked so hopeful that Heero chuckled slightly.

 "Bath now."

 "NO." Duo started to kick and fuss trying to get away from Heero. "No baf!"

 Heero rolled his eyes, they went through this every morning. "I need a bath too."
 Duo-chan stopped struggling and looked back at him. "Me an' ou? Bof?"

 "Yes we will both take a bath. Together."

 "OK!"

 Heero tickled his little belly and Duo-chan giggled.

 They were both settled in the tub when Quatre came running in, "Heero they found us!"

 The soldier jumped to his feat and Duo-chan slid under the water without Heero's support. Heero
snatched the baby up and Duo-chan started coughing up the water he had inhaled. "Oi! Shi-chan!"

 The baby was coughing and crying and the soldier was becoming worried. "It's ok it's ok I have
you!"

 Duo-chan was crying and clutching to Heero for his life. Quatre wrapped a towel around both of
them. "We need to pack up and move now! Oz is coming."

 Heero nodded and quickly dressed himself and Duo-chan then tossed their belongings into two
duffles, slipped Duo-chan into the chest carrier and ran to Wing, "Damn it! Shinigami!"

 He set the other Gundam on automatic and wired it to follow Wing. On the way back to Wing
though, Oz was on him.

 "Get out of here!" He yelled to the others and tossed Duo-chan to Wufei, "Take care of Shi-chan for
me!"

 "Heero! Don't self destruct!"   Quatre pleaded. "Duo needs you!"

 The last part froze the Wing pilot long enough for the Oz soldiers to force him away from the self
destruct button and Heero was slammed into the leg of the Gundam. As blackness was claiming him,
he heard someone calling his name.

 "HEERO!"

 "Duo?" Then everything went dark.

<Part 9>
______________________________________________________________________

 "HEERO!"

 The Oz soldiers stared, frozen in their places. Something was happening to the baby in the Chinese
boy's hands. He was growing! The little clothes tore and popped and the baby turned into a man in
front of their eyes! "Shinigami lives!" Duo cackled evilly and grinned his trademark grin.

 Duo grabbed his thermal scythe from the bag that lay on the ground beside him and activated it,
slicing into the soldiers, tuning out the screams and the blood. All that mattered was they had hurt his
Heero! Oz would not be outdone by one young boy, but the shock of his transformation was enough
to give him an edge. He scooped Heero up and climbed into Wing with the unconscious pilot. Come
on! Let's get outta here!"

 They slammed into action. Trowa and Quatre finished off the rest of the Oz offense, Wufei
destroyed their ground vehicles, and Duo flew Heero to safety with Wing.

  Heero stirred, something wasn't right, he wasn't restrained. The surroundings. . . he was in Wing's
cockpit!

 Duo grinned, "Awake I see. How's your head?"

 "Shi-chan?"

 Duo gave him the strangest look and then burst out laughing, "That's a new one!"

 Heero didn't change his face, but his eyes looked upset.

 "Heero? What? What did I do?"

 He shook his head, "You didn't do anything."

 Duo must have shown his surprise that Heero bothered to answer him because Heero grunted and
glared at him.

 That brought a smile to Duo's lips. "That's the Heero I know."

 "Hn, baka." Heero grumbled. As an after thought he grinned evilly, "Did you know you're naked?"

 Duo blushed bright red and chuckled, "Yeah, mind explaining that to me?"

 "Nani?"

 "I went to sleep in J's lab and woke up butt naked in the middle of an Oz attack. Now I know I'm a
heavier sleeper than you, but I'm not *that* bad."

 "You. . . don't remember?"

 "Remember what?"

 Heero shook his head and averted his eyes. "Nothing."

 Duo landed Wing at a new safe house and scrambled out with Heero right behind him. The instant
the wing pilot touched the ground he was off. Duo slipped into some clothes left in the safe house for
emergencies, three sizes too big, and then went to find his friend.

 Heero was wandering aimlessly through the surrounding terrain. Kicking a rock along and acting
very unlike the Heero Duo had thought he knew.

 "Heero?" The boy asked quietly, walking up beside him.

 "Hn?"

 "Heero what happened to me?"

 "You were used as a lab rat by doctor J and turned into a one year old child."

 Duo stopped walking as pieces fell into place, "You took care of me!"

 Heero hesitated then nodded.

 "Why?"

 "It was my mission."

 "Now tell me the truth."

 They glared at each other for a long time then Heero closed his eyes, "Ilikeyou." he mumbled
quickly.

 "What?" Duo grinned.

 "I said I. . . like you." Heero looked at Duo, daring him to hate him.

 A smile slowly dawned on Duo's face and he leapt at Heero and pulled him close for a huge hug, "I.
. . like you too." He laughed as they both fell hard to the ground.

 Heero's eyes caught with Duo's and he licked his lips thoughtfully. "You were a beautiful baby." He
said carefully.

 Duo smiled from ear to ear and struck a silly pose, "but baby, look at me now!" He mimicked an old
song he had heard somewhere then burst out laughing.

 "Hn."

 "Oi Heero man! I'm glad you like me." Duo smiled and offered his hand to help Heero up.

 Heero looked to the hand and then to Duo, realizing he was offering a lot more than just his aid in
rising. Duo was offering his friendship, an exchange it trust and care. <. . . The soldier took the boy's
hand and the boy took the soldier's heart. . .> The Wing pilot took the hand and Duo pulled him to a
standing position.

 "Did I give you much trouble?" Duo asked as they walked back to the safe house.

 "Don't you always."

 "Aw you know you love it!" He teased.

 Heero almost gave Duo a heart attack when he offered him a slight smile. //Yes. I think I do.//

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