Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor do I own the characters. I have borrowed them here for some fun and creativity, and this is not for profit. I do, however, own the plot mentioned here, and any instances that you may find similar to real life events are purely a coincidence. All of the characters depicted in this story are adults.
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: eventual 1x2x1, established 3x4x5
Notes: Beta-ed by Clare, also known as FancyFigures. This was written for the Moments of Rapture 2007 Contest.
Warnings: Lemons, angst, threesomes

Archivist's note: Zazu commissioned artwork by t-shirt to go with this story. You can see the artwork here.

Iia Disera
by Zazu

He tried to recall the proper procedures of evacuation.

Was it his imagination, or was each breath harder to take?

Evacuation. That was his priority.

Where the hell did one evacuate to on a spaceship that sounded like it was about to explode? Especially when it was a launched spaceship ten days from its departure point of Earth and another twenty-eight days away from its destination point of Star X296?

He couldn't get his door to open. Gripping the handle, he banged on the door. "Anyone there?" he cried over the alarm, or tried to. There was no answer. The alarms rang in his ears and he was startled to find that he was suddenly floating; the gravity mechanism must have died.

How did one evacuate from one's bunkroom on a spaceship when the door was jammed? He managed to get to the closet to pull his suit out. He was trained to do that; to put the suit on quickly, even in null gravity.

Having pulled on the helmet and zipped up his suit, he kicked off from ceiling and cursed as he knocked into other floating things, things he couldn't be bothered with at the moment. Grabbing the side of his bunk, he levered himself over the width of the bed so he could see out of the window.

A burst of something red and orange startled him into kicking back away from the window. Something had just exploded. Why wasn't the entire ship gone yet? If he was going to die, he'd like it to happen in a moment, not when he had to stare the painful death in the face, unsure of how it would hit him, or from which side it would hit him.

He tried to calm himself. His door suddenly vibrated with a bang and behind it he heard a cry of 'get back!'. Heeding that order from whoever it was, he moved away and gripped the side of the desk on the far end of the room. Bright red lines appeared on the door and created a square, which was then easily removed by the person on the other end.

"Mr. Yuy!"

Heero Yuy pushed on the desk so he could get to the door, hitting the speaker on his helmet to communicate. "Thank you, Captain!"

"Captain never leaves his crew!" The man pulled his own helmet on and clicked to the internal transmission.

"Where is Louis?" Heero called over the alarm calls that penetrated their helmets.

"Escape pod; he left!"

Escape pod? Oh no. That must have been what had exploded outside his window; a spaceship as small as theirs couldn't stay intact if there were an explosion on any end of it!

"Get in!" The man shoved Heero into the escape pod, pushing him into the vertical holding and strapping him in firmly. "Tell me you know how to work this thing!"

"I do but --"

"Go!" Heero found the door shut, the window at the door letting him see the other man keying the door shut so the pod would take off.

He looked around himself, realizing that he was in the single pod. There was supposed to be a double pod too...oh no.

"Captain!" Heero yelled. "Captain!" His hands worked to undo the buckles.

"A captain will always go down with his ship!" The captain saluted, and the connection was cut as the escape pod was ejected from the ship. Heero felt g-forces press against him and squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating on overcoming those forces. Feeling the pod slow after the initial launch, he tried again to wrestle himself from the straps protecting him. Succeeding, he grabbed the hand strap by the door so he could see out of the small window once more. He had barely laid his eyes on the spaceship he had been ejected from when the white craft exploded in a bright ball of light. Heero's small pod rocked with the explosion, jerking Heero against the door, and then back. A sharp pain could be felt at his wrist, and then he knew no more.

Chapter One

The first thought was that his head hurt. The next was that his wrist hurt.

He panicked for a moment when he opened his eyes and saw nothing. Then, his pupils dilated slightly and he realized he was in some bed, and there was a small light above his head to the left, a reading light of sorts turned away and shaded by a dark cover.

Heero shifted. Where was he? Concentrating hard, he could hear the hum of some engine; he knew he was on a spacecraft of sorts. But the hum was quiet, so quiet that he had to strain to hear it.

There was a knock on the door, or what he assumed was a door. It opened with a faint hiss and a person was silhouetted at the door.

"You're awake," a male voice stated.

Heero nodded and swallowed before pushing himself up so he was sitting. In moments the other person had crossed the room to help him up.

"Thank you," Heero rasped before a water bulb was pressed into his hands. As he slowly drank from it, the male reached over him to the light, fiddling with it for a moment before removing the dark cover; now Heero saw that it was a dark jacket. The dim light let him see better as the male straightened once more.

"How are you feeling?"

"Where am I?" Heero countered the question with one of his own.

"Your escape pod entered my radar and I pulled you in. You've been out for a long time. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts, and my wrist," Heero answered. "Thank you for saving me."

"No need. The name is Duo, by the way. Duo Maxwell."

"Heero Yuy," Heero said. "Can you turn up the lights a little more, it's still hard to see." It really was hard to see more than a shadow of Duo, even if Heero was grateful that he was given the chance to slowly adjust to the light.

Duo turned the light up a little more. "I'll get you something for the pain, okay?"

"Thank you," Heero said again. Duo left the room, leaving Heero the chance to look around. It was definitely an interesting craft he was in. The walls seemed to be metal. There was really nothing else in the room but another door, other than the one Duo had entered and left through, and the bed. The bed itself was odd. The blanket was very warm, but very light. It was smooth and comfortable, almost like a mix of fleece and silk. It was fairly large for a spacecraft, almost the size of a double bed. Reaching up, Heero rubbed at his face, then looked at his hurting right wrist. Lifting it against the light, he tried to examine the bandage wrapped around it; it felt like gauze, but was almost transparent. It looked like a glove too, unlike gauze wrapped around a wound. Then, he noticed that he couldn't feel the heat from the light. The bulb was round, but when he touched it, the surface was cool.

"Here."

Heero jerked around; he hadn't heard Duo enter.

"Sorry." Duo produced a small vial of clear liquid. "Drink that."

"What is it?"

"Something for the pain."

Heero frowned at the vial.

"If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have saved you," Duo said with a roll of his eyes.

"How do I drink it without getting it everywhere?"

Duo blinked, then pointed at the cover. "The cover will melt from the amylase on your tongue. Then you can drink it." Duo popped off the cap protecting the cover. Heero complied with the instructions; sure enough the press of his tongue against the vial was rewarded with the flow of cool liquid. Moments after he had swallowed it, he could feel as if the cool flow had gone into his stomach and evaporated. Instantly, the pain in his head and wrist were dulled.

"Where are you from? Where were you headed?"

"From? Earth. America. I was going to Star X296."

"America." Duo scratched his nose for a moment. "Star X296," he added softly.

"How about you?" Heero asked. "Where are you headed? And where from?"

Duo regarded Heero, then offered a smile. "I travel," he answered. "No particular starting point, or destination."

Heero nodded, feeling sleepy. "The medicine...causes drowsiness?"

Duo nodded. "For some time. When you wake, you will feel better." He reached over to help Heero lie down again before pulling the soft covers up once more.

"Thank you again," Heero murmured quietly.

"You're welcome."

Heero found himself looking into amethyst eyes for a moment before he drifted off to sleep.

Duo stepped into the control center of his craft and sat down in the captain's seat. Reaching forward, he keyed in a sequence and made himself comfortable as the screen in front of him flickered, changing from a window overlooking the endless black of space to a map. The door opened again, but he didn't look away from the screen.

"How is he?"

"Sleeping off the medicine."

"Is he better?"

"What is America?" he asked idly, searching the map with a frown. "You know, don't you, Quatre?"

"America?" Quatre moved forward to stand next to Duo. Silence lasted several seconds before Quatre made a sound of recognition. "That would be something on Hydro."

"Hydro?" Duo cast a glance to his blond companion. "Where?"

"That one." Quatre pointed to the top left of the map. "System zoom to quadrant two." The map vanished, bringing the top left square to a bigger, more detailed image. "The place with lots of water and land. Water...grows there. Some of the land is lost."

"You mean ice melts, not water grows," Duo said absently. "So what is America?"

"Some land there, presumably." Quatre furrowed his eyebrows. "So they are advanced enough to leave Hydro."

"If he isn't lying about being from there."

"Why would he need to?" Quatre blinked. "We don't seem very different. He has no reason, given the short time he spent with you, to believe you are not one of Hydro."

"What is Star X296?" Duo asked, studying the images on the screen.

"Unknown."

"Aren't you all knowing?" Duo muttered.

Quatre tsked. "I may be programmed with complete knowledge of our kind but I don't know all of the information of other species." He rubbed his nose thoughtfully. "It would be interesting to learn from him. You utilized the language deciphering system so you could understand each other?"

Duo chuckled. "First time for everything. Didn't think I'd be picking up anything else that could speak."

"But you are able to understand him now."

"And he can understand me. The system works remarkably well; as soon as I speak the mic automatically translates to something he understands. When he speaks, the feedback is easy to understand." Duo fixed the button by his collar and tapped the earpiece hidden by his hair as he spoke.

"So what will you do?"

Duo looked up at Quatre. "Keep him."

Heero stirred and came awake. It took a moment to recognize his surroundings, and another few moments to recall what had happened.

"You're awake."

He looked over and blinked at the blond man by his bed. "Who --"

Quatre offered him a water bulb. "My name is Quatre. I'm one of the systems on Leo."

"Leo?"

"The name of this craft," Quatre clarified. "How do you feel, Heero?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Duo mentioned it. Are you feeling better?"

"Somewhat." Heero sat up and lifted his hand. "What is this? I have never seen this sort of brace or bandage."

"It is a bandage, you have nothing to worry about." Quatre smiled.

Heero furrowed his eyebrows. "Where is Leo headed? Duo said he was traveling with no destination. Will he be able to get clearance to land in America sometime soon?"

Quatre tilted his head. "You'll have to ask him. He's the captain. I'm just system."

"You're system? You mean you're an engineer on the craft?" Heero tried to clarify.

Quatre shook his head with a smile. "No. I'm a system on Leo. I'm the database. The knowledge on Leo."

"So you're the systems tech?" Heero frowned.

Quatre chuckled. "No. I am the system."

"You're a system." Heero mulled over the statement then nodded. "You're a robot."

Quatre frowned. "Robots don't have minds. I'm a system with a mind."

"Artificial intelligence?"

"Is that an insult? My intelligence came from programming but my ability to retain knowledge is certainly not...artificial."

Heero shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I wasn't aware that anyone was able to program such a technologically advanced...system." Heero didn't want to offend Quatre.

"You don't know Duo," Quatre said in way of explanation. "Come, he is in the control center. Can you walk?"

"I think so." Heero shifted slowly and was surprised that he couldn't feel his head hurting. "May I use the bathroom first?"

"Of course." Quatre led Heero to the bathroom and waited for him to relieve himself and wash up a little. Heero looked about himself, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do with the various machines in the room. The one closest to the door looked like a sink with a black screen above it at about eye level. The next one looked like a urinal. The last one had a robotic arm over it. Across from this wall was something more familiar; a bath of sorts with a lot of nozzles and robotic arms. Heero walked to the urinal-like machine then relieved himself. He jumped when a bodiless voice thanked him and reminded him to wash his hands. Going to the sink, he stuck his hands under the faucet and waited. Nothing happened.

"How do I wash when --" Water flowed once he said the word 'wash', allowing Heero to figure out that somewhere, perhaps the black screen was a microphone of sorts. Exiting, he found Quatre waiting outside, and the blond led him to the control center, keying in a sequence to enter.

"Are you feeling better, Heero?" Duo asked without turning from the screen he was staring at.

"Much. The medicine worked wonders. What was it?"

"Pain reliever."

"Liquid ibuprofen?"

"Ibuprofen?" Duo asked under his breath. "Have a seat. Welcome aboard Leo." Heero sat down.

"I haven't thanked you for saving me," Heero said. "Thank you."

"Actually, we almost killed you." Duo turned to Heero at last. "We weren't expecting to run into anything. We almost hit you, and Leo would have broken you if it had been a direct collision."

"How big is Leo?"

Duo keyed up an external plan of the craft, and pulled up an image of Heero's escape pod, fitting the both to a certain scale. Heero blinked to see that Leo was almost ten times the size of his pod. He swallowed at the nearness of his death.

"Where were you headed?" Duo pulled up the map he had again. "From...America to Star X296. How far is that?"

"About thirty-eight days by regulated speed." Heero answered.

Duo glanced at Quatre, who shrugged. "Can you point that out on the map?" Duo asked.

Heero turned to the map, then frowned. "I've never seen a map like this." He studied it carefully. "Where did you get something like this?"

"I made it myself." Duo replied.

"Duo can make many things." Quatre added.

"Thank you, Quatre."

Quatre smiled. "Maybe you should point out to Heero where we are?"

"That would be helpful." Heero nodded gratefully at Quatre before turning his attention to Duo.

"You started off here at America." Duo keyed in something and was able to use an on-screen pointer to show Heero where he was making reference to. "We found you here." He pointed to an empty spot. "You've been sleeping for a long time. We're here now, just past Zelus." He pointed to another dot which, on the map, appeared to be much further to the lower right of Earth.

"How long was I out for?"

"A long time."

"How many hours? Days?" Heero tried to get more clarification.

"How long is a day?" Duo asked Quatre. Quatre shrugged. "You don't know?"

"I told you not too long ago that I don't know all of the information of others that aren't our own," Quatre huffed. "You're forgetful. Fix that."

Duo snorted. "I can be forgetful. You are the one who can't."

"A day." Heero spoke up. "Twenty four hours. A cycle of the sun and moon?"

Duo blinked, then tilted his head. "Sun. The light of Hy-- America?"

"Yes." Heero nodded. "Have you been in space too long? Too long to remember what a day is?" It wasn't uncommon to lose track of a day in space, this Heero knew.

Duo frowned. "A light and a dark. Ah!" He snapped his fingers. "Rotation, Quatre! Okay. So you've been sleeping for...how long, Quatre?"

"Three rotations." Quatre supplied the answer easily. "Forgetful," he said again to Duo.

"Say that again and I'll tell Trowa to short-circuit you. Then you can tell me about being forgetful."

"Trowa short-circuits me at least twice a rotation," Quatre retorted.

"I'll tell Wufei you're leaving him out," Duo snickered.

"He participates, thank you for your concern," Quatre huffed. Duo opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by a confused voice.

"Excuse me?"

The two turned back to Heero.

"There are more people on this ship? On Leo?" Heero asked.

"People," Duo mulled. "Hydrans?"

"Probably." Quatre nodded.

"Hydrans?" Heero wondered if he had hit his head too hard. Or maybe space travelers had their own language and he didn't understand it.

"You are the only Hydran here." Quatre informed him. "Including me, there are three systems on Leo. And there is Duo."

"Only Hydran?" Heero blinked. "Three systems. And Duo." He tried to sort out the terms.

"We are not from America." Duo clarified.

"No?" Heero asked. "What's your nationality?"

"You mean, what am I?" Duo asked in reply. Heero nodded and Duo smiled.

"I am a traveler from Adua. I'm Arian."

"Adua?" Heero began to wonder what he had gotten himself into. "Arian? I thought your name was Duo."

Duo directed Heero's attention back to the screen. "Adua." He pointed to a spot far away from the Earth he had pointed out earlier. "Arians from Adua can walk on two feet."

Heero blinked at that explanation and his eyes widened. "You're...an alien? Not from Earth?"

"Not alien. Arian." Duo corrected.

"In other words, we're not from your America. Not from your Earth." Quatre clarified. "We know your home as Hydro because of the water there. So we call you Hydran."

"I'm on an alien ship." Heero wondered again if he had hit his head too hard. Or maybe the people there were playing a joke on him.

"You're on an Arian's ship." Duo clarified with a frown. "Do you not listen well?"

"That can't be true!" Heero said loudly. "You look human! Are you playing a joke on me?"

"No." Duo shook his head. "Arian's don't lie. If we do, we lose hair." He pulled his braid from behind him, showing it off proudly. "This is my proof that I don't lie."

"You want me to believe that you're not a human." Heero wanted to laugh. "How did you gain access to a ship? You're obviously insane."

"Quatre, your language system is faulty." Duo muttered. "I don't understand completely."

"I'll work on it," Quatre scratched his head. "Heero's saying that we're...not lying, but believing something that isn't true."

"Ah." Duo nodded, turning back to Heero with understanding in his eyes. "You thought you're the only one able to walk on two legs."

"You look as human as I do!" Heero snapped. "Stop playing games. Get rid of this map and show me where we really are!"

"Games?" Duo asked. "But I'm not. We haven't started to play yet."

"This is absurd." Heero muttered. "You should have left me in my pod."

"What don't you get?" Duo was confused. "I'm an Arian from Adua. You're a Hydran from Hydro. So what if we both walk on two legs? Doesn't mean we are the same."

"You're saying that I'm on a spacecraft without any humans! No men, no women!"

"Hey!" Duo stood suddenly, eyes gleaming. "Take that back!"

"What?" Heero asked, surprised at the sudden change in tone. He was the one who should be angry at these games!

Duo was suddenly fumbling with the belt around his waist. Before Heero could speak, he had pulled his bottoms down, displaying his crown jewels to the room. "I am male!"

Heero stared. Duo looked every inch like a human, and yet, was denying that he was human. Why would someone do such a thing?

"Take a look at his eyes."

Heero's head whipped around to look towards the door where two more...two-leggers stood. The one with black hair spoke again, and Heero recognized the voice to know that this...Arian? System? Had spoken first. "His eyes are different from yours."

Heero turned back and instinctively tried to lean back to see Duo leaning extremely close to him. Duo seemed to be studying his eyes as much as Heero was studying Duo's. Heero suddenly remembered that his last thought before falling asleep was that he had been looking into odd, amethyst-colored eyes. The eyes seemed bluer now, but when Heero blinked, the amethyst was back. As he stared, Duo's eyes seemed to change color yet again, and they began to darken as Duo leaned closer. Heero tried to lean away, but he found himself unable to remove his eyes from Duo's. His head was now against the headrest; he couldn't go further.

"Duo!"

Duo pulled back with something akin to a growl; a completely inhuman sound. Quatre had stepped forward, his hand snatching something from Duo's collar while his other hand covered another something at his own collar. When he opened his mouth again, Heero stared at the two, realizing that the voices still sounded familiar, but the language was no longer something he could understand. Duo growled again, but the other two at the door had moved closer to Quatre. Duo gave each of them a stare, the growl quieter in his throat. Then, he spoke sharply and left the control center abruptly.

Quatre removed his own hand from his collar, startling Heero again when he spoke and Heero could suddenly understand again.

"Sorry about that. It's...an Arian thing," the blond said by way of explanation.

"How...?" Heero asked. "I couldn't understand then --"

"This." Quatre showed his other hand to Heero, letting him see the button-like device sitting on his palm. "A microphone. When we speak, you hear the language you understand. When you speak, we hear it back by this." He pointed to his ear where another black device could be seen.

"You're telling the truth, then?" Heero asked, bewildered. "You're another species?"

"Duo and you are two different species, you could say." The being with black hair spoke. "You may look similar but there are vast differences if you look carefully enough."

"This is Wufei. He's the server system; the mainframe of Leo. And that's Trowa." He gestured to the other being that had remained silent. "He is the engineering system. He knows anything and everything ongoing with Leo. He fixes Leo, changes Leo."

"You three aren't...human. Aren't Arian," Heero stated.

"We're system. Partially created by Duo."

"Duo's eyes." Heero turned his eyes to Wufei. "His eyes changed color. Quickly."

"That's the easiest way to identify an Arian," Wufei answered. "Their moods change fast. They cannot hide their personalities, cannot...deceive, like a human can." Heero bristled at that statement but Wufei went on. "For example, Arians are born with hair. Their hair does not grow back ones it falls out, but it will grow long, from the ends, not the head, like a human. If they lie, deceive, they lose their hair."

"So why did he have dark eyes?" Heero asked. "What mood was that?"

Wufei looked at Quatre, who sighed.

"It will be difficult to explain to you each of Duo's moods, his personality. You will learn, over time."

"Time?" Heero asked. "You're...not bringing me home?"

"This is your new home." Trowa spoke for the first time.

"You're keeping me captive?!" Heero exclaimed.

Wufei shook his head with a slight smile. "Stupid Hydran. You think your home, your 'Earth' as you call it, will allow an...alien ship to land, even with you on board?"

Chapter Two

Heero sat on his bed, cradling his injured wrist. Words flew over his mind. Arian. Hydro. Rotation. Adua.

You think your home, your 'Earth' as you call it, will allow an...alien ship to land, even with you on board?

Wufei's statement repeated itself over and over in his mind until he shook his head and blinked away the dizziness. What did they plan to do? Sure, they had saved him, and now, while he didn't exactly have a choice but to be captive, what was he to do? Be forced to join their ranks? What was their purpose on this craft, on Leo? What purpose did they have, or want, with him?

Heero thought back to roughly a week ago. The shuttle had launched towards Star X296, to let him continue his research there. He was a scientist, someone who was supposed to discover what Star X296 was like, to see if they could colonize the star if it could sustain life, assuming there was no life there.

He wasn't stupid to dispute the possibility of alien existence. But to have met these...Arians that were so much like himself, so much like humans...

And what of Duo? He'd dropped his pants to prove his manhood as if Heero had insulted him. Sure, he was male, but technically a male Arian, and not a man. So why did Duo act all offended?

And why had he suddenly been forced to storm off after exchanging words with Quatre?

Thinking of Quatre made Heero wonder about the blond system, and the other two systems, as they referred to themselves. Did that mean they were not Arian, not human, but some kind of man-made being? Quatre said he had been made by Duo. What in the world did that mean?

"Having a bit of trouble there?"

Heero looked up sharply to see Duo leaning against the doorframe. He hadn't heard the door hiss open this time around, but even last time it had been very faint. Heero narrowed his eyes as he studied Duo. The amethyst eyes were back; Heero decided to use that particular shade to judge it as Duo's 'normal mood'.

"Anything I can help you with?" Duo asked.

"What are you going to do with me?" Heero decided to be blunt and straight to the point.

Duo sauntered closer. "Nothing bad. It's simple. Leo is my home. There is no other home. You no longer have a way home. Leo has never made contact with Hydran ships. Unless you can find another place to land, or another way home, you have nowhere to go but here." Duo stumbled as he chuckled and at the closer distance, Heero saw that his eyes were a bit lighter than the shade he'd seen before he'd fallen asleep due to the medicine.

"What other ships or places are you in contact with?"

"Only a couple other places and ships that have lifeforms you would consider 'alien'." Duo sat down heavily on the bed. Heero moved a little further away and Duo chuckled. "I'm not going to eat you," he said.

"We are barely acquaintances."

"Even if you want to land somewhere, the next closest place to land is Chark. And that's fifty-six rotations away. Even if we landed there and you got off, you have no way to get back to Hydro."

"Not unless I land and do some work until I can afford my own ship before returning to Earth."

"Your ship would still be alien." Duo pointed out.

"But at least I won't be bringing aliens with me."

"That hurts," Duo said, leaning closer. "Why don't you like Leo?"

"I don't know Leo. I don't even know you, or your three systems, or any other beings you have here. My goal is to get home." "I can be a home. We can share Leo."

"Thanks, but I'd really rather be back planet-side." Heero studied Duo's eyes again, but the next moment, his eyelids had drooped and Duo had collapsed onto the bed. Heero reached out and shook the Arian. "Hello?"

Duo didn't budge, but he remained breathing, if breathing was what sustained an Arian's life.

"Are you hungry, Heero?" Heero looked up to see Quatre at the door. "Just leave him. Duo will be sleeping there for the next half of a rotation."

"What's wrong with him?" Heero asked. "Is that an Arian's sleeping cycle?"

"It is after certain events." Quatre answered. "Come on, come to the pantry. I can explain some more to you there."

Explanation would be good. Heero stood and followed the system.

"Where do I start?" Quatre muttered as he tossed Heero a water bulb and rummaged into a cupboard.

"Somewhere," Heero replied helpfully. "Just...start somewhere."

Quatre nodded. "Let's start with Arian food, then." He held up a small white block. "This is Arian food. Won't waste. White is high carbohydrates. Green is high fibre. Orange is high fat. For our diet, we usually each take one block of each and split it into three to last one rotation."

"Three meals."

"Right. You think what you want it to taste like, it will taste like it."

"How?"

"Arian taste buds are connected to the brain. They think a taste and get it. Does that make sense?"

Heero eyed the block. "So what would it taste like to me?"

Quatre blinked. "Try it." He offered the white block to Heero, then passed him a green one and an orange one. Heero opened the seal and touched the white block with a finger. It felt like a more or less solid marshmallow, soft, but not as light. He took a light nibble.

"It tastes like rice."

"Rice?" Quatre asked. "Nevermind. You won't be able to show me. So eat, and I will explain.

Heero took brief nibbles of the other two to find that the green tasted like vegetable paste and the orange like chicken. He tried to think of a taste as he took a second bite of the white block, but decided it didn't taste any different. Remembering Quatre's words, he separated the blocks into three and began his meal. It may be too much, or not enough for him, but in any case it gave him the chance to better distinguish likes and dislikes between himself and Duo.

"Arians often leave Adua trying to seek their own home and life. That is what Duo did. He lost his family to an accident and decided to leave and have his own life. His purpose is to travel. We return to Adua once every...maybe two thousand rotations only to replenish food stock."

"Does the craft, Leo I mean, not need fuel?" Heero asked.

"Fuel?"

"How does Leo stay moving?" Heero worded his question in simpler terms.

"Waste." Quatre answered. "Our wastes are turned into energy for Leo."

Heero decided that even if Quatre could explain exactly how that worked in technical terms, there were more important things to learn at the moment. "When was the last time you visited Adua?"

"Ninety-one rotations before we found you."

Ninety-one. That meant they had no intention of returning to Adua for a long time. Heero swallowed hard. "So how did you end up on Leo?"

"Duo created me." Quatre answered simply. "Well, he did to some extent. Another place far from Adua is my first home, Eikel. Known for the birth of empty shells."

"Empty shells?"

"Yes, for different purposes. So whatever knowledge was needed could be put into the shell to make them functional. Duo took me and made me his database. He added his own life into me to give me a mind, which is why I am like an Arian. The same with Trowa and Wufei."

"Duo added his own life to you?"

"Yes." Quatre nodded. "He inserted information to make me the database. Then he hooked us together and gave me a part of him." Quatre tapped his arm.

"You mean he gave you some of his blood. Or life force."

Quatre thought for a moment, then nodded. "You could say that."

"So that made you, Wufei and Trowa part Arian."

Quatre nodded again.

"Maybe you should tell him about the nature of an Arian." Wufei drawled from the door. "Or let him digest this information while you come with me."

"Wait, tell me about Arians in general, then," Heero pleaded. "You're a database, so you won't be biased, right? What makes an Arian?"

Quatre nodded and turned to Wufei. "Go find Trowa. I will finish here and find you later."

Wufei narrowed his eyes at Quatre and covered the black device on his collar so he could speak in their language. Quatre's mic, however, picked up the words, and for the first time Heero heard both the foreign language and the translated version.

"Iia disera saruow," Wufei said. At the same time, with a slight delay, Heero could hear the translation: I desire you.

Quatre and Wufei, too, heard the delayed translation and Quatre blushed and glared at Wufei, who chuckled and left.

"Sorry about that," Quatre muttered. "Where were we? Oh right, personalities of Arians." Quatre gave the topic some thought before looking over to Heero. "What do you want to know?"

"Habits. Lifestyle. History." Heero shifted a little uneasily. "Anything."

"You must inform me of Hydrans later on, when you are more rested," Quatre said. "It would be good information in my database."

Heero nodded; that seemed fair.

"Arians have existed for many, many rotations. But they are in a way cursed."

"Cursed?" Heero asked.

"There are things that Arians are forced to do. They cannot control it. Like the three-legs, or four-legs that cannot speak, cannot function in civilization."

"Like animal instinct."

"I don't understand," Quatre frowned.

"Okay. Just things that are natural to them, like...eating," Heero said. "But something different. Can you give me an example?"

"Like...eating. When they eat, they must always be served by someone else. Or else, they will continue to serve themselves. In the past, Arians who are alone too much have often eaten until they died."

"Why can't they control their own eating?" Heero frowned. It seemed stupid to eat themselves sick.

"Arians have trouble controlling their desires. So Arians do not live alone, or they will die."

"But you said Duo was alone before he found you on another planet."

"Duo was near death; he had been alone for so many rotations."

"So Arians are pigs," Heero stated.

"You don't have to be mean about it." Trowa muttered from the door. "Toss me a water bulb, Quatre?"

Quatre complied. "Technically, Heero should say that Arians have trouble controlling their desire to eat. But that's easily cured if someone else takes care of their food."

"I'll leave you with the Hydran." Trowa gave Quatre a small smile and left.

"What else...you know about the lies. Oh! Arians are proud of their accomplishments. That's part of the reason that Adua is so technologically advanced; everyone strives to do better, and whatever they do accomplish is considered a self-accomplishment for one, and a stepping stone for further accomplishments."

"In other words, having someone...upgrade your accomplishment isn't considered bad."

Quatre nodded. "They are also proud of their hair as a representation of their honesty. Don't touch Duo's hair if you value your life."

"Is that a threat?" Heero narrowed his eyes.

"Consider it a warning."

They lapsed into silence for a while before Heero spoke again. "What happened to Duo there, back in the control center? His eyes got really dark. And now, he's sleeping. You said he would sleep for half a day."

"Ah." Quatre nodded slowly. "Arians sleep a lot. Especially after certain activities that take a lot out of them."

"Like what?"

"Masturbation."

Heero stared at Quatre. "Excuse me?"

"Arians are attractive. If you ever have a chance to land on Adua, you will see that for yourself."

Heero conceded that Duo was, indeed, quite handsome. "And?"

"Much like their inability to control their food intake, they also have trouble controlling their physical attractions to other beings. As a result, Arians become intimate at an early age. If they do not have a partner, they will use masturbation to gain release in order to maintain control."

"Physical attractions?" Heero asked. "So what was that just then? The time of day for Duo to go..." He trailed off in thought. "You don't mean to say...Duo was physically attracted to me?"

Quatre nodded. "You are quite easy on the eyes," he remarked. "And after controlling himself via that sort of release, Duo needed sleep to regain strength."

"So you're telling me that a day in the life of an Arian is...to sleep a long time. Eat, but have someone else control how much they eat. Gain release in some way, which ends up with their need to sleep once more?"

Quatre smiled. "All of the events you mentioned are important in a day, but not everything."

"You must be tired," Wufei said from the doorway. Heero looked up; this time, Trowa and Wufei were at the pantry doors. "We've moved Duo back to his room. You can find your way back to yours, right?"

Heero nodded uncertainly. Wufei's eyes were dark to begin with, but now he noticed that Trowa's green eyes were also becoming quite dark. A quick glance at Quatre saw the aquamarine eyes darkened to almost navy. Just like Duo's had before Quatre had forced him to leave the control center...Heero suddenly stood, understanding what was going on.

"I'll be in my room. Thank you for the meal, Quatre, and the explanations."

Quatre had only opened his mouth to answer, but Heero had already left the pantry. The two systems by the door studied the third at the table.

Quatre smiled. "It seems like you two weren't satisfied alone," he said softly.

"Duo mentioned asking me to short circuit you," Trowa answered smoothly. "And you yourself stated that Wufei was always involve."

"You listened in?"

"Had to keep you safe, in case the Hydran tried anything." Wufei slid his hand around Trowa's waist. "I rather love your hair, Quatre, and Trowa's hair too. Don't lie to me. Involve me in some short circuiting...now."

Quatre moved closer to the other two systems, sliding his own arm around Wufei's waist. "My system...could use a reboot."

Heero lay down on the bed, pulling the comfortable blanket over his legs as he tried to digest the information Quatre had offered him. So Duo was a complete Arian, and had turned three empty shells into systems and part Arian. Arians left Adua to travel, and generally could not be left alone for a long period of time.

He tried to count the details of Arian personality that Quatre had mentioned. They liked to eat. Liked to sleep. Liked to create, and were proud of their achievements. Liked sex. Didn't lie. Had changing eye colors that would tell the others what they were thinking, what mood they were in. Dark, Heero now knew, meant lust.

Adua. Arians. He couldn't use these as reference; these were their own terms, just like how Heero called himself a human while the others had called him Hydran.

Mentally bringing up the maps he had seen so many times, he tried to figure out where exactly Adua was. Quatre mentioned they had been ninety-one rotations away from Adua when they found him, and Heero had been three days from Earth. That meant Adua was approximately ninety-four days away from Earth. But how could he judge that distance without knowing how fast Leo could travel in comparison to human spacecraft? Heero briefly considered that he'd physically feel a difference if the traveling speed was drastically different, but then he decided that may not be an accurate estimation. It seemed that Arians were capable of much more advanced technology, so much that Heero would not be surprised if they could not feel themselves travel at a high speed.

Still, he mentally tried to catalogue the items on the map based on what Duo had pointed to in the control center. But no matter what he tried to figure out, he couldn't seem to remember other stars or planets so far away. It could be that Earth did not even know of the existence of Adua.

And he still didn't know what to do. Maybe Adua was in a completely different galaxy. But then the other planets, or stars, other space civilizations may not welcome him either. Thus far, Duo and his crew had offered hospitality to him without even considering that Heero may possibly harm them all, even if he were in the minority at the moment.

He thought back to the descriptions Quatre had given him. Quatre had said they were cursed as Arians. The characteristics of their personalities certainly seemed flawed; gluttony, pride, lust. That was already three of the seven deadly sins! And sleeping for half of a rotation, that was twelve hours! Inability to control their eating or desires; would that be an inability to care for their own well being? Did that mean sloth was a part of their personality too?

The light above him still attracted him; he touched it again, reveling at the cold surface. He was suddenly reminded of comics, where a character's epiphany was illustrated as a light bulb being lit up.

His scientific mind took over. Arian's only measured time by rotations, which was roughly a day in human terms. Quatre hadn't exactly mentioned how long Arians had existed, but even if it had been a century or two, how had they survived when all they did was sin? Between overeating, sleeping too much and indulging in too much sex, how had they found time to create things to be proud of?

Quatre had not even finished giving a general overview of Arians. What if they were cursed, as Quatre said, with the other sins as well?

Chapter Three

Duo nuzzled his pillow before rolling onto his back with a sigh. He eased out of slumber and his stomach growled. Frowning a little, he decided he would sleep a little longer before he got out of bed to eat.

Never mind that he'd already decided that the last two times he'd woken briefly.

"Get up, lazy."

Duo didn't move.

"Aren't you hungry? It's time to eat."

Duo could feel himself dozing off a little more. A hand shook him by the shoulder and he wrinkled his nose for a moment as the almost-dozing feeling vanished to be replaced with irritation.

"Duo."

"I gave you two systems to play with for a reason," Duo grumbled. "Leave me alone."

"You've been sleeping for half a rotation already. Time to eat."

Duo's stomach growled again, a second vote to the statement. An amethyst eye cracked open and Duo looked up at Trowa.

"You're part Arian. Why don't you understand why I like to sleep?"

"Because I'm part system and I can rationalize that as much as we may like to sleep, it is necessary to get up. And don't you remember that we have a guest on board now? Surely you want to be a good host."

Duo sighed. "I'm Arian. He can and will learn to accept how we are. How I am." Still, he rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. As sleep left his mind, he began to feel his hunger more fiercely. "Anyway, let's go eat."

"Go wash up first."

Duo wrinkled his nose. "What difference does it make? All I've done is sleep."

"Do you want to smell for our guest?"

Duo's eyes narrowed. "I'm --"

Trowa rolled his eyes. "Yes, we know you're Arian, you arrogant thing. Our guest may learn that this is your way but you should have the decency to try your best to put on a good impression."

"Impression shimpression," Duo sulked as he bee-lined for the washroom. As he vanished behind the door, Trowa smiled.

"You may not care now, Duo, but as long as Heero is here I think you'll begin to find that you care about his impression of you."

Heero looked up as the opening door revealed a smiling Quatre.

"Hello, Heero."

"Quatre," Heero answered with an incline of his head. He stood and approached the polite blonde, who remained standing outside the door.

"Have you been resting?" Quatre inquired politely.

"Yes, I have."

"It's time to eat. Are you hungry?"

"I am." Heero nodded. He felt frustrated that he couldn't tell the time here; his watch had been left back on the ship he'd fled from. Not to mention his clothes had also been left behind. Heero was sure that he was beginning to smell.

"I brought you some clothing," Quatre said as if reading Heero's mind. He offered a black stack of clothing to Heero. "There are two sets here. They wash very quickly so you don't need too many of them. I'm sorry we don't have Hydran clothing but I'm sure you will feel comfortable in them."

"Thank you, Quatre." Heero accepted the clothing. "I should change into them now."

"You have time to wash up too, if you want. Trowa went to wake Duo and it will take them a while to get to the pantry. You remember the way, don't you?" When Heero nodded, Quatre smiled again. "I'll see you there shortly, then."

"Thanks again," Heero answered. He would need to figure out how the doors operated. Was there a way to lock the doors, or was there no privacy on this craft? So far, all Heero had done was walk up to his door; it opened automatically.

Setting the clothing on the bed, he slipped into the adjoining bathroom to wash up. Since he had learned how the sink functioned, Heero took the risk of operating the shower in the same way.

"Shower," he said to the black panel close by. Nothing happened, and Heero sighed, moving to the sink where he knew how to get some water. "Wash." Water flowed immediately from the nozzle. Reaching in, he tested the temperature, then tried another command. "Hotter."

The water remained the same temperature. Trying various other commands that also failed, Heero sighed and stripped, opting to scoop water out to rub himself down; he wasn't crazy enough to just hop in. Spotting a towel close by on a rack of sorts, he used it to dry himself. With a sigh, Heero returned to the room and picked up the top item of the black stack Quatre had given him.

He wasn't sure why he expected the clothing to look different compared to what the other members of Leo wore; it was the same. It was a simple, sleeveless shirt with a round collar. Pulling his own clothing off, he tugged the shirt over his head, surprised at how easily it stretched and slipped on. Unlike spandex, which he often liked to wear, he didn't feel as if the material was tight against his skin; in fact, he could barely feel it even though the collar was snug around the base of his neck. The next piece he picked up was a long-sleeve polo shirt with a simple open v-neck and no buttons. It fit snugly over his body; Heero could not feel that he was wearing two shirts. Picking up the pants, he was glad that he was wearing briefs because the tight pants didn't look like they would accommodate boxers.

Reflecting back on Duo's stunt when he had pulled down his own pants led Heero to realizing that the Arian had not been wearing any underwear. Shaking his own head to clear that image, Heero pulled the pocket-less black pants on and buckled the connected belt. He noticed that the belt had several spots to hold items although he couldn't fathom what exactly an Arian would put on in those slots. Frowning down at his yellow sneakers, all that he had worn underneath the bulk of his spacesuit, Heero knew they clashed horribly but had no choice but to wear them.

"I wish I could see what I look like otherwise," Heero muttered. A panel to his left, right beside the bed, immediately reflected him. Heero blinked in shock, then reached out to touch the surface. It felt like steel to his fingers, yet the image was as clear as a mirror's reflection. Heero could see that he was dressed properly; nothing looked out of place. The v-neck of the polo showed the black shirt inside; he wondered what the purpose was for wearing two shirts. Now properly dressed, Heero folded his own clothes and left them on the floor as a reminder to himself that they had to be washed. The other set of clothes he put in a slot at the headboard of the bed. Then, he exited his room and made his way to the pantry.

"Greetings, Hydran." Wufei was already at the table, cutting up the colored blocks he'd set out.

"My name is Heero." Wufei inclined his head slightly to show he'd heard. "Would you mind telling me how the doors function? Is there no locking mechanism?"

"I can program your voice into the command box. The doors will lock on vocal command," Wufei answered. "But it can be over-ridden in emergencies."

"Understandable. And...is there a way to get hot water?"

Wufei chuckled. "It seems that in his haste to inform you of Arian ways, Quatre forgot about the basic fundamentals of how to live on Leo." As he listened to Wufei, Heero studied the tool that was being used. It was a simple rectangle with a slim handle on top. Wufei hadn't moved the tool like a human operated a knife. He simply set it on top and pushed down. Heero himself had to exert some force in order to break apart the food in his first taste-test, and he wondered why the tool worked so easily.

"Trowa and I tried to add the same program we have in the mic and earpiece we use to the bathroom. Maybe it doesn't work completely?"

"The sink works," Heero answered. "And the urinal...thanked me and reminded me to wash my hands."

"Ah." Wufei nodded. "If you'll explain a list of commands you could use, I think we can program those words into the system, which is easier than to teach the system your language. Trowa and I had been working on it when Quatre was talking to you before, but we were...distracted."

Heero nodded, then gave in to his curiosity. "How does that work?" He gestured to the tool Wufei was using.

"This is a scim, It's made to cut this food; the food reacts to the material of the scim and simply separates."

Heero nodded again, this time in wonder as to what sort of technology was available to the Arians, and to this side of the galaxy in general. Humans had thought it was an accomplishment to send a craft into space, but that seemed to be nothing in comparison to the technology that now surrounded him.

They lapsed into silence for several minutes before Quatre entered, followed shortly by Trowa and Duo. Heero discreetly studied the eye-color of each Arian and part Arian at the table; they seemed to be neutral. His gaze slid back to Duo, noting that the braided Arian seemed a little dazed and looked a bit sulky.

Duo had hardly looked at him upon entering the pantry and now Heero knew why; he'd barely figured out that Duo was sulking when the expression cleared, eyes almost lighting up as Wufei set a plate of food in front of Duo.

The different-colored blocks had been cut into three; the other two pieces put away for later consumption. Then, each remaining block had been cut into another three for what Heero assumed was for convenience. From the lack of cutlery around the table, Heero deduced that they would be eating with their hands.

"The clothing seems to suit you fine," Quatre commented.

Heero nodded. "It is comfortable. But am I imposing by borrowing someone else's clothing?" Heero asked as he studied Duo, who was completely engrossed in the task of eating.

"Your clothing belongs to Duo. Both sets," Quatre informed him. "But Duo has many because he is too lazy to wash and clean up. Lending you a couple would teach him to wash faster."

Duo looked up with a quick narrowing of his eyes before he finished off his food. Sitting back with a sigh, Duo eyed Heero's portion.

"Going to eat that, or no?" he asked, his eyes not wavering from the blocks Heero had yet to consume. When Heero hesitated in his answer, Duo reached out, only to receive a smack by Quatre and Trowa, who were sitting on either side of him. "Ow!"

"No more for you," Quatre scolded. "You know what happens if you eat too much."

"Why would he waste food --"

"Heero never said he wasn't going to eat it. You will finish it, won't you, Heero?" Quatre gave the Hydran beside himself a look and Heero nodded in answer.

"Fine." Duo grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Is there a way to tell time?" Heero asked.

"Time?" Wufei asked in question.

"Your rotations. Is there a way to tell when they start?"

"Ah." Wufei nodded and pulled an object from his belt. "Trowa, Quatre and I are programmed to automatically know via mental calculation. You can have this."

Heero accepted the item and studied it, eyebrows furrowing at the clear circle, within which a small black circle seemed to sit. "How...does it work?"

"The black circle indicates the rotation from light to dark," Trowa explained. "The portion of the circle you see indicates light is on it. If you can't see the black circle at all, it means the rotation is just beginning. The black will begin to appear from the left, and when the entire circle is revealed, as it is now, means that half of a rotation has passed. As the circle begins to disappear from the left again, it means the latter half of the rotation is passing, until you can't see the black circle anymore, which shows the end of one rotation and the beginning of the next."

Heero nodded in understanding, wondering how the item worked; it seemed preliminary though, compared to a watch, which was much more precise in terms of time.

"Generally, we try to eat when you see the left half of the circle, then the full circle, and then the right half, but as you can see, that doesn't always work out. Our bodies are not completely dependent on punctual intakes of foods, so if you're ever hungry or need to eat at a certain time when we're not available, feel free to do so. Oh, and the numbers at the bottom indicate the rotation we're at since we last left Adua. It is reset each time we leave Adua. But you will need to learn the Arian numbers to read it."

"It's not difficult," Duo answered. "I can show you later."

Heero nodded in appreciation. "Thank you." He slid the device into a slot on his right side. "What is it called?"

"Tior," Quatre answered. "It's an obsolete term for 'rotation'."

That seemed to end conversation and the rest of the eating was completed in silence.

Duo suddenly grinned. "I'll be in the back if you need me." With that, he got up and left the pantry.

"I wonder what he's planning now?" Quatre asked rhetorically.

"Does it matter?" Wufei replied. "He'll be doing something other than sleeping and releasing."

"You didn't have any protests against releasing half a rotation ago," Trowa commented dryly.

Wufei chuckled. "The chance for a system reboot was irresistible, and refreshing. For now though, I need to program Heero's bathroom to something he can use. And to program his voice into the system."

"Oh! I completely forgot about that."

"I'm going down to the main engine." Trowa got up. "Quatre? Where will you be?"

"In the control center." Quatre smiled. "I need to do a database sweep and re-catalogue. It will take me a good quarter of a rotation." He turned to Heero. "I need to do an information dump and reload every ninety to one hundred rotations. It means I'll be an empty shell for a bit, just in case you happen to walk in and I don't respond. My eyes go completely blank too."

"Thanks for the heads up," Heero replied. "I'll remember that."

Quatre turned to the other two systems, one sitting and one standing across from him. "And no sabotaging my shell before I'm done!" he warned them. "I mean it this time!"

"You said that the last couple of times too, but you don't protest when you come back," Wufei drawled.

"If you do, I'm not responsible for my actions after that!"

Trowa's eyes darkened, just slightly. "Revenge is sweet, isn't it?"

Quatre flushed slightly. "Don't start," he said. "I need to do this."

"Go ahead," Wufei said with a glance to Trowa. "We'll try to be...otherwise occupied."

Heero mentally shook his head; it was evident by the conversation of these part Arians how much being intimate was a barely controlled desire.

He tried not to imagine how Duo dealt with the primal urge.

"Ready, Heero?" Wufei asked. Heero realized that the other two systems had already left, and nodded his reply to Wufei.

"Let's go."

It took a short while for Wufei to program Heero's voice into the vocal command system along with basic commands for doors, emergencies and requests to locate someone else aboard Leo. The programming of the bathroom utilities took a little longer as Wufei learned the proper words and their meanings. Once completed, Heero thanked the mainframe system and asked if there was anything he could help out with.

"I wonder...are you familiar with systems and functions on Hydro?"

Heero nodded. "I am a scientist, but I also studied computers --"

"Computers?" Wufei interrupted curiously.

"That's what holds what we call an operating system, or what makes a system work. The...code behind how something works by command."

"Can you tell me more?" Wufei was interested in learning about another sort of system; he wanted to know if he could possibly incorporate the Hydran system into his own for higher efficiency. The two spent the next long while discussing Hydran systems, until Trowa appeared and asked for Wufei's assistance.

The darkened Emerald eyes informed Heero what sort of assistance Trowa needed from Wufei, and he didn't object when the other system excused himself politely. Pulling out the tior from his belt, Heero learned that almost a quarter of a rotation had passed. With a sigh, he picked up his dirty clothing and headed to the now-programmed bathroom; he may as well be productive and wash his clothing.

Quatre managed to finish his task and reboot his system, a process which ensured his files were updated and not corrupted in any way. As he came to, he realized there were hands in his hair. His tops had already been removed; there was something suckling gently on his left nipple. Quatre moaned.

"What did I say..." he trailed off as the hands slid from his hair down his sides and across his hip to cup his growing arousal. Last time, he'd decided to complete his task standing, since sitting had found him bound by the other two systems when he returned to his shell.

Next time...perhaps he'd stand against the wall so no one could get behind him.

Meanwhile, in the back of Leo, Duo typed at a code, frowning at variables that he erased and rewrote. The code continued to fail to work and in a fit of sudden rage, Duo stabbed a button, managing to delete the entire code. He growled in frustration and stood, stomping around the room until he finally slammed his fist against the wall. With a grunt of pain, he repeated the motion and kicked the wall.

He'd told the other's he'd be in the back, which meant he'd be creating something. Reminding himself of this, he sat down and restarted his project.

His pride would not let him rest, or leave the room, until he had something completed, even if he didn't mean for anyone to see his completed project.

Chapter Four

Heero wandered about the ship, having received permission from Wufei to explore the craft. He'd been on Leo for about five days already, and thus far only knew of his own room, the control center and the pantry. He'd spent the last couple of days sharing information about humans with Wufei in exchange for information about Arians, Leo and Leo's inhabitants.

Wufei had warned him that Leo was a two-level ship, but the lower level was just the engine room and cargo bay. As a result, only Trowa and Duo had access to the lower levels and Trowa alone was left with the task of moving food from the storage in the bay up to the pantry when the pantry cupboards began to empty. Wufei also informed him that two of the rooms would be locked against his command, and those were his, Trowa's and Quatre's bedrooms, although one was occupied more often than the other.

Heero didn't have to ask why.

As he wandered the corridor with the control center as his starting point, he noted the first door to his left being Duo's room, as Wufei had informed him. He didn't go inside; he wasn't about to invade anybody's privacy. The next door, situated a few steps down and to his right, was his own room. The pantry came up on the left side after he turned the corner. Instead of turning, Heero continued on forward. Two doors, directly across from each other, were closed and locked from his voice command. Heero determined that those rooms belonged to the three systems on board.

Dimly, he wondered why the three systems shared two rooms instead of each having their own. The next room he came to was yet another bedroom; this meant Leo could accommodate five beings, each to a room.

Then again, Heero figured that he probably wouldn't want to know that either.

Backtracking, Heero turned down the hall where the pantry was located; the first door to his left. To the right, he gave his voice command and discovered the room Wufei informed him was referred to as the recreational lounge. There were many things Heero couldn't identify, but he was sure that soon enough Quatre would show him what exactly was for recreational use within the lounge. Leaving it for the moment, he continued on and opened the next door. It was an empty, padded room with handles on the walls. It looked similar to a room he had been in for his anti-gravity training.

Anchoring himself by gripping the handle placed conveniently by the door, Heero stepped in and immediately felt himself float. Pulling himself back, he settled in the hallway on both feet once more, staring in amazement into the empty room. No one had told him that Arian technology allowed for single rooms to have zero gravity. On Earth, similar rooms existed based on certain controls. But Earth did not have rooms that could be isolated with a different level of gravity without completely enclosed barriers. It wasn't that Heero expected zero-g forces to float out into the hallway where he stood, but it boggled his mind that he could situate himself such that half of his body was under a normal level of gravity while the other was in zero gravity.

Closing the door, Heero continued onwards to find a supply closet just a few steps down the hall, followed by another door. He bypassed it for the moment, attracted by the very different design of the door right at the end of the hall. Trying his access code only to be denied, Heero realized that he was standing in front of the door that led downwards to the second level, which Wufei had warned he would not have access to. He was just stepping back when the door opened and he turned in surprise.

"Heero?" Trowa stepped through the doorway and the door slid shut behind him. "Did you need something?"

Heero shook his head. "I was just touring the craft. Wufei informed me that I would not have access to the doorway leading to the lower level, but I had been attracted by the odd design of the door."

Trowa nodded. "Seen anything interesting?" he asked.

Heero gestured absently over his shoulder to the anti-gravity room. "Arian technology continues to amaze me. How is it possible for a single room that isn't completely enclosed to have zero-gravity?"

Trowa led Heero back to the door and opened it. "See this?" He slid a finger along the side of the door, drawing Heero's attention to the thicker doorjamb. "There's a force field here that you step through. The anti-gravity controls are beyond this field, but it's just impossible to see."

"So something in this field repels the anti-gravity to keep it inside the room?"

Trowa nodded, and Heero slid his hand through the field and back towards himself, amazed that he could not even see a ripple; he'd half expected to see something reflect off of his skin.

"Anyway, I need to ask Wufei something; I need him to shut down one of the systems so I can touch it up. Have you seen Duo, by the way?"

"No." Heero shook his head. "But I didn't wander into anyone's rooms so he may be there. Come to think of it, I haven't seen him the past couple of day...rotations."

Trowa gave the statement some thought. "You're right. I'll check. Thanks." Trowa nodded briefly and continued on his way to the control center.

The door to the anti-gravity room slid shut and Heero turned to the last room he had yet to enter. The door opened on his command and he squinted into the semi-darkness. Stepping inside, he paused to let his eyes adjust to the lack of light as the door closed behind him.

A groan startled him and he stepped back, trying to find the source in the dim lighting. Another groan sounded suspiciously like Duo, along with a sharp intake of breath. Heero identified the sound as coming from around the left side of a gently whirring machine. He crept forward slowly.

"Duo?" He called out. "Are you all right?"

"Heero..."

Heero's eyes widened at the sound of his name and he stalked forward quickly, hoping to see Duo in case anything was wrong. That groan hadn't sounded very good.

"Duo?"

Heero rounded the corner and stood in shock. Of all the scenarios he had imagined of Duo having fallen, hurt himself, being sick or maybe just sleep-talking, he hadn't expected to see Duo sitting on a panel, naked from waist down and clutching another being to himself. The other being was still moving in the unmistakable act of intercourse; Heero couldn't see the face as it was hidden against Duo's neck and shoulder. Duo's braid was gripped firmly in one hand as the person pushed against Duo's body, hands gripping the Arian's hips. Heero tried to tear his eyes away from Duo's face as darkened eyes stared at him, only to find himself staring at Duo's hand as it pumped up and down his hard member.

Duo smiled in a feral way; he didn't seem embarrassed to have been caught in such a situation. "Harder," he moaned, wrapping his free arm around his partner's shoulders and pulling hard at him. "Harder...yes! Do that again!" He threw his head back with a moan although darkened eyes continued to stare at Heero.

Heero stammered his apology and left quickly, running into Quatre as the blond system exited the pantry.

"Heero?"

"I'll be in my room." Heero brushed past and made his way quickly into his room. The door closed and he leaned against it, eyes darting about the area as if he expected to see Duo there too. He didn't have to actually see the Arian, Heero realized as he closed his eyes, trying to will the heat in his cheeks to go away. The image was already burned behind his eyelids. Heero didn't want to, but he found his hands unbuckling his belt so he could slip his hand into his briefs to touch himself.

As he quietly brought himself to completion, aided by the mental images behind his eyelids, Heero told himself that he wasn't attracted to aliens or Arians, and had simply been attracted to the sight of intercourse as acted out by two-legged males.

It didn't matter that he preferred males to females; he was only aroused by what he'd seen and not because of whom he'd seen.

The strangled groan leaving his lips upon his completion didn't sound at all like Duo's name.

"Is there someone else on Leo?" Heero asked as he sat down for the evening meal.

Trowa, Quatre and Wufei glanced at each other. "If you're talking about Duo, he's passed out and wouldn't wake. We don't need to wait for him to eat; he'll eat in the next meal cycle," Quatre said.

Heero shook his head. "No one else? Just five of us?"

"Who else would there be?" Wufei asked.

"What's that room across from the anti-gravity room?" Heero answered Wufei with another question.

"It's the back room. That's where another series of computers are. Duo likes to use it as his lab of sorts to create new things. Programs, machines, all sorts of things. Why do you ask?" Trowa asked. "Did you see someone in there?"

Heero nodded.

"Duo often wears different gear in there to protect himself as he makes...whatever it is that he's made his new project," Quatre explained. "Perhaps you aren't familiar with the gear and thought it was someone else?" he hazarded a guess in answer to Heero's original question.

Heero shook his head. "There was someone else, although I couldn't see very clearly."

"Do you want to clearly state what it is, or who it is you thought you saw?" Wufei asked with a frown.

Heero flushed a little, cursing the feeling of heat in his own cheeks. "After I ran into you, Trowa, as you left the second level, I went to explore the last room, which was the back room. I...walked in on Duo...relieving himself."

"You identified Duo, so who's this other being you're talking about?" Trowa asked, seemingly unperturbed by such a thing as walking into such a private act.

"Someone was..." Heero swallowed, looking down at the table to avert his gaze from the six eyes directed at him. "Someone was taking Duo," he said quietly.

"Someone taking Duo?" Wufei asked after a moment. "Are you sure it wasn't the other way around?"

"What?" Heero asked, wondering if perhaps the intimate ways of Arians were different than that of humans, even though it looked exactly alike.

"Duo has one friend back on Adua. Adua technology allows for conferences even at this distance, and it's not impossible to send forth a hologram to do such a thing. She, Hilde that is, is known to make advances to Duo although Duo has always refused. Perhaps this time he broke --"

"No," Quatre stated firmly. "He would never give in to Hilde. He's too proud of his ability to wait for his other and he's sure Hilde isn't it."

"That, and he's too damn horny for --"

"Trowa! Not at the table!" Quatre cut him off.

"I wasn't aware that Duo had another being stashed around. Maybe he created another system?" Wufei guessed.

"Why don't we just ask when he wakes?" Trowa rolled his eyes. "No point in guessing."

It was a good enough answer for Heero; any more discussion and he'd probably never be able to look any of Leo's inhabitants in the eyes ever again.

Quatre sat across the small table from Heero, instructing the human in how to play the board game sitting on the table between them.

"Your pieces may only move one step, but in any direction, but if one piece is set in place and an opponents piece steps diagonal from it in the forward direction, you are forced to skip over them. Skipping over an opponent's piece will enable them to duplicate their piece so that one stays in place and another is placed either left or right of that first piece by the player's choice."

Heero nodded slowly at Quatre's demonstration, so Quatre continued on with his explanation.

"The piece that skips over the other is forced to return to the starting slot closest to the player. The goal is to move as many of your pieces across the board to the opposite slots until all pieces have crossed the board. The winner with the most pieces invading the opponents slots wins."

So concentrated was Heero in trying to understand the rules that he didn't notice Duo enter the recreational lounge and approach them until the Arian spoke.

"Quatre? Trowa's looking for you. He's in the control center."

"Oh? What for?" Quatre asked absently, studying the colorful pieces on the board, waiting for Heero to make a move. Heero kept his head down, not meeting Duo's eyes.

"I don't know. But he looked like he could use a reboot. He'd been downstairs for a long time."

Quatre nodded, his eyes darkening a few shades although it was hardly noticeable. "He was there all through the past sleeping portion of the rotation. Making some upgrades, he said."

"I can take over here if you want."

"Sure." Quatre stood. "Sorry, Heero. I need to check on Trowa. That system will run himself down if you don't check on him sometimes." He smiled apologetically and left the room.

"I'll be back in my room," Heero muttered, but Duo blocked his way.

"Let's finish the game, Heero."

"I'd rather not."

"Can I talk to you then?"

Heero knew it would be rude to refuse; Duo and his crew had saved him and he was living aboard Leo now; at least until he figured a way to get home. He remained in his seat, offering the lack of movement as his agreement to listen to Duo.

"Look, I wanted to apologize that you walked in on me last rotation."

Heero shook his head. "I should have knocked or something."

"You came around the corner pretty fast."

"I thought you were hurt or something."

"Arians don't get hurt easily."

"I wasn't aware."

They lapsed into silence for a bit before Duo spoke again.

"Maybe I should have been more discreet. It's a public room."

"It's my fault, really," Heero insisted, although he didn't want to prolong the topic. "I wasn't aware that I had entered the back room; I was merely touring the craft."

"It's a public room," Duo said again before he gestured at the board, asking silently for Heero to make his move. Heero moved his piece and waited. "I want to ask you something though," Duo said after a moment.

"What is it?"

"What did you think...of what you saw?"

"I thought I was fairly embarrassed," Heero answered honestly.

Duo leaned forward. "Do you like males, Heero?"

"That's private."

Duo chuckled. "But I already know the answer."

"You do?" Heero furrowed his eyebrows although he still didn't look up at Duo.

"Yea. You certainly didn't look disgusted. That could only mean that you were attracted. Maybe not to me, but at least to the act."

Heero didn't answer.

"I was half naked, Heero! That had to do something for you. I'm fairly fit for an Arian, you have to admit, despite my tendency to over-eat."

Again, Heero didn't answer.

"You rushed off pretty quickly, and admittedly the clothes you wear don't hide too much...luckily." Duo stretched his arms upwards and leaned back in his seat. "Perhaps I can activate those security cameras and see where you headed to when you ran out of the back room."

Heero looked up and glared. "What's your point, Duo?"

Duo's eyes had darkened slightly. "It's been a long time since I've interacted with anyone other than those three systems who are completely taken with each other. I'm curious as to whether or not I'm losing my...appeal."

"You're wondering if I'm attracted to you," Heero stated clearly.

"You could put it that way. Like I said, I'm fairly fit for an Arian, and Arians have a reputation of being lookers."

"Even if I were, Duo," Heero stood. "I've no interest in entering a relationship with someone I've just met. Not to mention someone who was clearly...taken by someone else."

"I can explain that --"

"I understand that Arians are prone to falling prey to their urges," Heero interrupted. "I guess Wufei didn't see fit to inform me that they have no qualms as to invading other's privacy via cameras, or being promiscuous. Excuse me." He walked towards the door, not liking the conversation that had just taken place. The door slid open and just as Heero stepped out, he heard Duo speak quietly.

"I'm all too aware of Arian faults, Heero, but I will not stand by while you place those other accusations on me and my kind."

The door closed behind Heero, separating him and Duo with a quiet hiss.

Chapter Five

Over the next few days Heero began to regret his mini-confrontation with Duo in the recreational lounge. It seemed that whenever he was not in his own room, Duo had managed to be in the same area.

Admittedly, he didn't mind that Duo joined his conversations with the three systems as they tried to learn more about the other...species? ethnicity? Heero wasn't really sure what term to use. In fact, Duo's input generally lightened up the conversation and oddly enough, Heero found himself better able to remember the little facts that Duo dropped along the way.

But Duo never failed to send certain looks his way; it was as if he was trying to ensure that Heero understood that there were not many bad traits about Arians aside from their lack of control when it came to certain urges.

As the first rotation passed into the second, Heero began to wonder why he hadn't seen signs of Duo retiring to sleep for his usual half of a rotation. In fact, he didn't know if Duo was sleeping at all, seeing as Heero himself only slept a few hours by his own measurement and Duo was always around before and after his retreating to his room. By the third and fourth rotations, Heero found himself studying the Arian, wondering if perhaps Arians didn't actually need to sleep.

Many times, Heero found himself left to his own devices when the systems retreated to do various errands around Leo, although just as many times he witnessed at least one of the systems' eyes change to a darker shade which inevitably meant he would not see any of the three for a long time.

Wufei had given Heero a pair of what looked like buttons and informed him that those could be attached to his shoes or heels before stepping into the anti-gravity room. There were handholds about the room, some of which were attached to a line to allow drifting, but should he ever get stuck drifting, he'd be able push away from the spot by tapping his heels gently together. The two buttons, set on the outside of each heel, would form a sort of field around the heel and act temporarily like a ledge, enabling the being wearing them to gain some momentum until they could propel off of a wall or to grab hold of a handle or line.

Now, Heero decided to try them out. He set them against his heel and entered the room with a push, content to drift from wall to wall for some time. The floor extended down to the lower level of Leo, Wufei had informed him, but the entrance was only available through the first level. Then, he attached a line to his belt and let himself drift before tapping his heels together to test the Arian technology. It didn't fail to amaze him that he gained enough momentum to push himself the couple of meters back to the wall. Then, Heero let himself relax, his body drifting out until he reached the end of the line. There was no up or down, left or right in anti-gravity, so Heero pretended he was lying down.

For the first time, he let himself really think about what sort of situation he really was in. Was there really no chance for him to ever return to Earth? He wondered if anyone had received the final mayday messages from his shuttle before the explosion. He was the sole survivor, and yet to all of the humans on Earth, he was dead. Wufei had been right the first day he had boarded Leo; Earth would never let an unknown ship land on Earth. No one would believe that he was alive even if he did manage to communicate with Earth.

Perhaps they would let Leo touch down on Earth once they were absolutely sure that Leo and its inhabitants meant no harm, and that no other extra-terrestrial forces were going to overtake the planet. Even then, Heero himself, along with Duo and the others, would end up captured and treated as lab rats.

Heero shuddered at the thought.

He thought about his home, the small apartment not too far from NASA. He'd spent most of his life in school and then further studies in NASA, doing training and tests to prepare him for the trip out to space. He'd been strictly disciplined all of his life by his mentor, Doctor J, who had taken him in as an orphan.

Heero hadn't minded the rigorous training he'd had to endure. Sure, it had been very difficult at a young age; Doctor J had never been lenient because of his age. As a result, Heero hadn't made many friends other than the people he had interacted with. Those people couldn't exactly be considered friends; Heero had heard rumours that Doctor J had warned several of the younger trainers and fellow trainees to stay away from Heero or suffer the consequences of distracting him. At the time, Heero hadn't minded; his single, focused goal was to get off the planet and put his training to use. On the way, he would put his studies to use and return to Earth with some decent research.

Heero snorted; so much for the decent research. He'd been able to research Arian life, but it was the sort of research that would most likely never reach Earth, not if he wanted to remain a free man.

Or as free as a man could be, stuck on this spacecraft.

"Having a hard time?"

Heero blinked his eyes open; he'd heard the door open but hadn't expected anyone to join him. Then again, he'd already made a note to himself that Duo continued to be in his presence almost all of the time.

"Why do you say that?" Heero asked in reply as Duo settled beside him and tucked his hands behind his head.

"You were frowning."

"I was thinking."

"Thinking and frowning."

Heero looked away and closed his eyes again.

"What were you thinking about? Home?"

Heero grunted a reply.

"Was that a yes or no?"

Heero sighed. "Yes. I was."

"Leo's your home now, Heero-man."

Heero looked over. "What'd you call me?"

"Heero-man. Been picking up the words from your home."

It gave Heero an odd sort of comfort although it sounded weird coming from Duo, someone who only managed to communicate through a mic and earpiece.

"What do Arians call themselves?"

"What do you mean?" Duo rolled onto his side, propping his head up on his hand as if he were lying in bed on his side.

"Arians call my home Hydro and as a result, the inhabitants are called Hydrans. We call ourselves humans, or people. You call yourself Arian, but how do you refer to other Arians?"

Duo blinked. "Just Arians. Why?"

Heero shrugged a little. "You...look like a human. It's hard to look at you and not think of you as a man, a someone, a he."

Duo's eyes narrowed. "I thought I had informed you that I am male?" Duo's hands drifted to his belt and Heero nodded quickly.

"I meant that as an example of my language."

Duo nodded, eyes still a little narrowed. "Teach me more, about your language."

"What do you want to learn?"

Duo removed his earpiece and mic, slipping them into a slot in his belt. Then, he pointed to his chest and tugged at his collar.

"Zir."

"Shirt," Heero answered. Then, he gestured to his pants. "Pants," he added.

Duo nodded. "Sipor. Riber." He pointed to the shoes he wore.

"Shoes," Heero replied.

They spent a long time trading words that neither could really remember until Wufei appeared and asked for Duo. Duo nodded and turned back to Heero as the door slid shut. He reached forward and set the tip of his finger at Heero's heart. Retracting his hand, he formed a fist and hid it behind his palm, moving it to imitate a heart. Pointing to Heero's heart again, Duo spoke.

"Shina."

"Heart," Heero answered. Then, Duo pulled on Heero's belt to drift them closer together. He pointed his finger against Heero's head.

"Miereh." With that, he detached the line at his own belt and tapped his heels together, pushing to flip himself over Heero with enough momentum to carry his body towards the wall. From there, Duo moved himself easily down to the door before he stepped through the force field into the corridor. Hands easily clipped the earpiece and mic back in place. "See you later, Heero." The door closed.

Heero wondered what the last word had meant. Head? Brain? Skin? Hair? Bangs?

He tried not to think about the touch of Duo's finger upon him.

"Have you noticed that Duo's always around?" Quatre asked as he played with a water bulb in the pantry. Trowa pulled Quatre's hand and the water bulb closer to himself so he could take a sip.

"I have noticed. I wonder why?"

"He hasn't really been sleeping, I don't think."

"How would you know?" Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Aren't Wufei and I wearing you out by the end of every rotation?"

"But --"

"We aren't?" Wufei raised an eyebrow, almost mirroring Trowa's expression as he walked in. "We need to rectify that, Trowa." Wufei sat himself down on the table by Trowa and slid his finger through Trowa's hair and touched the system's ear. Rubbing the lobe gently, Wufei's tongue flicked out to lick his lips.

"Perhaps I meant to say that I'm sure that I was the one wearing you both out," Quatre said, slipping a hand along Trowa's thigh before he stood and settled onto the table. He leaned down and let his lips touch Trowa's briefly; Trowa immediately took the invitation to deepen the kiss. Wufei's other hand drifted across Quatre's shoulder and played with the hair at the bottom of his scalp, causing the blond system to shiver deliciously.

"Let's take this back to our room." Wufei murmured. "I have no intention of sharing either of you with anyone else."

Too late for that, Heero though as he hurried past the open doorway towards his room. Perhaps he should travel with blinders on his eyes; it was the second time he had walked in on the three systems. Trowa had noticed that Heero had walked in on them in the recreational lounge once, although in Heero's defense he had simply been punctual to meet Quatre for a game or two.

Heero stumbled back as he turned the corner and promptly ran into someone. He instinctively gripped the other someone, just as he felt hands on his own biceps and he found himself staring into Duo's amethyst eyes. He swallowed, hoping that Duo hadn't noticed his slight hard-on from catching a glimpse of the intimate touches between the systems.

"Are you all right?" Duo asked.

Heero pulled back quickly. "Yes. Are you?"

"Yes --" Duo had barely spoken before Heero was walking around him, moving quickly towards his room. "Hey Heero!" The door slid open and Heero entered quickly before the door slid shut once again. Had he looked back, he would have noticed the dark purple in Duo's eyes.

Heero leaned against his door, his heart pounding.

It's from the surprise of running into Duo, he said to himself. Nothing else.

But the uncomfortable twitches at his groin made him groan and lie down on his bed.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Heero asked quietly. Sure, he had touched himself before, but it had always been to relieve tension of sorts, as a natural bodily function. Little things like catching a glimpse of the touches between the systems had never aroused him.

There was too much sexual tension and innuendo on Leo, he decided as he gripped his blanket in fists. Especially among the systems, their urge to be intimate, caused by the uncontrolled lust in their blood, was definitely a primary trait within them. It was much more important to the systems, much harder to control, than the other urges such as to over eat or to sleep a lot.

But given his own history in that he had never engaged in masturbation frequently, Heero found himself unable to hold off. Even now, as he thought this through, his body betrayed him by rubbing against the bed, trying to gain friction.

Unbidden images of Duo filtered into his mind as he rolled over and touched himself.

Yet after he had achieved release, Heero forced himself to believe that he was lusting after Duo simply because Duo seemed to be the only unattached being on Leo; in his own morals Heero would never let himself lust after the systems who clearly seemed so besotted with each other.

Yes, it had to be because Duo was single. With the amount of sexual tension Heero felt from hearing the innuendo and seeing things that he didn't want to see, Heero was willing to think of being with anything with two-legs. He was simply lusting after Duo because he'd seen Duo in the intimate act and the memory of those visuals remained behind his eyelids.

Only lust.

Heero kept repeating that to himself as he fell asleep.

Duo returned to his own room after running into Heero. He'd intended to steal a snack of sorts from the pantry, but now he knew he wanted a different kind of snack.

Booting up the panel by his bed, Duo waited until a shadow flickered and became solid.

"Heero," he breathed, taking note of the slight smile on his lips. "Come, sit down."

Heero automatically sat down on the bed as Duo bade. Duo chuckled and touched Heero's cheek.

"You'd never really be this obedient, would you?"

Heero tilted his head to the side, leaning into Duo's hand.

"Lie down with me?" Duo asked as he stretched out on the bed, unbuckling his belt and pulling his pants slightly off of his hips. Heero lay down and Duo moved on top of the Hydran, burying his face against Heero's neck.

"Iiala aysuei," Duo murmured. "I'm sorry, Heero." He rubbed his groin against Heero's hip, seeking the friction that could relieve his tension. Hands touched him in return before they tugged insistently, removing his pants completely. The hands touched his thighs and spread his legs until Duo shifted again and togged a few buttons on the panel. Immediately, Heero was half naked under him. Duo moved and moaned quietly as he impaled himself upon the hardness at his hip. He kept his face at Heero's neck as he moved his own hips and slid his hand between the bodies to grab his own weeping hardness.

"Heero...!" Duo jerked himself harder, seeking the completion that was just out of reach. The hands clutched him and he gripped Heero's shoulder with one hand. "Mireh!" He cried as he found his release. "Mireh, Heero!"

Duo's body slumped as he caught his breath, and he nuzzled Heero's neck lightly before he rolled onto his side and looked at Heero again. The same smile graced the lips that Duo longed to kiss. He leaned forward, then pulled back, setting his fingers against the slightly smiling lips.

"You're nothing but a solid hologram," he whispered before sitting up, looking towards the direction where Heero's room was. "Iiala aysuei, Heero, but...it's the only way I can lust after you without letting you know." He looked down at the solid hologram again. "Mireh," he whispered. "But how I wish you were really Heero."

His body was acting under urges as they caught up with his sated body, and Duo's eyes glazed over slightly. He reached to the panel and entered a few commands. The hologram of Heero faded and another solidified, an exact replica of Duo himself.

"You all right?" the replica asked Duo as it got up and helped Duo under the covers.

Duo nodded. "You may have my memories but you are not the real me. You do not tell Heero things. You do not touch him. Yo--"

"Are not the real Duo. I only exist because you want Heero to learn more about you, even during the half of a rotation when you sleep."

"Good. We have an understanding."

"Mireh," the hologram mocked. "Don't worry, I do not have Arian urges like you do." With that, the hologram slipped out of Duo's room.

"Then perhaps you are the lucky one, hologram," Duo muttered before his body was over taken by his urges and he drifted to sleep.

Chapter Six

Heero called out the command to open the door when someone knocked on it. He didn't look up as the door opened and the guest walked in, so engrossed was he on the objects in front of him.

"Heero?"

Heero looked up. "Quatre?" Then he looked at the tior he'd set beside him, suddenly realizing he was late to meet the blond system in the recreational lounge. "I'm so sorry, Quatre! I lost track of time."

"It's all right. What are you doing?" Quatre knelt beside the bed. Heero was sitting cross-legged and fiddling with a panel of sorts. He tilted his head as he studied the item, showing almost boyish curiosity in his expression.

"It's one of the operational panels that Trowa had lying around. I'd been speaking to Wufei about human computer systems and he had been wondering if he could combine those with the systems already on Leo to make something different. Trowa gave me this panel and I've just been tinkering with it. I'm not overly familiar with the makings of any hardware, but I can fiddle around a bit with it in all of this spare time."

"Have you figured anything out?" Quatre asked. "What's this?"

"That's the motherboard here." Heero gestured to the panel's left side. "Generally in our systems there's a motherboard, and then a hard drive, something like that. It's the brain to the computer, you could say, although the actual operating system is loaded onto the hard drive."

"That's too complicated for me," Quatre admitted. "But are you getting anywhere?"

Heero produced a small object from his right side. "I have something salvaged from when I fled my spacecraft. It's almost like an external drive, but something more advanced than what the public has. On Earth I mean."

"Secret weapon?"

"In a sense." Heero nodded. "It's got some data programs and such on them, and was for my use when we got to StarX296 in order to process any research or discoveries. In the event that the computer I was to use didn't have the appropriate operating system, this little drive could be loaded into the computer. A partition would be created and the operating system would be loaded, so I'd be able to get some research data inside it."

"But don't operating systems and hardware have to be compatible?"

"I worked for people who had rather advanced technology, or as advanced as it gets on Earth. There was little chance that the hardware would be outdated; only the software, since the primary station we'd set up on X296 wouldn't have system upgrades readily accessible."

"Fair enough," Quatre nodded. "So you're saying that if you can get this hardware to work, and hooked up on a visual, then you could load your operating system onto it?"

Heero nodded. "Something like that, assuming it works and all. I hope it hadn't been damaged in any way, although it seems to be fine. That aside, if the hardware is compatible, I'd be able to load this entire drive onto a system I'm more familiar with." Heero turned the object about. "I had stored more than just the data programs and operating system on it."

"Like what?" Quatre asked, taking the object and turning it around, his mind automatically cataloging weight, size and texture of the object.

"My entire life."

Quatre looked up, then back down. In a way it made sense; if that and the set of clothes on his body had been all that Heero could save, and given that he'd probably never be able to return to Hydra, then that was, indeed, Heero's entire life.

"Your past life, Heero," Quatre murmured, handing the item back before he stood. "You've still got a present, new life for you to explore and live."

When Heero didn't answer, Quatre turned and left the room.

Heero spent the next two rotations in his room tinkering with the panel and his little drive, trying to attach the two together so that he would be able to load the contents through to the visual panel. For one thing, Heero knew that the USB port of his flash drive would not be able to connect to any of the ports on the motherboard.

Wufei came up with the appropriate remedy by offering several different wires. The system then carefully stripped the caps and casing from the wires, leaving the internal wire exposed for manipulation. Borrowing goes from Trowa to protect his hands, he set about trying to create a wire to link the two objects together.

Heero couldn't find words to express his gratitude when, upon booting up the system via the power for the seventh time, the screen flickered to life and displayed the welcoming screen from his drive.

The next matter of business was to find a hard drive to store the operating system from the drive. Wufei explained that Arian systems didn't use a hard drive. Still, the system produced one of the few spare memory chips that, Heero learned, were slotted into the base of a system's skull, allowing them to retain vast amounts of information.

Heero managed to get the memory chip to work by using the same method as Wufei in stripping internal wires and hooking the memory chip to his makeshift motherboard. Wufei watched as the Hydran hooked up the memory chip and hooked up a keying panel to the motherboard. The keyboard was different, but once Heero had learned the directional keys and the equivalent to the 'enter' and 'backspace' button on the panel, he found that he was able to begin the installation of his operating system onto his new computer.

Wufei watched, fascinated by the symbols that flashed across the screen. "Is that your language?"

"Yes. It's English."

"English," Wufei repeated. "You can read at a fast pace, this English?"

Heero chuckled and shook his head. "I've done this too many times; I don't bother to read it."

That made sense to Wufei, there were certain operations he could follow through without reading the prompts or warning screens. He watched as Heero became more and more anxious and determined that this operation system that Heero had informed him of must be close to completing installation. Although he was still curious, Wufei decided it was time to make himself scarce.

"I'll leave you to it, then," he said to Heero as he got up from the floor. They had been using Heero's bed as a table since the room itself lacked such furniture. Heero stood, torn between continuing with the rediscovery of his former life and asking Wufei to stay. He knew that Wufei was curious although the system was being extremely polite.

Wufei could see Heero's dilemma. "You can teach me about it once you've learned how to use the key panel. Besides, it's about time to give Quatre a quick short circuit." Even as he spoke, Wufei's eyes turned darker; it wasn't hard for him to distract his curious mind with a much baser urge.

Heero's cheeks flushed slightly. "Thank you, Wufei. I have no other words that can express my gratitude, but...thank you."

"You're welcome." Wufei nodded and took his leave. Heero watched as the door closed after the system just as his operating system finished installation. Out of habit, he switched on the wireless as he configured the operations, even though he knew he wouldn't get an Internet connection here, or would he? Heero chuckled and shook his own head; it would take him a long time to learn of the technology available on Leo. For now, he'd just settle for re-familiarizing himself with a makeshift, human computer.

Wufei made his way to the pantry, unsure of his own uncanny sense that directed him to his other systems. He found Trowa inside, leaning casually against the counter as he drank from a water bulb. With a low growl, Wufei crossed the pantry and pressed himself against the taller system. He swallowed the liquid that Trowa passed to him before he deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue into Trowa's mouth to explore the familiar cavity.

Trowa's slid his hands up Wufei's sides and back down before sliding them around the back, boldly cupping Wufei's ass and pulling the system against his own body. His own legs automatically parted, letting himself shift to accommodate Wufei's shorter height so that their hips could grind together. Wufei broke the kiss and trailed his lips along Trowa's jaw and down his neck, suckling hard at the skin. His hands delved into Trowa's hair and gently massaged; Wufei knew that it was a sensitive area for Trowa. When he finally pulled back, he looked into Trowa's dark eyes and deliberately licked his own lips.

Wufei's tongue had barely finished its trail across the already kiss-swollen lips before Trowa pushed Wufei back and shoved him against the counter. He immediately pressed against Wufei's back, sliding his hand between Wufei's body and the counter so he could rub at Wufei's arousal. His lips returned the torture to Wufei's jaw and neck. Wufei's back arched as he pressed his hips towards Trowa's hand and leaned his head back into Trowa's touch. He growled when Trowa suddenly released him completely, and stumbled when Trowa grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the pantry. Wufei followed Trowa to the control panel.

Quatre looked up, pausing mid-sentence in his conversation with Duo as his lovers entered. Trowa crossed the room quickly, Wufei in tow, and he grabbed Quatre's collar as he swooped down and captured the surprised lips in a torrid kiss.

Duo watched the exchange, studying Quatre's surprised expression before light blue eyes became navy in several blinks and then Quatre was pulling back. His hands reached for the bottom of his long-sleeved polo and in a swift motion removed the garment, revealing pale, muscled arms and a hint of baby blond hair at the armpits. Duo raised an eyebrow as Quatre spared him a glance.

"Talk to you later, Duo," Quatre said before turning back to his lust-filled partners. "Want some? Come get it." With that, he darted out, leaving Trowa and Wufei to stall just a moment before giving chase.

Duo blinked after them before looking down along his body and shrugging.

"I'm glad I don't have their urges," he muttered before turning back to the computer.

Trowa caught Quatre's wrist as the sly blond called out the command to open the door to their room. He dragged Wufei in and yanked at Wufei's polo in a silent message for it to be removed. Then, he pulled off his own and tossed it aside before pulling Quatre close and kissing the blond once more.

Wufei spared a moment to pull aside the blanket and to switch the light above the bed to a dim setting before he returned to his lovers and chose his place behind Trowa, sliding both of his hands between his lovers so that he could unbuckle their belts. He mentally thanked whoever gave him that sort of dexterity before he worked to remove Trowa's bottoms down to his knees, letting the tall system kick them off after shoes had been toed off. He repeated the favour to Quatre before sliding his hands up Trowa's torso to remove the snug, sleeveless shirt, trailing his blunt nails up Trowa's sides and making him shiver and moan. In turn, Trowa did the same to Quatre before the two pressed close, groaning as weeping cocks met and slid together. Wufei stepped back to admire the view.

Both Trowa and Quatre quickly noticed the lack of Wufei's touch and they separated together and turned to find their missing lover. Grinning when they discovered him sitting on the bed and removing his own shoes, the two shared a glance and quickly approached the over-dressed system.

Wufei found himself pressed back against the bed, two hands working quickly to undo his belt and remove his bottoms while another two hands teased his torso by squeezing his ribs lightly and gripping his sides possessively. He managed to lift his body by the strength of his abs, allowing the hands at his torso to remove the last article of clothing from him. Then he jerked, falling back as lips pressed roughly against his in a commanding kiss at the same time someone swallowed his erection whole.

Quatre let his tongue play at the slit of Wufei's cock, his hands pressing down on Wufei's hips so the system could not thrust upwards. A hand slid into his hair; Quatre knew by touch that it was Wufei. It simply remained at his head, not forcing nor guiding, just touching. Quatre hummed and listened as Wufei cried out at the vibrations, legs opening further in a restless motion.

Trowa attacked Wufei's nipples, biting lightly and grazing his teeth over the dark, hardened nub before he licked it with several swipes. After repeating the favour to the other nipple, Trowa then let his teeth graze over ribs and onto Wufei's stomach. Muscles clenched deliciously at the touch and Wufei's hand found Trowa's neck, squeezing gently in time to Trowa's every inhalation as the system began to intoxicate himself with Wufei's scent. Drawn by the heady musk so close by, Trowa discreetly nudged Quatre.

Taking his cue, Quatre pulled away, listening momentarily as Wufei groaned his displeasure at the loss. The sound quickly turned to a gasp as Quatre and Trowa's lips met in a kiss with Wufei's cock in between. Tongues slid over the hard flesh before the two mouths moved down at the same time. Trowa let his mouth travel upwards again so that he could take Wufei into his mouth just as Quatre licked the twin sacs below.

Wufei lay, quivering at the touches that wreaked havoc over his senses but was not enough to bring him over the edge. He gripped the pillow above himself and arched his back again before he cried out, feeling Quatre gasp around his sacs.

Quatre was caught by surprise at the hand that suddenly gripped and pumped his weeping cock. Trowa wasn't teasing; he moved his hand quickly and skillfully with every intention of guiding Quatre quickly towards completion.

"Trowa...!" Quatre moaned. "No...no...not like this."

Trowa's other hand pumped over his own erection, smearing precum over the shaft. Upon hearing Quatre's voice, he released Wufei's cock and moved around Quatre, tugging the blonde's hips up slightly. Pale legs automatically moved to support himself and Quatre looked over his shoulder at Trowa, navy eyes shining with need and lust.

Wufei took the moment to study his lovers. In the dim lighting he could see sweat glistening across skin, chests heaving and eyes glittering. He savored the moment, filing it into his own mental database before his eyes made contact with Quatre's as the blond turned forward to look at him.

The hand that traced his spine made Quatre arch forward, his hips moving back instinctively as the hand then traced the cleft of his ass. He tensed, squeezing the muscles enticingly before a thumb passed over his opening. His jaw hung open as he felt his body open to Trowa's touch as Trowa let the pad of his thumb rest against the opening. He then pressed and pulled back, putting pressure against the opening and mimicking what was soon to happen. Quatre returned his lips to Wufei's erection, not wanting to leave their other lover out of the fun. After a few more teasing moments, Trowa let his hands rest on Quatre's hips before he leaned down and kissed Quatre's balls. The blond cried out around his mouthful, then cried out again as a tongue swiped over his opening, causing it to tense before relaxing and opening. Teasing lips nibbled up each of his vertebrae, and just as Quatre was about to scream in frustration, Trowa's hands squeezed his hips in a brief warning before the blunt head of his cock pressed against Quatre's relaxed opening and thrust in.

Quatre moaned around Wufei's erection as Trowa seated himself, his mind already whirling from the pleasurable entry. He mentally thanked Duo for the Arian blood that allowed his entrance to automatically relax under the stimulation of his lovers so that no other preparation was necessary. Then, he pushed Duo out of his mind and focused on the cock thrusting slightly into his mouth and the second one picking up a rhythm behind him.

So engrossed were they in their lovemaking that they did not hear the central alarm ring.

Chapter Seven

The hologram of Duo sat up after tinkering in boredom on a panel in the control center. Heero had, for the past couple of rotations, remained mostly in his room doing his own tinkering, and the hologram of Duo was becoming increasingly bored with his task. Once it was time to wake the real Arian up, the hologram immediately headed for the room to wake his creator.

"Hey, wake up," he said, nudging the sprawled form on the bed. "Half of a rotation has passed."

"Little longer," Duo muttered.

"No, get up. It's boring."

"Go find someone then," Duo grumbled, rolling onto his back and pulling the blankets over his head.

"Hey!" the hologram shook the Arian once more. "You lazy Arian!"

"You and I are the same, almost," Duo said before covering his ears.

The hologram's eyes narrowed and he smacked the Arian on the stomach, startling him awake.

"Hey!" Duo struggled for a moment with his blankets before emerging and sitting up with a glare, his eyes a light purple and flashing with anger. "What the hell is your problem?"

"What's the matter, Arian?" the hologram taunted. "Above keeping your word now? Half of a rotation is over, or are you just going to be a sloth and stay lazy?" the hologram leaned closer. "What's more important to you, the urge to be a sloth, or the urge to be proud? A proud Arian would keep his end of the bargain, no?"

Duo resisted the rising need to punch his clone.

"Or perhaps the urge to being lusty overtakes all of the other ones, as your systems clearly demonstrated?"

Duo snatched the hand that touched him intimately. He pushed the laughing hologram back before punching in the commands to the panel. The hologram faded from sight and Duo fell back onto his bed. Suddenly too angry to sleep anymore, he got up and began to pace.

Perhaps he should command the clone of himself to come back so he could beat the crap out of the hologram and relieve his anger. He clenched his fists and punched his pillow several times before kicking the wall.

Heero. Heero would calm him down because in front of Heero, Duo was too proud to fall prey to his anger. He would show the Hydran he had better control than that.

A quick stalk about the ship revealed that Heero was still in his own room and Duo would not invade the Hydran's privacy. Returning to his own room, he keyed in certain commands until the shadow solidified into Heero.

"Heero," Duo murmured, staring at the slightly smiling hologram as he forced himself to calm down. "You've been pretty busy in your own room, haven't you?" he asked although he didn't expect an answer. "When you solve whatever it is that you want to solve, maybe you'll share it with me?"

A sudden blare of an alarm had him jumping up and running for the control room. Duo shouted commands, turning the front panels into a one-sided viewing portal so he could scan the immediate area in front of Leo. Radar reports immediately filled the top center, informing Duo where the threat was.

Or threats.

Cursing, Duo raced out of the control center, only to run smack into Heero.

"Duo?" Heero shouted over the alarm in confusion.

"How familiar are you with the control center? Do you know any operations, anything?"

Heero shook his head. "I was only shown the basics; nothing really in depth --"

Duo shoved the Hydran towards the control center anyway. "Get in, sit down in a chair in the back and strap yourself down!"

"What --"

"Do it!" Duo shouted before racing down the corridor towards the system's rooms. Banging on the door, he shouted some more. "Get up, systems!"

When no one replied, he overrode the system and jumped into the room only to find it empty.

"Wrong room!" he snarled to himself before he crossed the hall to the other room and banged on it. "Wufei! Trowa! Quatre!" he overrode the code as well and entered the room.

Wufei alone, turned his head to Duo, hair in disarray, cheeks flushed, eyes darkened enough to tell Duo that they were too far-gone in their lust. Still, he had to try.

"Enemy attack, get up!"

Trowa paid no need as he picked up his pace, thrusting faster into Quatre. He pushed the blond down over Wufei, forcing him to release Wufei's cock from his mouth. Both systems made the sound of discontent before Trowa forced Quatre flat atop Wufei. Quatre's neglected erection slid against Wufei's, which was wet from Quatre's saliva, and the two moaned as they immediately tried to find some sort of rhythm to satisfy them both.

Duo could feel his blood race at the sight but he knew that he could not fall prey to lust at this time. Swinging his fist around, he shocked his body by slamming the fist against the wall.

"Enemy attack!" he snarled again. Still, the systems paid no attention. Duo knew he had no more time and he left them to finish their coupling, spending precious seconds in his own room to key up his own hologram clone.

"What do you want now?" the clone asked, then frowned at the blaring alarm. "What's going on?"

"Get into the control center. I need you to take over engine outlook and weapons. Now!"

The hologram followed Duo quickly back into the control center.

"Duo...what the hell?" Heero asked as two Duos raced in, dressed exactly the same except one had bleeding knuckles.

"Solid hologram with my memories," the Duo with the bleed knuckles said before seating himself in the captain's seat. "We're under attack," he informed Heero.

"Attack? By whom?"

Duo ignored him and spoke to his hologram. "I'm going to take over the autopilot and I want you to man the weapon controls."

"Where are the systems?" the hologram asked as he seated himself to the left.

"Too busy having sex!"

"At a time like this?" the hologram began to power up weapons and program them for easier access.

"They were much too far-gone to be helpful. I can only hope they were almost done and will get up quick enough to come help out. Then again, I can also hope that this attack won't last long!"

"Who's attacking us?" Heero asked again.

"Zepras, Heero, who's been at war with Arians for as long as history can remember. They want to make Arians their pleasure slaves."

"Just because Arians tend to fall prey to lust?"

"That's one thing. Because of this urge Arians have, they tend to like to explore ways to pleasure themselves and their other half. Or thirds, in some cases like my wayward systems. Now shut up, Hydran, I can't be distracted with lustful thoughts when we're about to meet a fleet!"

Heero shut up and simply watched.

"Incoming attack!"

Heero squeezed his eyes shut as a bright light came from the leftmost screens. When he opened his eyes again, he could see that both Duo and his clone had slipped on glasses.

"Take off your mic and earpiece!" Duo ordered his hologram before doing so.

Heero listened to the gibberish that was the Arian language, helpless to do anything but to sit and watch. He found himself wondering if he'd survive this attack; he wasn't an Arian and if they were captured, perhaps he'd be of no use to these Zepras. Besides, Heero felt that he'd already taken an extra ticket to life; with his old existence most likely deleted from the minds of humans on Earth, it wouldn't matter if he died here.

But as he looked at Duo and thought about Wufei, Trowa and Quatre, Heero found himself beginning to hope that nothing happened, that they would get out of this mess. What sort of life would they lead as pleasure slaves to another alien race?

Okay, that was perhaps a very stupid question; the point was that Heero suddenly hoped Duo and his hologram would be able to get away from these aliens.

In their room, Trowa found himself losing control quickly. He leaned down and kissed Quatre's shoulder before seeking Wufei's mouth, pumping his hips desperately, reaching for release that was close at hand.

The weight of the two bodies above him crushed Wufei in a familiar, comforting manner, not to mention added to the friction against his arousal with Quatre's hardness. With a groan and a flex of his fingers on the pillow he had been gripping, Wufei achieved his completion, squirting copious amounts of warm stickiness between his body and Quatre's. Quatre followed after a couple more thrusts, adding to the mess between their bodies. The spasms of Quatre's internal muscles were what Trowa needed to reach his own completion, and he grunted loudly, gasping his lovers' names among other incoherent words as he emptied himself into Quatre's greedy passage.

They collapsed together until their senses returned and Quatre was the first to notice the alarm.

"Alarm!" he suddenly cried, pushing upwards to remove Trowa from himself. He grimaced as he unstuck himself from Wufei.

Trowa jumped off of the bed, snatching up the towels they kept by the bed and tossing one to Quatre and Wufei each before rubbing himself down quickly. Then, he pulled his pants and shoes on before pulling the sleeveless shirt over his head, not caring about how messy his hair was. Quatre and Wufei followed suit before they raced for the control room.

They had to brace themselves against the right side of the corridor as Leo suddenly tilted left, and their hands instinctively grabbed for each other in hopes of anchoring the others or to tumble together. As soon as they were able to move, they continued quickly towards the control center.

Wufei immediately took the seat at the center a few steps below Duo, strapping himself in with a muttered apology.

"You're late, you three!" Duo snapped just as Quatre slid into his seat to Duo's left. Trowa took a seat by the panels on the right, opposite of Duo's hologram. "And you reek!"

"Envious that we reek the way we do, Duo?" Trowa asked as he took over the observations of Leo's physicals.

"I have control over the mainframe," Wufei said as he began to scan for an answer to why they had been discovered and attacked.

"I have control over weapons," Quatre added.

Those words also sounded like gibberish to Heero, who noticed that while the three systems still wore earpieces, they were all lacking the long-sleeved polo shirts to which their mics had been attached. Heero hazarded the guess that they had forgotten to remove the small earpieces while they had been intimate.

He quickly steered himself away from that line of thought; there were more pressing matters at hand, such as trying to figure out what was going on and whether he would die, or be captured, in the next moments of his life. Luckily, the hologram, having received reprieve from his tasks now that the systems had taken up their posts, came over to sit beside Heero, strapping himself in before clipping his earpiece and mic back into place.

"Wufei's going to try and find out what exactly gave away our position. Quatre's an excellent strategist and has a full section of his mental database which informs him of various attacks, maneuvers and historical cases. Trowa's taken over the observation of the ship in case of damage, and Duo is piloting.

"Thank you," Heero replied in relief. "How is it that we had no idea we'd be attacked, or could be attacked?"

"Leo has a fairly advanced cloaking system that Zepras have yet to decode or figure out. The last attack we had, according to Duo's memories, was well over a thousand rotations ago. That's what I'm made of, you know? Duo's memories."

"Duo's memories can make a...solid hologram?" Heero furrowed his eyebrows. It wouldn't surprise him, seeing as Arians were advanced enough to simply think of a taste and actually taste it.

"No," the hologram chuckled. "Duo created the solid holograms. Me, in particular, I was given his memories."

"What for?"

"Situations like these, I suppose." The hologram sidestepped the truth, but Heero hadn't been trained to be observant for nothing.

"Duo's been around all of the time, all through the rotations. Any chance that at some point or another I'd spent at least half of a rotation interacting with you?"

The hologram blinked. "Um..."

"So he's been using a hologram while he slept. Clever," Heero muttered. "And I wonder what for,"

Wufei suddenly spoke and the hologram immediately translated the message. "An unknown signal has penetrated our cloaking device! The Zepras must have caught on to it and followed the trail to us!"

"Why is there an unknown signal on Leo?" Duo glanced at Heero. "Don't tell me they can sense Hydran life force throat the cloaking device!"

"That can't be it," Quatre muttered. "Has to be something else. Have you made anything, Duo? Anything that needed a sort of sequence, something different that perhaps Wufei hadn't programmed into the mainframe?"

"No!" Duo let the ship drop, causing Heero's stomach to lurch. "I'm not that stupid!"

The hologram Duo snorted quietly at that comment after he had translated it.

"Can you trace it, Wufei?" Duo snapped. "Or do something? Program it in or cut it off?"

"Not yet. I can't even read it!" Wufei snapped. "I need more time!"

"We don't have time!" Duo snarled. "Think! What do we have that's new, other than my holograms?"

"My computer?" Heero asked.

The hologram blinked at Heero. "Computer?"

"My own system."

The hologram covered his mic and relayed the message to Duo. In the next second, Duo had unstrapped himself, passing the piloting controls to Trowa with a few short words and raced off.

Heero immediately followed, eyes widening in horror as Duo overrode the commands into his room and darted in. He arrived at the doorway in time to see Duo pick up the panels and study it as if trying to determine which part was not an Arian system.

"Hey!"

Duo whirled and shouted; Trowa had long since shut off the blaring alarm but something about the situation still called for shouting. Heero shook his head and held out his hand, eyes narrowed.

"I don't understand you, Duo, but give that back!"

Duo shook the item in his hand and pointed, still screaming. Heero made a frustrated leap at Duo in attempt to snatch his computer back, only to have Duo easily evade him. When Heero turned again, he watched as Duo picked up the small drive, amethyst eyes studying it for a moment before realizing that it wasn't an Arian object.

Heero made an angry sound as Duo simply pulled the object away from the main panel as if with no regard to damaging the wiring. He then tossed the main panel to Heero, forcing Heero to catch it as carefully as he could.

"No!" Heero shouted as Duo took the drive with two hands and made the motion to break it. He dropped the main panel onto his bed and leapt towards Duo, tackling the Arian, who fell with a grunt. Scrabbling with his hands to get Duo's, Heero stared at the drive that was now broken into two. "You fucking bastard!" Heero's punched Duo's jaw, splitting his lip. Before he could do any more, Duo had tossed him aside and slid the two broken pieces into a slot at his belt. Duo wiped the blood on his chin and stared down at Heero's furious face.

"Iiala aysuei," Duo said as he pulled out the mic, holding it up to his lips as Wufei suddenly shouted from the control center. Duo repeated himself, and this time, Heero could understand.

"I'm sorry," Duo said. "But my priority is to protect Leo and the others."

"That was my fucking life!" Heero shouted, but Duo didn't have his earpiece on. The Arian walked towards the door.

"Iiala aysuei, Heero," Duo said again. "You need to understand that I had no choice." With that, he walked away.

Heero slammed his fists on the floor of his room. "Fuck your priority!" he screamed. Spotting the main panel on his bed, he got up and reached for it, raising it above his head as if to fling it down and break it.

"Don't do that!" The panel was snatched from him, the owner of the hands immediately back away. "If Duo broke it, Duo can most likely fix it!"

"Get the fuck out," Heero snarled. "I don't want to see you!"

"Hey, I didn't break the thing! In any case, we're making a clean escape now, the Zepras can't track us so we should be safe in a short while."

Heero got up and shoved the hologram out into the corridor. The hologram would have fallen if Quatre hadn't been there to steady him.

"Heero, you have to understand --"

The door slid shut before Quatre could finish his plea.

Chapter Eight

Quatre knocked hesitantly at Heero's door. It was his third try in the last half of a rotation, but Quatre was willing to be persistent until he could see Heero and talk to the Hydran.

"Give it up," Duo said as he walked by. "The Hydran believes his life is more superior to ours."

The door slid open as he spoke, revealing Heero by the door.

"Or maybe the superior one will finally grace you with his presence," Duo added softly, his eyes a flashing challenge to Heero.

"Only you consider yourself superior to others, Arian," Heero snapped. "How may I help you, Quatre?" Heero knew without a doubt that Quatre had been the one to knock; with Duo's sarcastic words he was sure the pure Arian would not have bothered with such a task as checking on him.

"Heero, why don't you come to the pantry to get some food?"

Heero nodded. "I will, shortly."

"See? Too superior to eat with you or me," Duo said, examining his nails. The very next moment, he found himself slammed against the opposite corridor, glittering blue eyes glaring in anger at him.

"Let me get this straight, Arian," Heero hissed. "Number one, I do not consider my life superior to yours, or Quatre's, Trowa's or Wufei's. If you had been captured no good would have come to me either."

"Who knows how you Hydrans think?" Duo tried to shove Heero back but was unsuccessful. "Since you came aboard Leo you've wanted to get off. That may have been your perfect chance!"

"Given what your hologram told me about the Zepras, I highly doubt I wouldn't have been killed, or held captive along with you. Since you share the same memories as your hologram, added to the fact that you know them better than I do, I think even you could have arrived at the same conclusion that my boarding a Zepra ship would not be wise."

Duo remained silent, glaring back at Heero before the other spoke.

"Number two. Only you consider your life superior to others, at least to mine."

"I thought no such thing!" Duo snapped, enraged. "Prove it!"

"Our technology may be different, but there is at least one commonality. That is the on and off switch. You could have simply turned the computer off but you chose to tear the drive away from the main panel. And if that wasn't enough, you went on to break it."

"So maybe I over reacted with the drive," Duo answered. "Doesn't prove that I think I am superior to you!"

"My entire life prior to boarding Leo, all that I have left, was in there. Maybe you didn't know that, but if it hadn't been important I would not have tried to stop you from breaking it." Heero released Duo and stepped back. "Those were my memories, my past, all that I had left, and you destroyed it without a single regard." Heero turned away. "Quatre, I appreciate your coming to ask me to join you to dine. I will stop by the pantry at a later time."

Quatre and Duo both understood that Heero meant he wanted to eat alone or at least without Duo's presence. Before either could utter another word, Heero had returned to his room, the door hissing shut him.

"You're an idiot."

Duo snorted. "Says you." He switched the overhead light to a brighter setting as he studied the object and its pieces on the table. Looking up, he furrowed his eyebrows at Wufei. "Well? Are you going to help me?"

"You're an idiot."

"Do you need a reboot? I don't remember you ever having the broken record syndrome. Quatre had it once remember? He just kept repeating himself over and over. What did he say?"

"Harder, Trowa," Wufei swallowed, remembering that scene. "If you didn't have the complete reboot key we would never have told you. Anyway, you're still an idiot."

"You know." Duo turned, waving a long, screwdriver-like tool at Wufei as he pretended to think before speaking. "Technically, you can consider me your creator. Why must you hurt me so?"

Wufei rolled his eyes. "Even creators can be idiots."

"I was under the impression that you loved to get Quatre to teach you a lot of the information stored in his database. Perhaps I should tell him to teach you synonyms?"

"You prefer to be called stupid?" Wufei deadpanned.

"So are you going to tell me why you believe I'm an idiot? Wait. Let me guess. I created you."

Wufei sighed. "Did it ever occur to you that you could have asked Heero if it was possible to turn off his computer? Or at least the drive?" Wufei gestured to the broken bits on the table.

"Did it ever occur to you," Duo mocked, "that he had intended to send out a signal?"

"Let me refresh your memory. Heero is not familiar with any other kind but his own prior to boarding Leo. Then, he learned of Arians and of my kind, the Eikelians. Do you think he would be stupid enough to send out signals to another unknown source?"

Duo opened his mouth then shut it, unable to come up with a witty retort. "Look," he sighed after a moment, ignoring Wufei's smug expression. "Will you help me with this? It's important to him."

"You realized it a little late, didn't you?" Wufei couldn't help rubbing it into Duo's face one last time. Duo glared, and Wufei relented. "Okay." He moved a little closer. "This is the external casing, all of this." He pointed to the thin casing. "So for now, we can discard that."

"Okay." Duo complied, carefully removing the casing in case it could be of further use.

"This here was the connecting port that transferred information to the main panel. Judging from what its looks, it seems that it's not damaged."

"Good."

"But the main part, consisting of the internal bits of this object, has been snapped into two along with a few fragments. The only lucky part about this is that you happen to have kept all of the fragments --"

"They were buried in my palm," Duo muttered.

"Serves you right," Wufei said. "Now, let's try to do a sync of the system. If we can connect the port back to a panel, we can try one of our Arian tricks and create a certain level of electro magnetism and cheat this device into believe that it's still whole. Once we cut the entire program onto a separate drive, even if it's one of our own, it should work."

"Okay." Duo nodded. "So...how do you make the main panel?"

Wufei sighed and resigned himself to staying in the backroom for the foreseeable future. He could only hope that his lovers would rescue him, even for a short period of time; he was fairly sure that only frequent reboots to his own system would let him survive the task of attempting to mentor Duo in the fixing of this Hydran object.

"Trowa?"

"Hm?" Trowa idly shifted a game piece before turning the board around. His hand drifted from the board back to the head pillowed on his chest and he played with soft blond hair.

"We haven't seen much of Duo, or his cloned hologram. Or Heero."

"Or Wufei." Trowa watched as Quatre moved one of his own game pieces and turned the board around once more.

"Maybe I'll go talk to Heero now. It's been four rotations. I'm sure he's cooled down by now."

"If you really want to. Are you sure?" Trowa frowned at the game.

"I can only try to explain Duo's motives once more. And maybe Heero needs someone to talk to."

"Quatre, not everyone likes to talk things out."

"I meant Heero may not know that someone's really willing to listen."

Trowa shrugged. "Okay. You go find Heero and I'll go to the back room. I'll make sure that Duo isn't working Wufei too hard and that the two of them haven't killed each other yet."

Quatre chuckled as he turned his head up and kissed Trowa's chin. "All right." He got up and pulled Trowa up with him before they made their way towards the door of the recreational lounge. "And Trowa?"

"Hm?"

Mischievous aquamarine eyes twinkled up at him. "Don't think for a moment that I didn't realize I was winning."

Trowa chuckled as he watched Quatre head down the corridor opposite of him. Those eyes never missed a thing.

Quatre knocked on Heero's door and waited until the door opened. Heero was sitting on his bed, studying a panel in front of him.

"Hello Quatre," he greeted his guest.

"Hello Heero. What are you up to?" Quatre took the opening of the door as an invitation to enter, and he walked closer to Heero.

"Learning your language. Trying to, at least."

Quatre studied the basic vocabulary on the screen; he'd taught Heero the Arian alphabet and sounds not too long ago.

"Any progress?"

"I'm not sure. Working on it, a bit," Heero answered honestly. "I've heard some of it, when Duo and I played our vocabulary game."

The mentioning of Duo gave Quatre the perfect start to the conversation he had intended to have. "Heero? Are you still angry at Duo?"

Heero's eyebrows furrowed. "What he did was wrong."

Quatre sat down at the foot of Heero's bed. "Heero, it is Arian nature to be protective. Duo is very protective of Leo and of us. Added to the fact that Duo is the type to act and ask questions later, you have to understand that in his mind the priority had been to get rid of the source emitting the signal to the Zepras."

"Are those excuses?"

Quatre opened his mouth to defend his words, then shut it.

"The problem is, Quatre, that I was there screaming for him not to break the drive. He'd already unplugged it."

"Okay, so Duo likes to be extremely thorough and didn't want to take any risks," Quatre argued. "Could you fault him for that? He was still, ultimately, trying to protect Leo and us."

"That was all I had left, Quatre," Heero said quietly. "I'm...All of my life I never owned a lot. That object itself holds all of my memories ever since I knew how to encrypt it and hide it in that drive." Heero sighed as he looked away from Quatre, staring down at the panel he'd been reading from. "You won't understand."

"I can try," Quatre said softly.

Heero shook his head. "You have Trowa. And Wufei. You have this ship, this...free life. Me...All of my life, everything I've done has been dictated. This drive was the only outlet I had. It was...everything I really owned. Because of that, it's...hard to just forgive what Duo did."

Quatre nodded sadly. "But this wasn't all that I had, you know?"

Heero looked up again. "What...do you mean?"

"Trowa and Wufei had been empty shells when Duo picked them up. On the other hand, I had already been programmed to be a businessman. I wasn't happy doing that, but it was all that I knew."

"Happy?" Heero asked. "I was under the impression that Eikelians only operated by function."

Quatre shook his head. "We are programmed with life too. The program itself has a random variable which makes each of us unique."

Heero tried to understand that; to lead a chosen professional life and to have a pre-made personal life. It sounded suspiciously familiar.

"It scared me to leave that though, because it was all that I knew. Duo had docked Leo on Eikel for some time getting the papers and such for Trowa and Wufei. I met him because the docking company was where I worked and I had personally handled the transaction for his docking fees. Duo...convinced me that I could leave. That had been when I took his offer and escaped. I haven't been back to Eikel ever since.

"What I'm trying to say is, Heero, that maybe you should look at this in a different perspective."

"Like this is a completely new start for me. With no past and only the present a future," Heero murmured.

"I'll let you think about it. Just...try to remember that Duo's priority was Leo...and you are now a part of Leo. He was inadvertently also trying to protect you." Quatre stood and headed towards the door. "Have a good rest, Heero. I'll see you in the next rotation."

The door slid shut, leaving Heero to contemplate Quatre's words.

Trowa walked into the backroom and stood aside, watching the bent heads of Duo and Wufei as they muttered quietly and moved carefully. The way that they spoke made it seem like they were dealing with something extremely fragile, so fragile that even too loud a voice would harm it. Then again, the object was fairly fragile. After watching a while, he was just about to leave when he heard Duo yell gleefully.

"What's going on?" Trowa asked, backtracking curiously.

"It's fixed!" Duo shouted. "Fixed, Trowa, fixed!"

Wufei looked utterly relieved, and Trowa let his hands rest on the other system's shoulders, gently massaging the tense muscles.

"I love you, Wufei!"

Trowa's eyes flashed and he automatically reached out, stalling Duo's approaching hug. Duo chuckled.

"On second thought, I'll take that back. But I am extremely grateful to you!"

"You're welcome. Now, let me go and rest." Wufei let Trowa help to lever him up and the two walked quickly towards the door as if afraid that Duo would call them back, or at least, call Wufei back again. "And I'm taking Quatre with us. One rotation."

"Go ahead, I won't disturb you for anything that isn't an emergency!" Duo waved them away as he held up the precious new object. He looked back at the still-broken original, but he and Wufei had managed to transfer everything onto an Arian drive during the sync process they had done. It didn't look exactly the same, and Duo knew that Heero alone would know whether or not the data was complete, but at least he had managed to salvage something!

"I gotta go tell him," he muttered distractedly, dashing out of the back room and to Heero's room. He knocked, but when there was no reply, he only hesitated briefly before overriding the code and entering. "Hee..." He trailed off, looking at the sleeping Hydran who was barely visible in the dim lighting.

But the news was too important to let Heero continue sleeping. Duo shook Heero, then yelled in surprise when Heero jumped up, pushing him to the ground so that Duo couldn't move.

"What are you doing in here?" Heero asked.

"Hand! Hand, Heero!"

Heero released Duo and stood, watching as the Arian scrambled to his feet.

"Heero, I didn't mean to wake you up but I needed to..." Duo trailed off as he stared at Heero...

Standing in front of him in all his naked glory.

Chapter Nine

Duo stared, swallowing and finding his mouth dry as he tried to avert his eyes. His blood rushed south and he felt his body tense.

"Shit," Heero muttered, snatching up his blanket and wrapping it around himself.

Duo turned away, leaning against the wall for a moment as he struggled to control himself. "Why in the world do you sleep in the nude?" he asked, trying to control his racing heart.

"I only have one pair of briefs and I wash them before I sleep every night so I can wear them the next day. In case you haven't noticed I only have a couple of sets of clothing. Sleepwear is not one of those." He eyed the Arian against the wall. "Any particular reason why you overrode the code to my room and woke me up?"

"You move damn fast!" Duo suddenly remembered; he had hardly seen Heero move other than a glimpse of eyes that flashed opened, already alert.

"I was trained to react quickly like that. Will you answer my question now?"

"Oh, yea!" Duo moved closer quickly. "It's fixed!" He offered the object to Heero.

"What is this?" Heero frowned, not taking the object. "What's fixed?"

"Your thing! The one I broke?"

Heero's eyes narrowed. "This doesn't look anything like my drive."

"Come on, load it on your computer and see if it works!"

"Can you clarify what it is?" Heero took the object and examined it.

"Wufei taught me the sync process we often use to salvage our internal panels. Basically if something is broken, if you use this process you can trick it into believing it is still whole, allowing you to retrieve what you need from it. Look, Heero, I'm sorry about what happened, and I'm sorry I couldn't recreate it, but...okay, so maybe I don't know if we managed to salvage everything on your drive, but I'm sure we got at least some of it!"

Heero stared. This object was his drive, even a portion of it?

"What are you waiting for? Run it!"

Heero forgot that he was naked under the blanket. He sat down onto his bed and snatched up the remaining part of his computer, carefully removing the remaining wiring that had been used to connect his original drive. Sliding the new one into place since it now had a compatible port, Heero held his breath, waiting for the drive to boot up. He didn't even care that Duo was hovering close, braid pooling in his lap. The screen flashed blue and suddenly, the installation screen appeared.

"Is that it?" Duo asked, breathless with excitement.

"Yes!" Heero said, immediately keying in the proper recovery codes.

"So is everything there?"

"I don't know yet, not until the program loads and recovers itself." Heero skimmed the screen. "Should take only a few minutes."

"How long is a minute?"

"60 clicks."

"Clicks?"

Heero began to snap. "That's a second. Sixty of those make a minute."

"Ah." Duo became aware of his close proximity to Heero. He glanced across the shoulders and collarbones he wanted to nibble, down Heero's chest, his eyes pausing briefly at each nipple before looking further down. The blanket had pooled around Heero's waist, barely covering his privates, and Duo found himself licking his lips at the sight of the hairs running from Heero's belly button down into the hidden folds of the blanket. His heart was beating quickly again, his blood rushing south.

Heero shifted impatiently, brushing against Duo. He pulled away quickly, much to Duo's disappointment; Duo's eyes were still glued to Heero's groin. Heero stared at the darkening eyes as they studied his blanket-covered hips. The single-minded focus had Heero's heart skipping a beat.

No... he thought to himself as he felt his groin stir. I won't...I can't! Heero set the computer further away and shifted again. "Duo? Duo."

"Mm?" Duo let his eyes drag up to Heero's face.

"Let me go and get changed."

"You're fine the way you are," Duo murmured, leaning a little closer, tilting his head slightly in confusion. "Don't you like me, Heero?"

"You're falling under your urges, Duo," Heero said, splaying a hand on Duo's chest to halt the Arian. "Wake up."

"Wide awake." Duo tilted his head the other way, examining Heero's face closely. "Your hand feels good there."

Immediately, Heero withdrew his hand.

"You've seen me a lot on Leo, Heero." Duo shifted so that he was facing Heero, a hand reaching out to touch the bare chest. Heero caught the hand, which flexed lightly in his grip. "Don't you like what you see?"

Heero swallowed. "Just because you look good it doesn't mean anything else."

"Haven't I proven to be decent company?" Duo asked softly.

"You've proven to be a hot-headed Arian, one who is unable to control his desires."

Duo tsked. "Unable to control instinct," he corrected. "What about all of the other times? Like the times we spent in the control center, chatting about Hydrans and Arians? Or the times we spend in the anti-gravity room, trading words? Do those mean nothing to you?"

"It's still just your instinct, Duo." Heero found himself completely attracted to Duo's dark eyes; they flickered amethyst every few seconds. "We hardly know each other. You'll regret this --"

"I regret breaking something that was important to you, but I do not regret this..." Duo leaned close and sealed their lips together, his other hand reaching to cup behind Heero's neck so he couldn't escape.

Heero's other hand grabbed Duo's shirt but then Heero was kissing him back. Duo wormed his tongue against Heero's lips and they parted slightly, enough of an invitation for Duo to begin explorations of Heero's mouth.

Heero moaned, but the sound of his own voice had him pulling away and breaking the kiss. Duo's relentless lips descended upon his jaw and moved quickly up to Heero's ear.

"Let me tell you something, Heero," he whispered, his voice completely captivating Heero. "Lone Arians experience the need to relieve the tension in their bodies by touching themselves in the most delicious ways. Arians also have an uncanny sense of knowing who their other is. It's not something they teach when you grow up, but it's something that you know once you feel it." A tongue teased the outer shell of Heero's ear. "What do you call that, in your language?"

"Attraction?" Heero asked in a breathy whisper.

"No," Duo breathed in the scent of Heero's skin behind his ear, then took another deep breath. "That's not the right word."

"Duo, please." Heero shifted but Duo's hand held him in place. "This isn't right."

"It feels right." Duo insisted. "Feels much...much better than your solid hologram."

"My...?" Heero pulled back forcefully. "You have a hologram of me? A solid one? That you've been touching?"

Duo straightened, lips twitching at the sight of Heero's flushed cheeks. "The first of my experiments. I was...testing it out when you walked in on me in the back room that first time."

"That..." Heero tried to remember what the other 'someone' had been. All he saw was the body, not even bare; the head had been hidden in the crook of Duo's shoulder and neck.

"That was you," Duo clarified. "But you are much, much better than the hologram."

Heero watched, fascinated as Duo's hand trailed down his clothed chest and stomach before reaching the belt and undoing it. Then, Duo was moving closer again. "I know you are my other half, but maybe you do not think so."

Heero tried to clear his own head. "You are only speaking from your urges."

"Gut reaction tends to be correct," Duo licked Heero's ear again and let the tip of his tongue tease inside a little, sending a shiver through Heero's body. Heero's hands covered his groin as if to hide the growing erection. "Let me show you...how right this is."

"No..." Heero tried to protest as Duo suddenly straddled him despite the blanket. Duo sealed their lips together and pushed his hips forward, rubbing his trapped arousal against the back of Heero's hands and forcing the Hydran to pleasure himself as well.

"Duo..." Heero said between kisses. "You're...only...lusting..." His protests were weakening; Heero felt intoxicated by the touches.

"More than that," Duo whispered fiercely. "Arians would never lie."

That was true; did that mean Duo genuinely thought that Heero was his other half? But even genuine thought may not be a truth.

"Stubborn Hydran," Duo butted his head against Heero's. "Genuine may not be truth, but genuine is sure and real." The words made Heero realize that he had spoken aloud. As he processed Duo's words, Heero knew that he agreed. To hell with waiting for the right person, to hell with all of the other possible consequences; Heero was attracted to Duo and his body yearned for the touch of the being Heero had been fantasizing about.

"Wait..."

"Stubborn --"

"Let me move the computer out of the way."

Duo simply turned and picked up the object before turning back around. Pushing Heero down with one hand, he leaned forward so he could set the panel on the shelf above the headboard, closing it up so that it was secure before turning his attention back to the Hydran beneath him.

"Delicious..." Duo murmured as he shifted into a more comfortable position. "No other distractions."

The frequency of amethyst appearing in the dark eyes had lowered significantly. Heero shivered when Duo's hand touched his chest and trailed about, exploring, touching, squeezing and gently pinching. Stomach muscles clenched when hands trailed over the taut surface, fingers tangling lightly into the hairs leading down to his groin.

Heero's own hands hesitated, but did not remain idle once he had received Duo's approval to the touches, as evident in the quiet moan. He slipped his hand under the two layers of Duo's shirt, pulling them up so he could touch Duo's torso, doing his own exploration before he let his hand slip boldly to Duo's thighs, down the outside to the knee and back up the inside.

"Your hands feel so good." Duo hissed. "Touch...more..." Duo brought Heero's hand to his belt and tugged, giving Heero the signal to remove his pants. Heero complied and Duo wiggled, simply kicking off the garment until he was free of it. Sealing their lips together again, Duo pulled the blanket aside until he could slip his own legs just under them.

Heero noticed that the kissing became a little more aggressive, but before he could give it more thought, his eyes rolled up with the unbelievable pleasure of a hard erection rubbing along his.

Duo moaned loudly into Heero's mouth as his hips began to move teasingly. Heero's hips reciprocated as he instinctively sought for more friction, more of the pleasurable touch.

Duo broke the kiss as he arched his chest against Heero's, his head lifting back for a moment. "So good...!" he hissed. "More...Heero!"

Heero's hands clutched Duo's bare ass as he moved. Duo's voice spurred him on; never had anything sounded so needy, so wanting, so passionate.

"Duo..." Heero tried out the Arian's name, immediately loving how the name fell so easily from his lips. "Gods..."

Duo suddenly sat up, tearing his two shirts off before he pressed close and crushed their lips together again, tongues twining together in a torrid kiss. The touch of bare chest against chest heightened their pleasure even more; nothing separated them now. Then, Duo turned and ducked his head a little, pressing his face against Heero's neck as he grunted in exertion and strove for his release. His body jerked against Heero's and Heero felt Duo's cock jump against his as it released stream after stream of warmth between them. Duo's hips continued to shift instinctively along with Heero's encouraging hands until Heero turned his head, pressing against Duo's as he reached his own completion.

The two relaxed, sated, as they tried to catch their breaths and make sense of what had just happened.

"Gods...Duo...that was...incredible." Heero tried to catch his breath, shivering as his sensitive cock reminded him that it was still trapped next to Duo's between their bodies. "Never...first..." He couldn't form a sentence.

Duo spoke, but suddenly, Heero couldn't understand. He reached about, searching for the two shirts Duo had dumped by his head and his hand found the nub that was the mic. He stuck it by Duo's mouth and nudged him. Duo spoke again; this time, Heero could understand.

"First," Duo agreed. "Never...touched...like this."

"But you said...hologram..."

"Doesn't count," Duo declared. "My first...my other...Mireh."

"First," Heero echoed. "Off, Duo. Clean."

Duo groaned as he rolled off of Heero, their skin ungluing with a strange sound. He groped about until he grabbed his shirts and he generously wiped Heero off first before he did the same to himself and tossed the soiled clothing as far as he could. Finally able to, he opened his glazed amethyst eyes to look at Heero, who blinked sleepily up at him.

"Iia disera saruow, Heero. Iia joavu saruow," Duo whispered.

"What?" Heero asked softly, holding the mic closer again although his arm protested the motion. Distantly, he remembered hearing Wufei say the same words to Quatre; he remembered what it meant. But the latter phrase had him curious. Duo took the mic and set it onto a slot above the headboard.

"Iia joavu saruow," he muttered again before sliding his arm across Heero's chest, slipping the hand under Heero's opposite shoulder so he could cuddle close and rest his head at the crook of Heero's neck. He nuzzled it for a moment, then sighed.

Heero decided to discuss things later. Right then, sleep was very much welcome.

Chapter Ten

Heero stirred, nuzzling his pillow for a moment before he blinked his eyes open. He tensed upon feeling a hand graze across his belly and turned the other way to see Duo roll onto his back, the arm flung up over his head.

For a long moment, Heero stared, letting his mind run over what had happened the last time he had been awake.

Duo seemed fairly deeply asleep and Heero made the decision to slowly climb out of bed so he could take a shower and find his tior to see how long they had been sleeping.

As he stood under the spray, Heero ducked his head forward, losing himself in his thoughts.

What had happened?

He hadn't realized his attraction towards the Arian until the first time he'd walked into the back room and seen Duo so lost in lust. But at that time, Heero had thought that it had just been visual stimulation. That had been confirmed when he'd walked in on the three systems beginning to be intimate, and also from the stirrings of his groin when he heard the innuendo frequently being passed around.

The image of Duo pressed against the panel in the backroom came unbidden, his dark eyes pinning Heero down even in memory.

That someone in Duo's arms; Heero had wanted that to be himself. Reflecting on Duo's words before they had passed out, technically, it had been him. At least visually.

The stirrings in his groin quickly faltered when Heero considered that perhaps he wouldn't be up to par with Duo's own creation.

But that was stupid, wasn't it? Duo had been equally turned on and passionate in Heero's bed not too long ago. Not only that, Duo had personally said that it 'felt much better than your solid hologram'. Granted, they hadn't been doing the same thing, but it was a start, wasn't it? But Duo hadn't seen him in the nude before and certainly not with an erection; what if that creation was...different from what Heero really was like?

Good God he was thinking too much.

Heero raked his hand through his hair and tried to stop thinking as he washed his hair. But as he began to wash his body, he remembered Duo's touches and how good they had felt upon his skin.

Your hand feels good there.

Heero shivered, remembering those words. Duo's voice, his tone, the hot kisses, that had all been real. He commanded the shower to stop and began to dry himself.

He'd only been avoiding the main problem. This had been important to Heero. He had never been exposed to such touches; never been with anyone. Prior to boarding Leo, the few times Heero had touched himself was strictly to experiment and to relieve himself as a natural bodily function. The release had been merely satisfying at the time, and nothing else.

The first time he had touched himself with images of Duo burned behind his eyelids, the climax had been pleasurable; very different from the past if only slightly.

But Duo's hand on him, Duo's cock against his own had brought on the most intense orgasm Heero had ever experienced. It had been desperate, needy, passionate and powerful. Heero had felt completely like jelly afterwards.

He finally knew what being sated really felt like; it was no wonder that Arians would need to sleep half of a rotation after release.

"Show me," Heero murmured. The wall flickered and reflected him. Heero studied his own reflection, running his hand down his own chest in thought.

Did this attract Duo?

He looked into his own eyes. Was this the only thing that attracted Duo?

He touched his reflection. Duo had asked him other things, though. He'd mentioned their other time spent together, in the control center, in the anti-gravity room, those times meant something too, didn't they?

Maybe he should just stop thinking about it all for now.

With a sigh, he pulled his pants on and buckled the belt, finally pulling out the tior to see how long it had been. It hadn't been half a rotation yet; Duo would still be sleeping. Heero didn't want to leave his room yet; it would be rude of him to leave Duo here alone, wouldn't it?

Besides, Heero didn't want to have to explain himself to the three systems; not that any explanation was necessary. But still, surely they'd know something was off. Heero would rather deal with that with Duo beside him.

Exiting the bathroom, Heero returned to the bed and studied Duo. The Arian hadn't moved, and Heero tugged the blanket up closer to Duo's chin before he removed the computer from its slot above the bed. Getting into bed once more, he set it down and sat with his legs crossed, his back to Duo's slumbering face. The recovery had finished and was waiting for command to finish. Heero tapped the appropriate key, wondering if it would be possible to create his own keyboard, maybe with Duo or Wufei's help. That, or he'd really have to learn how to use an Arian keyboard. Given that he was going to be on an Arian ship for a long time to come, Heero thought that would most likely be the best option.

As he skimmed the data and files, Heero was surprised that all of the data analysis programs had remained in tact. This sync process Duo had mentioned was certainly useful.

But those programs were not the most important to him. Heero made a note to himself to ask Wufei how to back up the system and contents as he selected another file and opened it.

His diary entries were there; Doctor J had taught him to write down lessons he had learned so he would not forget them. Since Doctor J had often gone through those entries, Heero had used another diary to write of other things. Things he had heard, experiences with his own body, questions he had wanted to ask but never did.

His most private thoughts.

Bypassing that, he was relieved to see that what few photos he had of his own childhood were still in tact. There weren't a lot of them, but they served as a record of his childhood.

Duo stirred beside him as Heero looked through the pictures again, and Heero was surprised to feel arms slip around his waist. A part of Duo's chest pressed against his back as a chin rested on his shoulder.

"Heero," Duo whispered, voice clouded with sleep. The other words were lost to Heero; the Arian language was foreign, but comforting to hear for some strange reason.

Duo frowned. Why wasn't Heero answering him? He didn't want to open his eyes yet; he was too comfortable pressed against Heero's back, so he nuzzled Heero gently with his forehead.

"Can't understand you, Duo," Heero said softly. "Get the mic."

Ah. That was the problem. Duo didn't move for a long moment, torn between staying where he was and releasing Heero for a moment so he could get the mic. With a soft sigh, he lay back and found the mic, taking a moment to stretch before he returned to his comfortable spot against Heero. Holding the mic up, he spoke again.

"Sleep well?"

"Mm."

Duo opened his eyes and studied the visual panel. "That you?"

"Yea."

"Handsome kid. Never smile?"

"Not much to smile about."

Duo nuzzled Heero again and sighed. "Warm."

Heero had to agree; Duo's skin was warm against his and the touch was comfortable and very welcome.

"You need to learn the Arian language," Duo said. "Then I don't need a mic and earpiece."

"Hn," Heero grunted. "You learn some English."

"Hn," Duo echoed, then smiled. "Is everything here?"

"Think so. So far, at least."

"Good." Duo clipped the mic to Heero's hair and let his hand trail down Heero's chest. "Smell good."

"I showered. You should too."

"Later," Duo breathed. "Don't want to move yet."

Heero caught Duo's hand where it rested on his belt buckle. "Still want to sleep? It's been less than half of a rotation."

"You have much to learn of Arian habits," Duo informed him. "Lesson one. For a lone Arian, the need to release plays a fairly large part of their life and is fairly draining for them. For an Arian that has found his or her other, other things are more important."

"Other things?" Heero asked, closing his eyes and just listening to Duo.

"Lesson two. Arians are extremely protective of their other. No one, unless they couple with more than one other, may touch their other unless absolutely necessary. Not saying you need protection, don't get me wrong. Arians also take much pleasure in...pampering their others. Making them comfortable."

"And that would be why you're trying to get in my pants again?"

"Lesson three. One of the most comfortable places to take their other is the state of bliss and completion."

"And you're sure that isn't just so you can be at that place?"

Duo shifted, slightly annoyed. "It's a mutual thing," he said after a long moment.

Silence reigned for a short while before Heero spoke.

"How do you know, Duo?"

"Know what?"

"Know that I'm your other." Heero slipped the visual panel shut as he spoke. "If you're attracted to males, how can you be sure that you aren't only attracted to me because of your need to achieve release? How are you so sure that isn't only because I'm the only unattached male on Leo?"

Duo frowned. "Who said I was attracted to males?" he asked, confused.

"Well, I am a male," Heero deadpanned. "And if what had happened before wasn't from attraction then I don't know what it was."

"Told you already," Duo muttered. "Arians know who their other is. It's not attraction, I don't know the right word for it."

"But --"

"And who said it was because you were male?" Duo forged on. "Arians don't have a preference for male or female. Their one and only preference is their other."

Heero thought over those words carefully before asking his next question. "And Arians never make mistakes?"

"Unheard of." Duo squeezed Heero tighter.

"But I am not an Arian," Heero murmured. "What if...I don't know if you're my other?"

The arms around him loosened even though Heero didn't want them to.

"How does a Hydran know?" Duo asked quietly.

"Starts with attraction. Then the attraction grows. It's not just a physical thing."

Duo's eyes flashed in anger even though Heero couldn't see them. "My other is more than a physical thing."

"You misunderstand," Heero said quickly. "I mean...it's not only from looks. Interaction, communication, that's how we know."

Duo nodded. "Okay."

"So...what if you...aren't mine?"

Duo shook his head, not wanting to hear that. "No. My other. You are."

"Duo --"

"Do you want me to leave?"

"...No."

"Do you wish to harm me?"

"No!"

"Lesson four. Arians have one other, and no more."

Heero sighed. "The problem is, I am not Arian, Duo. What if we're too different? Your instinct says I am your other half, but if after interaction we find that I'm not, then we will only hurt each other."

The arms tightened almost painfully around Heero's middle again. "Never hurt you!"

Heero let his head fall back onto Duo's shoulder. "Duo..."

Duo shook his head. "I need you to believe me, Heero."

"If I am to live on Leo forever, I don't ever want to fall into bad terms with you, Duo," Heero said softly.

Duo pressed his lips to Heero's exposed neck. "Do you believe me when I say Arian's that lie will lose their hair?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe that I never lie?"

Heero considered Duo's braid. "Yes, I do."

"Then I promise you," Duo whispered. "If you feel you are not my other I will do anything to bring you somewhere safe, somewhere other than Leo. I don't promise I can bring you back to Hydro but I promise you will not be hurt wherever that place is. So promise me you will try in your Hydran ways to see if I am...acceptable as your other."

"You would...let me go?"

"Even if I sacrifice Leo, I promise you."

"But why?" Heero whispered.

"Lesson five." Duo shifted until he could look Heero in the eyes.

"An Arian's other is always, always more important than themselves."

Heero's blood burned at those words. He crushed their lips together, releasing Duo's hands to twist his body until he could press chest-against-chest to Duo, his arms wrapped around Duo's shoulders.

Duo tangled his fingers into Heero's hair, opening his mouth to Heero's possessive exploration. It was right. Everything about it was so right that Duo couldn't understand how this didn't tell Heero that they were meant to be together.

"Duo..." Heero whispered as he broke the kiss briefly to breathe before diving in again.

Duo leaned back slowly, letting Heero untwist himself so they could lie side by side as they kissed. He broke the kiss and sighed, looking at Heero.

Perhaps it was the trick of the lighting, but Heero's eyes seemed to be a darker blue. Duo smiled a little and rubbed his nose against Heero's.

"Let me shower," he murmured. "Then we'll go eat. After that, we'll look at your computer some more and I'll let you do a test run of lesson three."

"One of the most comfortable places to take their other is the state of bliss and completion," Heero recited, catching his breath.

"Quick learner." Duo gave Heero another short kiss before sliding a hand quickly down Heero's chest to cup the growing arousal briefly. "Lesson three section two. Arians will, very rarely, wait to take care of that. But the wait always proves very, very fruitful."

The sudden loss of Duo's touch and closeness had Heero groaning as he watched through half-lidded eyes until Duo had vanished into the bathroom.

Chapter Eleven

"You're actually up in less than half of a rotation."

Duo shot a glare at Trowa as he entered the pantry with Heero.

"Heero, you're good for him," Wufei added. "He's beginning to develop a belly from all of that sleeping and eating."

"Tell him I'm extremely fit, Heero," Duo looked pleadingly at Heero, who averted his eyes, a slight blush coloring his cheek. "Come on, you've touched me, you know I'm nothing but muscle and a bit of fat."

"Stop teasing them," Quatre said with a chuckle. "Leave them be."

"Serves him right for always teasing us. Or have you forgotten that?" Wufei asked. Still, they sat down at the table, deliberately leaving Duo and Heero two seats together.

"How is it that you already know?" Heero blurted.

"Trowa is the brain behind the physical Leo," Duo muttered in answer. "One of his functions is the ability to 'feel' how many beings are in any part of the ship. I think he likes to use that a little too much, sometimes."

"As if I need to," Trowa retorted. "I happen to be able to sense very well where my others are, thank you."

"Another Arian trait?" Heero asked softly.

"But I did appreciate, briefly, the sorts of sounds I heard."

"He also has ears everywhere if he makes it his concern, although I had always thought that Trowa respected privacy." Duo glared at Trowa again.

"Heero's been mad at you," Trowa said in his own defense. "I had to know that he wasn't hurting you. But those sounds led to an interesting night with my own others, the brief little bit I heard."

Heero wanted to hide under the table, but he resolutely took a bite from his food. He grunted in surprise.

"Tastes a bit different," he murmured.

"A little sweeter, perhaps?" Quatre couldn't help but tease a little too. At the sight of Duo's glare, he backed off with a chuckle. "Okay, I get it. Leave your other alone."

"No teasing him. You want to get me back, you tease me only," Duo murmured.

"What fun is there in that?" Wufei asked. "You spent a lot of time teasing Quatre when he did nothing back to you. It's fair play."

Duo grumbled below his breath and worked on eating as fast as he could.

"Duo?"

"What now?" Duo looked up at Trowa again.

"I need to run some specs by you, down at the lower level."

"I was going to go through Heero's computer with him," Duo answered. "Can it wait?"

"Go ahead, Duo," Heero cut in. "I'm okay on my own. I can show it to you later, all right?"

"But we had planned --"

"Remember lesson three section two?" The corner of Heero's lips quirked upwards. "You should know it better than me, right?"

Duo stared for a long moment at Heero, trying to prevent himself from jumping his other based on the teasing tone. "Fine," he finally grumbled.

The group finished eating and separated from the pantry. Duo gave Heero's hand a brief squeeze before he followed Trowa towards the lower level.

"Will this take long, Trowa?"

"A bit. But it's important. I hadn't realized that one of the boards could malfunction; it's getting old."

Duo blinked at Trowa in surprise. "When did you find out?"

"I was doing a very thorough check of Leo after the Zepra attack."

"I see," Duo said, looking about the second level with a sigh. "So, let's get started."

Heero stretched out on his bed with a sigh, noting briefly how good it felt to stretch out on his stomach which Doctor J had deemed it an 'inappropriate sitting posture'. Flipping open the panel of his computer once again, Heero was prompted to switch on his wireless connection. Shaking his head briefly, he shut off the feature and closed the wireless connection wizard, checking the box for manual operation of the feature so no more prompts would show up. Then, he continued to look through his files.

Another file caught his eye although he was sure he had already run a similarly named one to determine the data programs were still active. Selecting it, Heero considered the fairly long list of files, all titled chronologically with his initials. He chose the first one and was read the warning window.

"The mentor prohibits the access of this file by HY."

Heero frowned. Why was he not allowed to access the files on his drive?

He went about trying to get around the warning window and finally succeeded only when he accidentally struck a key on the Arian keyboard.

Making a mental note to ask Duo or Wufei what that key was for, Heero opened the first file again and began to read.

My boy, it is beyond me how you have opened this file as it is only accessible through an Arian keyboard. If you are reading this, you must have come into contact with Arians and successfully connected this drive to their keyboard. The human technology is not compatible with this file and it should operate under the guise of a data program unless otherwise connected.

Heero read the words again and frowned. Was this a joke? He read on.

We landed on Hydro, or Earth when you, Heero, were only six months old.

An unknown force had attacked our Arian ship and your father sent you with me in an escape craft which was later rescued by several Hydrans. At the time, I was the engineer of your father's ship. I had been unable to answer their questions regarding the technology of our escape craft and I managed to destroy it at a later date. It became evident that we would not be able to return to Adua.

It was difficult to deal with the poor technology of Hydro, but for you, it was easier as you had no recollection of your Arian life. Brought up as a Hydran, I chose for you the only path that would allow you to perhaps one day return to your home.

Your inability to control yourself with your baser instincts became evident at the age of three and that was when I realized you would need stricter discipline in order to thoroughly fit in with the Hydrans and raise no suspicion. The three Hydrans that had picked us up passed away from various accidents and thus I was able to keep our secret safe. Still, your ability to try to create better technology had to be cured and I had to ensure that you knew nothing but your training and studies. By the time you were eight, you were focused solely in the tasks I set to you.

What you don't know will not hurt you; I intend to tell you all of this after your maiden flight. Should anything happen prior to that, this secret will remain between me and this drive for all eternity.

If you are reading this, perhaps at this moment you do not believe that it is possible for you to be Arian. To be what Hydrans call an alien. But if you are reading this, it means you have been on an Arian ship and if the signs are not already apparent, then the following files will inform you of the details.

Heero opened the next file. It was like watching a train wreck about to happen; he couldn't quite believe Doctor J's words but he remained convinced enough to read on, based on the fact that the program had booted to this file instead of its usual data program.

Your instincts for the most part were cured by habit alone. You no longer sought to over eat because your portions were pre-measured in the guise to keep your body in a top-notch condition. You knew nothing but your studies and training, no frustrations outside of this life and that cured you of your temper tantrums. I did not allow you to be lazy and woke you up at strict times; again, a habit. You became greedy only in the information you absorbed, and that I allowed. You were proud of your work, and that, too, was allowed.

There were three things I was unable to control, however. Your lust, your envy, and your changing eye color. The first two I only tried to distract you from, but the last became easily noticeable and had to be cured.

Please open the third file.

Heero opened the third file almost on autopilot.

I created a simple cocktail and after many failures discovered the perfect remedy to stop the changing eye colors. I included this cocktail in your morning glass of milk every day, and over time that seemed to hold off your other urges as well. The single month that I kept you off the cocktail had you reverting back after the first two weeks, a slow process. After learning that you would not be permanently damaged by the cocktail, I continued to add it to your breakfast every morning.

The details of the cocktail followed but Heero was too numb to read.

Two weeks. It had been that long since he had boarded the first spacecraft that left Earth; there was no way Doctor J could have continued to give him the cocktail. Then, Heero had boarded Leo and...

He slammed the panel shut and tried to calm himself. If all of that were true, then there had to have been signs that he was turning back. Getting up, Heero entered the bathroom, commanding the mirror to reflect him and stared into his own eyes. Nothing seemed different and Heero tried to find other signs.

He'd fallen into lust, but that could still have been because Heero had never associated with another being in a sexual way, right?

Gluttony; he'd been eating the portions as given to him at the table.

Envy? He'd been envious of the three systems and their relationship but that was because the three had looked so happy. They had each other. They weren't alone as he was, or had been.

Did his eyes just become lighter? Heero scrutinized the blue he could see. When did Arian eyes become lighter? When they were angry. Was he angry now?

His fist was throbbing in pain and sitting against the wall before he could answer himself.

This was a joke. It was a cruel joke. It had to have been.

But the signs were so real.

"No," Heero whispered. "No, no, no." He began to scream the word as he slid down the wall to the floor, his hands in his hair.

His hair. Doctor J had always cut his hair. He couldn't remember having the problem others complained about; hair loss, hair on the bathroom floor, but he'd assumed that it was because the others were older and it was natural to lose hair at an older age, wasn't it? Heero had had no other comparison to others his age.

"No!" He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to control his own breathing.

"Heero?" Heero looked up to see Duo's concerned expression as the Arian quickly knelt and took him by the shoulders. "Heero? What's wrong?"

"Duo..." Heero felt this need flare inside himself. Duo. Duo was safe ground. One moment Heero had been sure that Duo had been a part of the cruel joke, but Duo would never do that. Heero didn't know why he was so sure, but he was.

"Heero, you're scaring me." Duo studied Heero's expression. Heero looked afraid and angry, his eyes light. Did Hydran eyes change sometimes? Or maybe it was the light in the bathroom, reflecting in his irises.

"Duo..." Heero leaned forward and pressed his face into Duo's chest, seeking the safety he could feel emitting from the Arian. "Oh Gods. Oh Gods."

"Heero, please," Duo pleaded. "Tell me, tell me what's wrong."

"I'm..." Heero gripped the body in front of him. "I'm a lie. My life was a lie."

"What?"

"A lie, Duo!" Heero pulled back and stared into Duo's eyes, willing the Arian to understand what he was saying. "A file. There was a file on the computer, on the drive, and it says I'm Arian. It says I'm an Arian rescued by Hydrans with my mentor Doctor J and he tried to hide my identity and drugged me so I wouldn't show that I was Arian and, oh Gods, oh Gods..."

Duo stared at Heero, not caring that the grip was hurting him.

"Tell me, Duo. Tell me you put that there. I won't even be mad, I won't. Please. Tell me."

Duo shook his head slowly. "I...I don't tell lies, Heero."

Heero moaned, knowing that Duo spoke the truth. "Then I am? Does that mean I...I..."

"Calm down." Duo held Heero close to himself. "Calm down, Heero." He rocked his other in his arms gently, trying to protect him although Duo knew he could offer no protection here.

"The computer, it says...the files...I'm an Arian. The signs, the drug, I haven't been drugged since I left Earth..."

"Calm, Heero." Duo squeezed Heero tighter, willing Heero to feel his calm presence.

Heero took several deep breaths and loosened his hold on Duo. Deeming it safe to move back a little, Duo pulled away to look at Heero once more. "It's okay, Heero. Was there anything else?"

"Didn't...finish reading." Heero felt comforted by Duo's presence, something he'd never felt before.

"Heero..." Duo massaged Heero's scalp gently. "It's okay. Whenever you're up to it, we'll finish reading it. We'll get to the bottom of this, all of this."

"But what if I'm..."

"You have me," Duo said fiercely. "Not a lie. You're real. Real here. I don't care about anything else. I won't even care if you're Zepra. Even if you were and took me back to your home and made me your slave --"

"Not Zepra," Heero cut in. "Arian. Files say I'm Arian."

"You're not a lie," Duo said again. "Real. You're my other. Protect you." Duo hugged Heero tightly as he whispered on. "Mireh. Iia joavu saruow. Iia oul heiobek saruow. Heiobek saruow, Heero."

The mic was muffled against his shoulder but Heero let the words wash over him.

For a long time, they remained on the floor of the bathroom until Heero tugged lightly at Duo, who took the hint to pull back.

"I'm all right," Heero said. "I can read...read the rest of it."

"We can wait."

"No, I want to do it now. Read all of it now. With...with you."

"Yes," Duo pressed his lips to Heero in a firm kiss. "With me. With you."

He helped Heero to his feet and they returned to the bed. Duo sat against the headboard and pulled Heero between his legs after Heero had picked up the panel. With a deep breath, Heero flipped up the panel again and selected the files.

"Read it aloud, Heero?"

Heero nodded and began to read the remaining files. Duo listened as Heero spoke of his life, his training, the little bits of Arian signs that Doctor J tried to hide. There were notations of when Heero broke rules despite the cocktail, when Doctor J had to punish Heero by grounding him when tempter tantrums got the best of him, by pouring touches of salt on wounded knuckles when Heero hurt himself trying to expel his anger. More notations of changes in the cocktails as necessary as Heero's need to gain release became more evident. How Doctor J taught Heero to gain release in a clinical way, how it was only satisfactory and nothing else but a bodily function. After reading all of the files, Duo waited as Heero did a thorough search and checked every remaining file on the drive before determining that there were no more secret files.

"I'll kill him," Duo whispered. "I will." He rubbed Heero's arm, holding his other close. "It's okay. There can't be any more secrets. No more."

Heero nodded. "No more."

Duo kissed Heero's neck. "Heero..." He kissed Heero's neck. "Talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking, feeling."

Heero turned slightly and pressed his lips to Duo. "No. Not now. Just...be with me, Duo."

"Heero..."

"Please," Heero whispered. "I need...need you. This is safe. You're safe. I can't...explain but I need..."

Duo kissed Heero, cutting off the words. He wouldn't tell Heero that those feelings could mean that Heero knew that Duo was his other. That would skew his thoughts and Heero did not need that, not at this time. He moved Heero gently, not breaking their kiss as he lay Heero down.

As Heero surrendered his body to Duo's comforting touches, Duo vowed that this would be the last time he would touch Heero until Heero felt sure he wanted those touches.

It would break his heart if Heero did not feel that Duo was his other...

But it was not in Arian traits to force another, and the last thing Duo wanted to do was to force Heero to become his should Heero believe otherwise.

Chapter Twelve

Heero blinked open his eyes, staring up at the ceiling that was illuminated by the dim light at his headboard.

An unknown force had attacked our Arian ship and your father sent you with me in an escape craft which was later rescued by several Hydrans.

Your inability to control yourself with your baser instincts became evident at the age of three...

By the time you were eight, your eyes no longer changed color...

...discovered the perfect remedy to stop the changing eye colors.

He was Arian. Not human as he'd always believed, but Arian.

You have me. You're not a lie. Real. You're my other. Protect you.

Duo.

Heero reached and groped, turning left and right before suddenly sitting up. He was alone in the room. Padding to the bathroom, he looked inside to find that it was also empty. Dressing quickly, he left the room and checked the control room. It was empty, so he turned and checked the pantry.

"Heero?" Quatre was reading in the pantry with a water bulb in his hand. "What's the matter?"

"Duo. Where's Duo?"

"I haven't seen him. Have you checked the control center?"

"He's not there."

"Is something wrong?" Quatre got up, then grabbed Heero by the forearms. "Your eyes...!"

"I know." Heero looked towards the door. "I want to find Duo."

"Trowa!" Quatre yelled. "Wufei!"

It didn't take long for the two systems to rush in.

"What's the matter?" Wufei asked. "Let go of Heero, Quatre."

"His eyes! Look at his eyes!"

Wufei and Trowa came closer and both look surprised. "They're...really light blue."

"I know. I'm...I'm Arian," Heero answered. "Where's Duo?"

"I haven't seen him. We were just in the recreational lounge. Maybe the back room?" Wufei looked over to Trowa, who closed his eyes.

"No. Not the back room. Lower level. He's in the lower level."

"What's going on, Heero? What do you mean you're Arian?" Quatre asked, eyes wide. "Is that what happened after you and Duo..."

"No!" Heero shook his head. "I...I had always been Arian. I only...just found out."

Wufei gently pushed Quatre aside and led Heero to the table, helping him down into a chair. "Take your time," he said to the distraught Heero.

"The drive...it had a file that I couldn't open. I accidentally hit another key on the keyboard you had given me, Wufei, and the file opened. Inside were a bunch of text files that I read. They were...from my mentor. They said that the file wouldn't open as anything but the data program it posed as unless a certain key from an Arian keyboard were struck."

"And?" Trowa pushed. Quatre gave Heero a water bulb and Heero accepted it gratefully.

"My mentor, Doctor J, told me that we were both Arians and had been attacked when I was just a baby. My father sent the both of us in an escape craft which was later rescued by Hydrans. My mentor trained me in hopes that I'd one day come back to space and find my way home. He wrote that he'd intended to tell me this after my maiden flight but..."

"But he probably thinks you're dead now," Trowa said when Heero trailed off. Heero nodded.

"He told me of how he tried to...train the urges out of me. I had never been aware. His files explained all of it. Then...there was a drink, some cocktail he used on me to stop my eyes from changing color, to play down my instincts and urges. But I haven't been drinking it for over two weeks so the signs are showing again."

The three systems looked at each other, sitting back in thought. "That's...a lot to digest."

Heero looked towards the pantry door again. "Trowa? Can you get Duo for me?"

"Sure," Trowa answered. "I'll be right back."

The three remaining in the kitchen waited silently until Trowa came back. Heero stood quickly, but Trowa motioned him to sit down again.

"Duo's still downstairs."

"Why?" Heero asked. "Is something wrong?"

"He didn't say. Just said there was something to fix," Trowa shrugged. "I couldn't drag him up here. Sorry, Heero. He's sure to come up sometime. He needs to sleep and eat."

Heero nodded slowly then buried his face in his hands. "Gods..."

"Why don't you eat something, Heero?" Quatre got up and got him some food. "We ate already, but you had been sleeping so we didn't disturb you. We didn't even notice that Duo had left your room."

Heero didn't feel like eating, but once he saw the food he immediately reached for it. After a few bites, he looked up with a crooked grin. "Well, at least now I can get a different taste from these three chunks," he said. They lapsed into silence for a little while before Trowa stood.

"We need to run the routine checks from the control center." Trowa beckoned to Wufei. "Come on, Wufei."

Wufei nodded. "If you need anything, we'll be in there for a full half of a rotation."

Heero nodded, and the two systems bid Quatre goodbye with a quick kiss before leaving the pantry.

"You must be...overwhelmed, Heero." Quatre murmured.

Heero didn't answer as he finished eating. Then, he sighed. "Why isn't Duo here?"

"He must be working on something important or he wouldn't leave you. He knows, doesn't he?"

Heero nodded.

"An Arian wouldn't leave their other at a time like this unless absolutely necessary. He must be doing something to Leo, something that may ensure your protection too. That's his priority now."

Heero sighed and closed his eyes. "I've never felt this...needy before."

Quatre reached forward and patted Heero's hand. "I'll wait with you. He's bound to come up to eat. You know Duo and food," he tried to joke. "That's probably the most important to him after you and Leo."

Heero sighed. "For now...could you teach me more about Arians and Adua? And the language?"

Quatre nodded and stood. "I'll just go and get another panel and some material."

Duo sighed, twirling some tools in his two hands. He grit his teeth, poking around for something to occupy himself with.

"Coward."

Duo glared at his hologram.

"You are."

"You're the same person as I am."

"I also know how to be objective," the hologram retorted. "If you've forgotten, let me remind you that this was exactly what Trowa did before he was convinced that he was Quatre and Wufei's other."

Duo didn't answer.

"You know, if you're wrong, Heero's going to be going stir crazy upstairs."

Duo sighed and prodded at a globe before putting it back into place and closing the protective casing around it.

"He needs you. Just like Quatre and Wufei needed Trowa when he stayed down here."

Duo threw one of the tools at his hologram. "What do you know?" he snarled. "Your memories aren't as updated as mine are!"

"So try me." The hologram twirled the tool just as Duo was doing.

"Go away."

"You brought me here to keep you company."

Duo sighed. "Heero...he'd said all of these things about being afraid that I wasn't his other. I had asked him to give me a chance, so he could see in his Hydran ways whether I was or wasn't. But now that he is an Arian, I...I just want him to figure it out by himself whether or not he's feeling the...pull of being in the presence of his other. And I don't want to be there putting an influence on him as he decides."

The hologram considered this for a moment before sitting down next to Duo. "Tough decision," he admitted. "But still, hiding here isn't the best option."

"This is pretty much the only place I can be where I can't see or hear him. Where he can't see or hear me. I need to be here, if only for a little while."

The hologram sighed again. "It's your call."

The two lapsed into silence until the sounds of their tinkering filled up the void.

Trowa thought that Quatre looked exhausted by the time he and Wufei had completed their task and returned to the pantry. Then he looked at Heero and decided that if Quatre looked exhausted, Heero looked like hell. His hair was more mussed up than it usually was and his eyes were still a pale blue that, if possible, seemed even lighter.

Quatre shook his head slightly at his others, telling them without words that they hadn't left the pantry and that Duo had yet to come upstairs. Trowa nodded and left while Wufei entered and sat beside Quatre.

"What's going on?" he asked quietly.

"We've just been talking about Arians and Adua. Going over some basic language again. Heero's beginning to pick up a bit of it." Quatre answered. "You ready to eat?"

Wufei nodded and Quatre stood to get the food out. He'd just set the food down when Trowa returned with a grim face.

"Duo's not done downstairs yet, even though he has his hologram with him," he reported. "But he didn't say when. Just said for the lot of us to take a rest. I got him some food from the cargo so he wouldn't starve."

Heero shook his head. "No. He's not just doing repairs and checks downstairs."

"What do you mean?" Wufei asked.

"If he's got his hologram down there with him, he should have been able to spare even a minute to come up here if Trowa told him I wanted to see him." Heero pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes before he stood. "I'm sorry to have kept you here with me all of this time, Quatre. I'll be in my room."

"Wait, you haven't eaten yet, Heero," Quatre protested. Heero looked at the food and tried to turn away from it, but he couldn't stop himself from picking it up.

"Enjoy your meal," he said to the others before leaving the pantry.

"He's a mess," Quatre whispered. "I've never seen Heero like that. He's always been so calm, so collected, other than when Duo had broken his Hydran object."

"I think Duo's doing what Trowa did before," Wufei slid an arm around Quatre. "Maybe he's just trying to figure things out himself as well."

Trowa nodded. "Maybe. He didn't say. But he didn't look nearly as bad of a wreck as Heero."

"Did you tell him that?"

Trowa nodded. "But he said he'll be back upstairs once he's done dealing with Leo."

"He's putting it off." Quatre played with his food a bit before taking a bite in a sullen manner. "If he thinks he wants Heero to believe that he's Heero's other before he'll come upstairs, I think Heero's already past that. Part of the thing is, Heero doesn't quite understand why he's feeling so needy towards Duo."

Trowa tried to lighten the situation. "He's got it bad for Duo," he said with a slight chuckle. "That just means they'll be at it for a while when Duo gets over his stubborn self."

"Let's just hope that's soon," Quatre sighed.

"You're thinking too much about Duo and his other. Or Heero and his other." Wufei leaned close and deliberately licked the length of Quatre's neck. "Let's finish eating quickly and I'll show you how much Trowa and I have been thinking of our other when we were working."

Heero ate and showered before curling in his bed. It felt too big, too empty, so he got out and wrapped the blanket around himself as he lay down with his back against the wall.

It was difficult to be an Arian. If Heero had thought for a moment that it would make things easier, he immediately regretted it. Things had been going well when he had been human and suddenly, it felt as if the carpet had been pulled out from under his feet.

Damn Doctor J. Damn him for not telling Heero sooner. Heero would have been able to keep it a secret and at least he would have known. He would have worked hard to come back to space himself. He wouldn't be so completely and utterly lost, with only a part Arian to teach him what it was like to be an Arian. To learn the Arian language.

And damn Duo. Damn him for telling Heero all about how protective an Arian is over their other. All of those stupid lessons and all he'd done now was avoid Heero.

Duo must have only liked the Hydran Heero. He may not have known it then, but maybe he did, after Heero had fallen asleep. He must be trying to deal with the loss of his other, the Hydran Heero.

Was Duo his other? Heero curled tighter. He wasn't sure, but there was something in him that told him he wanted Duo there with him. But he was just learning to be Arian; how could he know if that was really what it felt like to just know who his other was?

There were too many questions and no one to answer them.

Damn Duo for leaving him to these thoughts, all by himself. The more he thought, the more the ache inside him increased. It was becoming almost painful. Heero pulled the blanket over his head, stuffed his knuckles into his mouth and screamed.

Duo suddenly sat up, and cursed when he hit his head.

"What's wrong with you now?" the hologram asked irritably. "You've kept me here with you for almost a whole rotation. And you've hardly spoken. Do something, damn it."

"I just...I thought I heard something."

The hologram snorted.

"Go to sleep," Duo murmured. "We'll see what happens when we wake."

It took him a lot of turning about, a bump each to his head and hip, and a lot more time before Duo finally dozed off, trying to ignore the ache within himself.

Heero let himself drift about in the anti-gravity room. He'd only slept a couple of hours on the floor before he'd wanted to leave the room. Once there, he tried to keep himself centered by doing a variety of breathing exercises. The door hissed open and he looked over to see Trowa.

"Quatre's worried," Trowa said as he floated in and latched himself to a line so he could drift with Heero.

"How did you guys come across my escape pod?" Heero asked.

"A signal on the radar," Trowa answered. "Why?"

"Is the pod still here?"

Trowa nodded. "In the lower level, at the hatch." His eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." Heero shrugged. "Any reason you kept it?"

"It was still in tact. No damage under Duo's and my inspection. We didn't know if it would somehow be useful for us in the future."

"Trowa?"

"Yes?"

"How'd you know that Quatre and Wufei were your others?"

"It's not something you can explain. How do you explain hunger?"

"An empty feeling in the stomach."

"Something like that. But...elsewhere. Not the stomach."

"But everywhere else?"

"Maybe. Could be different for everyone."

"Let me into the lower level, Trowa."

"Why?"

"So I can see Duo. Won't touch anything."

"I don't know if I can do that."

"Please?" Heero turned to Trowa, eyes pleading. Trowa saw that they were almost white; there was barely any blue left. "Just for a short while. I promise."

Trowa sighed. "In a little while."

Heero nodded and made his way back to the wall. Unhooking the line, he propelled himself towards the door and stepped through the force field. "I'll be in my room until you're ready."

Trowa nodded absently, hoping that Heero would be able to fix things with Duo. If not, everyone was in for a long, hard ride.

Chapter Thirteen

The knock on his door had Heero picking up his computer before opening the door. Trowa stood waiting outside.

"Ready?" Trowa asked.

Heero nodded. "Thank you, Trowa. I won't be there for long."

Trowa led the way towards the door leading to the lower level. "Your eyes, Heero, they're not blue any more."

Heero shrugged. "I saw."

"I've never seen anything like it," Trowa added.

"Neither have I." Heero returned. They arrived at the door and Trowa commanded the door open.

"I'm going to be right here."

Heero nodded. "I won't be there for long," he repeated before stepping through the doorway. He followed the stairs down and found himself in a large room; it would appear that the lower level was almost one single room. But Heero knew that couldn't be true; there had to be the cargo area, and the hatch. There were large engines that were whirring, rather quiet despite their size. Heero studied the area for a long time before he saw a door along the left wall.

"Trowa?" Duo called. Heero made his way towards the door without answer.

"Doesn't sound like Trowa's steps," Duo murmured. "Who's there? No one else should have access here."

Heero didn't answer and flipped up the visual panel of his computer as he approached the doorway. There was a window and he looked in to see the escape pod he had arrived in. Several buttons at the side told him that he was right as to how to operate the hatch. Looking down at his computer, he took a deep breath and hit the a button to play a recording, listening as his computer played back Trowa's voice and command that had opened the door to the lower level.

"Trowa?" Duo asked. "Answer me. This isn't funny!"

The door slid open. Heero stepped inside despite the sound of running feet, using the manual override to close the door and keep it locked. He'd asked Quatre during their half-rotation stay in the pantry whether it was possible to jumper the door, even for a short while, so Duo wouldn't be able to simply override the commands and enter his room. Quatre's chuckle let Heero know that he'd done that more than once, and Heero saw that the method worked on the door to the hatch as well. He opened the door to the escape pod.

"Heero?" Duo's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here? Who let you...Heero?" Duo tried to open the door, then cursed when he realized the command had been temporarily jumpered. "Heero!"

Heero turned to look at Duo. Duo's eyes were light with worry and concern, and the eyes narrowed. "What the hell?" Duo muttered. "Heero, your eyes! Wait, Heero, open the door."

Heero walked up to the door but instead of opening it, he raised his hand and pushed the appropriate buttons to set the countdown to open the hatch, ensuring that the door separating him and Duo would remain closed until the launch process within the hatch had been completed.

Duo's eyes widened and he banged on the door. "Heero! What are you doing? That isn't safe! This isn't a game! Hit the bottom button three times, Heero! Please!"

Heero shook his head and touched the window as if to touch Duo's hand resting on the other side. Duo's fist slammed against the window. "Heero!"

"You promised me, Duo, that you would let me go if I believed that you were not my other."

"Not through this hatch, no!"

"So I'm going to make a promise back to you, Duo," Heero said sadly. "My other has forsaken me. I no longer belong on Leo."

Duo shook his head. "No, Heero! I didn't --"

"Iia disera saruow. I desire you, Duo. I need to protect you from myself," Heero forged on. "And I can only do that if I leave. Iia oul heiobek saruow. I will protect you, Duo." Heero backed away from the door and stepped into the escape pod. "Iia joavu saruow. I love you, Duo, so I'm sorry. Iiala aysuei. Iia oul heiobek saruow."

"Heero!" Duo shouted. The door to the escape pod closed, sealing Heero from his view. "No." Duo shook his head. "No!" He turned and raced up the stairs, hoping that a manual override of the hatch would stop Heero from being able to leave.

Trowa jumped in surprise when Duo burst through the door. He immediately followed Duo as the Arian raced towards the control center, shoving Wufei out of the way.

"Stop the hatch!" He shouted. "Come on!" He was about to enter the commands when the screen overrides all faltered; it was too late to abort the procedure. Wufei had called up the screens in confusion, but he realized what had happened when the screen appeared and the escape pod was launched from the hatch.

"Turn Leo around." Duo said frantically. "Turn Leo around! Quatre! Where's Quatre?!"

"Duo?" Quatre appeared. "What's going on?"

"Heero's gone. He's gone. I need everyone strapped down. Now!"

The three systems scurried to do as they were told.

"What do you mean Heero's gone? Why would he be gone?"

"He thinks that I don't want him anymore. He's afraid he'll force himself on me so he left."

"Signal!" Wufei suddenly shouted, then cursed.

"What?" Duo asked, frantic to reach Heero's escape pod.

"This is the same signal! Heero turned on the signal to his computer. That means we aren't the only ones to see him. The Zepras --"

The alarm claxons began to scream.

"No." Duo tried to coax Leo to move faster. "No. Heero's not going to survive in that tiny pod. He won't survive if he's captured by the Zepras. Damn this! I'm such an idiot! Quatre! Weapons!"

"Stay calm, Duo! You won't get anything done if you panic!"

"Don't tell me to stay calm! My own stupidity led to this! My other is out there!" Duo forced Leo into overdrive. "Come on, Leo, do this for me, for Heero!"

Heero had no way of telling how far he was from Leo by now. It had only been a minute or two but the launch had been strong; Heero could tell by the g-forces that had pressed against him. He turned on the signal to his computer.

"Good bye, Duo," he whispered. "I won't let myself hurt you. I can only protect you if I'm somewhere far away from you."

"He must think that if he gets caught he'll be far enough away from me!" Duo tried to call up the screens to spot the small pod. Far on the other side of the pod was a Zepra ship.

"Quatre!"

"I'm on it!" Quatre geared up the weapons.

"Trowa!"

"You need to kill the overdrive or you'll risk shorting out Leo if you want Quatre using the weapons!"

"It's a risk I'll take. Wufei!"

"I'm trying to cut off the signal from Heero!"

"Come on, come on," Duo muttered under his breath. "I'm not letting you go, Heero, not without a damn fight!"

"Incoming!" Quatre suddenly shouted. Duo watched the incoming beam directed straight towards Leo. Quatre opened fire to deflect the beam, but the resulting explosion knocked the escape pod off course.

"Heero!"

"Calm down, Duo!" Wufei shouted. "Clear your head!"

Duo forced himself to calm and focus on evading Zepra fire until he could get closer to Heero's pod. As soon as they were able, he brought the arms into play, extending them from the hatch and taking manual control of them as he had the first time he'd brought Heero's escape pod in.

"Go!" Wufei was pushing at him. "I'll take control. Once we bring him in, we're jetting out. You need to pull out that signal; I can't scramble it."

Duo jumped up and raced towards the hatch, his heart pounding.

"Please be okay, Heero." Duo arrived and watched as the pod was brought in, waiting impatiently as the hatch pressurized and he could open the door. Peeking in through the small window of the pod as he struggled to open it, Duo's heart plummeted at the sight of blood oozing from Heero's head. He got in and removed the protective straps, easing Heero down onto the floor of the pod. "Heero! Oh God, Heero!" He tried to find the wound and put pressure on it, setting Heero down only for a moment as he pulled his shirt off in attempt to use it as makeshift bandaging. Then he grabbed the computer and manually shut it down.

"Wake up, Heero, wake up!"

Heero stirred at Duo's shaking, and once he'd opened the still-white eyes, he began to pull away.

"Don't move, Heero, you're hurt!"

"Please, don't touch me Duo!" Heero pleaded. "You don't want me so please, please --"

Duo dove in and kissed Heero hard before pulling back. "Mireh. Mine. You're mine. I was stupid. Please, please forgive me, Heero. Iiala aysuei." He pressed his lips to Heero's again.

Heero panted when Duo released him from the second kiss. "Arians don't lie."

Duo shook his head. "Not lying. Never lie." The alarms stopped and Duo felt his tense body relax slightly; they were out of danger now.

"Iia joavu saruow, Heero, I'm sorry I was stupid."

"Why?" Heero asked, trying to sit up only to have Duo press him down again. "Why didn't you come see me?"

"I was afraid, afraid to find out that you wouldn't think I was your other. I didn't want to pressure you."

"But I asked Trowa to tell you to come see me."

"I didn't believe him because I didn't know if you...if you really knew what you were feeling." Duo closed his eyes as several tears fell. "I almost lost you, Heero."

"Here now," Heero murmured. "Should have waited for you. I'm sorry."

Duo shook his head. "I'm the one who is sorry. Come on. Let's get you fixed up."

Epilogue

Duo carefully unwrapped the bandage around Heero's head.

"I'm fine."

"Stop moving," Duo gave Heero a look and Heero dropped his arms. "Good," he said as he examined the wound. "It's healing up fine. No need to bandage it anymore."

"I told you that two rotations ago," Heero grumbled.

"No complaining." Duo leaned his forehead against Heero's with a sigh. "You don't know how scared I was when you left that hatch. You don't know how much more scared I was when I went to get you and all you had on your head and face was blood."

Heero sighed in return. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Duo kissed Heero lightly. "You're here with me now and that's all I care about." He gave Heero another short kiss before pulling back. "Ready for bed?"

"Mm," Heero murmured as he lay back. Duo smiled as he stretched out beside Heero. "Duo?"

"Yea?" Duo made himself comfortable on Heero's shoulder.

"Do you remember lesson three section two?"

Duo had to think for a long minute before he answered. "What about...unnnhhh." The words became a groan as Duo's hips pressed closer to Heero's.

"Have we waited long enough for the results to be fruitful?"

"We could test that out."

"You aren't going to protest that I'm not well enough?"

"You're very well now."

"Good." Heero pulled Duo up over himself. "Tell me something, Duo?"

"Anything."

"Why do we have to wear one shirt over the other?" Heero asked as he began to remove the long-sleeved polo from Duo's body, letting his fingers graze up Duo's sides.

"Mm...you want to know?" Duo asked as he pulled the sleeveless shirt from his own body and reached down to unbuckle his belt.

"Wouldn't ask if I didn't."

"Because you can tease your other better when you do a strip tease."

Heero ran his hands up Duo's sides again. "That, or it's frustrating to have to remove an extra piece of clothing."

Duo chuckled and leaned down. "Actually, it's just because we like to keep the temperature fairly low on Leo, so the extra layer is so we don't get sick. And also to try and discourage our lust from rearing up in our minds every time we walk by someone who has muscled, bare arms."

"But I much prefer seeing your muscled, bare arms."

"Mm, I'll rise the temperature when we get up later."

Heero lifted his hips. "Already up," Heero murmured. "Off."

Duo chuckled as he got up and pulled off his pants before climbing back over Heero. To his surprise, Heero flipped them over. He straddled Duo's thighs as he pulled his first shirt, then second one over his head.

"What turns you on about me, Duo?" Heero asked as he unbuckled his own belt and kicked off his pants quickly.

"Your eyes," Duo whispered, gazing into the dark navy. They would be black soon enough. "Your beautiful eyes." They had learned from Quatre that Heero had been going through severe withdrawal for his eyes to turn like that, and Duo was glad that they immediately began to return to normal as soon as he had convinced Heero that he wouldn't be letting him go. Duo then vowed that he would never see Heero's eyes without color ever again.

Heero kissed his lover as their bodies pressed together, touches arousing each other as their lust and love made themselves known.

"Let me, Duo," Heero whispered against Duo's ear, nibbling on the lobe.

"Yesss," Duo hissed. "Now, Heero." Heero brought himself between Duo's legs and he touched Duo intimately only to have Duo reach down and stop him.

"Play later. Need you now," Duo said. "In, now."

"Need to prepare you."

"No need." Duo tugged on Heero's hips and pulled himself up. "Arians will naturally open. No pain."

"Sure?" Heero asked. Then all thoughts left his mind as he felt Duo settle over him. Heero's cock slid easily into Duo's body, and as soon as he had filled Duo as deeply as possible, the passage seemed to tighten. Duo moaned.

"Feels so good," he said as he bit Heero's ear lightly. "Ready?"

"Ready," Heero whispered, setting his hands on Duo's hips. He rolled his own and Duo's back arched, pressing his chest against Heero's. Heero felt his control rapidly fade. Duo's, too, was fading and he took advantage of that, beginning to move himself up and down over Heero's lap. Heero's own hips moved in tandem, falling into a primal instinct as he thrust deeply into his lover. Duo cried out when he felt a sharp pleasure shoot up his spine.

"Heero! Do that again!"

"Duo...my other..."

"Mireh...Mine..."

"Can't...hold off."

"Don't...stop..."

Heero buried his face against Duo's neck as he worked his hand between their bodies and grabbed Duo's cock, which had been grazing his belly. He worked his hand rapidly over it and Duo's hand joined his, dimly reminding Heero of the scene he'd witnessed in the back room.

"Want to do you in the back room," he voiced his thought out loud before he could stop himself.

"Oh yea...Won't be done with you anytime soon."

"Duo...Iia joavu saruow." Heero hugged Duo as close as possible as he pressed deeper into the heat around his cock. "Duo...!" He found his release, pumping his hot semen into the depths of Duo's body as it tightened around his shaft once Duo found his own release.

They collapsed onto the bed, chests heaving as they came down from their high.

"Lesson six," Duo panted. "Arians are very, very greedy when it comes to taking from their other's body." To emphasize this, he arched his body against Heero's to show that he was still hard, not that he needed to since Heero was still hard inside him. "Want me to show you what that last machine in the bathroom does? The one with the arm?"

"You don't mean..." Heero pulled away and looked down at Duo, seeing the mischievous look twinkling in eyes that were darkening once more, and rapidly.

Moments later, Heero found himself in front of the contraption, the entire wall becoming a mirror at Duo's command. Duo pressed close behind Heero as he guided the arm over Heero's dripping erection; it immediately grasped the hardness and began to pump teasingly. Heero leaned against the wall and Duo kissed his way down his other's back.

The lick against his entrance and the swipe of a warm, wet tongue across the back of his balls had Heero's eyes rolling up into the back of his head.

He was sure that life on Leo would never be boring again, and he knew that he no longer had to envy the three systems for their companionship with their others.

"What are you thinking?" Duo asked, pressing against Heero's back once more. He let his cock rub against Heero's balls as he mimicked what Heero had done to him not too long ago.

"Thinking of where I want you next."

"Oh? And where is that?"

"Anti-gravity room."

"You adventurous...mmm..."

In the room next door, three systems collapsed into a heap, hearts racing as they panted in the aftermath of their lovemaking.

"Does this mean we can be more open with our short circuiting? Because I'm sure they will be," Quatre muttered. "No more rushing back to this room?"

"I'm sure they'll be too busy to notice us," Trowa answered. "Why? Are you interested in taking this elsewhere?"

Quatre untangled himself from his lovers and grinned down at them. "Just in the corridor." He reached down with both hands, grasping his lovers' cocks in each hand and giving a quick pump. "Anyone want to join me or should I just head out alone?"

Trowa and Wufei pulled the blond system down again, trapping him in bed with their bodies.

"Not on your next short circuit," Wufei growled.

"You're only for us to see," Trowa added.

Quatre grinned. "Look all you want."

In Duo's room, someone sighed. "They seem to be having a lot of fun, no?"

"They do."

Duo's hologram whirled around. "When did you learn how to talk?"

"Heero programmed me." Heero's hologram leaned against the wall, a hand at his belt buckle. "So...interested in trying to outdo them?"

Duo's hologram grinned.

"You betcha."