The next time he has a moment alone with a computer and no immediate obligations is in the room he and Duo are sharing at the school. He should, Heero tells himself, probably use this time to research OZ, and it isn't impossible to rationalize that into doing what he really wants to do: look up the Maxwell Church Massacre.

Most of the information he finds has clearly been heavily censored, slanted to make the Alliance look better -- the forces of good protecting the colonists from themselves, no mention of any innocent people being caught in the crossfire -- but he does find a handful of reports from underground journals, all scarce on details but nonetheless far more informative then the official story.

He's so intent on what he's reading that he doesn't even know Duo is there until there's someone leaning on his chair and breathing on his neck and saying "Yo, Heero, what's up, man?"

Heero jerks around and snaps "I'm reading, do you mind --"

But it's too late. He sees Duo's eyes widen as he registers what's on the screen, and curses their mutual curiosity. He should say something, explain this, but Heero isn't good with words even at the best of times. He looks down, feeling sick and ashamed, aware that in some way he's invaded Duo's privacy.

"Hey, uh --" Duo clears his throat. "Could I -- could I read that?"

Heero stands up, lets Duo have the desk chair, sits down awkwardly on his own bed. Duo scrolls through the report quickly, nodding occasionally, then leans back, crosses his arms over his chest and sighs. His face is unusually serious.

"I was doing research," Heero says into the silence. "On OZ." It sounds so pathetic he winces a little, but Duo just nods again, thoughtfully, and turns in the chair to face him.

"So," Duo says. "I guess now you know, huh?" His voice is casual as ever, but Heero can tell it's deliberate, the familiar mask that hides whatever Duo's really feeling.

"You were there," Heero says, not even bothering to make it a question. There's no point in insulting Duo's intelligence, not about this.

"Yeah. Well, no, not when --" Duo takes a deep breath. "I lived there. For a while. They took in a bunch of us -- streetkids, you know? -- and they let me stay." The corner of Duo's mouth twists up. "I got kicked outta a bunch of foster homes first, though. Anyway, I wasn't in the church when they...yeah."

"Why not?" Heero asks, and instantly regrets it.

Duo doesn't seem too bothered by the question, though. "Oh, I went to steal a mobile suit from the Alliance," he says airily. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

That's not the answer Heero was expecting. "Did you? Steal one?"

Duo's smile is mirthless, baring his teeth more than signifying amusement. "Hell yes, I stole one. Got away clean, too, the bastards couldn't aim worth shit." He pauses. "'Course, it was already too late when I got back. But, yeah, that's my story, that's where I got my name -- but I guess you figured that out, huh?"

Heero clenches his fists in the bedsheets, uncomfortable and embarrassed. "I shouldn't have looked it up." He ought to apologize, but he never learned the words to do it properly.

"Hey, no, it's fine," Duo says, sounding sincere, and the knot in Heero's stomach begins to relax. "I'm not mad or anything, it was just...weird to see it written about like that, I guess."

That, Heero thinks he understands; he remembers Doctor J mentioning things, early on in Heero's training, that Heero would have thought the scientist had no way of knowing about -- things about Heero's life, about Odin Lowe, about Colony X-18999. It's a strange feeling, realizing that you do not exist in a vacuum, the things that happen in your life reverberate, information traveling many unexpected channels.

"But seriously, it's okay," Duo says. "I mean, it's kind of important to me, you should probably know about it."

"I should?" This is unexpected.

"Yeah! You're my partner, right? I can tell you stuff." Duo grins, much more cheerfully this time, and bounces to his feet. "Look, I gotta go, I told this kid I'd help him with his homework."

Heero nods. He doesn't doubt that Duo is telling the truth, but he also suspects that Duo would like to get away from him for a while. Heero can sympathize.

At the door, Duo stops and turns around. "Heero, next time you wanna know something, you can just ask. You don't have to run a background check on me."

"I wasn't," Heero mutters, but Duo is still smiling so he knows it was a joke.

Only after Duo is gone, door slamming behind him and footsteps echoing down the corridor, does Heero start to comprehend just how much Duo apparently trusts him. The thought makes him strangely, irrationally happy.

As he returns to the computer, Heero promises himself that someday he'll tell Duo all the secrets he keeps, too.