Title: The Forgotten

Author: Caer

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Yaoi, violence, angst, language

Pairings: 2x4

Status: Work in progress (part 8)

Disclaimer: This is simply fanfiction. I don't own this anime and I'm not making any money. It's just for fun.

Relena sat in the car and watched the empty streets go by. As she pressed her fingers against the glass, she could feel the oppressive heat from outside.

“Everyone must stay underground.”

“Unfortunately, since the colony was abandoned, no maintenance has been performed to keep the station functioning. It has slowly degraded over time.”

“That is insane. They just left thousands of people, to fend for themselves. Prisoners or not, that is inhumane.”

“In war, the treatment of prisoners is often overlooked.”

“It's no justification,” Relena said, her jaw set. “Nor was the experimentation and the creation of... what are they called again?”

“Slicers, Ms. Relena.”

“Right...” she said biting her lip.

Quatre was out there, in that mess of a city. He could have died, and even now, he might be in danger. She wanted nothing more than to scoop him up and get him out of this place as quickly as possible. However, she had to be careful. If she caused a scene and Winner was able to hide any evidence, and Quatre would just be in more danger. He knew this as well. Still, she couldn't help but worry. Knowing little about this colony except for the stories of gangs, poverty and murder, she didn't know what he would be up against, and she didn't know these people he was with. He was alive for now, but could this turn into a hostage situation? Did they know who they were holding? If Winner had to pay ransom, he probably had the resources to take them out before Quatre could get off the colony.

She looked up at what she recognized as the giant biodomes that housed most of the colony's food supply. They were a far cry from the pristine white domes of her own colony. Many of the panels were gone or falling apart. From a distance, it seemed that some of the panels had been replaced with random materials, probably scavenged. These people were on the brink of colony collapse. Now that Relena was here, she could see that this place was a thread's width from falling apart entirely. Winner's project was just barely keeping things stable. She set her jaw. with a little bit of work, they could make progress here. She would make it her focus, at least until L2 had a working colony with valid government representatives. However first thing was first.

Their car pulled up to the doors of the biodome. The steel door slid open shakily and two men stepped through. Relena recognized the boy Heero as one of them. They were boys really. They couldn't be much older than she was. The other was a handsome taller boy with light brown hair and green eyes. They were both well muscled, and visibly armed. Both boys were tense and closed off as they tried to see through the tinted windows. Relena could not see anyone in the dark inside. She craned her neck, but there was no sign of Quatre. Were they protecting him or holding him somewhere?

She waited for her guards to exit the other car. Both Heero and the other boy let their hands wander closer to their weapons as they saw the men exit. Relena opened the door next, once they were surrounding her door. Heero's eyes tracked to her, though he was still fully paying attention to the guards. She smiled at him and nodded her head. He didn't take his dark blue eyes off of her, even as Pargan approached them. She couldn't quite hear what was said, but Trowa exchanged a few words with Pargan and then both of them lowered their guard a bit. Pargan nodded a bit and came back.

“Miss Relena, they are willing to let one guard, myself and you into the dome. Shall I tell them this is unacceptable.

Relena's eyes were still locked with those of the Japanese boy.

“No.” she said. “I trust them. She finally broke contact with the boy and turned to Pargan. “Have the guard who comes with us take some medical supplies and gifts. The others can stay and unload the foot we brought.

Once their party was together, they followed the two boys into the dark of the entrance. Trowa waited for them to enter and then closed the door. For a moment they were in darkness. Only the sliver of light leaking through the door made the shapes around distinguishable for a moment. A hand rested on the small of Relena's back and Heero's voice was close by her ear.

“The lights in here stopped working years ago. Don't move until we get the other door open.”

She nodded, feeling electrified by the boy's presence. She could almost feel the power exuding of the taught muscles of this boy. She was thankful for the darkness as she was sure she was blushing at his touch.

The door at the other end of the threshold opened soon enough and they were hit with the scent of fresh earth and vegetation. Light streamed in from the huge lamps above the biodome. Inside, Relena could see other people working in the rows of plants. There people of all ages and colors inside. Most looked underfed, but healthy. An older woman with a hose was watering what looked like lettuce. The hose she held was ripped and patched in so many places, there was more patch than hose. Even then it leaked. Relena imagined it was almost impossible to get materials, let alone new supplies for the dome. Everything they could get new would come from SSIP. Of course that would mean that SSIP would have a great deal of leverage over the people.

“You run the food supply to this colony. People pay you for their food?”

“Pay?” Heero said, with a bit of confusion in his voice.

“We trade for materials and services.” Trowa answered. “Anyone who helps to grow the food can take what they need. If they don't, they can bring us supplies. Once a week, we have a market for trade.”

“What if they don't have anything?”

“If they don't have anything, they can go to the SSIP facility to sign up for the work for food program. Sometimes, they will bring that food to add to the trade. Other times, they can get supplies from SSIP.”

“Does SSIP help you with this biodome at all?”

“No,” Trowa answered as he led the three of them down the path under the grapevines “We've tried not to rely on SSIP. The other biodomes do get assistance in return for work. We take care of ourselves.”

Relena was impressed that there was so much growing here. She could see vegetables and even some fruit trees. In the distance, she could see something that looked vaguely like a chicken coop. She tried not to think to hard about what they had in the way of meat on this colony.

“To be honest, I'm amazed that this is running so well when you haven't had fresh supplies from Earth in so long. How did you learn how to cultivate the seeds and work the soil?”

“The original prisoner population worked these biodomes,” Trowa answered. “Even though they were abandoned, they continued to keep the gardens going since they knew they couldn't survive without them. They passed down the knowledge to their children, or anyone who was willing to learn.”

Finally, they had reached the main gate. Unlike her clean, tourist friendly biodomes at home, these offices were obviously geared toward prisoners. She hadn't failed to see the barbed wire and fencing outside the biodome. These buildings were steel and chain, with heavy gates at the entrance, though the gate looked rusted open. Inside, she could see the blocks of cells where the farming inmates were most likely kept when the prison was still functioning. The gates were all open and the cells were being used for storage.

Relena swallowed in anticipation as they approached the last cell. As she rounded the last corner, she cried out joyfully.

“Quatre!” He was rising from the cot against the wall. She ran forward and embraced the boy, who looked a bit thin and worn, but otherwise in one piece. She kissed him on the cheeks and held him at arms length for a minute before embracing him again.

“Miss Relena...” Quatre smiled and returned the tight hold the girl had on him. She was like another sister to him and it was very nice to see someone familiar and friendly. As well as he had been treated here, he was a little homesick. “I'm so glad to see you.”

“Quatre, you look terrible. But you're alive. I'm so glad.” She looked around now. Trowa and Heero were behind her along with Pargan and the guard. Now she wanted to know who was responsible for rescuing her best friend. Now that she had expressed her joy at seeing her dear friend again, she stepped forward to meet his saviors. The two boys both sported long hair and looked far too serious for their age. One boy looked almost regal, with his chiseled Asian features and his smooth black hair tied back in a ponytail. The other boy had chocolate brown hair that hung in an impossibly long braid and unruly bangs that partly covered his dark violet eyes. He was close to Quatre and stood with ease in the boy's space, brushing against the blond as he stepped forward and held out his hand.

“I'm Duo Maxwell and this is Wufei,” he said cordially. He seemed a little bit wary of her, and not too happy that she was here. She nodded at him and took the bag that Pargan had brought. Opening it, she felt more than saw the boys tense. This was not a trusting bunch, but they didn't feel dangerous, and the ease with which Quatre seemed to have , made her feel less threatened. She had no doubt that any one of these boys could easily take the guard out without even breaking a sweat.

Pulling a box out, she handed it to Duo.

“I have brought medicine and food. They're unloading more from the car, though I doubt it's enough sadly. However, I will be able to get more, once I am able to take a request to ESUN. There is a lot to be done.”

Duo took the box and handed it to Wufei.

“First, I have to thank you for saving Quatre. I am in your debt.”

“They've treated me very well, Relena,” Quatre said softly. “I was poisoned and left to die in an ally. If Duo hadn't found me...”

Relena's gaze hardened.

“I wish there was a way to prove that he did it. He'll deny everything of course, when he finds out that you're alive. However I will make sure he doesn't know until you're safely off the colony. Do you have any things you need to bring with you?”

Relena heard a low growl from Duo. His fists were clenched and he looked down at the floor. He obviously wasn't happy about Quatre leaving and Relena wondered what had occurred between the blond and this man.

“Duo,” Quatre put a gentle hand on Duo's shoulder and Relena saw the boy immediately relax a bit at his touch. “I would like to talk with Relena alone for a minute. Please?”

Duo shrugged his hand off and the three boys left them. Relena told her guard to wait outside the door.

“Quatre,” Trowa said. “We'll be right down the hall if you need anything.”

Quatre nodded and smiled. When they left, he took Relena's arm and led her to the bench on the wall, sitting them both down.

“I'm sorry. I'm still a little weak since I was sick. Standing for long is tiring.”

“Well when we get you out of here, we'll take you to one of your sisters to give you a proper examination.”

Quatre shook his head. “I can't leave, Relena.”

Relena was about to protest, but thought better of it. “I thought you might say that. But we can't leave it as it is. If your father finds out about you while you're here, I can't protect you. And the state that this colony is in... Quatre, it's falling apart.”

“I knew you would think so,” Quatre agreed. “What SSIP is doing now isn't enough. We need ESUN to get involved.”

“I can do that easily enough. But what about your father? He won't let this rest. I could take you away for a while until we could find evidence against him.”

“No, Relena. I think this is our best chance to catch him at his game. Right now he thinks I'm dead. That means a lot of my clearance is still active. They haven't changed the codes. I think if I can get into his offices here, I can find what we need.”

“Quatre that is so dangerous. What if he catches you?”

“That's where you come in. We'll need a big distraction... and if we play this right, we can take care of two things at once.”

Relena smiled. That was here Quatre. He always had a plan.

Duo looked moodily out the window at the gardens. Trowa had gone to check the perimeter and Heero was monitoring communication in the other building. Wufei was with him, looking at him.

“Say what you want to say, Wufei. Don't stare at me like that, it freaks me out.”

Wufei sat back on the desk.

“You need to be open to this girl, Duo. I know you don't want to. She's come to take the blond away. Now that you've claimed him, you've made it even harder on yourself.”

“What? How did you know about...”

“Duo, you don't smile that much unless you got some. It's not that hard to tell.”

Duo tried to stifle a grin at the remembrance of last night. However there was a stab of pain as he realized that could end.

“He'd be stupid not to go back with her, Wufei. There's nothing I can offer him here.”

“I think he would disagree with that, Duo. Rather I think there's a lot he could offer you by staying here. That girl is Relena Dorlian. She has a lot of power. She's a symbol of peace among the colonies. You mustn't alienate her because of your feelings for outsiders.”

“Once she has him, she won't give this place a second thought... and once he's back home and out of this hell...”

“You seem so eager to let him go.”

“That's not...” Duo sighed. “I don't want to. I'm just trying to be realistic.”

“Funny, it sounded a lot to me like whining.”

Duo glared at him before sighing in resignation.

“Maybe I am. But the fact is he'll be better off far away from this colony.”

“No I won't.” Wufei and Duo both turned sharply. Quatre and Relena were there. Quatre approached Duo carefully and put a hand on his shoulder. “As much as you keep protesting, Duo, I'm committed, to you and this colony. We need to get Trowa and Heero though. I have a plan, but I'll need your help.”

Randolph Winner was extremely upset as he walked up to the hangar and the returning cars. He waited, straightening his suit jacket while he waited for Relena's group to exit the car. She was surrounded by guards, wearing her diplomatic uniform. He scoffed at how military in nature the uniform itself was, complete with gold cord and Epaulettes on the shoulders. He hurried forward with a few of his own guards at ready.

“Miss Relena I must protest. You are under my protection here. My guards are uniquely prepared to deal with the dangers on this colony.”

“I appreciate your concern, Mr. Winner but I was well protected. I was simply conducting a survey of the colony in order to report back to ESUN. Your efforts are commendable. The help and shelters you have provided seem to be quite adequate. My report will definitely be quite favorable.” She smiled, taking his hand. He relaxed slightly.

“I thank you, Lady, however I still must insist that you take a contingent of my guards if you are going to leave the SSIP Zones, or travel between them. Just because the colonists don't have guns, doesn't mean they are safe. I take it you've heard of the Slicers?”

“I have,” Relena said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

“Then you are aware, that they don't care what harm comes to them and will attack at random. It's very possible that they are responsible for Quatre. I can not risk the same thing happening to you.”

Relena narrowed her eyes, not sure whether to take that as a threat or not. She brushed it aside and delivered a piece of paper to the man who took it suspiciously.

“This is a list of people that are leaders on this colony according to my interviews. Would you agree?”

Winner glanced down the list and nodded. “Yes,” he said, not liking the taste of where this was going.

“Excellent. I need you to contact as many of them as you can. I will host a lunch tomorrow and we will talk about how ESUN can get involved. I'm not going to argue this, Mr. Winner,” she said as he was about to protest. “What you are providing is wonderful, but not enough. This colony is past ready to be re assimilated into ESUN. Given the amount of time it takes for these things to happen, it will take years anyway. We need to start now. That is why I must speak with the leaders.”

“But Miss Relena, these people are not exactly...”

“I understand that they may be a bit more rough and less refined. But they're a people, and they're no longer criminals.”

“That is arguable,” Winner sniffed.

“Nevertheless, we must start working on reintegrating them. If nothing else, I want to talk to them and see if it is even a possibility. If we don't get their cooperation, we could lose this colony.”

“I assure you that my organization has things in hand.”

“I realize that, Mr. Winner but it's not enough.”

Winner pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how far he could argue. However the focused and stern look in this young whelp's eyes was not wavering.

“I am adamant, Mr. Winner.”

He sighed. “Very well, Miss Relena. I shall try to contact them. However, I doubt you will get much of a response.”

“Let's offer them something then. Free access to clean water. It's something we would need to provide eventually anyway and it's a valuable commodity. I can get emergency funds to get the water systems working again.”

“However, it's also our leverage, Miss Relena. If we give it away free...”

“Not free. It's a peace offering. Besides, according to the ESUN principles, all colonies are required to provide clean water to the people. This colony is no different. But if we offer it now as a gift of faith, we can use it to bring the colonists together.”

Winner capitulated. “As you wish then, Miss Relena. May I ask how the rest of your investigation coming along? Have you found anything that might tell us what happened to my only son?”

Relena tried very hard not to balk. He was so slick, it made her hands feel greasy. However she did not get to where she was without knowing how to play games. Of course it was a bit more difficult without Quatre's occasional help. However, he had taught her strategy. Like father like son, really. Quatre could talk his way out of anything. She had learned a few things herself. However it took all she had not to have the man cuffed and locked away right now.

“So far, it looks like what you said is what happened. Quatre took a car to repair the faulty mobile drones. The car was found abandoned. Unfortunately I haven't been able to talk the man who found it.”

“Ah yes, Rashid. Unfortunately he quit. He was ashamed for letting Quatre go alone. At the time, I blamed him myself. But Quatre is stubborn. He didn't like being coddled.” Winner stared off into space for a moment.

“I have some sources looking for him. In any case, I won't be able to talk to him for a while if at all. The Middle East is still just starting their peace talks, so we have little recourse there.”

“Well I have contacts there. I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, it seems we have a lunch to prepare. I'll see if I can get the kitchen to...”

Winner hesitated as the Relena's cars drove by him. A face staring out the window caught his eye.

“Mr Winner?”

Relena watched in confusion as the man stared at her empty car. There was a look in his eyes that was very out of character for him. It was not in control. It was a mix of mostly disbelief and a little bit of rage. However there was something else Relena could see that she would never have expected from the unflappable Randolph Winner. There was fear.

“Watch your step. That one is broken.”

Duo pushed the door open before leading Quatre through. Quatre paused against the wall for a moment, breathing heavily. Duo looked out the window before coming back.

“Hey, you okay?”

Quatre nodded, holding his chest. Duo felt a little guilty. He pulled Quatre to a place where he could sit down before locking the door.

“Thanks,” Quatre used the opportunity to catch his breath. “Where are we?”

They were in a large hexagonal room with slanted windows on each side. They were at least 6 stories above the rest of the colony as far as Quatre could tell. They had gotten here, from below in the sewers and then up a series of nondescript stairways. Now, Quatre could see courtyards down below. From where he was sitting, he could look down through the window and see for miles. Of course few people graced the surface of the colony, so he didn't see much movement, though the occasional moving spec presented itself here and there.

“This is one of the guard towers. They're all over the colony. We're not far from home base anyway.”

Looking around, Quatre could see that there were old monitors that had probably monitored the inside complexes at one point, though they probably hadn't functioned for years. In the middle of the room was a large conference table, with a few holes which Quatre assumed were for personal computer hookups. The data ports were so old, Quatre was sure that nothing now would actually work in a facility like this.

“Is it safe?”

“As safe as anyplace can get here really. Slicers are always an issue, but there's only one way in and one way out, and since the doors lock from inside, you can't really be ambushed. Besides, these places are considered neutral territory because people usually come here to uh...”

Quatre wrinkled his brows before his eyes widened at what Duo was saying. It was very very hard to find privacy on this colony... especially if you wanted safety at the same time. Still, people had needs.

“Oh,” he said quietly, a soft grin gracing his lips as he looked at his pant leg. Duo also found himself at a loss for words for a moment.

“Quatre, I don't think you should...”

“Don't try to talk me out of this, Duo. I can't let my father get away with what he's doing.”

Duo smiled. “I was going to say I don't think you should go alone. I'm going in with you.”

“I don't think that's a good idea. If you get caught... what about the children?”

“And if you get caught, what about that? If anything happens, I can get you out of there, quick.”

Quatre bit his lip. He hated involving Duo in his own problems, but the man had a point. Duo approached him. putting a hand on the blond's shoulders.

“Besides, I want to spend as much time as I can with you.”

The rest was left unsaid, but Quatre could practically feel the despair in the boy. Duo still thought that he would leave.

“Duo I'm not...”

He couldn't finish his sentence as he was pulled into a crushing kiss. It almost hurt, Duo was kissing him so hard, their teeth clacking together. Quatre put his hands up to push Duo away and finish what he wanted to say, but a hard tongue pushed into his mouth and instead, his thoughts flew away and all that came out of him was a breathless moan. Duo reacted and pushed him even harder so that he fell back against the glass. Before he knew it, Duo's teeth were on his neck, biting, making him weak. Nimble fingers undid the buttons of his shirt and then Duo was biting and sucking at a sensitive nipple.

“Duo, I...”

“Shut up.” The other boy growled, before undoing Quatre's pants as well, pushing Quatre's legs up so he could yank the shorts off. Duo let his legs back down once he had access to what he wanted. Sliding a hand up Quatre's thigh, he took a hold of his slowly bulging cock.

“But I...”

Duo put a hand on his mouth, silencing the boy, staring at him fiercely. His whole body exuded the command that made him the most dangerous man on the colony, that earned him the name of God of Death. Quatre bodily felt the command and that is why he stayed silent and let Duo kiss him one more time, surely stroking his cock in such a delicious way that Quatre found all he could do now is throw his head back. Duo worked his way down, biting Quatre's hip before taking him into his mouth.

“Duo,” Quatre said breathlessly, but only to plead for more. He could already feel the sweat pooling under his ass on the stainless steel of the bench he sat on. Turning his head, he could see hundreds of feet down. He wondered what kind of show they presented to anyone who might be passing by. Duo was now holding his thighs open and licking up and down his balls, which tightened in anticipation of what was to come. Quatre then noticed with some annoyance that Duo was still fully clothed. He reached down and yanked the boy up by his long brown hair and kissed him hard, using Duo to pull himself back upright and off the table. Standing, looking at each other for a minute in breathless anticipation. Quatre started to quietly unbutton Duo's black pants. Duo swallowed and started to unbutton his shirt and undershirt, tossing them to the side.

Quatre dropped to his knees and Duo let out a strangled moan as his already tight cock was engulfed in the velvet heat of Quatre's mouth. With one hand on the desk and the other reaching down, he put a hand in the blond hair and directed Quatre's head to stay still while he thrust shallowly into the wet cavern. Quatre used the opportunity and support of his head, to use his hands to take his shirt off, leaving him completely naked except his sneakers. He also pulled Duo's pants completely down, before letting Duo's member slip out of his mouth with a wet pop.

He stood back up and they kissed roughly. Quatre could feel Duo using his feet to push his own pants and boots the rest of the way off. They stood for a minute, both chests heaving as they took a moment to look at each other without restraint. There was no one outside to be cautious about. They had plenty of room and plenty of time. Quatre let his hand wonder up Duo's tanned skin, noting all the scars that marred his body. Experimenting, he let his fingers wonder all the way up and over Duo's nipple, which tightened at the slightest touch of his finger. Duo looked at Quatre's smooth unmarred skin and realized what a prize he would be as a pet on this colony. The urgency to claim him came back in a rush and Duo reached up and grabbed his hand, twisting him around and bending him over the metal table so he was now face down, bent over, his smooth ass bared. Duo had him down with an elbow against of his back.

“I want to fuck you so hard.” he growled into Quatre's ear, running a hand up the back of the boy's thigh still pinning Quatre down with the other arm,

Quatre closed his eyes, a little dizzy from the sudden look down, but he lifted his ass a bit, presenting himself to Duo wantonly, spreading his legs a bit just to make the message was clear. He wasn't disappointed as a few seconds later, warmth prodded at his opening. It felt wet and he realized that Duo must have lubricated with something. It pushed in hard and rough and Quatre squeaked at the sudden intrusion and pain, but he knew it would get better quickly. He bit his lip and didn't breath as Duo's swollen cock continued to push in until he felt the touch of Duo's hips. It was so big. Duo was still holding him down, hard, but he had released Quatre's hand. Quatre put it against the window for leverage and rose up bit so he could push back some.

“God, you're so tight.” Duo groaned before slowly working his cock in and out, using Quatre's hips to pull himself in harder. He started gentle, watching as Quatre's fingers against the glass gradually loosened and he started to push back with his hands instead as the friction eased.

“Du...ohhhhh...” Quatre said in gasps. For now, Duo was simply fucking him slow and steady. The angle was delicious against his prostate and Quatre refrained from reaching down and working his own hardness for fear of it ending too quickly. Instead, he opted for vocalizing his pleasure, groaning and gasping, pushing against Duo, pushing Duo to go harder. Eventually, things sped up and Duo began to grunt as he thrust in a little harder and faster each time. Quatre's voice rose in pitch as well as volume as Duo pounded into him. They didn't have to be quiet here, so their voices echoed in the empty room, gasping and pushing. Duo leaned over and slowed for a minute, biting Quatre's shoulder, hard, marking him with his teeth, before spitting on his hand and reaching down under Quatre's hip and grabbing his hard bobbing cock, making Quatre cry out.

“Come on... come with me.”

The thrusts were slightly more shallow with Duo bent over, but the hand on Quatre's cock worked expertly and the change in angle was even more intense against his prostate. It didn't take long before Quatre screamed out and came hard into Duo's hand. A few more thrusts and Duo followed him, growling hard and burying himself as deep in Quatre as he could go, before finishing with a few spastic thrusts and then collapsing over the pale boy's back, sweaty and spent.

They lay there for a few minutes panting, before Quatre's legs began to cramp from lack of movement and he reluctantly bent his knees a bit... pulling off of Duo's flaccid member. Duo grunted as his sensitive member was disturbed and pushed himself up, letting Quatre stand up and turn around. He leaned back against the metal surface, but let his head rest against Duo's chest.

“That was...”

“Yeah,” Duo replied, catching his own breath and running a hand through Quatre's damp blond locks as he did.

“Oh, hold on a sec.” Duo pushed away and walked over to a set of shelves in a locker cabinet on one side of the room. He pulled out what looked to be a towel and threw it over to the blond boy.

“You can use that to wipe yourself off. It's clean.”

Quatre did, and wiped off the table and window while he was at it, as their fluids had ended up everywhere including the floor. He dropped the towel and wiped that up too. In the meantime, Duo had pulled out some thick blankets to set on the center table. He got a thinner one for the top and made a sort of makeshift bed. He pulled Quatre up from his cleaning and pulled the towel out of Quatre's hand, throwing it in the area of their discarded clothes before pulling the boy to the table and sitting on it himself before manhandling them both into a supine position on top. There was no need for a cover in the heat, but the feel of cloth on them helped to wick away some of the sweat, so Duo pulled that over them, before propping himself up on an elbow and leaning over Quatre to kiss him gently.

“Give me a couple more minutes and I promise I'm gonna do that to you again.” Duo said with a grin.

The two lay in post coital bliss for a few minutes in silence. Duo let a rough hand trail over the soft skin of Quatre's bare chest, trailing it town to his belly button and hips before letting it slide back up again. Quatre, worked at the band that held Duo's hair until it was off and then proceeded to unbraid Duo's hair. Helping him out, Duo sat up and pulled the rest apart, letting the amber cascade fall over his shoulders. It made him look younger, and a bit vulnerable. Quatre kissed him gently, trailing soft hand down his shoulder before he giggled softly. He had never done it in a guard tower before. The 360 degree view through the tilted windows of the large room was breathtaking. It made everything look small and a little less drab. For a moment, Quatre let himself take in the details of the world outside, now that his attention wasn't directed elsewhere.

At this height, Quatre could see the curve of the colony around them. Unlike his colony, which was sparse with green trees and parks and pristine buildings and houses, this colony was flatter inside. The buildings that stood were all uniform, since most of them held cells. Though there was some green, most of the outside was dusty and dry. He could make out Trowa and Wufei's biodome about a kilometer away, standing up against the rest of the brown buildings. Further away, he could make out the SSIP complex, which was close to the ship hangar.

Occasionally, the hot wind would rattle the windows a bit, but otherwise it was deathly silent.

“It's like we're the only two people in the world,” He said in awe.

“If it were with you, that doesn't sound too bad.” Duo said honestly. “But... I really think you should go.”

Quatre sighed. “Duo.”

“I want to, but I can't promise that I could keep you safe, Quatre.”

“Stop it,” Quatre ordered and Duo fell silent. “You have innocent children that you take care of.”

“They belong here. They're used to the way we live. And I haven't been able to protect them all. A lot of them die, Quatre.”

“So it's the fact that I'm an outsider? Or is it that you think I need to be treated any different? I'm not a shrinking violet, Duo. I can make my own decisions and I don't need your protection. I need you!”

Duo stared at Quatre, shocked and a little afraid.

“Quatre don't...” He shook his head and began to move away, but Quatre grabbed him roughly and pushed him down on the table, kissing him desperately, putting all his love and desperation and passion and insistence into the kiss, making Duo breathless and limp, as he bit at his lips before pushing his tongue in roughly and thoroughly exploring Duo's mouth with his tongue before pulling away.

“I don't care. I love you, Duo. I know it. I can't leave,” he hissed quietly, desperately.

Duo swallowed at the confession, at the intensity of Quatre's emotions, but he knew it was useless to hide his own. The blond was an empath after all, and Duo was too exposed inside and out to even try to hide. He didn't want it. He didn't lie, after all, and there was no running and hiding from this.

“I feel the same,” Duo finally admitted. “That's why I want you to be safe.”

“Then let me in,” Quatre pleaded. “Let me stay. Relena can bring in the people who will help make this whole colony safer. Even you should realize that it can't sustain itself much longer without outside help. If we can do this thing tomorrow, I will be able to take care of my father and Miss Relena will be able to start real reconstruction of this colony. If this plan works, I promise you, things will get better and you won't have to worry. Just let me do this. I won't leave you.”

Duo looked into Quatre's clear blue eyes, and realized that he wasn't going to win this. Quatre wasn't a child and he was going to do what he thought was right, no matter what.

“All right. But I'm going with you. If anything goes wrong, we get the hell out. And if anything happens and we can't get what you need, you have to promise to get on the ship with that girl and get out of here, and to some place safe.”

Quatre made to argue, but Duo pushed him hard against the table.

“No matter what, Quatre. Listen to me. He's got power. If you don't put him away, he could have you killed, here easier than anywhere else, because there are gangs that are in his pocket that would do it for the right price, and then you would be dangerous to all of us. You have to promise me, for both of our safety. If something goes wrong, I will make sure you get to her ship safely.. and you have to go.”

Quatre reeled at Duo's intensity as well as the sense in what he was saying, even though Quatre didn't like the possibility. Still, Duo was right.

“All right.”

Duo shook the blond again. “Promise me.”

“I... I promise, Duo. If you promise to give me a chance to help you. I know what happened with the Maxwell Church, but he was an outsider trying to help. Relena is good too. Promise you'll be open to her help and mine, even though we're outsiders.”

Duo nodded. “It's really hard you know.”

“I know,” Quatre put a hand over Duo's heart. “I know how hard it is for you to trust someone beside yourself. I promise I'll make it worth your while.”

Duo nodded.

“Good,” Quatre smiled. “Now that we've made our promises, I expect you to keep them.” He slid a hand up Duo's thigh before moving his hand between Duo's legs. “All of them.”

Fully recovered, Duo grinned and straddled his lover to comply.

Wow. Another chapter of another fic. I'm thinking this thing has two more chapters to go. Lot's of goings on in the next chapter, which I will try to have out faster than my usual turtle speed. If you're still with me, thank you so much for reading. As usual, you can read the lemon at my site.