His eyes narrowed in anger as he thought of the first and most likely suspect: His mentor and trainer, Dr. J.

          “ Sally? I need to go to L1 right away,” he said in a harsh tone, trying to hide his anger. The doctor looked confused,

          “ What for, Heero? You can’t just leave when we just found this out!” She motioned to the x-rays.

          Heero got up and snatched the x-rays from her grasp with a snarl and stalked out.

Duo had been waiting quietly outside the door and started after his partner when he saw him leave abruptly and quickly.

          “ Heero? Where are you going?? What did Sally say?” he called after Heero, jogging to catch up with the Wing pilot.

          Heero didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on the ground before him as he walked hurriedly out of the confining building.

          “ Heero? Please answer me.” Duo watched as Heero hailed down a taxi and moved to step in.

          ‘ What is he doing?…’ The braided pilot ran to catch up, then hopped in the taxi with Heero.

          Heero gave Duo a trademark glare-of-death.

          “Go back, Duo,” he ordered in a dangerous voice. Duo gave him a look, folded his arms across his chest, and formed a stubborn look on his face.

          “ Where to, boys?” The taxi driver turned around and spoke. He was a middle-aged man, slightly balding at the crown of his head, with aged light blue eyes.

          Heero gave him a quick glance before replying.

          “ The airport.”

“ One ticket for a non-stop flight to L1.”

          “ Your ID?” the woman at the desk questioned. Heero dug it out of his jeans pocket and handed it to her, along with a bunch of credits. It took only a minute for her to scan his fake ID and hand him a plane ticket.

          “ Any baggage?” Heero shook his head.

          “ Alright then. Have a nice flight.”

          Heero pretended not to notice Duo standing in line behind him, waiting to purchase a ticket for the same flight. He walked away, hoping to lose him.

          “ Oi, Heero!” Heero mentally cringed and kept walking, pretending he didn’t hear. It took only a few moments for Duo to catch up.

          “ Thought you were gonna leave me behind, ne?” The Wing pilot didn’t answer.

          Duo cleared his throat and turned to make a Statue of Liberty pose, pointing at Heero.

“ Well, I’ve got news for you, pal. I am not leavin’… not now, not ever.”

Heero rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath…

“ Great… Just great….”

“ Isn’t this great, Hee-chan? I mean, they serve us peanuts and pretzels and everything!… And look! They even got cool magazines!” Heero’s eyes narrowed. Why did the baka have to sit next to him?

          “ Duo… For one thing, my name is not “Hee-chan”. And secondly, its “have” cool magazines, not “got”.” The braided Shinigami frowned settled down with the latest issue of Dirtbiking Extreme and munched on some peanuts.

          “ Whatever you say, Hee-chan….”

          Heero growled menacingly but turned to the window and watched as they took off,

“ Hn.”

          It was a few minutes before the big-mouthed, talkative Duo decided to speak again. But this time, it was in a serious tone,

          “ We’re going to see Dr.J, aren’t we? That’s why we’re going to L1, correct?”

          Heero’s eyes narrowed and he seemed to glare a hole into the seat in front of him,

“ Yes,” he said in a low, menacing tone. To Duo, it meant “Don’t ask any more questions or I’ll kill you”. Their row of the plane was silent the whole way there.

The streets of L1 were as busy as ever when the two Gundam pilots made their way through them. Vendors offered their products of trade and salespeople called from the stores within for items to sell. But all was ignored, for the only thing on Heero’s mind was getting to his mentor’s secret lab and wherehouse.

          “ Heero?…. Um, why are we walking so fast?” Duo asked, practically jogging to keep up with the Japanese boy’s long and fast strides.

          “ Because I want to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible…” he growled and took a sharp turn down an alley.

          “ Oh.” The long, dark alley revealed many poor and ragged people sleeping in garbage cans among trash and cardboard boxes and gave way to another passage. Leaving the poor people behind, Heero walked on, not caring that it was very dark, and finally stopped at the dead end.      

“ Uh.. Heero… It’s a wall…”

          Heero smirked.

          “ Hn. That’s what you would think, wouldn’t you?” He put his hands on the old brick wall and pushed as hard as he could on one single brick. There was a mechanical sound of something opening as a hand-scan and digital code popped out.

          “ Heero Yuy,” the Wing pilot said flatly and pressed his hand to the scanner.

          “ Welcome, Heero. Please enter your code,” a recording asked.

          Heero gave a snort before muttering under his breath,

          “ Hn. The old fool knew I would be back….” He pressed a complex series of numbers within seconds, and a door slid open.

          “Thank you. Enter at your own risk.”

          “ Well, aren’t you coming?” Duo snapped out of his reverie,

          “H-hai!”  The two pilots made their way inside.

          “ heh…heh…. The rascal is back…. Welcome home, Heero….” Through the darkness, two lights resembling glasses shone, gazing upon a security camera screen and a computer monitor. A metal claw reached up and pushed a single button. A loud boom came from the chamber Heero and Duo were in….

“ K’so!” Heero hissed as the walls rolled up into the ceiling, and were quickly replaced by bars. Duo scowled and tested the bars’ strength. After seeing they were unbreakable, he stepped back and glared at them.

          “ Of all the dirty tricks to pull….” He sneered.

          “ Quiet, Duo…. He’ll be here in a moment,” Heero reprimanded. Their ears tuned to a sound slowly coming towards them and steadily growing louder….. step...step…tap……step…step…tap…    

          The figure of the insane Dr. J came through the darkness. A mad grin was fixed on his face.

          “ Well, well, well….. What do we have here? … Heero m’boy, what could possibly bring you back here? … And Pilot 02? What is your business?” he asked slyly. The doctor leaned on his cane and looked at them through his artificial eyes.

          If looks could kill, Dr. J would be evaporated by the sheer anger held in Heero’s gaze. Heero shoved the x-rays at the doctor,

          “ What is this??!! What did you do to me???!!” he shouted. Seeing that talking would only make it worse, Duo could only stand and watch. He caught a glimpse of the medical pictures and gasped, clasping a hand over his mouth.

          Dr. J let out a dry laugh as he scanned the x-rays,

          “ So, you finally picked it up, eh Heero? heh… I am certainly disappointed in you…. It took you way too long….” Heero shook with anger and he pressed himself to the bars, putting as less distance as he could between himself and the man he wanted to kill at the moment. He let out a growl, voice shaking with rage.

          “ Why?”

            “ Heh…. Do you remember your first broken bone, Heero?… hmm… perhaps not… But I do. You were five, and you fell off that ropes course I made you do. You got a clean break right through your arm. It just snapped, easy as that,” Dr. J explained.

            “ I don’t see why this is relevant to the reason you did this to my body!” Heero interrupted.

            “ Feh… Oh, but it is…. The day you broke your first bone was the day I decided to line your own weak human bones with metal….. And, while I was at it, I set up a wires system along your whole body…… Is that clear enough for you, Boy?” The doctor said, speaking the truth mercilessly.

            Heero’s eyes shot open in shock. The bottomless Prussian depths stared at his own self like it was a monstrosity that wasn’t quite his own. He fell to his knees, clutching at the bars.

            And, off to the side, Duo’s eyes narrowed at the now laughing evil doctor. The self-proclaimed Shinigami incarnate stepped forward.

            “ Kisama….” He snarled. “ How could you do this to him??!!! He was only five!!! Five freaking years old!!!” he yelled, fists clenching with the urge to hit something. He lowered his head, bangs covering the amethyst eyes that burned like fire with hate. Duo spoke again,

            “  You truly are cruel and insane….. How dare you use people for your own idealistic experiments??!!!” Then, the braided pilot’s voice suddenly got very soft and dangerous.  “And most of all, why Heero? ….Why him?”

            Dr. J’s eyebrows raised as he stroked his white beard with his one good hand. Then his obscure face stretched into another sly smile.

            “ And why would you care, Duo Maxwell?…. Could it be that you care for my Perfect Soldier? Eh?”

            Duo bit his lip and looked down at Heero’s body, which had now tensed at this question, but nevertheless refused to face him. Shinigami’s mind raced incredibly fast.

            ‘ What should I do??? This isn’t how I wanted to confess my feelings for him…! I don’t even know if he’ll like me! …… Aw, what the hell!!!!” Duo took a deep breath and stared the doctor in the eye.

            “ Yes, I do care for him. Now, if you don’t tell us what we need to know, I will personally kill you…. understand?” Dr. J emitted a loud laugh.

            “ Ha! That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!! I didn’t think anyone could come to love the emotionless boy I created…. And Mr. Maxwell, in the predicament you’re in, I don’t think you’re in the position to be making threats.”

            Heero, at long last, slowly moved to look up at Duo with strange, wondering eyes. They were big and bright, so unlike the cold orbs that usually rested there.

‘ The mask is gone… Did I do that? Did I pick through the soul and heart of ice…’ Duo thought.

“ Heero…. I….” He stuttered. Suddenly, Heero’s eyes went blank and he slumped over at Duo’s feet, completely limp.

“ Heero??”

“ heh.. heh…” Duo heard Dr. J’s laugh. He turned to the doctor.

“ What. did. you. do?” Deathscythe’s pilot hissed at him.

Dr. J held up what looked to be a control board that resembled a panel with buttons and keys strangely like a keyboard’s. His grin was as maddening as ever.

“ Oh, but do you really want to know?”