Disclaimers and other Warnings: Story mine. Characters not. Anyone want to give them to me? ^_^;; Don't read if you're offended by interpretations of angels/demons/god/satan/life/death stuff like that…I seem to be doing a lot of these fics, ne? Well, anyhoo, enjoy the fic! C&C always appreciated…*looks hopeful*

It wasn't working. There were just too many mobile dolls for the five Gundam pilots to handle. Heavyarms had run out of ammo, both of Sandrock's scimitars were missing along with its right leg, Shenlong's staff was gone, Deathscythe's thermal scythe had been lost, both arms had been ripped away, and Wing Zero's buster rifles and beam saber were no longer intact. More and more mobile dolls kept coming, a dozen replacing one that one of the Gundams would manage to destroy.

Heero sighed and toggled back the panel that covered the self-destruct button. Over the com-link to the other pilots, he warned them. "Get as far away as you can, I'm going to detonate Zero." Three of the other pilots knew they should protest, but Heero's steely gaze over the vid-screen made them keep their mouths shut and do as he told them. Duo, however, moved Deathscythe Hell closer to Wing Zero. "Get away, Duo!"

No response.

The Taurus mobile dolls had locked onto the three retreating Gundams as their targets. The Japanese boy knew he had to self-destruct, but he just couldn't with the braided pilot's Gundam right there beside his Zero! "Dammit, Duo, get out of here!"

"No."

"DUO!"

"What?"

"I'm going to self-destruct! Get out of here! I don't want you caught in the blast, you baka!"

"Yeah, well, I don't want you at the center of the explosion, so I guess we're even."

"Duo! I'm doing it now, please, get out of here!" He pushed the button. Nothing happened.

"Ne, Heero, you aren't dying today, sorry to disappoint you." Duo sighed mentally. Heero could be so stubborn sometimes…who was he trying to kid? Heero was stubborn all the time. Guess my charade is up …unless I can get Todes to fiddle with their memories…

Heero stared in shock as Duo's image on his monitor seemed to melt away into a shadow, growing larger until it darkened the whole screen. What the hell?! He switched views to see Deathscythe beside Zero; it was slowly becoming engulfed in a pocket of darkness as well. Suddenly the darkness vanished and the shadows were replaced by an indigo-hued figure with wings superimposed over the black Gundam.

<I am Shinigami. I do not wish for these souls to pass on yet. Be gone all those here on the battle field who threaten the lives of these four human mortals.> The apparition's 'voice' permeated verbal and mental levels, communicating with every fiber of existence. The other three Gundam pilots were out of range as Shinigami worked his protective spell, so they had no idea what had happened when all traces of mobile dolls vanished from their radars. Heero watched in fascinated horror as legions of Taurus dolls disintegrated into nothing for no obvious reason except for the indigo light spreading out across the vast void of space. Duo was doing this. Duo was…was Shinigami. For real. Heero Yuy blacked out.

* * *

A small creature—compared to a Gundam—about the size of a man scampered up to its master. <Yes, my lord? How may I help you?>

<You just did, Todes, but you can ask another one.> Duo's shadowy form mentally grinned.

The indigo creature sighed. <You wouldn't understand, Todes. Demons do not know 'love.'>

* * *

Heero woke with a splitting headache. The tiniest bit of light made him cringe back and squeeze his eyes shut. Ouch. What the hell happened?! Memories floated back to him. All those mobile dolls…I was going to self-destruct…Duo saved me. No, wait. That's not right. Is it? Thinking was making his head hurt even worse, so Heero went back to sleep, totally unaware of a somewhat heated conversation going on in a mental band.

Duo stood by the dark-haired boy's bed, in his human form, watching him. A pale indigo aura still surrounded him, but it didn't matter. What mattered were the thoughts running through the other boy's mind.

The demon cringed. Making the boss upset was NOT a good thing. <I-I'm very sorry my lord, but the new memories just wouldn't stick to his mind as well as the others. He was fighting it.>

<Hmmm…it might have something to do with his training…to prevent brainwash?> Duo pondered this for a long moment. <You can leave now, Todes.>

<Goodbye my lord.> The shadowy creature disappeared, as did the indigo aura surrounding Duo. He bent over slightly, running his hand along the side of Heero's face. Ever since he had first laid eyes on the spandex-clad boy at that dock, he had known that he would have to see that he survived the war for some reason. Nothing had changed, except for the fact that the braided Shinigami now knew exactly why he had felt the need to protect the 'Perfect Soldier.' He was in love.

* * *

Duo fidgeted. Heero had been staring at him strangely ever since breakfast. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei hadn't acted abnormal at all, but then, none of them had had the extensive training of the Wing pilot. He had even tried having Todes rework his memory again, but it hadn't worked any better than it had the first time.

"Oi, um, ya know what guys, I'm gonna take off for a while. Ja!" Anything to get away from those piercing cobalt eyes that appeared to see right through his façade. The braided pilot all but ran out of the safe house, not noticing the Zero pilot following him. As he walked into the thick covering of the forest, he shed his human form. He had begun to feel limited in his human body and needed a breather. He also needed to check in with the "Big Guys," as he thought of them.

<My lords.> Duo called. That particular form of address was the only part of the eloquent manner he'd previously possessed that he had retained since taking on a human body.

<Ah, Shinigami. It has been a while.> An ebony figure appeared in front of Duo.

<Yes, it has. What has kept you from checking in, Death?> A shining white figure materialized next to the black one.

<Death is not an easy thing to be, this burden you have placed upon me is not an easy one to bear. I…I'm having problems with a human, Heero Yuy. The other Gundam pilots and I were trying to complete a mission, but a lot of things went wrong, and it wasn't their time, so I used my power to save them. I had Todes implant new memories, but Heero fought it, and now he's suspicious. Very suspicious.>

The higher ones spoke between themselves for a minute. <It is not of your concern. Everything is proceeding correctly.>

All three shimmering figure disappeared; only one was replaced with a human body with a chestnut braid and indigo eyes. Dammit, what am I supposed to do now? He's not allowed to find out about what I am. Maybe…maybe he would know what I am…I sure as Hell don't. Not anymore. When I was just with the Angels…but then I was shared with the Demons. Death isn't good or evil, so how can I belong to just one side?

* * *

Holy. Shit. I have to be dreaming, hallucinating, something! Heero rubbed at his temples. He must have hit his head pretty hard to be able to come up with that vivid of a hallucination. But then it would of just had to of been my imagination about the rest of that stuff…Duo couldn't be anything like that. Could he? As much as he tried to convince himself as he stumbled back to the safehouse, it just didn't fit. There was something odd about Duo, that's all there was to it. He didn't remember the supposed ''battle" in space with all those Taurus dolls. All he remembered was that fact that he had been going to self-destruct when something didn't work…when something stopped him? He shook his head furiously in a vain attempt to clear his wildly spinning thoughts.

"Hey, Heero, whatcha doin'?"

The dark-haired boy's head snapped up and he looked at the braided, indigo-eyed boy who had come up beside him. The question left his lips before he could stop it. "Who are you? Really."

Duo swallowed his nervousness. "Oi, what are you talking about? I'm Duo Maxwell, you know me…lock-picking expert, the guy that always getting on your nerves…I think you hit your head harder than I thought."

"Maybe…"

Oh shit shit shit! "C'mon, let's get you back to the house. What were you doing out here anyway?"

"I…I'm not sure…hallucinating, I think…"

This is not good…bad, bad, bad, bad!! "Er—what did you see?"

He seems nervous…maybe I wasn't seeing things. "Maybe I saw who you really are, Duo. I'm not sure."

"Okay, Heero, you want the truth?" Duo asked reluctantly. Letting the Zero pilot in on his true identity was not high on his list of things to do. Heero was already out of his reach as it was, and this definitely wouldn't help.

"Hai."

<Todes, let go of the memory restrictions.>

"I'm Death." The Deathscythe pilot's human form melted away, this time leaving a more human-like figure in its place, but it was still a drastic change from Duo's everyday appearance. Huge angel-esque wings rose from his back with feathers so dark they seemed to obliterate any light that got near them, his normal priest outfit melded into long flowing robes that seemed both black and white at the same time, both colors existing in the same time and place. Indigo eyes became more luminescent, if possible, even more beautiful and breathtaking. Long chestnut hair flowed freely, unconfined out of its traditional braid. A gleaming silver circlet was perched on his head. A large, intricately wrought scythe completed the transformation.

Heero blinked. He blinked again. "A bit dramatized, isn't it, Duo?"

Duo gaped at him. No surprise, no shock, no millions of questions. Ah, but did I really expect that from a Perfect Soldier? "You seem to be taking this well." He casually began to twirl his scythe around.

"I always knew there was something about you I just couldn't place…something familiar." He sighed tiredly and turned away, calmly walking into the safehouse, leaving Duo by himself.

After a moment's thought and a sudden euphoric revelation, Duo quickly ghosted through the walls of the remote cabin straight to Heero's room. "Heero?"

The dark-haired boy spared a glance at him. "What?"

"You…you're like me, aren't you?" He couldn't keep the slightly accusatory tone from coloring his voice.

"Sort of."

"What do you mean, sort of?!"

<WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!> The scythe in the indigo-eyed boy's hand flared green in his agitation.

Cobalt eyes flashed. "Fine, you really want to know?" he whispered hoarsely. Death watched in fascination as Heero underwent the same sort of transformation he had only a few minutes earlier. The only real difference between their transitions was that Heero's wings were pristine white and he carried a sword instead of a scythe.

<You were wrong, baka.> A rueful little smile touched Life's lips. <But I was wrong, too…I thought I was alone.>

<Not anymore.> Discarding the scythe, Death closed the distance between them and threw his arms around Heero, who tentatively returned the embrace.

* * *