Duo sighed, glancing up from the file in front of him and rubbing his eyes wearily. Zechs was frowning off into space, obviously lost in thought. Damn, I feel like I’ve been asleep for most of the last week. You’d think I’d never get tired again…. But he could feel the familiar exhaustion nagging at him. Yawning, he staggered to his feet and headed for the coffee maker.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Zechs asked quietly.

“Look, I appreciate you guys helping me out and letting me crash with you, but I don’t need you to…” Anger battled with the fatigue for a moment.

“You didn’t sleep well last night.” His partner sighed. “Dr Po… sent me an email. She said that right now, any stimulant after 3 p.m. could make it harder for you to sleep at night.”

“Dammit…” Duo growled and threw himself back into his chair. “And did she mention how I’m supposed to function with the mother of all caffeine withdrawal migraines?”

“Well…no,” Zechs threw him a sheepish look. “I think that bit is her revenge for you ignoring her orders.”

“And what the hell is she doing emailing you about me?” Duo ignored him and continued his rant. “Just because I’m crashing at your place… does that mean everyone has assumed we’re sleeping together? Cause….”

“We are sleeping together,” Zechs growled back. “We’re just not having sex. And she emailed me because you’ve ignored the last five she sent you.” There was a brief pause. “And I don’t think it’s an assumption everyone is making, since only Une and Dr. Po seem to have clued to where you’re living now. Or that Dorothy is living there too.”

Duo suddenly gave up his argument, slumping over to rest his elbows on the desk and his head in his hands. “I just want things to be normal again….”

“When your body figures out that it’s getting enough sleep, they will be.”

“I am trying really hard to sleep…” Duo sighed. “You know I am… I keep you up half the night when I fail. It’s just… if I’m not having nightmares, then I’m having really weird dreams that…. I….”

“What are these dreams you keep having? All you say is that it isn’t a nightmare, but honestly, I can’t tell the difference from outside your head.”

“I can’t tell you…” The answer was muffled.

“Duo…”

“I… I can’t.”

“Are they about Solo…?”

“What?” Duo’s head shot up and he stared at Zechs in horror. “How did you know about Solo….”

I finally got him to talk to me. Zechs shrugged. “You… mistook me for him one night….”

“Shit…” The words were muffled again. “Please tell me I haven’t started talking in my sleep….”

“Not a lot….”

“Oh God….” Duo turned bright red and bolted out of the office, leaving Zechs staring after him in shock.

“What’s up with him…?” Dorothy asked, stepping into the office while looking over her shoulder at the vapor trail Duo had left behind.

“We…were having a small disagreement over his need for coffee… and I asked him about his dreams. He still won’t tell me what’s freaking him out so much, and he’s stopped sleeping well at night again.”

“Hmm.” Dorothy sat down in Duo’s abandoned chair. “Maybe he’s still having the hallucinations that his last partner accused him of.”

“What?” Zechs stared at her. “Why do you think that…?”

“I… um… think something happened a… a few days ago. When we were at my house.” Dorothy looked uncomfortable. “I… he wouldn’t say what was wrong, but when I got back downstairs, he was white as a sheet and breathing hard.”

“And you’re just now telling me this…?” Zechs growled.

“I was hoping to give him time to decide to trust us before I started blabbing his secrets to you.” Dorothy glared back at him, undaunted. “But I just… wondered if you’d noticed anything… odd.”

“No…” Zechs frowned. “Not really. But he does seem extremely reluctant to go anywhere near your place….”

“I had noticed that…” She sighed unhappily. “Maybe I should leave you guys alone for a few nights?”

“No.” Zechs shook his head. “I don’t think changing anything drastically at this point will work.”

“You think we should go after him?”

“Yeah…” Zechs heaved himself out of his chair. “Though he may not want to talk to me since I’m the one that apparently upset him.”

***

“Hey…” Zechs sat down on the other end of the couch from Duo. It had taken longer than he’d liked to find the younger man, and he’d finally resorted to asking Treize where he’d retreated. Duo was curled up in the otherwise empty lounge on the third floor. Since the third floor housed only the record rooms, most people weren’t even aware the lounge was there, much less ever used the corner room.

“Hey.” Duo didn’t look up at him or at Dorothy as she settled herself into a chair nearby.

“You want to tell us what that was all about?” Zechs asked finally.

“Other than me making a complete idiot of myself? No.”

“Duo…” Zechs sighed. “You aren’t an idiot. Stretched a little thin and very stressed, but not an idiot.”

“I’m losing my mind, Zechs.”

“Then you’re in good company.” Dorothy smiled bitterly. “I did tell you a while ago that hanging out with me was <i>not</i> a sign of sanity.”

“I’m serious…” Duo looked up, and his eyes were haunted.

“So am I.”

“Hey,” Zechs interrupted quietly. “None of us are candidates for the sanity poster child. But that doesn’t mean you’re losing your mind. Talk to us, Duo.”

“I… it’s stupid…”

“So…?” Zechs sighed, seeing Treize settle into space near the couch. “I doubt anything you could say will shock us…”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Duo said darkly, resting his head on his arms again.

“Try us,” Dorothy urged, dropping her normal attitude.

“I… the reason Une took me out of the field… is that I keep… hallucinating. Or something.” Duo shivered.

“What do you see, Duo?” Zechs asked soberly, seeing the same concern on Treize’s face.

“That’s what I really don’t want to tell you guys.” The words were a soft mutter. “Please, Zechs…”

“Duo.” Zechs hesitated, not sure how to ask the next question. “Did you ever… were you ever in Epyon? Or did you ever… use the Zero system?” Duo’s head snapped up, and Zechs was aware that Dorothy was also staring at him in shock.

“What?” Duo blinked, looking suddenly wary. “Why?”

“Because if the answer is yes… you aren’t losing your mind,” Zechs said sadly.

There was silence for a long moment. “Both,” Duo finally muttered.

“How…?” Dorothy asked, but it was hard to tell which of them she had directed the question towards.

“I… when I was captured… the second time… I… it was after you’d left Oz,” Duo’s eyes flickered towards Zechs. “Some Colonel… Trant or something, he had a new mobile suit he wanted to test… but his men kept dying. I guess… I had test pilot stamped on my forehead or something.” The young man shivered, curling up tighter into the corner of the couch. “I can’t tell you guys this… you’re the only ones that still talk to me….”

“We aren’t going to stop either,” Zechs muttered fiercely. “No matter what you tell us you’re seeing.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Duo whispered suddenly.

“I am…. Trust me. What about the Zero system?”

“I used it once. I… I couldn’t use it… only Heero and Quatre ever managed to… control it…”

“Zechs, what does this have to do with… anything?” Dorothy asked grimly.

‘You might as well tell them…’ Treize said softly. ‘It may be the only way to get him to tell you what he’s seeing… and I really think we need to know.’

“Yeah,” Duo sighed. “It’s been a long time, Zechs. I hardly think that’s got anything to do with why I suddenly… can’t sleep.”

“I’m not so sure,” Zechs sighed. “Treize… has a theory… that the Epyon AI changes… anyone that uses it. Somehow.”

“Huh?” Two pairs of eyes turned to stare at him. “Changes them how?” Duo shook his head. “Waitaminute… Treize has a theory? Treize is dead…isn’t he?” Duo shook his head. “Maybe I’m not the only one losing his mind.”

“No.” Zechs shook his head. “Treize is very much dead…”

“So…he told you this before he died? Or left you a letter or something, right?” Duo blinked at him uncertainly. Zechs just sighed. Duo paled. “Then… when you told me you were just talking to ghosts…”

“I was.” Zechs looked away from them, suddenly unable to meet either of their gazes. “I— he says it’s because of Epyon— that I can still see him… and talk to him. And he’s not the only one.” He glanced up at the strangled sound from Dorothy. She was staring at her clenched hands in something like shock. “I thought… that it was just my own guilt taking his form… but….”

“But what?” She looked up, her gaze oddly intent. “What made you decide you weren’t crazy?”

“I started seeing Solo. One of Duo’s ghosts.”

She looked blank, but Duo suddenly threw himself off the couch, looking like he was going to bolt again.

“Duo—please,” Zechs caught his wrist. “You have to….”

“I have to what?” Duo shook his head. “I— why can’t I see him, then? Why dammit?”

“I don’t know—except that I don’t think Epyon changed anyone in the same way….”

“So. You see people that are dead…” Duo muttered, then almost reluctantly turned his head to Dorothy. Zechs followed his gaze and swore softly. The blonde woman was rocking slightly, shaking her head. “Doro…?”

“It— it didn’t tell me…” She moaned. “It said no one else could hear, no one else would talk to it….”

“Who…?” Zechs felt his stomach twist at the look on her face.

“I—thought I was—crazy too.” She laughed bitterly, and there was a faint note of hysteria in her voice. “Except that….”

“Dorothy, who?” Zechs let go of Duo, and moved over to crouch in front of her. “It’s okay. Just tell us.”

“Epyon.” Her voice was little more than a whisper. “I… still hear Epyon.”

“Oh…God.” Duo sat down suddenly. “We are so seriously fucked up…”

“Duo…” Zechs sighed, and leaned forwards to wrap his arms around Dorothy. “Doro… hey, don’t break down on us now, girl. You aren’t going crazy, either of you.”

“Yeah, or it’s driving us all insane at the same time,” Duo muttered. “God I wish he’d never built the damned thing.”

“So does he,” Zechs sighed. “But he did, and we have to figure out how to deal with the consequences.”

‘How can she still talk to Epyon?’ Treize frowned. ‘The suit and the AI were destroyed, and so was the Mobile Doll System when the Peacemillion rammed the Libra. How could a computer have a ghost?’

‘Maybe you were a better engineer than you thought and accidentally gave it a soul when you gave it the power to see the future.’

“Dorothy, come on, talk to us…” Zechs tugged her over to the couch to sit between he and Duo. To his relief, the younger man came out of his shock enough to wrap his arms around her too. “How did Epyon survive the Libra’s destruction?”

“I—saved it. I think.” She shrugged. “Why do you think I stabbed Quatre? He was trying to kill it. And— it was so scared of dying.”

“But Epyon was the suit. The doll system was only a corruption.”

“Romefeller.” She took a deep breath. “When I first tried using the system, in Brussels, I… had trouble using it at first. I know Treize had made it for me, but it, we couldn’t communicate quickly enough.”

“I know,” Zechs nodded. “I remember. I had the same problem.”

“The scientists working on the Mobile Doll System figured out that there had to be an interface. They engineered some way to make it work, and implanted the interface into me. I ran— to you, and White Fang. And to where Epyon was.”

“But…”

“Epyon could see the future, all possible futures. It saw that the only futures where it could survive destruction, was to merge with both doll system and the interface. When the suit started taking damage, it downloaded itself into the mobile doll system. And then...started downloading into a mobile. It was only partly done when Quatre reached me. I— I bought it a little more time, but it was still only partly finished when the system was destroyed. I… thought it had been destroyed too. But I think it managed to download part of itself into the interface.”

“But why?”

“I… we were one. And both of us were afraid of dying.” She managed a bitter smile. “We hadn’t learned then that death might have been kinder.”

“Where is it now?”

“Promise me you won’t hurt it.” She gripped his arm tightly. “I know… it’s caused so much damage. But it’s changed too…”

“Dorothy….”

“Promise me… both of you.”

“We promise…” Zechs sighed. “Duo?”

“Y-yeah.” He shrugged. “Not much point now, the damage is done, right?”

Her smile twisted, as she pointed above them, towards her office. “It’s in my computer… when it isn’t in my head.”

“God… Une is gonna flip her lid,” Duo muttered, frowning a little.

“If she finds out.” Zechs shook his head. “She’s… not exactly sane herself thanks to that thing. I don’t think it’s in the best interests of anyone for her to find that bit out quite yet. Not until we figure out the ramifications of this mess.”

“Damn…” Duo squeezed her shoulders again, then leaned back, rubbing his head wearily. “This is not helping my headache any, that’s for sure….”

“I’m sorry, Duo.” Zechs glanced over Dorothy’s bent head at the younger man. “But now we really need to know what you’re seeing, and if it’s caused by Epyon too.”

“I know…” Duo pressed his palms over his eyes. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you that… you’re probably not going to like it.”

“I won’t…” Zechs tried to steel himself, not sure what to expect.

“Um… before I tell you anything….” Duo flushed uncomfortably and looked longingly at the door. “You and Treize… you guys were pretty close, huh?”

“Yes,” Zechs answered, startled by the question. “The best of friends, until I mistakenly thought he’d… betrayed me.”

“But… it was more than that, right?” Duo pressed. “You guys were… really close.”

Zechs went still. “Yes.”

Duo just nodded, and curled up against the arm of the couch. “I… kinda got that… idea.”

‘No one knew that, not even Lady Une….’

“I… when I was a kid… we had to…. Solo said I was the best pickpocket he’d ever seen, ‘cause I always seemed to be able to tell what would be valuable. Just by touching it. I just knew, you know?” He glanced at them. “I never thought about it, it was just…I thought everyone could do it. And it was always kind of vague… nothing specific, just a— a feeling.” As if called, Solo suddenly appeared perched on the arm of the couch Duo was leaning against. He glared briefly at Zechs, but didn’t speak.

After a moment, Duo kept talking. “But… during one of the battles… a board in Deathscythe fried, and I got a pretty big jolt of current. After that, I always piloted in gloves, so I didn’t notice anything weird until after the war. When I was doing salvage with Hilde… when I touched the suits, I would hear the screams of the men that died in them, or… or hallucinate about what they must have seen just before they died….” He threw them a haunted look. “Now… now I think I was seeing what they saw. But at the time, I didn’t know what was wrong. I just knew that… I didn’t want to touch the suits. After a few months, I couldn’t even bear to go to the yard. I thought I was losing it… finally cracking. And then Noin and Hilde hooked up and they left for Mars. Hilde had finally figured out that I… that we weren’t good for each other somehow.” He broke off, and stared blankly at the wall, his head turned away from them. “It was kind of a relief… I’ve always hated lying… ever since the Church… I lied to Sister Helen as she died… telling her she was gonna be okay….”

“Duo…” Dorothy squirmed around in Zechs arms until she could hold onto Duo as he had done for her a few minutes before.

“I… yeah. Anyway… Trowa asked me to join Preventers with him… and we moved here. And everything was… pretty normal, I guess. Until the school shooting…”

“Hmm… so it wasn’t until you stopped sleeping that you started having the hallucinations?”

“Kinda…” Duo shrugged. “Or I just hadn’t touched anything that had been… important to anyone. I… I think I only pick up intense emotion, ‘cause I’ve touched lots of stuff and nothing’s happened, even now.” He frowned. “I… kind of got the feeling that strong emotions were… a big part of it.”

“You touched something in my house, didn’t you?” Dorothy asked quietly. “You looked… like you were in shock, or had seen a ghost or something.” She winced. “No offense Zechs. By the way… Treize is in here, isn’t he?”

“Yes.” Zechs sighed, watching Duo for a long moment before adding, “So is Solo.”

“Solo…?” Duo looked around him almost desperately, as if sheer desire could make the phantom visible. “Where?”

“He’s… sitting next to you.”

“Duo… what did you see?” Dorothy asked reluctantly.

“I… I touched one of the horses… the painted horses in the cabinet.” He didn’t look at her. “I… didn’t know what was happening, but all of a sudden, there were all these overlapping voices, and shouts. I… I thought I was just… you know… but then I looked under the couch… and I found the broken horse you had hidden there.”

“There was a lot of shouting in that house.” Dorothy shuddered. “It would… probably be a bad idea for you to… spend much time there. I… suspect most of the things in that house have been touched with strong emotion.”

“Yeah,” Duo nodded. “I… much prefer Zechs’ place… even with….”

“Even with what?” Zechs asked, puzzled. “I can’t think of anything you would sense in my apartment, I don’t have much that has sentimental value…” He broke off suddenly. “Oh. Shit.”

Duo peeked at him, and sighed. “Um…yeah. That would be…um…why I asked about Treize. I… wasn’t sure I believed you guys…were… um….” He coughed.

“What am I missing here? Oh, you guys didn’t….” Dorothy sounded as if she was caught somewhere between laughter and horror.

“Apparently, sex is also a strong emotion.” Duo winced, and looked back down. Zechs felt as though his face was on fire.

“Yes.” Forcing himself to sound casual was easier when he caught sight of the expression on Treize’s face, since then it took all of his concentration not to start laughing. “You know… I think this has to be the first time I’ve ever seen him blush.”

“Great, I’ve even managed to embarrass the dead. Now do you see why I didn’t want to tell you guys this?”

“Damn, Duo… I’ll trade you.” Dorothy scowled. “Bet it was pretty interesting watching though, huh?”

Duo covered his eyes again, though he was finally starting to see the humor in the situation. “You’re the one with the link to Epyon. Ask it to fix this… or switch things. Then I could talk to Solo, you could play voyeur and Zechs could… um…try not to touch anything.”

“Don’t think it works that way.” She sighed. “I suppose that means you want the couch from now on?”

“I don’t think it would help.” Duo couldn’t help grinning at the look on Zechs face.

“The couch too?” Dorothy couldn’t smother the laughter any longer. “And you have been letting me sleep on it? Zechs…!”