Zechs woke at the soft, muffled groan from his right. Opening his eyes, he glanced over to see that Duo had curled into a tight ball at his side. He tried to ignore the little voice that missed the way Duo normally snuggled closer in his sleep, as he rolled over to touch the younger man’s shoulder.

“Duo…”

There was no response except a faint whimper as Duo curled even tighter into himself.

“Hey…wake up, Duo. It’s okay. Wake up…” Zechs stared helplessly at his friend for a moment, then simply wrapped his arms tightly around the younger man. “Shhh. Easy, kiddo… come on…it’s okay now….”

“Another bad dream?” Dorothy asked from the doorway, shoving long blond hair behind one shoulder.

“Second one tonight.” Zechs freed one hand and started stroking Duo’s hair. The younger man was trembling in his arms, and Zechs was more than a little worried. “Dammit… I thought it was getting better….”

Dorothy sighed, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. “He’s still not sleeping as much as he should… and whether he’ll admit it or not, he’s still depressed about the fact that none of his former friends have even noticed that he moved out of his apartment two weeks ago.”

“Cut them a little slack…” Zechs sighed, though he wasn’t feeling particularly charitable towards Duo’s friends either. “Yuy and Barton left for L3 on an extended mission before Duo officially gave up the apartment. And Winner and Chang have been on L4 for nearly that long.”

“Fine… I’ll give them slack until they get back to earth. If they still don’t notice, all bets are off.” She reached out to smooth Duo’s bangs back from his eyes. Duo flinched, and spoke for the first time.

“Sister…I’m sorry… sorry…was too late…. Tried….”

“Duo… it’s just a bad dream….” Dorothy soothed.

‘It’s not a dream,’ Solo growled, glowing brightly as he appeared next to the bed. ‘It’s a memory.’

“He’s reliving it in his sleep, that makes it a dream,” Zechs snapped at the ghost. “If you’re going to hover, do something constructive and tell me how to make this easier on him….”

“Solo?” Dorothy looked a little disconcerted. “He’s here?”

“Yes.” Zechs glared at the ghost. The ghost glared back, then suddenly sighed and just looked sad.

‘Open his hand.’

“What?”

‘His hand…’ Solo gestured at Duo’s fist where it was clenched tightly around his braid… and something metallic. Zechs frowned, but did as the ghost asked and gently but firmly pried Duo’s hand open. The young man shuddered, and relaxed slightly as an antique cross slipped from between his fingers onto the sheets. Dorothy gasped slightly, taking the suddenly lax fingers in hers to rub the red marks that the cross had left on his palm.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Zechs blinked, picking up the cross gingerly.

‘The nun…’ Solo shrugged. ‘She was still ‘live when he got to th’ church. Died in ‘is arms. She gave it to him… so he’d remember.’ The apparition sat down on the edge of the bed, and reached out a hand to touch Duo; Zechs winced at the pain on his face when his fingers disappeared into Duo’s arm. A moment later, the ghost vanished again. Zechs rubbed his finger over the worn metal surface and sighed bitterly.

“The nun at the church gave it to him as she died…” He shook his head, repeating Solo’s words to Dorothy. “So he’d remember. I’d say it’s working….”

“It had to have been charged with a hell of a lot of emotion… what the fuck is he doing trying to sleep with it on?” Dorothy looked suddenly furious. “No wonder he has nightmares.”

“Calm down…” Zechs sighed, handing the cross to Dorothy and gathering Duo up into his arms. “Duo, wake up…”

“Hmmm?” Duo stirred awake, wincing a little as he tried to flex his hand. “Whassup…?”

“You, finally,” Dorothy muttered. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah… shit. Yeah. Another nightmare? Sorry guys….”

“It’s alright…” Zechs smiled a little sadly. “But we’re gonna have to talk about you sleeping with things that people gave you as they died, kid.”

“Huh…?” Duo blinked, still looking disoriented and more than half-asleep. “What things?”

“This.” Dorothy held up the cross. Duo suddenly flushed.

“Shit… I’m an idiot.” He looked down, and seemed to realize for the first time that he was curled up in Zechs’ arms while Dorothy was holding his hand. He tensed a little, then relaxed fractionally again. “I… didn’t even think. I’ve had that for so long. I’ve always slept with it, especially whenever I was depressed or lonely….”

“You’re not an idiot.” Zechs scowled down at him, letting go a little so that Duo could sit up. “You’re just a creature of habit like the rest of us….”

“Yeah…but my habits are screwing up you guys being able to sleep.” Duo looked at them in embarrassment. “I really am sorry.”

“We forgive you…” Zechs shrugged. “We really aren’t upset that you woke us up.”

Dorothy just nodded her agreement, tightening her fingers as he started to pull his hand away. “Though if you feel really guilty, you can make it up to us.”

“Oh?” Duo threw her a wary look. “How….?”

“Talk to us…” She threw him a sad look. “For someone who talks as much as you do… you keep everything real locked up inside. Let us in…?”

“I….” He laughed a little. “I’ll try.”

“That’s all we can ask.” Zechs sat up the rest of the way, leaning back against the padded headboard; though part of him regretted that Duo had moved out of his arms once he woke up. Great, I’m getting as bad as Dorothy is.

“Thought I was the one throwing the rocks.” Duo glanced up at Dorothy with a half-smile as he leaned back, not appearing to notice that he was resting against Zechs’ shoulder again. The older man smiled a little, both amused and saddened that Duo would find comfort in touch without realizing it. Taking a chance, he wrapped one arm casually around the slender waist. Duo seemed to be oblivious, as he stared moodily down at the braid pooling in his lap. “So what’d you guys want to know?”

They looked at each other, not sure what to ask now that they’d gotten him willing to talk.

“Tell us about Solo,” Zechs asked softly. “He cares so much about you. Was he your brother?”

Duo looked surprised, like he’d expected questions about the massacre instead. But Zechs didn’t want to remind him of that so soon after the nightmare. It had worried him when Duo didn’t wake up. There was silence for a moment, and then Duo started speaking softly. His free hand closed tightly around the braid in his lap, tugging on it nervously.

“Brother…father…mother. He was… everything.” Duo shrugged. “I… don’t know if we were really brothers. He was… just… always there, since I can remember. Taking care of us.”

“Us…?” Dorothy prompted softly.

“The rest of the… the gang. A buncha kids, most even littl’r than me…” Zechs noticed for the first time, that when he thought of Solo, he talked with the same odd accent that the ghost did. “I… vaguely r’member some older kids when I was… really small. But most of the… mostly it w’s just Solo that took care of us. He taught us to steal food ‘n stuff, and how to avoid the bad gangs. Told us stories… bandaged scraped knees an… worse.” Duo broke off, suddenly. “He’s not listening to this, is he?”

“No.” Zechs smiled faintly. “He left already…when you woke from the nightmare.”

“I miss him… so much.” Duo sighed. “Wish I could see him.”

“I know.” Zechs hugged the young man carefully. “I wish you could see how much he still cares for you.”

“He promised, you know….”

“Promised what?”

“That… he would… never leave me.” A single tear slipped down Duo’s cheek. “We… knew he was gonna die… everyone who got sick in the plagues…was dying… and he told me, that I had to promise to be strong, an take care of the really little kids. And in return, he promised me that he would always… be there with me.”

No one spoke for a bit, not sure what to say. Duo sniffed once, as Dorothy’s hand tightened on his. Zechs just hugged the younger man closer to him.

“Zechs…?”

“Yes?”

“Can… you…will you ask him…when he… if he comes back?”

“What kiddo?” Zechs asked softly.

“He… doesn’t think it was my…my fault, does he?” Duo asked, his voice so faint that Zechs could barely make out the words. “I…sometimes I have dreams… that he’s mad at me for not… getting back with the vaccine in time.”

“Oh…Duo…” Dorothy made a choked sound.

“Please, Zechs?”

“I’ll ask him…” Zechs promised quietly. “Though I don’t think it’s really necessary. If he blamed you… he wouldn’t have stuck around watching over you for so long… and he wouldn’t be so damned protective of you.”

“Oh…” Duo sighed. “I… guess not.” Zechs could feel the tension suddenly drain out of him, as Duo relaxed against his shoulder. They sat there in silence for a bit, before Zechs finally realized that Duo had fallen asleep again.

“Duo…?” Dorothy asked, trying futilely to draw her hand back. Zechs smiled as he realized that even asleep, Duo was clinging tenaciously to the comfort of their presence.

“I think you may be stuck for the rest of the night.” Zechs couldn’t quite hide the smirk, as he started the careful process of easing them back down onto the bed without waking Duo.

“Great,” Dorothy muttered. But after a moment, she curled up next to Duo with a contented sigh. Closing his eyes wearily, Zechs started to slip back into sleep himself.

* * *

“I hate people…” Dorothy growled, slinking into the tiny office and slumping down on the pile of cushions that never quite made it back onto the couch in the small lounge. “People suck.”

Zechs exchanged curious looks with Duo over the top of their computers; and as one, both saved their work and turned to look at her.

“What’s up, Doro?” Duo asked quietly.

She glanced up, and then winced as she realized that they were both watching her in concern. “Sorry guys. I’m just… having a crappy day.”

“Would this have anything to do with the fact that Une assigned you a rookie as an officemate?”

“It wouldn’t except that she assigned me an anal retentive, ultra paranoid rookie with no personality as an officemate.” Dorothy growled. “At least she put you two together.” Dropping her head into her hands, she sighed. “Can we go back to working nights? He leaves at exactly 5:10 p.m. every day. You could set a clock by him.”

Duo flinched, feeling guilty that both of them had rearranged their schedules around his problems. Not that I particularly care if I work days or nights.

“Actually…” Zechs frowned thoughtfully. “I had been thinking of asking Une for a different office.” Duo felt his stomach twist, and guilt hit him. God, have I been that bad as an officemate?

Zechs glanced up at the sudden silence, and looked startled at the expressions on their faces. “I was hoping for one that was big enough to actually fit another chair into or a small couch, so that one of us wasn’t always having to either sit or nap on the floor.”

“Oh.” Duo finally found his voice.

“Since Dorothy has been spending more time in here, and you are still falling asleep at odd times.” Duo flushed in embarrassment. “Your body is still trying to make up for lost sleep, Duo. It’s not a problem.”

“Actually…” Dorothy looked thoughtful. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“Yeah. Except there aren’t any bigger offices available.” Duo shook his head slowly.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Zechs smiled suddenly. “And about the fact that we’re…still having a little trouble trying to adjust to working set hours, and settling three people into my apartment.”

“And have you come up with anything?” Dorothy asked hopefully.

“Maybe. I think we’ve been looking at this all wrong.”

“How so?” Duo blinked.

“For the last few weeks, we have been trying to fit ourselves to Une’s rules, when for the past eleven months, at least Dorothy and I have been deliberately falling through the cracks and ignoring them. And as I recall, the Gundam Pilots weren’t exactly known for doing things by the book. Most terrorists don’t, it’s too predictable and easier to get caught.”

“So…?”

“So, I say we throw out the rule book,” Zechs shrugged. “Make our own rules.”

“Une’s not going to like that one,” Duo whispered.

“She’s not going to have a choice,” Zechs sighed. “She can’t afford to lose us, it’s why she’s let it slide for as long as she has. We’re some of her best, even if no one else wants to admit it.”

“But that doesn’t help with the problem of there not being any larger offices available.”

“So we don’t use an office.”

“Ok… you lost me there.” Duo blinked.

“I was checking the floorplan of the building out.” Zechs shrugged. “Did either of you know that there even was a conference room on the third floor?”

“Um…no?” Duo blinked.

“It’s never been used, really. I think it was put there more as an afterthought than anything else. The third floor houses most of the file and record rooms, as I’m sure Duo knows. There aren’t really any offices on that level, and the main conference rooms are on either this floor or the one above it.”

“So… you want to take over the conference room on the third floor, and turn it into a really big office.” Dorothy smiled. “I like the idea already.”

“Not just that… the other reason that no one uses the conference room on the third floor, is because to get to it, you have to go through the lounge that we were sitting in the other day.”

“Zechs, buddy, you are a genius.” Duo laughed, then sighed. “We just have to convince Une to let us have it….”

“Leave that to me…” Zechs smiled, glad to see both of his partners happy again.