*thwack...thwack...thwack*

The sound was rhythmic as it echoed throughout the forest like some sort of ancient tribal drum beat.

*thwack...thwack...thwack*

A lone figure can be seen standing amidst the trees in the dense forest, with an axe he works on chopping down a large tree.

*thwack...thwack...crack*

With one final swing the tree gives and beings to fall directly toward the unknown figure who deftly moves to the side effortlessly as the mighty tree falls at his feet. As the snow sent flying by the thud of the tree the figure comes into better focus. He stands over six feet tall, his head is bald, his goatee hangs down off his face a few inches. He is wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, some old sneakers and a pair of sunglasses that hide his eyes.

Pausing for a moment before going back to work we are able to get a look at his chiseled frame, more importantly his chest. Right in the middle of his chest is a fresh tattoo of a strange looking skull with two sabers behind it and on his shoulders are two circular scars.

*thwack...thwack...thwack*

He goes back to work chopping up the tree into pieces he can carry back to his cabin, for here in Siberia warmth is key. Yet here is this figure, this man standing before us shirtless and unaffected by the cold. It seems as if he relishes it, that he prefers to be in this barren land of cold and death.

*thwack...thwack...thwack*

In no time at all the tree is cut up into pieces that are loaded onto a sled and dragged back to a small cabin by the figure. As he empties the wood into a holder near the door of the cabin we see some familiar tattoos on the figures back. He is Sano, or rather he was before coming back here, coming back to the place of his greatest sin.

He is not sure how long it has been, how long since Duo pinned him to the ground before going off to committ suicide as time has blurred for him. But time is of no consequence, he has no one, is no one, and has no need to know what day it is anymore. Looking up at the setting sun the figure before us bends over and picks up a few pieces of wood. Pausing at the door for a moment he looks over at a spot near the start of the forest.

"Sam," he mutters under his breath as he opens the door and enters the cabin, alone with his sins as he should be.

Her breath's warm touch turned to mist as the cold winds engulfed it, making it visible to her before her eyes, twisting and manifesting in a spiralled, ghostly mass to then disperse until her next breath joined it...

It had been a trial to even come close to locating him...but she had to try, despite what the fact that he had asked her not to.

But she couldn't let things rest, he had simply disappeared, the last time she had seen him was when he was a bloodied mess upon the ground, stapled in place by her energy spears, looking at her with unshielded eyes...

She had to find him, just to know he was alright...in her trying to protect her friends it looked like she may have lost Sano...trampled upon his courage since he had begun to open up only for her to itch him to the side because she had been suffering...God she just needed to know he was ok!

"Geeze babe you on half pick one doozy of a place to come to, I've freezing my fenders off here!"

Duo groaned aloud at the ramblings of Electro, Supersonic's faithful but self-involved bike!

"Oh well, at least your keeping my seat warm, that's the important thing" He said, his engine purring.

It had seemed obvious once the solution had been put before her, the cocky, arrogant bike had finally shown it's true worth by suggesting that he could do a bio-scan to try and detect Sano. She had gratefully scanned in the letter that Sano had sent to her at the hospital and "walla", he had picked up a faint trail which they had been following ever since!

And Electro had only been too willing to come along for the ride...although Duo had had doubts as to whether using Marxy's bike was such a good idea...especially since...

She'd cut out those thoughts; Sano was what was important at the moment...

So there she was, dressed in skin tight white trousers, clutching to her to keep in the heat, she had a matching skin tight zip up top over which she wore a thick, padded coat, the hood pulled up and she wore a set of goggles to protect her eyes from the chilling winds as she travelled, surrounded by crystal snow, unblemished save for the tyre tracks she and Electro left behind in their wake as they searched for her friend...

The bio signal was getting clearer...but they still had a search area of a few miles...

"Sano..." she whispered, her breath written in the air, "Where are you...?"

Tossing two fresh logs onto the fire going in the fireplace, Sano took the caribou off the spit that he had killed earlier that day. His cabin was sparse, limited to one room with a fireplace in the back, a table along the right wall and a bed along the left wall. Sitting down at the table, Sano cut off pieces of the caribou and enjoyed another dinner alone. Preserving the rest of the meat so as not to waste it, Sano moved over to his bed and meditated as he had done every day since he had gotten to Siberia.

Floating inches above his bed Sano began to meditate to clear his mind and try and figure out his place in this world. As he meditated Sano found his mind wandering back to the day Duo had tried to committ suicide, the day she had betrayed his trust. Flashing before his eyes was the look on Duo's face as she speared him to the ground. Starting to twitch and lose his concentration Sano snapped out of his meditative trance with a start.

"Damn it," Sano said as he stood up next to his bed, "why can't I get her out of my head."

Reaching under the bed Sano pulled out the guns Duo had given to him and a sword he purchased in Japan on his journey to Russia. Putting the guns behind his back Sano headed outside to practice his martial arts. Walking over to his usual training spot, Sano tossed the sword's sheath over into the snow nearby. Starting slow and moving through his paces Sano moved the sword around himself with deadly accuracy.

Continuing through his routine Sano started to pick up speed as the sword became nothing more than a blur before his eyes. Sweat dripping down his forehead Sano pushed himself further and faster as his movement was tracked in the snow.

"And I thought my engine was loud!" Electro jibed as Duo's stomach made evident to the world that she was hungry!

Duo blushed faintly; although it wasn't blatantly obvious since3 her cheeks were already a rosy pink from the cold, the two ground to a halt and Duo dismounted, ignoring how Electro complained that his seat was now going to get cold!

"Come one babe, get back on, you know you love to ride me!" A stream of mechanical laughter accompanied the words as Electro laughed at his own crude wit!

"Hush Electro! And stay still!!!" Duos scolded as she went to remove her rucksack from Electro's side.

"Ah come on, most girls like it when I move!" Electro sniggered, moving back and forth to evade her hands.

"Electro for the love of Pete stay still!!!" Duo said with clear annoyance in her tone, she was shivering faintly from the chilled air and as her stomach had already testified to she was beyond hungry.

"Now where are your manners Duo!? Say pretty please!"

Duo, having had to travel with the annoying, self-involved, crude-minded cycle for a little more than a week now was reaching her tolerance maximum!!!

She bent forward, jerking her arm in a rash, hard movement and snared her backpack which had gradually been getting lighter as the two had travelled, for the briefest of moments a look of exalted triumphant lit up her face only to be engulfed in contorted pain.

Duo let out a pained yell as she lost her balance and collided into the snow; her jagged movement to grab her bag had resulted in her jolting her back sharply!

It had been about a month since she had cut off her wings in an attempt to end her own life, and even after all this time her back was still a horrific shade of blue! The healing process barely taking effect...she hadn't wanted her wings, a gift from heaven, and they were making her suffer for it, especially since her wrist was fast on track to being healed, still firmly clasped in a bandage it was healing nicely.

"Duo, are you ok? What happened!!!!???" Electro babbled rushing to her side!

"I'm...I'm fine...I just...keep forgetting how fragile my back still is" she moaned as she cringed but gritted her teeth, she replaced the bag on Electro, her appetite quenched from the pain. Using Electro, she pulled herself up and clambered onto him.

"Let's just keep moving ok?" Duo spoke quietly.

"Ok Duo..." he said softly, Electro said as he let the girl lean forward, resting her head on his tank, "We're close Duo..." he whispered reassuringly to her as the continued looking for Sano...

*swish...swish...swish*

As Sano moved about the air cutting before him, his motions seemed to blend into one fluid movement.

*swish...swish...swish*

His feet gliding over the snow Sano sped up his movement as the sweat dripping off his face dotted the snow around him.

*swish...swish...swish*

Beginning to breath heavy Sano pushed himself onward, faster, longer, all in an attempt to drive the memories that had been hauting him.

Bringing the sword down in front of him for one final strike, Sano held that position while he caught his breath. He had done this routine every time he felt his mind wandering to Duo, to that moment she betrayed him. He had only ever opened himself up and shown his true self to two people, on of them died for it and the other shut him out. Walking over to where his sheath landed, Sano picked it up and resheathed his sword.

Heading over to the center of his practice 'pit' Sano floated up into an indian style sitting position and lifted the sword in front of him. Closing his eyes Sano began to meditate again as he kept a close 'eye' on the world around him. After this kind of exposure to such extreme temperatures most people would have succumb to frostbite, but with his telekinesis and healing powers Sano was at home in the cold. His breath visible before him Sano slowly brought his breathing back down to normal as his mind cleared and he left the world behind.

The calm purring of Electro's engine soothed the tired girl's mind as she drifted into a half asleep, half awake doze, her body relaxing as her mind wondered.

She floated in a coloured abyss, the auras of the world flaring in their individual colours, she swam through them with ease...

Twenty minutes must have passed when Duo suddenly shot upright into a seated position with a gasp, instantly groaning with regret as pain sparked throughout her back again, she gritted her teeth hard and pushed it aside!

She had sensed him...she was sure of it!

Duo concentrated hard, scanning the area with heightened alert, trying to pinpoint the source!
"Electro that way!!!" Duo yelled, excitement obvious her tone as she grasped a hold of the handle bars as tightly as she could with her injured wrist, the two sped off at neck-breaking speed, the snow kicking up about them like a white fountain in full flow.

With every second that passed she could feel the aura imprint growing in intensity.

The two skidded to a deafening halt, the snow spraying to the side as Electro's tyres grooved into the ground.

Duo ripped off the goggles she donned so she could see clearly as her heart thumped hard in her chest from the adrenaline rush of the ride and from finally seeing her friend...

"Sano..."

As Sano meditated he found himself at peace, which for him these days was an abnormailty. Floating above the snow Sano breathed gently as he embraced the emptiness around him. Most people would have gone crazy after having spent so much time alone with no human contact, but for Sano this was a welcome escape.

Meditating amidst the vast nothingness Sano felt his concentration slipping as he heard something mechanical moving in the distance. Refocusing his mind Sano kept close watch on whatever it was that was getting closer and closer to him. Gripping his sword a little tighter with his mind Sano listened as whatever the noise was stopped moving closer and something crunched down hard on the snow.

"Sano..."

Snapping his eyes open at the mention of his name Sano unsheathed his sword and sent it flying in the direction of the voice. Seeing who had spoken his name Sano stopped the sword mere centimeters from Duo's throat. For the past month Sano had done nothing but attmept to get Duo out of his mind and now standing before him was the very woman he wanted to forget.

"I told you not to find me," Sano yelled his voice laced with unbridled anger, "leave this place...NOW."

Duo's eyes flared wide with unguarded fear as Sano's blade halted bare centimetres from her neck, her breath caught sharply in her lungs as her eyes flickered over the beautifully crafted sword, but it took nothing away from the fear she felt at it being aimed at her throat!

"I told you not to find me, leave this place...NOW."

Confusion was evident on Duo's face as Sano yelled at her, his usual mellow attitude other thrown by raw anger, his aura hiding nothing...he was hiding nothing...

Duo's gaze fluttered to the ground, where the snow had been disturbed by her presence, compacted down by her trodden steps...disrupting its purity...

She kept her gaze firmly clasped on the white enveloped ground, she was half tempted to replace her goggles over her eyes to hide the pain that she was sure was embellished in them...

"Hey dude I don't know what you think you're doing but we just spent the last week freezing our fenders off searching for your sorry butt so don't start ragging on her!" Electro injected revving his engine threateningly.

"I'm not leaving Sano..." Duo whispered, calming and stunning the enraged cycle to silence. She moved around the floating knife and began to slowly walk towards the more than pissed of telepath.

As she got closer, she noticed the fresh tattoo on Sano's chest...but that was not the only new thing to lace his body...

They were distinct, the circles almost perfect and crafted from scarred tissue...one on each shoulder, reminders...

She stopped dead in her tracks a few feet from him, her eyes firmly drawn to the circular discs of scarred flesh...the results of her energy spears...

"Oh God..." she whispered, her voice a pained moan, "Sano...please..." she couldn't think of the words to express how sorry she was for hurting him, she knew when she speared him that it would be painful, but he always seemed to recover unscathed from his injuries...she had scarred him physically, he had a right to be mad at her, more than a right...

But she sensed there was something much deeper...something she didn't truly understand...she pulled her gaze from Sano's body to his face...over his eyes were his customary red lensed sun glasses...she couldn't see his eyes...

"I'm not leaving, not now that I have found you!" Duo said determinedly, she had been slowly going spare, just like when she believe Raido to be dead...when she had discovered he was alive...there was nothing on hell or earth that would have stopped her from finding him...Sano had been the same.

"I'm not leaving!"

"I'm not leaving Sano..."

Holding steady Sano watched as Duo slowly maneuvered around the sword he was holding at her throat and walked a little closer to him before stopping suddenly.

"Oh God... Sano...please..."

"You like the new additions," Sano growled as Duo looked at the two scars on his chest, "no matter where I go you're always with me now."

"I'm not leaving, not now that I have found you! I'm not leaving!"

Dropping his feet to the ground, Sano pulled his sword to him with his telekinesis and took a step forward as he brought the tip of the blade up to Duo's throat.

"Yeah, you found me," Sano said angrily, "you want a medal for that."

Turning the blade sideways, Sano tensed his muscles as he felt his anger level rising higher than it had been in a long time.

"I told you not to come after me," Sano yelled, "didn't you do enough that day, aren't the scars enough for you."

His breathing deepening, short slow bursts of air visible in the cold, Sano did everything he could to hold his anger back.

"Why did you come here," Sano barked his anger spilling over, "WHY MUST YOU TORMENT ME?"

In that instant Sano released a massive wave of telekinetic energy that sent Duo flying backwards towards Electro. As he released some of his anger Sano's mind flashed back to the day he decimated the military base he was stationed at. Flashing before his eyes were images of his friend Sam strung up in his room, of himself destroying the base and killing everyone inside, and of Duo spearing him to the ground. Sano's mind had never been completely stable, and in this moment it was teetering on the edge of cracking.

"Leave this place," Sano said not taking his eyes off of Duo, "now."

"Yeah, you found me, you want a medal for that."

Duo's breath halted, a frozen bubble in her throat where Sano aimed his sword, her pale throat trembled slightly as the blade held steady, bare millimetres from her...but that wasn't what chilled her inside...it was Sano's tone...and the pure, unbridled pain in his aura that flared a malicious red...

"I told you not to come after me, didn't you do enough that day, aren't the scars enough for you."

Duo's brow furrowed and she swallowed hard, she had wanted this...wanted her friends to hate her, be disgusted with her foul presence to free them from guilt once she had past on...but death had failed to claim her...

"Why did you come here, WHY MUST YOU TORMENT ME?"

Duo was unprepared for the blast of telekinesis that sent her hurtling back towards Electro, she crashed into the ground and yelled aloud as pain encased her back, the bruised and swollen flesh erupting in sheer agony and a kaleidoscope of elaborate dots consumed her vision...but she could still hear him...

"Leave this place, now."

"Duo!!!" Electro yelled and positioned himself between the fallen girl and the enraged telepath. Training his guns on Sano he revved his engines angrily as he prepared to fire!

"Electro..." Duo gasped out painfully as she rested her palms on the snow covered ground, the snow condensing beneath her touch, she applied more of her weight onto her uninjured wrists, but her arms shook as they supported her weight, trying to struggle to a standing position. "Don't Electro..." She grunted, straightening her back and her eyes blazed as she tried to control her composure over the pain...

Duo wavered slightly on her feet, resting her uninjured hand on Electro, discreetly letting him support a little of her weight. She was weak, without her wings her ability to control her energy spears had also wavered, she was injured and...as a recent event had shown...she was far from able to fully protect herself. If he wanted retribution for the scars that laced his body he could take it, if it would ease his mind he could pummel her into the ground...another beating to join the others she had endured...

But his aura revealed that there was something much deeper to which she wasn't privy to...this was more than the fact that he had been injured, he, most likely, like herself had endured many injuries in his life...no this went deeper...to a level that Duo didn't understand...

"How could I not come after you?!" Duo hissed out, not hiding the confused anger in her tone. "You just disappeared with nothing but a letter and I'm expected to simply forget you!" She said, her voice growing in volume as she clenched her working fist. "You think that I've come here to gloat and deliberately cause you pain? I don't blame you for hating me," it was the absolute truth, each and every person she had ever come into contact with deserved to hate her. "It just shows that you know the real me if you do...you said you wanted to..." he voice trailed off as the emotion peaked to the point that speech became difficult.

Watching as Duo hit the snow and grimaced in pain from the force of his telekinetic push, something twinged inside of Sano. As he stood there starring at Duo his mind began playing tricks on him and soon Sano wasn't seeing Duo at all. Watching the figure before him slowly climb off the ground Sano saw the image of someone he hadn't seen alive in too long. Oblivious to everything else around him at that moment, Sano watched as his dead friend Sam picked herself up off the snow as if resurrected.

For a moment Sano didn't care if he was hallucinating or not, he didn't care if his mind had made it all up, for that moment Sam was alive, illusion or not. Of course it was just an illusion and Sano soon realized that as his vision of the world came back to normal and he saw Duo propping herself up on Electro. Seeing Duo again brought Sano back to reality and brought his anger back to the forefront.

"How could I not come after you?! You just disappeared with nothing but a letter and I'm expected to simply forget you!"

"Yeah, you are," Sano replied angrily, "you're expected to forget me just like everyone else did, and just like you wanted everyone to forget you."

You think that I've come here to gloat and deliberately cause you pain? I don't blame you for hating me, It just shows that you know the real me if you do...you said you wanted to..."

"I don't care what you came here for, that doesn't matter," Sano said growling, "the fact that you came is bad enough."

"If that was the real you I saw that day than I'm sorry I know you," Sano barked not caring what he said at this point, "the person I saw that day was nothing more than a scared little girl too weak to stand up for herself and thats not someone I want to know."

Resheathing his sword Sano looked Duo in the eyes and said in a more compassionate tone, "Leave this place, before it takes you. You're too weak to survive here anyway."

"If that was the real you I saw that day than I'm sorry I know you, the person I saw that day was nothing more than a scared little girl too weak to stand up for herself and thats not someone I want to know."

Duo felt her eyes well instantly with pain tears and she lowered her gaze as he ripped into her. She closed off her aura reading abilities as the furious fire of his soul hit her harder and was far more painful than the telekinetic blast that her struck her to the ground!

<You wanted this...you wanted them to hate you...> her mind taunted her, and it was true...but through it all, through the whole event of Lister striving to drive her to the brink of her sanity...Sano had been one of the few who had truly understood...

"Leave this place, before it takes you. You're too weak to survive here anyway."

Duo eyes flared violet, they were wide and the crystal tears that framed her orbs reflected the intense light as she raised her gaze to meet his!!!

"Don't you dare call me weak!" She hissed in vindictive spite! Despite the pain that wreaked havoc on her damaged wrist both her hands clenched tight into pale pallid fists.

"I have lasted for bloody 55 years in hell so don't you dare accuse me of being weak..." A few stray tears traced the path of her face, quickly chilling almost to become ice. "After everything I have suffered I'd be dead inside not to have a breaking point...and you're right, I couldn't defend myself..." concentrating hard she conjured a single energy spear, normally it would have been effortless to conjure an entire army of spears but that ability seemed to have deserted her along with her wings...he probably didn't even know that she was without her wings...

"But it looks like I'm not the only one who has a breaking point!" She screamed back at him and drilled the spear close to his feet in her rage, as she turned and jumped onto Electro who without a word the cycle sped off with the girl as she tried desperately to swallow her tears but they refuse to yield to her will...

Sano was right...she was weak...

"Don't you dare call me weak! I have lasted for bloody 55 years in hell so don't you dare accuse me of being weak... After everything I have suffered I'd be dead inside not to have a breaking point...and you're right, I couldn't defend myself..."

"Trying to finish what you started last time huh," Sano growled as he watched a teary eyed Duo conjure a single energy spear, "well with only one shot you better make it count."

"But it looks like I'm not the only one who has a breaking point!"

"What a surprise," Sano yelled as Duo jumped on to Electro and took off, "couldn't kill yourself properly either."

Watching as Duo sped off on Electro Sano felt his breathing pick up as his energy was still building to the point of boiling over. Hitting his own breaking point Sano tensed every muscle in his body, threw back his head and arms and let out a scream that pierced the heavens. At the same time unleashed a massive burst of telekinetic energy that tore through the forest leveling everything in front of him. Untensing his body and breathing heavy from the exhaustion of releasing so much engery Sano looked in front of him to see the destruction he had caused.

The forest in front of him was decimated, the damage spanning at least a half a mile wide and a mile deep. Disgusted with himself for allowing his anger to build up and manifest itself so powerfully again Sano threw his sheathed sword into the snow in front of his cabin. Feeling a few snow flakes hit his exposed head, Sano looked to the sky and watched as more flakes danced down from the heavens. Looking to the west, Sano watched the last of the sunset as the sun lit the sky up a crimson red.

His anger released and his energy expended, Sano felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him as he turned back to his cabin. Picking his sword out of the ground it had stuck into Sano headed in to his cabin in the hopes of getting some sleep. Placing the guns and his sword under his bed, Sano put on his shirt and hoodie, and layed down as the wind and snow began to pick up outside. Closing his eyes Sano quickly found the sweet release of sleep and was out before he could dwell on what had just happened.

Duo clasped tightly to Electro as he sped away at top speed, Sano's scream drifting in her ears as she sped away, hoping the roaring winds would wash the renewed pain from her as she felt the beginnings of sobs develop in her chest.

Electro continued to speed away, remaining silent as the girl that rode him tried to stem the tears that continued to fall onto his tank.

"Electro...stop..." Duo managed to choke out.

"Duo I think we should head home, I can have you back at Super's in a second..."

"I SAID STOP ELECTRO!!!" She suddenly screamed, the fright of the sudden eruption caused the cycle to screech to a halt, his tyres hot against the snow causing it to melt to a liquid.

Duo quickly dismounted the cycle, stumbling slightly she caught herself quickly and began to run from the cycle, not wanting to be around anyone, too many people had seen her cry her heart to the point it was dry...if Electro had his way he would take her back to Marxy...

"Duo!" Electro yelled following the girl as she stumbled through the white undergrowth, in a flash he was back in front of her, barring her path. "Duo please, you're upset...let me take you home...Marx's been worrying."

"THAT'S NOT MY HOME...He's not..." Duo covered her quivering mouth with her hand as flash backs of a one of her last encounters with Supersonic flew through her mind, her back throbbed at the memory...

She had wanted them to hate her...it looks like she'd gotten what she wanted.

"Please Electro...I just need some thinking time..." she said weakly her voice trailing off as she looked at Electro with disbelief in her eyes..."he's been worrying...you've been...you've been communicating with him!!!???" She asked, her voice low in pitch and fuming.

"Is that why you were so willing to help me find Sano!? So you could keep tabs on me for him!!!???"

"Duo no it wasn't like that..." Electro stammered...

Duo breath was coming in fast, rapid intakes...she was loosing it again...and this time she was by herself...

"Stay away from me Electro..." she whispered menacingly, "Stay the hell away!"

"Duo, don't do this...you're upset..."

Without warning Duo's thermal scythe was in hand with the thermal blade aimed at Electro's front tyre. "Electro, leave me alone!"

Electro shied away from the heat of the blade, "alright Duo...you need some time, I get that...but I am not deserting you...I'll be on my com-link if you need me." Electro turned to left, leaving nothing but his heated tracks in the melted snow.

The thermal blade fizzled and died as with a flick of her working wrist she summoned it away, she stood there for a moment or two, the silence pounding her ears as though to smother her and her limbs felt slightly numb from the cold...

She wished she was numb inside...

As Sano slept peacefully the snow and wind raged outside as they did often in this part of the world. Outside his little cabin Sano would have been able to see no more than five feet in front of his face were he actually awake. But he was not awake, and despite his hopes for a decent night sleep, Sano's mind was about to mirror the conditions outside.

Sleeping peacefully Sano suddenly began to twitch slightly as he began to dream, or re-live old memories more specifically. Seeing Duo earlier had rattled Sano more than he had let on and his mind was beginning to manifest those feelings in his dreams. As he slept Sano began watching his last few days at the base, the most painful days of his life.

Starting to toss and turn Sano saw everything that he had already lived through and tried to forget. Once those visions ended however, Sano's mind was not done turturing him yet as his dreams skipped forward to the last time he saw Duo. Watching himself getting speared all over again Sano could see the pain in Duo's eyes as she put him down.

Sweating as he tossed around Sano saw the worst moments of his life in his dreams over and over again. As it had done so many times before Sano's mind was betraying him while he slept, and while the world continued on without him.

The gruelling chill of the winter's land in which she roamed was far from wondrous as she trudged through the white mass, the occasional burst of wind tore through her frame and she wrapped her slender arms protectively about herself as though to contain the precious heat generated by her body from escaping into the bitter air.

How Sano had been able to endure this cold let alone topless was beyond her!!!

Duo wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of freezing to death, suicide was no longer a focus in her mind, only a fluttering notion in the very outskirts, she had tried twice already, once by removing her wings and once with an energy spear, a final desperate attempt. But Marxy had stopped both attempts…determined to keep her alive, as had Sano at one point...it looked like he had stopped caring now...

Duo was still upset and fuming, the cold air doing nothing to numb her emotions as she summoned her scythe again and with a single slash she ripped down several branches that fell to the floor, she clumped them together and made a ragged fire, lighting it with a faint touch from her scythe.

Settling down she huddled near the flimsy fire, the smoke rising high into the air, the heat was sincerely welcomed as Duo breathed deeply...

She didn't know exactly how she had expected things to pan out...she hadn't expected Sano to batter her away with his telekinesis...but she hadn't expected a open armed greeting neither...

"I can't just leave..." Duo muttered to herself, watching the dancing flames before her, weaving their bodies through the air as they consumed the oxygen. "Dammit Sano...why wouldn't you listen to me...?" she whispered weakly...

Perhaps if she wasn't so absorbed in her own self pity she would have noticed it, if she hadn't have shut off her aura reading abilities she would have sensed them, rustling through the undergrowth with uncanny silence...two sets of eyes trained on her...

Duo gently brushed her finger tips over her bandaged wrist, fiddling with the bandage as her mind wondered, her wrist was healing well but was still sore and aching and the cold wasn't helping it!

"FREEZE!!!" The loud bellow snapped the girl out of her musings as her head jerked upwards, eyes wide and her expression confused as she focussed on the figure that had sprung from the shrubbery. He was tall and broad, this was obvious despite the white cargo gear that he donned, she was dwarfed compared to him and his piercing blue eyes bore into her...but her main focus was on the semi-automatic rifle aimed at her head.

Duo made to move into a fighting stance when a low feral growl from behind her made her turn sharply to see a second soldier blocking her back, Duo developed a scowl as she looked between the two of them, their looks determined and cold and their guns trained on her!

"Drop to your knees, now!" The second soldier demanded, motioning with his gun, his finger itchy on the trigger.

Duo quickly analysed the situation, both the men were much larger than her in both height and weight and it didn't help that her injured body was only going to hinder her more! Summoning her scythe would only give them reason to shoot and there was no way she could dodge bullets to close the distance between them so she could use it! Her only hope was her energy spears and even then that was risky...

With a disdainful look Duo lowered herself gently to her knees, keeping her face passive as not to reveal the extent of her injuries, not wanting them to use them to their advantage.

Blue eyes stalked in closer, his eyes never leaving her frame as he ordered her to remove her jacket and then to place her hands behind her head. Duo obliged them, painfully aware of their guns on her, willing to fire at the slightest hint of danger she reached for her zip and peeled of the white jacket, biting her lip to prevent from cringing due to her back. She threw the jacket towards blue eyes feet with her good hand, the bandage round her wrist now perfectly visible for both the soldiers to see, even more so as she placed her hands behind her head.

The second soldier, armed not only with his gun but a vicious smirk examined the jacket and found her T-Terminal. "She has a communicator." He said in a Neanderthal tone.

"Keep your gun trained on her!" Blue eyes ordered as he bent down next to her, with his free hand he began to search her, his hands tracing her inner thighs and working upwards, seeming to take extra time and assurance in some places.

His eyes met the silent fury in hers and he gave her a cocky smirk. "Best bit of the job this!" He said with a wink as his hand tucked into the back pockets of her trousers.

As the two soldiers searched her Duo's anger manifested silently and she concentrated hard, if either of them had been focussing on the barrel of their guns they may have seen a faint red glow developing in them as the captive girl conjured the beginnings of a small spear in each barrel.

Blue eyes pulled his hand out of her pockets and patted her back down searching for hidden weapons and Duo hissed loudly instinctively she took her hands from her head to stop him.

In a flash he had her broken wrist snared in a painful grip and she yelled aloud, leaning forward into the snow that chilled her as he twisted the damaged wrist and in a hard voice! "Don't you dare move bitch!" He yanked her back into a kneeling position by her wrist and she winced as she was order to once again place her hands behind her head, her wrist throbbing.

Blue eyes moved around behind her, grabbing the bottom of her top he yanked it upwards to reveal the severe bruising and lesions to the flesh of her back. "Looks like you're good at pissing people off!" He whispered into her ear as she shook fro her exposed skin to the blistering chill.

"Hey you might wanna stay like that, I've got a good view from here!" said the soldier with an extra cocky grin as he looked at Duo.

"Rot in hell!" Duo yelled aloud and suddenly, her eyes blazing a magnificent violet both the soldiers yelled in alarm as the spears she had nestled in their gun barrels expanded at an incredible rate, blowing the gun barrels apart and rendering them useless. Instantly Duo was on her feet, thermal scythe in hand as she swung with the metallic end at Blue eye's head, hoping to smack the dumb git unconscious!

With uncanny speed blue eyes dodged, reaching for his book her ripped out a knife that had been concealed near his ankle, as did the second soldier.

<This is so seriously not good! > Duo cursed; if only she hadn't ripped into Electro...right now she was alone with two brutes of men looking like they were up for slicing and dicing her. Her wrist was agony causing the blood to pound heavily in her ears as she glanced from side to side, spinning her scythe threateningly, the green glow of the blade reflecting of the scowls on their faces.

Their moves were synchronised, working as a unit, trained and specialised to feed off on another and overwhelm their opponent, Duo span her scythe, parrying their blows as fast as she could, feeling the strain on her back as she dodged from side to side.

Blue eyes dashed down towards her legs and she brought the bladed end of her scythe down to block his attack, leaving the top of her body unguarded and the cocky smirking git lunged forward and sliced deeply into the top of her arm. She screamed aloud in pain and her grip on her scythe slacked and Blue eyes shot up from the floor to knock it from her grasp!

before the injured girl could even contemplate conjuring some energy spears Blue eyes speared her, back first into a tree, the bruising and swelling on her back flared and several of the recently sealed lesions on her back reopened, along with the fresh cut to her arm her white top began to eagerly soak up the blood dripping from her frame as her vision became scared with an array of brightly coloured dots. Her head lulled forward slightly, almost touching the chest of Blue eyes who held her in place. "Is that the best you can do!?" He taunted, pulling her from the tree and them punching her in the face so she spun away from him into his partner who had been waiting behind.

Her vision still blurred she could only feel the pain as the giant of a man encircled her small frame in a bear hug, picking her clear from the ground with no effort at all and crushing her to his chest. She would have screamed if the air hadn't been forced fro her lungs, she couldn't struggle and her eyes were slowly drifting closed.

"I love it when a woman goes weak at my touch." He said with a laugh to his partner.

"I don't know how she destroyed our guns but she is definitely not just a lost tourist, and that communicator seems far to technologically advanced to simply be the latest model of mobile phone. She needs to be detained" He concluded, pulling out a set of handcuffs and motioning for his partner to loosen his grip so he could place them on her.

As air returned to Duo's lungs she had but a second to act, with a rush of angered power she summoned a spear and drilled it into the knee of the brute holding her, as he crumpled to the ground her released her and despite the horrific pain the was consuming a large portion of her body she reached out and grabbed her confiscated T-Terminal.

"ELECTRO!!!" She yelled into it before her braid was snared by Blue eyes who ripped her back and pulled her to the ground.

His engine was thunderous in her ears as Electro appeared at super speed, ramming hard into Blue eyes, getting him away from Duo.

"Duo, Duo get up, come on!!!" He yelled to her, he couldn't help her from the floor; she would have to climb onto him for them to get away. "COME ON DUO!!!" He screamed at her frantically.

Duo pushed herself with great strain from the stained snow floor, blood was dripping from her sliced arm and back, her wrist was agony, blue eyes had probably set that healing process back a week or two and the right side of her face was slowly swelling from the punch she had received. She managed to remain standing for literally 2 seconds before she stumbled into Electro and managed to scramble onto his back.

Electro was off in a shot, leaving the two soldiers behind in the alcove...

"Duo, are you alright, duo!?" Electro asked, the anxious worry evident in his tone.

Duo, groggy in the head from the pain in her body and the hit to her face, she tried to concentrate on his voice. "I'm...I'm...fine..." she muttered out, feeling a wave of dizziness.

"Duo you need medical attention, I'm taking you back..."

"No..." she cut him off, resting forward on his tank, unable to stay upright. "Not back..."

"Dammit Duo..." he growled and he changed direction heading back to the cabin where Sano was staying.

Electro reached the wooden door and beeped his horn extra EXTRA loudly!!!

"Hey baldy get the hell out here now!!!"

Laying in his bed sleeping Sano's mind continued to drift through previous painful events in his life. As he watched himself destroying the old military base after finding Sam dead Sano heard something new, something mechanical. Stirring slightly Sano didn't awaken as he thought the noise was nothing more than a part of his dream.

"Hey baldy get the hell out here now!!!"

Snapping awake at the electronic sound of Electro's voice, Sano grabbed one of the guns from under his bed and bolted to the door. Throwing the front door to the cabin open Sano saw Duo sprawled across Electro and for a moment his mind began to toy with him again. Shaking his head to make sure what he was seeing was real Sano could have sworn that it was Sam he saw beaten up before him and not Duo.

"Give her to me," Sano said as he pulled Duo into the cabin with his telekinesis, "now leave."

Turning and closing the door behind him, Sano paid no heed to the agitated motorcycle idling outside. Floating Duo above his bed Sano used his telekinesis to knock her unconcious so he could treat her wounds.

"Sleep well Sam," Sano said as Duo slipped into nothingness.

Heading over by the fireplace, Sano added another log to the fire to keep it going strong and grabbed the bucket of water he kept warm. Walking back to the bed Sano put the bucket of water down and reached under the bed and pulled out a few extra shirts he had brought along as well as a needle and some thread. He had never intended to have to treat anyone for any kind of injuries so Sano had to make do with what he had in house.

Grabbing his sword from under the bed, Sano unsheathed it and carefully used it to cut the shirt that Duo was wearing off. Putting his sword down and dipping one of the shirts in the water, Sano rang it out before dabbing lightly at the wounds on Duo's back. Rinsing the shirt off in the water Sano turned Duo slightly and cleaned off the fresh cut on her arm. Setting the shirt down in the bucket, Sano grabbed the needle and threaded it with some of the black thread he had with him.

Bending the needle with his mind ever so slightly, Sano began to slowly stitch up the wound on Duo's arm. It was a crude job, but for this part of the world and what little he had available Sano was doing the best he could. Taking one of the other shirts he had brought Sano used his sword to cut a neat little bandage out which he then tied over the wound on Duo's arm.

Turning his attention to her back, Sano once again threaded the needle and went to work closing up the fresh wounds Duo had received. When he was done with that Sano took two other shirts he had brought out and cut them apart and sewed together a bandage for Duo's back. Carefully wrapping the makeshift bandage around Duo's back Sano took the last shirt he had brought out, the last shirt he had, and gently put it on Duo.

Reaching under his bed Sano pulled out the extra hoodie that he had brough with him and placed it under Duo as an extra cushion for when he laid her down. Setting Duo down gently on the bed Sano pulled the shirt out of the now cold water and cutting a piece off laid it carefully on Duo's bruised cheek as a cold compress. Tossing Duo's bloodied shirt into the fireplace as extra kindling, Sano put his sword and what was left of his extra t-shirts back under his bed.

Duo's wounds now taken care of Sano covered her with his meager blanket and stepped outside to get rid of the bloddy water in the bucket. Tossing the water into the snow caused it to turn an ugly shade of red which Sano stared at for a moment as if entranced by it. Snapping out of his mild haze Sano filled the bucket back up with snow and went back in to the cabin. Placing the bucket back by the fireplace so the snow would melt, Sano pulled out one of the chairs and sat down across from Duo.

Feeling his eyes grow heavy with sleep once again, Sano looked over at Duo and wondered what exactly had happened to her after she speared him to the ground.

"Those wounds on her back we're old ones," Sano thought as his eyelids began to droop, "and something today reopened them."

Finally succumbing to sleep, Sano's head drooped down till his chin hit his chest and the world around him went dark. As he went off to dreamland once more, Sano was again haunted by visions of his past, visions it seemed he couldn't escape these days. This time, however, it was not a repeating slide show of horror as it had been last time. No, this time Sano's mind showed him only one thing as he slept, the one image that would be forever burned into his mind, the image of his friend Sam hanging dead in his room.

*drip...drip...drip*

Sano watched himself in horror as he saw a slightly younger version of himself kneeling on the floor as Sam's blood slowly dripped onto the floor.

*drip...drip...drip*

In his dream Sano tried as hard as he could to get himself, his other self, to get up and do something but he was frozen to the floor.

*drip...drip...drip*

Looking up Sano saw the surprised and pained expression on Sam's face as her body hung before him limply. He had seen the very same look early that day when he drilled Duo with his telekinesis.

*drip...drip...drip*

This time it wasn't Sam that Sano saw before him but Duo drapped across Electro, blood dripping from the fresh wounds she had received that night.

*drip...drip...drip*

It was like Chinese water torture to Sano's mind, with every drip he felt worse and worse. The once pleasant release of sleep had been taken away from Sano, and no matter who's fault it was Sano knew deep down he would blame it all on Duo.

Her own dream landscape was far from a blissful one, it was a desolate, filth smeared vicinity to which she was all to familiar with, the interior of a certain alley...

The manacles were thick about her thin wrists, binding her firmly to her pinned position against the far wall; the cold rough texture of the bricks was vividly real against her back...

The thuds were horrendous in her ears, each blow accompanied by a shallow moan of pain or a high pitched yelp as life was stripped from him...from Marxy...

She was screaming, screaming frantically inside her mind, her wrists being ripped raw as she begged and sobbed...the pain, both physically and emotionally were real and raw...

She barely stirred on the bed Sano had placed her on, her newly acquired injuries not allowing her to thrash as her mind was tormented with recent events.

"Please...stop..." he dream self sobbed and the words filtered from her sleeping lips before her eyes snapped awake with a scream!

Jerking awake as Duo's scream ripped through his head, Sano looked over to see his unlikely house guest had just woken up. Stretching out and looking over to the door Sano could see a subtle ray of light creeping in. Standing up and moving over to the fireplace Sano added another log and began to go through his morning stretching routine.

Going through his routine as he did every other morning since he had gotten to Siberia Sano completely ignored Duo as he went. Finishing up his stretching Sano took off his hoodie and t-shirt, and pulled his guns and sword out from under the bed with his telekinesis.

"I'm going hunting," Sano said as he put the guns in the back of his shorts.

Glancing back at Duo for a second, Sano headed out the door and proceed up into the forest near the cabin. Walking an inch or two above the snow so as not to make a sound, Sano worked his way through the forest looking for breakfast.

Duo had felt such a rush of relief when she had seen Sano, despite the horrific pain that was filtering through her body...but more than the agony of fresh and old wounds combined was the pain of rejection she blatantly felt as Sano ignored her and announced he was going out hunting.

So she was left in the small dwellings, the fire giving off a strong light but making the shadows in the corners of the room far more evident...

Grunting hard Duo struggled to a seated position, her palms flat against the bed as the knuckles turned pallid with the strain of the movement, her injured wrist could hardly support herself but she reached a seated position.

The sheet of material that was sodden and had been covering her face slipped from her cheek to land on her lap, Duo looked at it questioningly and then raised a tentative touch to her cheek that had swollen and taken on an ugly shade of blue.

Looking down she noticed for the first time that she was clad in a baggy t-shirt, obviously one of Sano's, reaching down she gently tug up the t-shirt to see the same material wrapping the length of her torso and the top of her arm where she had received the deep cut. She felt the flesh on her arm and back snagging slightly and she guessed that he must have stitched her up.

"Ow, ow, ow..." she muttered to herself as she frowned at the pain in her back only to cause pain to develop in her face from her bruised cheek, the thin material of Sano's top and the blanket helped keep out the chill but she still found herself shuddering.

Duo shifted cautiously off of the bed, taking the blanket with her she descended to the floor, huddling near the fire, her tousled locks hanging slightly loose from her braid to obscured her bruised features and the pain look in her onyx eyes that she couldn't seem to hide these days.

Her eyes watched the dancing flames, enticing her gaze and mesmerising...she could almost loose herself in the flames...they had always enthralled her, the fires of Hell themselves a welcomed feel, she had been riveted by them at one time...

A time without regret, where she could hurt a thousand lives and feel no remorse, even now the soul specks that tainted her she could conjure little regret for, each and every one had deserved death and pain...

But now...the floodgates to her emotions had been unlocked when she had been embraced by her friends, and now she couldn't shut them, and it was tearing her apart inside to see pain floating, bubbling, rising in her friends...because of her...

"I thought I was doing the right thing..." she explained to the flames, almost expecting someone to hear her, as though their scorched embers could offer some comfort... Unconsciously her fingers reached back and touched her back, remembering the excruciating agony that had claimed her when she had cut off her wings...but worse than that...

Was the sense of loss...even when the realms of insanity had been knocking at her door the touch of heaven that she carried had helped her maintain what little strength she had...when she had relinquished them...she had given up hope of happiness...whether it be in this life or the next...

"I thought I was doing the right thing..." she repeated hopelessly...

Moving quietly through the forest as he stalked his prey Sano was able to clear his mind of any and all distractions. Seeing a small wolf in the distance, Sano floated up a little higher and moved silently through the trees. Nearing the wolf Sano unsheathed his sword as quielty as possible and took control of the blade with his mind.

Steading the sword and making sure his aim was true, Sano sped the blade through the wolf's head before it ever knew he was there. Bringing both the sword and wolf back to him with his mind Sano took the sword out of the wolf's head and continued on. With his first kill of the day and sheath floating behind him, Sano worked his way deeper into the forest.

Wandering through the forest Sano's mind wandered back to the days when he first came to this part of the world. Back to a time when he stared in wonder at the animals that made their home in these trees. Back when he thought nothing of killing, skinning, cooking and eating such beautiful creatures. But times and circumstances had changed since then, and Sano had changed as well.

Coming out into a small clearing, Sano saw a large caribou walking underneath him that he had failed to see in his distracted state. Dropping out of the sky with a well placed slash of his sword, Sano beheaded the beast without making a sound. Wiping off the blade of his sword on the snow and resheathing it, Sano picked up the caribou with his mind and headed back to his cabin.

Reaching the cabin, Sano proceeded to cut the wolf's head off and skin both animals and hang them up to let the blood drip out. Cleaning off his sword once more, Sano headed back into the cabin and found Duo kneeling in front of the fire. Putting on his own t-shirt and hoodie, Sano picked up the sweatshirt he had put under Duo the night before and handed it to her.

"Put this on," Sano said, "you'll stay warmer that way."

Taking the meat he had preserved the day before out of a makeshift freezer box he had set up, Sano walked back to the fireplace to heat the meat up. Putting the remainder of the meat on a spit, Sano placed the spit in the fireplace to warm it up.

"If you're going to just sit there you might as well make yourself useful and turn that spit every now and then," Sano said not even looking at Duo, "unless you want your breakfast cold on one side."

Sitting down in the chair he had slept in the night before, Sano picked up a rock from under the table and unsheathed his sword. Looking at Duo's back for a moment, Sano turned back to the sword in his hands and proceeded to work on sharpening the blade.

Duo jumped a little as Sano entered the cabin, but he continued about the place once again never meeting her gaze directly, no matter how she tried to gaze beyond the red lenses of his glasses...

She gratefully accepted the hoddie he handed to her as he sat to sharpen his sword, biting her lip she pulled the hoddie on, painfully aware of how the movement caused her flesh to pull against her stitches, she managed to struggle into the garment, welcoming the extra warmth with a hidden sigh.

She continued to keep her back to the telepath...almost afraid to turn around and see a look of disgust lacing his features, she continued to block her aura reading abilities, the fire was a illuminate glare but was pale in comparison to the brilliance of Sano's fuming aura...

Every now and again she reached out with her good hand and did as Sano had instructed, turning the slowly roasting hunk of flesh, the smell leaking through the cabin and her stomach growled in response.

A thousand words were spanning the course of her mind, sentence after plausible sentence forming in her mind, words she was desperate to lay bare to Sano...

She was silently grateful for the fact that he had donned clothing again, so she didn't have to see the hideous scars she had given him...she'd have given the world to take them from him...

It was a bare croak, her swollen cheek disrupting her speech faintly...

"Th...thank you..." they were but two meagre words, hardly adequate to express herself through...but she had to try...even if it was simply a pathetic start...

As Sano sharpened his sword he continued to look away from Duo, whether afraid to see her or unwilling his gaze never turned towards her. The stone going up and down, up and down, Sano heard and saw nothing but what he was doing.

"Th...thank you..."

Hearing Duo talk startled Sano and he ran the stone down past the end of the sword and nearly cut himself as his grip slipped. Sitting upright Sano looked over at Duo again and saw that she was still sitting facing the fire.

"I didn't do it for you," Sano said as he put the sharpening stone back under the table.

Resheathing his sword and setting it against the wall next to his chair Sano stood up and walked over towards the fireplace. Taking the spit off the fire, Sano pulled off one of the hunks of meat and handed it to Duo.

"Eat this," Sano said as he thrust the meat in front of Duo, "you need your strength to survive."

Taking the other piece of meat off, Sano put the spit back where it had been before and walked back to the table. Sitting down, Sano ripped into the meat, once again taking his focus off Duo and putting it on something else.

"I didn't do it for you,"

<Ow...> Duo thought, instantly lowering her gaze...she didn't even try to snap back a comment, she couldn't...

Duo took the meat that was handed to her, despite the fact that she felt famished she picked at the hunk of flesh tentatively, tearing off small portions and popping the into her mouth, chewing excessively, concentrating on the rhythmic movement of her jaw.


The food quickly disappeared into her stomach, her tummy settling and no longer grumbling in protest...she almost wished there was more, not tat she was still hungry but it had given her something to focus on...something to occupy herself...

The silence was deafening to her...threatening to suffocate...she hated the silence, the awaiting of an impending noise, a startling fissure of the silence...it had her on edge...

Plus the sounds of memories tended to spring forward to fill the void...the sound of Lister's voice a constant cackle in her head and it chilled her inside, along with the pained screams of her friends. She unconsciously placed her fingers to her temple, almost wishing she could drill out the thoughts...or break the silence...

"Why the hell did you then...?"

Finishing up the meat he was eating, Sano looked over and saw Duo was taking her time with what he had given her.

"That ungrateful little..." Sano thought before he cut himself off.

His mind had not been right ever since the day Duo speared him to the ground, and these days he tried everything he could to keep his infamous temper under control.

"Why the hell did you then...?"

Snapping his head back towards Duo, Sano sat in stunned silence for a moment at the sheer audacity of the question. Though in reality it shoudn't have surprised him as much as it as had, what with the way he had been talking to Duo.

"I'm not sure," Sano replied truthfully as he really didn't know why he had helped Duo, "call it a moment of weakness. Hell call it whatever you want I don't care."

Grabbing his sword from where it lay Sano stood up and headed out the door so he could cut the meat and bring it inside. Taking the anger he had let build up inside him out on the meat, Sano had every edible piece of the two animals cut off in no time. Cleaning off his newly sharpened sword, Sano picked up the meat with his mind and packed it in snow.

Walking back into the cabin, Sano stored the snow covered meat in the corner where the meat he took out before had been kept. Passing back by Duo, Sano went over to the chair he had been sitting in and floated up into his meditating position.

"I'm gonna meditate," Sano said gruffly, "the bed is yours if you want it, just try not to interrupt me."

Closing his eyes and floating the sword up in front of himself Sano started to meditate, which he hoped would help him get Duo off his mind.

"I'm gonna meditate, the bed is yours if you want it, just try not to interrupt me."

Duo held her tongue, God he was infuriating, she wanted to simply grab him by the arms and shake him physically, get him to see her, to yell to scream to rant and rave, anything asides form this cold hearted treatment...to let her know he was still alive inside...

She rose from the floor, feeling the twinges in her body take effect, she held all sounds of discomfort in though, her feet a bare whisper across the floor as she shuffled towards the bed.

She hoisted herself up and sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, it caused her back to pull, but she really didn't care anymore, the physical pain obscured her thoughts...

He was so close, an arm's stretch away...there was a time when his hand always rested on her shoulder, a silent transmittal of comfort...God she missed that so much...

She laid out on the bed, her back to Sano...she had finally found him, one of her closest friends...now she was beginning to believe that some wounds take more than time to heal...

Floating off in his own world, Sano closed out everything around him as he levitated motionless over the chair. Starting off alright, Sano's mind would quickly betray him as it had done ever since Duo showed up. His mind clear, Sano began seeing shadow images too fuzzy for him to be able to indentify.

As the images started to come into focus Sano could see it was his own vision of what had happened to Sam when he was gone. For the first time in his life he watched as Colonel Lang had his way with the only woman Sano had ever opened up to. Twitching slightly, Sano was unaware that he was unsheathing and resheathing the sword as he meditated.

Watching Sam writhing in pain tormented Sano as he knew there was nothing he could do to help her but he tried anyway. Screaming inside Sano tensed every muscle in his body as he tried everything to clear his mind, but nothing worked. He was helpless, he could do nothing but watch as his late best friend was defiled and humiliated, and Sano wept silently inside.

Duo had been lulling in and out of sleep, any time the blissful cape of darkness would engulf her tired mind and body the rapture of memories would cause her eyes to flare open wide...she held in her frightened gasps as her gaze would focus on the cabin wall...

It was a faint scraping sounds that she couldn't quite pin point in her mind, the sheathing and re-sheathing of Sano's sword acting simply as a trigger in her faltering mind as sleep claimed her once more.

The clanking of the metal manifested itself as the sound of the manacles binding her limbs, scraping against the brick, filth smeared wall behind her, as she thrashed viciously.

The familiar echoes of pained screams ripped through her ears and the helpless terror was clogging her being, her breath coming in harsh gasps, racking her body as she trembled in fear...

Flutters of words skimmed her mind, taunting words, the voice forever imprinted on her psyche...

"Perhaps I should round things off well, go for the hatrick! You know it's the only thing I truly regret not doing on our first...encounter...".

He was there, he was always there, more real then flesh and blood as she felt his finger curling with sadistic intent beneath her shirt, his finger caressing and stroking her ribs, claiming every segment of her and she was screaming in her mind...

And just as she had that night, just as she had when she had been both Louisa and Duo Merquise she relived the exact moment when she crumbled, where a lifetimes trials and tribulations, of learning and surviving could do nothing to stop her from breaking...

His mouth on hers and his soul mixing through her even though she tried to turn off her aura reading ability.... she was bound to him and couldn't tune him out so as her soul shredding terror reigned supreme as did his demonic lust and malicious drive...

Duo was thrown back into the conscious world and she ripped herself into a seated position, fully tearing herself from the dream landscape with such force that the pain that lanced through her brought her to her knees on the bed. For the second time that day the small cabin was filed with a cry of both mental and physical pain as agony ravished her spine for her lack of wings and the feel of Lister stroking his art continued to ring in her mind...

As he meditated and watched his friend Sam being defiled over and over in an endless loop Sano started hearing voices. The voices were distant at first but slowly started to become clearer and more familiar. Coming into complete focus Sano could suddenly hear the conversation he had with Sam after she told him about what the Colonel had done.

Not only was he watching it happen right before his eyes but Sano was now listening to himself deny the event ever happened. Feeling his mind descend into madness, Sano unsheathed the sword without realizing and brought the blade dangerously close to his neck. He couldn't take it, he wouldn't, Sano had lost Sam, lost her because he had failed her, because he didn't believe that what he was watching had ever happened.

And then he heard it, as the blade of the sword suddenly stopped mere milimeters from his throat Sano heard a woman scream. Snapping his eyes open Sano immediately saw the sword at his throat and quickly resheathed it before he cut himself. Looking over to where the scream from Sano saw a petit female figure sitting on the bed in obvious pain.

"Sam," Sano said in a panicked tone as he rushed to the side of the bed and knelt down, "Sam are you ok?"

"Sam, Sam are you ok?"

Duo's eyes flared wide as Sano was at her bedside, talking to her in a panicked tone, behind the red lenses of his sunglasses his eyes were wide with concern and an endless care...

For a second Duo's heart fluttered, on the precipice between hope and the abyss of despair, for a fraction of a second time condensed as she looked at Sano and the pain blurred as she dared to hope that she had at least partially broken through the cold stoic facade he had encased his heart in...

But it wasn't aimed at her, it wasn't her bedside he had rushed to with such raw concern, it wasn't her that he so desperately wished to help, that his soul swelled with anxiousness for...

<Sam...?> Duo's mind questioned as she stared at Sano, with what had at first been an unbridled hope was now viciously dashed and her crestfallen features were a shimmered reflection of what se felt inside...

She had no idea who Sam was...but Duo instinctive reaction was a feeling of jealousy...that whoever this Sam was that Sano stared at with such open concern and...Love...it only reinforced the fact that Sano hated her...Duo...

And for that brief second before logic thought took over...she hated this unknown woman...this Sam.

"Sam?" Duo croaked out, the pain receding now, her voice slightly hoarse as she looked at Sano, her onyx eyes hardening as she straightened slightly, tilting herself from Sano so she could look him in the eye, eyes that were covered...

"Who is Sam?!" Duo didn't ask, it wasn't a statement either...there was a resolve in her tone that was demanding...for now her memory revealed to her that she had heard the woman’s name before...as she had floated in darkness...this wasn't the first time Sano had called her by that name...

Sitting by the bed at Duo's side Sano wondered why she hadn't reacted to him and why the look on her face was one of dismay rather than relief. Watching Duo's face mirror her emotions Sano couldn't figure out what was going on and whether he had done something wrong. Her eyes full of pain and disappointment, Sano continued to look at Duo unaware of what exactly he had done.

"Sam? Who is Sam?!"

"What," Sano said slightly taken aback by the question, "how do you know her name I never..."

And all at once it hit him, like a flood of realization washing over him, Sano had called Duo, Sam, not once but twice. Leaning back from the bed a little ways, Sano didn't know how to respond to that question. To this day he had never told anyone about Sam, about what happened, about what he let happen to her. But now, his mind ravaged by his inner demons, Sano had blurted out the one secret he wanted to keep without even meaning to.

Standing up, Sano went over to the table and pulled the chair that he had been meditiating on over to the bed and sat down. Taking a deep breath Sano composed himself and his mind and tried to figure out just how he would answer Duo's questions.

"Sam is," Sano started faltering, "Sam is someone from my past, someone I knew while I was here. Someone I haven't been able to forget, especially since I came back here, back to where it all happened..."

Sano trailed off as he heard himself beginning to tell his life story, to open up finally and tell someone how he became the man he was today. He had never felt like anyone would understand him or be trustworthy enough to open up to, but at that moment Sano thought Duo might just be that person.

Duo almost wished she could pluck her question fro the air and ram it back down her throat as she saw the look of congealed horror laced into his features...

Her initial hurt was soon swamped with guilt as she watched the downtrodden expression of Sano as he reached for the chair and seated himself next to Duo.

He no longer ignored her every gaze, turning physically from her in an attempt to free himself and emotionally hurt her, he seemed to be composing himself, gathering his waning nerves...

"Sam is, Sam is someone from my past, someone I knew while I was here. Someone I haven't been able to forget, especially since I came back here, back to where it all happened..."

Duo had the intense gnawing feeling inside that she had found the key to Sano's flood gates...and if they opened this would be a turning point for them both, one that could not be taken back...

"What...what happened Sano...?" She neither halted or hesitated...Sano had seen the very worse of her, been on the fringes as she broke down and had offered nothing but support which she had thrown back in his face...she soo badly wanted him to know that she regretted that...

"What...what happened Sano...?"

Looking up into Duo's eyes Sano could see how he had mistaken her for Sam in his current mental state. The two women shared a lot of the same qualities, they were both strong, independent women who also had a softer more caring side. Sano had always like that about Sam, how she was always there for him when he needed her and was also willing to stand up for him when he was too weak.

"I failed her," Sano started his voice wavering slightly, "I failed her like I failed you. But you lived, and she didn't."

Catching himself as he felt tears welling up inside him, Sano took a minute to compose himself before he continued.

"She had always been there for me, no matter what," Sano said, "and the one time she needed me the most I failed her. And ever since I came back here I've had visions of her, of what happened."

Glancing away Sano thought of the best way to put what he was going to say next as it would probably surprise and or hurt Duo.

"And ever since you came after me," Sano said looking back into Duo's eyes, "the visions have gotten worse, they've become almost real. Like seeing you made me think of her, which is why I called you by her name."

"I....I...." Sano said his voice trailing off, "I've never told anyone about this..."

"And ever since you came after me, the visions have gotten worse, they've become almost real. Like seeing you made me think of her, which is why I called you by her name."

Duo's hand flew to her mouth...as though to stem the whimper that threatened to escape...

No wonder he hadn't wanted her there...to him she was the equivalent of his friend reincarnated...

"I....I...." Sano said his voice trailing off, "I've never told anyone about this..."

Duo, her mind was like a labyrinth, each thought spiralling out of control as her eyes took in his sunken frame...she did that...

Always the source of everyone’s pain...He said he'd failed her...

"Is that...is that the only reason you tried...?" she was so afraid of those words, he had spoken earlier how he had not performed the acts of kindness for her...almost for emotional weakness...

"Did...did you want me to live because...because I reminded you...you thought I was her...?" Duo gulped out, all the while edging back from him slightly...

"Is that...is that the only reason you tried...?"

Seeing Duo's face Sano was not entirely surprised by her reaction or the question she had asked him. He had opened pandora's box and there was no way of closing it now, he would just have to answer.

"Did...did you want me to live because...because I reminded you...you thought I was her...?"

Composing himself Sano watched as Duo shrunk away from him a little almost as if she were afraid of his answer.

"No..." Sano said lightly, "that day I wanted you to live because you are you, Duo Merquise. I was first drawn to you because you reminded me a little of Sam, but I grew to like you for who you are."

"But that day," Sano said hesitating slightly, "when you speared me to the ground it did more damage to my mind than my body. Ever since....since it happened, my mind has been fragile."

"In that instant you speared me to the ground my mind was fractured," Sano said breathing slowly trying to keep his composure, "up to that point no one had seen my eyes since I had left here. In that instant I became more unstable than ever."

"The reason I wanted you to stay away was because I knew I was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off," Sano continued, "and I didn't want you to get caught in the blast. I thought coming back here would help my ease my mind, but between what happened here before and you coming to find me things have gotten worse."

"I'm unstable right now," Sano said dropping his head and rubbing his hands across it, "I'm just unstable."

"No... that day I wanted you to live because you are you, Duo Merquise. I was first drawn to you because you reminded me a little of Sam, but I grew to like you for who you are."

Duo let her head droop to hide the relief that she felt...the idea that their friendship...even though for the most had been short and filed with sorrow by her affliction, had been based by his want of another...that had hurt...

"I'm unstable right now, I'm just unstable."

Duo knew from experience what it was like to hold life inside, never to reveal it to another soul until it was simply unbearable...and you had to let go...

She also knew that once the door had been opened...it doesn't necessarily get any easier, it makes you weak and vulnerable until you can find a new strength...one she had received from her friends, ironic that friends can both bring the greatest of joys and the most heart rendering of sorrows when they are harmed...

Duo face was suddenly hard with resolve, her petite frame straightening out as she breached the gap between Sano and herself...his confession of an unstable mind did little to ease her worry, he had already struck out against her with his telekinesis...just as she had speared him to the ground...her own weakness of mind causing her to hurt another...

They were more alike than they seemed to realise...

Her touch was gentle but firm, reaching out with her injured hand, to show that she couldn't hurt him if she tried, baring her weakness, she clasped his shoulder. Resting her hand partially over the scarred disc of flesh she had given him...even though there was a plane of clothing separating her hand from his skin it still made her feel sick...

"Sano...how did you fail her...?" Duo was pushing now...she knew it, he had already confessed and acknowledge in himself and for the first time in his existence to another...but that was only part of it...

It wasn't just a twisted sense of morbid curiosity that compelled Duo to ask...Sano needed this, to scream aloud what had happened, for it to bare itself in the sky...

By pushing away and holding in his pass he was destroying his future...just as by holding in her past as Louisa and her knowledge of Lister...she had breached the birth of insanity... if anyone could understand...it was her...

"What did you do?"

As he sat there looking at the ground Sano waited for what seemed like an eternity for Duo to respond. The wall he had spent so much time building up around himself was starting to crumble and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Feeling Duo's hand rest weakly on his shoulder, Sano thought of lifting his eyes to meet hers but stopped himself.

"Sano...how did you fail her...?"

"I..." Sano started unable to finish what he wanted to say.

"What did you do?"

"I let her die," Sano choked out as tears started to roll down his cheeks.

"I let her die,"

His head remained bent, heavily cast with the shackles of shame and guilt combined...

His bent frame did nothing to hide the gemstone tears that dripped down his cheeks, their essences salty, tainting the purity of the water pellets ...translucent...if they held the colour of the soul they would be black, coalescent with pain...

Duo knew what agony did to a person, how it tore at sanity's floral level, where thoughts blossomed ad life is always managable...but agony is bitter cold...and sanity withers...

The faint touch of Duo's hand on his shoulder was no longer adequate...she knew that when the pain was confronted...people often just want to turn away...

So she did what everyone had done to her…what Sano himself had done when all words failed, the language of the ages lost to the tongue tied…and when the spoken language cannot unravel the true depth of empathy…

She stood from the bed and swept low, enveloping Sano’s sunken frame into her arms, she pressed him to her so she half ended up on his lap, wishing she could absorb the torrents that fell from him both in tears and in waves from his aura…

“I have you…It’s ok you know, you don’t have to hide it anymore…you can tell me…”

As the tears flowed from Sano freely he felt Duo pull him in to comfort him much as he had done for her before, and Sam had done for him in years past. He had been holding his emotions in check for years but with everything that happened recently the walls Sano had built up finally cracked.

“I have you…It’s ok you know, you don’t have to hide it anymore…you can tell me…”

"When...when I was stationed here," Sano stuttered through his sobs, "Sam was my best and only friend. We talked about everything, no matter what happened I knew I could always talk to her."

Pausing for a moment Sano continued, "And with the things I saw and did while I was here she kept me grounded and more importantly tried to keep my human. She was the only stabilizing influence on me when the world around me was going to hell."

"One day..." Sano started choking up again, "one day she told me our commanding officer, the man in charge of the base had...had..."

Ducking his head down further Sano couldn't say anything more as the tears poured down his cheeks and he wept openly. He had never truly come to terms with what had happened that day and had never forgiven himself either. To her himself talk about it brought back the flood of emotions Sano felt when he found Sam strung up in his room. He knew it was finally time to talk about it, he had finally found someone to confide in, but Sano just couldn't get the words out.

"One day...one day she told me our commanding officer, the man in charge of the base had...had..."

Duo could hear and feel his words catching, speech difficult through the thick tears that clogged his throat, she continued to hold him tightly, his head bent low so it rested near her shoulder.

Her movement gentle, as not to startle or break this moment of soul searching, despite the obvious suffering it induced, she pulled back tentatively, her weight resting on his knee so she didn't loose contact as she withdrew her arms.

She cupped his chin with her broken hand, the bandaged coarse against his chin as she tilted his face to look at her...she faltered for a second...her hand withdrawing as doubt clouded her...

Her fingers, gently and tender clasped at the sunglasses covering his eyes, but failed to hold in his tears...and pulled the from him, tearing down the final wall, the one that he had started with when she had been falling...the one she had made him take up once again...

His eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot, the tears rupturing them and revealing his weakened self...he didn't look like Sano anymore...but he was someone she wanted to know...

She felt her own eyes welling with empathy, "You don't need these...you don't have to hide anymore..." she whispered...

Steeling her nerves, she gulped discreetly...she sensed that Sano wasn't going to make it through this with mere words...he needed another outlet...one she was afraid of, one she had felt violated by before...

His telepathy...he had read her before, her whole mind had been at his access...not even Marxy had been access to every part of who she was, she had been sickened when he had lived through her beating from being in her body when they were switched...

But this wasn't about her...and she trusted Sano...

Moving closer she reached forward and rested her forehead against his, she knew the proximity was probably not necessary, but as Sano himself had stated, his mind was unstable, she assumed it could do little but help him...

She directly into his eyes, focussing on them, eyes that had been hidden for so long...she took a deep breath, there was no going back...

"Show me..."