We were all five here, out past the moons orbit, engaging the enemy in a no-holds barred fight to the death. They were desperate to keep this shipment intact and had devoted an unbelievably large escort to it. We were whittling it down and it was really only a matter of time before we broke their defenses and blew the transport but they were going to see to it that we earned the hit, by the Gods.

I could hear Trowa warning Quatre back from a potential pinscher maneuver, his voice sounding weary over the comm. Quatre didn't even take the time to answer, just blasting clear before the twin attack closed on him. It was a rough one and we were all tired, fighting with all we had.

I took another hit on my left and heard the whine of servomotors under stress. Damn. My two-second delay changed to something closer to five on the left side and I was rapidly losing the ability to swing my scythe at all. All around me, Leos were seeing my weakness and moving in to exploit it. Damn again.

I shifted the scythe to a one handed grip and redoubled my efforts, still fighting the two-second delay. The effectiveness of my attacks was leaving a great deal to be desired.

'Duo!' I heard Heero shout, 'What the hell's wrong?'

'Losing sync!' I shouted back, not having a lot of attention to spare.

I took a hard shot from a pulse weapon, finding myself wrenched against the harness hard enough to knock the breath out of me. Damn! I was really getting into some trouble here.

Past the swarming mobile suits, I could see Wufei finally break through and get a shot off at the transport. It was a perfect hit and the shuttle went up with a lovely red and gold display. Mission accomplished. It didn't do a lot, however, to improve my situation.

I flailed about almost wildly; not really able to control the scythe but managed to throw off a couple of my attackers. They had figured out that my left side was pretty much useless and I had several suits trying to come in on that side to get me pinned. In my left ear, the servos kicked up their whining to a nerve-wracking scream. Five second delay or not, I was forced to try those servos or risk getting tangled up so badly they'd bring me down with sheer weight of numbers.

'Hold on!' I heard Heero shout, at the same time I heard Quatre yell my name. I must really be in some serious shit here. I wrenched the left 'arm' as hard as I could and managed to throw off the Leo that had just gotten a grip on me. It was probably the last thing I was going to do with that 'arm' though, as I heard the motors screech into overdrive and then somewhere above me, something gave with a grinding crack and I found myself drenched with hydraulic fluid. It was all too fast and my eyes were flooded before I even realized what was happening. I forgot all about the suits around me as I fought to get the shit out of my eyes. I'm fairly certain I screamed as the burning started and I was suddenly lost in blurry darkness. I heard Heero swearing as Deathscythe suddenly ceased to struggle against his attackers.

It only took me a moment to scrabble around and get hold of one of the water bottles packed in the emergency kit. I got the bottle open and poured the whole thing over my eyes. The burning eased but the darkness didn't. Damn. I was really in over my head now.

I pulled my shirt up and did my best to wipe the crap off my face. I was rocked hard by another hit. I could only guess from the feel what was going on out there. I fumbled the second bottle of water out and poured it over my eyes as well, a little slower and the burning backed off a little more. That was all the water I had.

'Guys?' I called, trying to keep my voice from quavering, 'A little help here?'

I got my hands wrapped around the controls again and started to swing the scythe but was taken with a sudden numbing fear. I didn't know where the others were; what if they had moved in to help me and I hit one of them instead?

'I...I've lost external sensors!' I yelled, not wanting to panic everyone, 'Is anybody close to me?'

'We're clear!' Quatre hollered at me and I swung for all I was worth, feeling the weapon bite into a couple of somethings that had to be Leos.

'Backswing!' I heard Wufei's voice suddenly, 'Eight o'clock to one o'clock!'

I complied instantly and was rewarded with a loosening of the feeling I had of being pinned.

'Turn 10 degrees to your right and execute move number three!' He yelled again and I complied the best I could, moving myself through the now familiar kata, only having to guess at the angle. He didn't know, of course, that I couldn't see my internal gages.

'Hit thrusters!' He shouted, 'Three second burn! First move; second set!'

I let him lead me in this strange dance, throwing my trust into the sound of his voice, feeling like my guts were going to churn right up the back of my throat.

'Freeze!' He was telling me, 'Trowa's almost to you.'

It took all my control to stop flailing around and hold still, trusting the guys to get me the hell out of this mess.

'I'm here.' Came Trowa's calm voice and all I could do was squeeze the pilot's grips hard enough to bruise the palms of my hands.

They got quiet then and I took another hard hit, feeling my shoulder harness bite. If I lived through this, I was going to have a lovely set of contusions.

'Hang on, Duo.' I heard Heero's voice then, trying to sound calm.

'Somebody tell me what the hell to do?' I pleaded, feeling like my nerves were going to come crawling out through my skin.

'Don't swing the scythe, Duo.' Wufei told me, 'Trowa and Heero are too close to you.'

I wished I had another bottle of water. I could feel my eyes watering all over the place and I could only hope it was helping.

'Duo,' Wufei was commanding me again, 'Power down your weapon.'

It took a little work, finding the controls without accidentally moving it but I suddenly felt the absence of the subtle vibration the scythe generated.

'We're coming to get you.' Trowa said quietly and the tone of his voice told me I must be out of the woods. I heaved a shaky sigh and waited for them.

'I'm behind you.' Heero said, his voice holding relief, 'Extend your right 'arm' and we'll guide you out of here.'

I did as he asked and heard the loud clangs as Wing made contact.

'Can you do the same on the left?' Trowa asked.

'Left side's dead.' I told him, 'Don't know if it's seized up or not.'

My voice was shaking and I pushed down the terror trying to claw its way up out of my stomach. Now would not be a good time to throw up.

'Ok, hold on...' He told me and after a minute I heard the sounds of his Gundam connecting with mine. There was a complaint from the servos over my head and then Trowa said, 'Got it. Let's go.'

I had felt the buck of the pilots grip under my hand as he had moved the 'arm' manually and I knew that we were moving now, though I couldn't feel anything yet. In my head, I could see them on either side of me and it was a hell of a comfort. I wished for more water and tried really hard not to think too much about my eyes. They still stung and were watering profusely and...I still couldn't see.

We moved in silence for a bit and we must have picked up speed, because I started to feel the g-forces a little.

'Status?' Heero called after a few minutes and I heard a quartet of 'clears'. I hesitated; I didn't want to scare Heero, didn't know how in the hell to tell him I was...I was...didn't know how to tell him I couldn't see. But, it was going to become a major issue when we got to reentry.

'Duo?' He called when I didn't answer immediately and I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. I settled on, 'Unsure.' And proceeded to give them a list of problems...with my Gundam.

'Left 'arm' is immobile. No external sensors.' Here came the sticky part, 'Total black out in the cock-pit.'

There was the sound of deafening silence and then a chorus of, 'Shit!'

I would have laughed, except I didn't think I'd get it stopped.

'That about sums it up.' I agreed and was pleased that my voice had leveled out and sounded downright normal.

'One thing at a time.' Wufei's voice came, calm and cool as ever, 'We'll get you back to the reentry point. Do what you can with repairs in the meantime.'

I was just thankful that no one was questioning me further. If I had to start telling them stupid shit like, no, I don't have a flashlight and yes, isn't it odd that life support is still working, I really didn't think this little charade would hold up. I was soaked from pouring water all over myself and the rain earlier and was getting cold. I unbuckled the harness, hoping I could feel my way back into it when the time came and groped around for the drover's coat that was still in here somewhere. I found it and struggled into it. The shivering eased a little but didn't go away entirely. My blood pressure was probably doing a decent impression of a roller coaster ride. I found that if I kept my eyes closed, they didn't water quite so much.

Above me, there was the beep that told me a tight beam call was coming in. I had to very carefully feel for the communications unit and mentally do the calculations to figure out the number of times to hit the button to run up to Heero's frequency. It was a small assumption on my part but who more likely? I remembered to keep the video off.

'Heero is that you?' I called softly and was rewarded with his gusty sigh. I'd got it.

'Yes, love.' He told me and I could almost feel his arms around me just from the sound of his voice, 'Are you all right?'

'Doin' Ok.' I murmured, settling back in the pilot's chair now that I had pulled the coat on.

'Do you think you can get things back on-line?' He asked and I had to sigh. I cracked an eye-lid open, only to find things still as black as they had been.

'No.' I told him bluntly, 'I really don't think I can.'

'I think we need to get you out of there. We'll hide Deathscythe in orbit or something. Bring you across and get you dirt-side in my Gundam...'

I had to cut him off before he got too far into the plan, 'Heero...I'm not suited up.' And I should have been. We had left in such a hurry, I hadn't bothered with it, 'I don't think I can get into my vacuum suit without...in the dark.' At least, not without any way to test the seals before blowing the hatch and taking a leap of faith in my ability to don one of the complex suits by touch alone. I shivered at the thought.

There was nothing for long minutes while, I'm sure, his mind ran in circles trying to come up with another way out of this.

'Somebody's going to have to talk me down, Heero.' I could tell he wasn't happy and if truth be told, I wasn't really looking forward to the experience myself.

The seconds ticked by and still nothing from Heero, 'Come on, love.' I teased softly, trying to make things all right, 'I thought you liked telling me what to do.'

I didn't win the laugh but he finally answered me. 'Wufei should do it.'

'What?' I blurted, a little alarmed and not really sure why. I had just assumed that Heero would be the one.

He sighed and his voice was unsteady, 'In the battle...he was so calm and you were able to follow his direction so...easily.' There was a pause during which I really, really wished I could see his face, 'I don't think I can maintain that...detachment.'

It was my turn to sit in silence. Maybe it was just as well; if the landing went badly...he wouldn't be able to blame himself.

'All right.' I finally told him and my voice in that great big darkness sounded very small.

'Duo...' His voice was thick.

'I know.' I told him, 'Me too.'

We switched back to the open comm. and Heero gave Wufei his new assignment.

It cost him. To ask Wufei to do this; to admit he couldn't do it himself. It cost him dearly and I think Wufei could hear it in his voice as well as I could.

There was a brooding silence from Nataku and then a terse, 'Accepted.'

'We're almost there.' Came Quatre's quiet observation, 'Duo, are you ready?'

Gods; so soon? 'Not strapped in.' I told him and scrambled to find all the buckles and straps in the dark. Trying to sort it all out, I was positive that I had made the right decision not to try the vacuum suit.

'Any luck on those repairs?' Trowa asked me gently and I tried to crack a stinging eyelid again. I had trouble getting it open; it felt gummy. When I managed it, things were still blurrily not there. I was getting really scared about that.

'Nope.' I told him, glad that my voice wasn't shaking as much as my hands were.

He only grunted.

'Maxwell?' Came Wufei's calm voice and I suddenly understood Heero's wanting him to take this job, 'Go to tight beam.'

I did my calculation again and punched up to his frequency, missed it and had a panicked moment before I recalculated and landed in the right place.

'You there?' I called that second time and relief washed through me, leaving my knees weak when I heard his voice.

'I'm here.' He told me, making his voice soothing.

'So...you up for this?' I tried to make my voice light but my quivering hands were still fighting with the straps and buckles, trying to work the twists out of them and the trouble I was having was making me doubt that this was going to work.

'I am if you are.' He told me blandly, 'Are you...up for this, as you say?'

I stopped everything and took a couple of quick, deep breaths, 'Fei...I can't even get the Gods damned harness back on.'

'You're panicking, Duo.' He said quietly.

'I'm well aware of that.' I told him in my turn.

'What don't I know?' He asked, point blank.

'It's not the instruments, 'Fei.' I told him, needing to tell this to someone, 'It's me. I can't see.'

There was a cold silence and then, 'Son. Of. A. Bitch.'

I laughed out loud, though it came out sounding like something different and I had trouble making the sound stop, 'Yeah.'

'Why...?' He began, after a moments thought but I cut him off.

'Heero would have had a screaming fit.'

'He's still going to, when we get you grounded.'

When. I caught that careful wording. Not if...when.

'But by that time, he'll be able to get his hands on me and not be stuck two Gundam widths away...not able to do anything.'

There came a soft chuckle, 'Fair enough.' I could almost feel him steeling himself for this, 'Ok. Harness first. Right hand over your left shoulder. Find where the strap comes out of the seat...'

He walked me through it. Step by step until I was belted down again and just the sound of his confidant, we-can-do-this voice, eased my fears and by the time we had attained that much, I felt like I could just maybe get through this. I couldn't believe as the last buckle was snugged in place that I hadn't been able to do it on my own. He had been right; I was letting myself think too far ahead and was spooking myself. One step at a time was the only way.

'Ok.' I told him, 'We got it. Sorry, 'Fei...was letting my imagination run too far. I'm ready now.'

'It's all right, Duo.' He said warmly and the use of my first name told me he was scared as well.

'Listen, 'Fei.' It was an incredibly intimate feeling, this throwing myself off the cliff, trusting him to catch me, 'We both know the odds of this working are pretty damned crappy...'

'Maxwell...' He warned me, trying to make me shut up but I wouldn't be deterred.

'If I end up splattered all over creation...it's not...I mean...It's going to be because I couldn't handle it. Understand?' I couldn't stand the idea that he might end up blaming himself, when Heero hadn't really given him a choice about taking my salvation on.

'We'll get through this.' He told me flatly and his voice brooked no argument.

I chuckled lightly, 'Yes, sir!'

He chuckled with me and I knew he only did it to make me feel better, 'What happened to your eyes?' He asked me then.

'Hydraulic line broke...near as I can tell. I got fluid in them.' I was rather proud of how clinically I was able to report that.

'Damn.' He muttered, 'Did you rinse them out?'

'Yeah.' I confirmed, 'But I only had two bottles of water.'

'It's all right.' He appeased, 'Better than nothing. We'll deal with it later.'

That's Wufei for you all over. One thing at a time; step one, step two, step three. Everything by the numbers. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly and made a conscious effort to throw myself into his hands.

'Let's do this.' I told him gruffly.

He had me drop back to the wide band and gave me the run down so the others could hear it. He oriented me to my position, walked through the plan and bade Heero and Trowa let go of my Gundam. I heard a small tap on the right; Heero letting me know he was still close by.

'See you dirt-side, guys.' I said flippantly, wishing I had the time to say goodbye to each of them...just in case; but realizing at the same time how much that would upset them.

I rolled my shoulders, took my grip and started my re-entry. I really hate re-entry.

Wufei began calling corrections almost immediately, his voice calm and cool, like we were strolling on the beach.

Some of it was second nature and feel told me a lot of things. I knew from excessive vibration when I had strayed out of pitch but without instrumentation, I needed Wufei to guide me back. I could feel when corrections had to be made but alone I couldn't tell what the corrections were. My stomach was starting to knot but Wufei just kept talking to me, a steady monologue of detailed instructions. He didn't have to resort to kata correlations and I found myself wishing it were that simple. Re-entry is a little more... delicate than cleaving mobile suits. It's all pitch and yaw and minute adjustments. I felt like I was ready to scream, my nerves were so raw.

Then his voice got tinged with something hard and he reminded me of what I had forgotten in the sheer terror of the situation.

'Ok, Duo, we're approaching communication black-out.' Gods...Gods...how could I have forgotten that? How in the hell could you forget something like that? It felt like my heart clinched in my chest.

'Duo?' He called to me, voice worried.

'Here.' I told him, ashamed to admit that it had slipped my mind, that this had taken me by surprise, 'Feed me.' I barked at him.

And he did, gave me everything he had; air speed, angle, descent rate, altitude. The last several minutes we counted off the drop rate together until I had it and then I was suddenly counting unaccompanied. I have never in my entire life felt more alone. I knew that they were out there, all around me, making their own landings but the sudden silence was heart stopping. I held it steady, despite every instinct screaming for me to fucking pull up. I held it steady and counted it out, reducing speed here. Adjusting angle now. I was glad at the end that they couldn't hear me. My voice, as I continued to count out loud, was tremulous and just damned scared. I really didn't want to go out like this. I was supposed to die in battle; suddenly, surprised and all at once. Not in this slow, drawn out race with gravity, splattered like a giant bug on somebody's windshield.

I wished I could spare a hand to turn on my music; it makes it easier if you can't hear the bones breaking and the flesh giving way.

Then I hit and I must have plowed up ground for a good half mile. I was tossed and jerked and the harness gave. That was the last thing I was aware of; the feel of the shoulder strap giving way and the sound of my own voice yelling, 'Shit!'

End part 2