Title: Kitten's Claws
Author: Sadie DragonFire
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing doesn't belong to me. You can sue me if you want, but you wouldn't get much.
Warning: No real warnings for this part. Not yaoi....yet. Alternate universe.
Summery: Duo is kiddnapped and undergoes some strange changes.
Pairing: not listed (ask me later)

This idea was once an original story that went and died some where in my head. Well, now the idea has come back and latched onto Gundam Wing. Its a little weird.

C & C always longed for.

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Duo woke up with a foul taste in his mouth and a pounding headache. This is not unusual situation for him, however, being bound and gagged to a metal table was a little out of the ordinary. He let out a startled squawk, much as he was able, and attempted to struggle against the bindings. Pain flared across his shoulders and hips. No such luck. After another minute of struggling, he gave up. Allowing the rest of his body to go lax, Duo observed his surroundings.

It appeared to be a hospital of some sort. Metal instruments and gleaming white surfaces, strange, scientific look contraptions arching over him, and a there was a slight medicine smell to the air.

[Lovely.] Duo thought. [Where the hell am I and how did I get here?] His head was bounding in time with his heartbeat and made thinking difficult. He turned his face against his shoulder and tried to rub the gag off. The sound of a door opening interrupted him.

"Goodness, your awake!" a female voice announced. Duo lifted his head. A middle aged woman with wispy hair tied into a ponytail and serious black eyes regarded him thoughtfully.

"Untie me!" Duo tried to say, but only managed, "Ummph mm!"

"My, my, we really can't have you awake, no not at all," she continued in a firm, bright, perky voice, rather like an aged cheerleader. "I will just have to take e care of that, now wouldn't I?" clucking her tongue, the woman busied herself with one of the trays of instruments.

"Hey! You freak, let untie me! What the hell are you doing?" Duo shouted through the gag, still only producing garbled sounds. The woman hummed happily, as if completely unaware of his existence. Finally, she turned around with a needle. Duo yelled and struggled harder.

"There we are!" She deftly inserted the needle into his left arm, causing him to freeze lest he jerk it free and cause more damage. An unpleasant burning sensation spread out from the needle, searing through his arm. "There, there, all done now." she rubbed at the puncture mark and beamed at him, "You'll just go to sleep and when you wake up again, well......"

With a small sigh, the woman turned and went back to fussing with the tray. A wave of dizziness swept over Duo, causing his vision to go fuzzy.

[No....wait...I have to....stay awake....] Darkness swarmed up and swallowed him.

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Heero lounged casually against the brick wall, an inconspicuous figure in leather jacket and blue jeans. The sent of smoke and liquor drifted out from a nearby bar, tickling his nose. One hand tapped the wall behind him, the other fingering the gun securely hidden in his pocket. Duo was late. His mouth twitched with hidden irritation. That idiot.

He checked his watched. Well past the time the two them should have left. Eyes scanned the territory once again, but failed to find a certain brown braid. There was no help for it. With a frustrated growl and a quickly suppressed burst of worry, Heero pushed himself away from the wall and made his way back to the safe house.

[Baka.]

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[I feel like shit....] was Duo's first conscious thought as he came back to awareness. His entire body ached, it suddenly felt has if his skin was far to tight. His eyes burned painfully behind his closed lids and his nose, which was all blocked up for some reason, throbbed as if broken. [Anyone get the name of the bastard that did this?]

He carefully pried his eyes open, then let out an agonized cry when light stabbed into then. Sobbing in pain, Duo turned his head to the side, away from the light, wishing he could curl up to protect his eyes but afraid of the pain it would cause.

"Oops." he heard someone say. Instantly, the faint glow of light beneath his eyelids faded, taking most of the pain with it. Duo sighed, relaxing. "Sorry 'bout that. I just went and forgot 'bout how much it hurts an' stuff when you first wake up." The someone continued, sounding decidedly male, "'S been weeks since it happen'd ta me. Sometimes I jus forget what it was like before."

The words sounded odd for some reason, a strange resonance that he wasn't used to hearing when people talked to him. "What...." he tried to say, his voice harsh and painful in his dry throat.

"Hmmm?" the other murmured, then cool fingers gently brushed over his arm. He jerked, the contact sparking pain in his sore muscles. "You thirsty? They said I could give ya some water, if you was thirsty."

Duo swallowed a couple times and finally managed to produce a 'yes'. The other made a soft sound, which was followed by the rustling of clothing and stepping feet. Duo winced. Did he really have to stomp like that? There was the sound of water being poured, sounding over loud to Duo's ears, then moments later the cool rim of a glass was pressed against his lips. A hand slid under his head and held it up so he could drink.

After a few sips, Duo pulled away from the cup. The other allowed his head to drop back unto the pillow. "Thank you."

"No trouble. I mean you *are* new kin and everythin'."

The words blurred slightly in his mind making little sense. "Oh um, yeah." he considered opening his eyes again, but wasn't quite ready to risk it.

"Yep! I think its just great, ya know. 'Cause its been jus me and that other guy for a while, but he went all weird in the head and was taken away. Your the only one that made it since him. An' me o' course. An' I hear there's this other girl who made it too, but they're not letting anyone inta see her." The boy rattled one for a while and Duo feel into half-stupor listening to the soothing sound of his voice.

It was a long time later, broken by infrequent requests for more water, before the pain faded to a bearable level and real sense returned. Along with the urgent need to go pee, Duo suddenly remembered another important fact.

"Oh SHIT!!" [I'm late to meet up with Heero!] He surged up in the bed, letting out a yelped at the reaction it sent through his body and opened his up-till-then-closed eyes.

The room was dim enough so that everything was black and white, but the details were still sharp and clear. He could easily make out the delicate flower border on the wall as well has the larger details of the two doors, bathroom and supposedly the way out, lack of windows, a large mirror on one wall, and of course the boy sitting in the chair across from him.

"What's wrong?" he inquired, cocking his head. His hair was pale in the dimness, lightly brushing his shoulders, eyes dark pools. He appeared no older then Duo and sat curled up in the chair in a surprising show of agility.

"I have to get out of here..." he swung his legs to the floor, hissing slightly. "There's someone I have to meet. What did happen to me, anyway?"

The boy shrugged. "You were gathered for the project. Same as me an' all the others. Now your like me. Can't leave, not ever."

"The hell I can't leave! What make you think you can keep me here?" Duo snapped, trying to ignore the fact that he was rather helpless at the moment.

"Nothin'. I'd be real sad if ya left, but I'm not the one keeping ya here. Its the people who run this place." the boy extended his limbs in a feline stretch, yawning.

Duo pushed himself to his feet, clenching his teeth. He noticed with some relief that he was clothed in lose pants and shirt. First things first, bathroom *then* escape. "What...what did you mean by 'I'm like you'?"

"That your genes been messed with. Go look in the mirror, you'll see, plain as day."

Duo frowned, but made his slow, painfully way to the privy. A fumbling hand located the light switch, the resulting illumination was dim as the bedroom light. A flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to turn his head. His reflection stared back at him. A choked sound worked its way out of his throat.

"Oh God..." he staggered forward to get a better look, hands clutching at the sink. His braid slipped over his shoulder to bang against the porcelain.

"See?" the boy stood behind him, over-long canines displayed in a feral grin, "Jus' like me now."

Duo's amethyst eyes gleamed back at him, each marked by a single silted pupil. Cat's eyes.

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Quatre leaned carefully over Heero's shoulder, wanting to read the screen without disturbing the Wing pilot. "Still nothing?"

"No." Heero answered shortly, as he continued to scan through lists and lists of OZ prisoner reports.

"Its been three weeks."

"He's a high level prisoner." Heero snapped back, "They'd be moving him around constantly and probably keeping his reports coded."

"Or they just killed him once they got the information they needed."

The glass Heero was drinking from shattered in his hand. Quatre yelped and rushed to the bathroom. Heero regarded his wounded appendage thoughtfully.

[Quatre is right,] The Perfect Soldier noted, [OZ seldom keeps prisoners this long unless they offered a political advantage. I should give it up and stop wasting my time.] It was true, but something about the whole situation bothered him.

For one, OZ had yet to use Duo has bait, which would be the logical maneuver to capture the other pilots. For another, they weren't nearly this careful when it came to hiding a prisoner, even a such an important one. There simply weren't any codes tha the Perfect Soldier couldn't break through. It was as if OZ hadn't captured Duo at all. But then....who had?

Quatre rushed back into the room, one of their many first aid kits clutched firmly in one hand, a towel in the other. He crouched next to Heero's chair and gently went about removing the bits of glass.

"I know you miss Duo." the blonde said softly, wiping the blood away.

Heero gave a non-committal grunt.

"I understand. But....you have to face the truth. You can't go on like this, when there is nothing to look for." getting no response, Quatre sighed and applied disinfectant before wrapping his hand with soft bandages. He stood up, taking the supplie with him. "We'll be meeting up with Trowa and Wufei again in few days. Maybe they'll have some suggestions."

"Aa." Heero replied vaguely.

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Duo's knees trembled as he lowered himself back onto the bed. The entire world seemed to be reeling and his breath was harsh in his throat. [What's happened to me? What am I? What's happened?] He was distantly aware of the boy standing in front of him.

"Calm down a bit," the other said, "Ya getting all panicky and that's not good. Could react badly with tha drugs an' all that."

Duo looked up at him, eyes wide and chaotic. He viciously grabbed the boy's arm, hauling him down so they were face to face. "What did they *do* to me?"

"Changed ya. Jus' like me. Cat crosses they said, " the boy smirked. "Better than them wolf crosses. Those freaks are real idiots! Nasty too, more wolf then person." he tossed his head, giving Duo a flash of markings on his forehead. Duo grabbed he others thick ruff of bangs, yanking them back to get a better view.

Small, black lines marked his forehead like tiger strips, creating a small V pointing towards his nose. Fur covered the entire length of his brow. Duo could clearly the hairs, though the rest, besides the lines, were skin colored. With trembling fingers, he brushed over it. Soft and light, not thick like a true cat's would be. The boy sighed, eyes fluttering shut.

"Stop that now, you're really not my type." he murmured, his voice containing a strange vibration. Suddenly realizing how much the other was enjoying his fearful touch, he pushed the boy away.

"Bastards," he growled, "I'm going to get them for this, soon as I get out of here and get myself back to normal."

"There is no normal. This is life, forever." the boy said in rather somber tone, perched in the chair again. He cocked his head at Duo's look, fangs bared in a grin. "You're a lucky one. For looks only ya eyes changed. Me, I got fur all up and down my back and these teeth! I tore my lips up quite a bit 'fore I got used ta them." he extended his hands, gazing at them, "Least my hands are all normal. there was this one guy who had claws on his hands. Was real nasty lookin' and hurt 'im alot...."

"Like I *care*," Duo snarled, anger building up inside of him. Who was this kid that he could act this way?!? Like having your entire world turned upside down was no big deal?! Duo reached up and dug his hands into his scalp. Everything was wrong! The world was all out of place. Images were too bright, too clear. Sound too loud, too deep, pricing his eardrums. It was too much!

With a growl, he swept out his arm, cleaning the bedside table and sending metal pitcher crashing to the floor, spraying water everywhere. The container impacted the hard floor with a harsh clattering and horrible ringing. Duo wailed in protest when the sound exploded in his ears.

"Christ!" the boy yelped, frantically shaking off the water that splashed on him. "I told ya not to get upset! You're gonna be all screwy in the head for while, ya jus' gotta take it easy!"

Duo pulled his knees up to his chest, tucked in his chin and covered his ears with his hands. "Its not real, it can't be real. I'm going to wake up tomorrow with Heero scolding me for waking him up and everything is going to be the same. Its not real..."

No matter how many times he repeated it, nothing changed.

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The boy who called himself 'Lynx' watched his new companion through the observation mirror set in the other's quarters. It had been nearly four days since the braided boy's awakening and while his physical state was greatly improved, his mental state was still on the rocks. At least he excepted the fact that his situation was very much real. Sadly, he had moved from there to trying to kill whoever entered the room. Which was why Lynx watched him from a secure distance.

He was rather disappointed, yet still held onto his hope. Lynx was a follower. And the one thing a follower wanted the most was a good leader. This new comer had appealed to him has being just the leader he was looking for. He had a good scent, Lynx trusted him the moment he was allowed to visit, which was much more then could be said of the some of the scientist, doctors, and administrators that ran the Project. And he didn't like the Wolves one bit.

Either way, this one was certainly worthwhile. If he could keep his wits about him and pull through this with a more-or-less acceptable amount of sanity, then he was worthy of Lynx's devotion. Lynx grinned slightly and lightly scratched the fur on his forehead.

[His cute too, but just not my type. Too bad, really, I'd love a mate.] Smirking slightly at his lecherous thoughts, he almost missed the approach of one of his least like doctors. Almost. Nose twitching in annoyance at have to breath that foul sent Lynx scuttling off the table he'd been sitting on and into a corner. Footsteps and wave of sharply chemical perfume and the human's own, unpleasant odor, marked her arrival.

"No need to hide from me, little cat." the woman spoke in soft, cultured voice that carried the undertones of threat. "I'm only here to give your medicine."

Lynx winced, then the all-too familiar ache in his body reminded him that it had been a while since his last injection. Hissing under his breath, he slid out into the open. "I woulda gotten it myself." he muttered, extending his arm. He could take it quicker and easier in the neck, but he rather disliked letting that woman get to close to his vitals.

She smiled, showing perfect, pearly white teeth and firmly placing the hypro-spray against his arm. "You've been deliberately waiting to long for you injections. That's dangerous. We can't have you going into an attack, now can we?"

"Of course not." he half-snarled in return, then closed his eyes against the brief flash of pain and burning as the drug was entered into his system. The vague dizziness and muscle pain that had be plaguing him for the past three hours faded, replaced with a fresh, rejuvenated feeling. Despite the pleasant sensation, he pulled his arm tight against his body, fingers clawing at the injection point, as if he could dig the drug out of his system forever.

He was allowed full rein of the compound (with few exceptions) and allowed to leave into the outside world whenever he please. Absolute freedom. But he always came back. Always came for *this*, for the drug his body could no longer function without. The drug that had been custom made just for him, binding him to them and their ambitions tighter then any chain.

With a soft snarl, Lynx retreated back this corner, obsidian eyes glaring at the doctor until she left.

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TBC...