Special thanks to Miome for the gif!

First the disclaimer thing. Duo and Deathscythe Hell are not mine. They belong to whoever they belong to, which is not me. If you have enough money to go around suing people for writing stories for no profit just send that money to me, and we?ll both be a lot happier. However, Hel and any other incidental charcters that crop up are mine. So ask before you torture them.

Here's another story courtesy of Susan. Everytime I saw the Gundams, I got the impression that they had spirits of their own. Except those spirits kept appearing as dragons. Finally, I wrote one of the stories down in order to shut Hel up (and I thought Duo was annoying). Hope you enjoy the efforts.

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Hel was bored. A bored Hel was not a good thing.

She laid up among the rafters, all twenty feet of black matte scales draped across the metal beams. Below her were a couple of catwalks, but there was nothing there to interest her. All of her pilot's employees had long gone home. It was deathly quiet in the warehouse turned machine shop.

Deathly quiet. Now that was a bad pun even for her. She had once been called Death. Or more appropriately Shinagami. Before she had become more powerful and had changed her name to Hel. Back when she had fought with her pilot in the great battles that had raged across space, the colonies, and Earth alike. Ahhhh... the good old days.

Then peace had come, just as she knew it one day would. Her pilot deserved peace, as did the other's pilots. So when the order came to go and be destroyed, she had done it. Not because she wanted to die; she wasn't fanatical like Wing. But because as long as the Gundams existed the threat of war would hang over those who had worked so hard for peace. And even though she hadn't liked it, Hel had done it. For the future of those that had fought.

Only thing hadn't quite worked out like they had thought they would. Even though the huge machines of war were destroyed, their spirits remained. For the first time, Hel and the others were free. Or so she had thought. Then came the realization that she was tied to her pilot. Which left her with nothing to do, but watch as the braided boy lived out his life.

Hel snorted, and a small rat stopped to watch her its whiskers twitching. She snarled silently, and the creature scurried off to find safer territory. It was depressing. The great spirit of Deathsycthe Hell reduced to scaring off rats. A cat would have been just as effective.

With a sudden smooth movement, Hel brought her feet beneath her and stretched huge black wings. She twisted and dropped to the catwalk below. Not so much as a tremor betrayed her movement, and Hel gave a proud smirk. None of the others could have done that. When it came to stealth tactics, no one could even come close to her.

Her claws made soft clicking noises on the catwalk that she knew from experience only she and animals could hear. Her and the other's interaction with the rest of the world was strange. They effected things around them on a low level, and had to concentrate not to give away their presence. At the same time, it took a lot of energy and concentration to do even the most simple of things in the world they lived in. Like move objects.

She huffed as she levered herself up on the catwalk's railing, huge wings half outspread for balance. Then she leapt down to the floor of the warehouse. It was too complicated for her. Hel knew what she could do and what was outside of her abilities, and was perfectly willing to leave it at that. But trust Shen-long to dig deeper. The ancient dragon never could let things rest.

The black dragon was half way across the warehouse floor when the gears to one of the metal doors gave a rusty whine of protest. Then slowly and with much noise, the metal door slid upwards. Hel whipped around, faster than thought to face the sound. She crouched low, a high pitched rumble coming from the back of her throat, and the same neon green fire that had once illuminated her thermal scythe flared in her eyes. It might drain her to the point of pain, but she would do whatever it took to defend the life her pilot had built for himself.

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, Kate. There's not much of a chance we'll find it, but there's really no other place I could have lost it." Even if the words were hard to hear over the rattling door, and the figure was nothing more than a silhouette against the street light, Hel recognized the speaker. She relaxed from her battle ready stance, adrenaline making her unsteady.

"Getting jumpy in my old age, Maxwell. That luck of yours is all that kept you from getting the surprise of your life. What are you doing here at this time of night?" Hel asked, her better night vision allowing her to see Duo as he groped for the light switch. "A little to the right, Maxwell. Not that you ever listen." She blinked abruptly, as the floodlights came on one by one. Talking to her pilot as if he could understand her and respond had always annoyed her fellow dragons. But it was an old, comfortable habit that she had never broken.

"Don't worry about it Boss. I'm glad to help," another familiar voice said as Kate stepped into the bright light. Her voice echoed up in the rafters, and back down again accentuating the emptiness of the place. Hel trotted over towards the two, careful not to step in any of the small puddles of oil that seemed to form no matter how hard everyone tried to keep the place clean.

"I just bet you're glad to help him. Right into your bed. Tramp. It was bad enough with the Hilde girl. Now you're trying to get your greedy little paws all over him. Either of you mind explaining what your doing here?" Hel said. It wasn't that she didn't like females. It was just that she didn't like them throwing themselves at her pilot. And it was *not* jealousy. After all, it wasn't her fault that they weren't good enough for her Duo.

"I can't beleive I lost it," Duo said with equal parts hopelessness and self-incrimination. Hel shivered as look on his face grabbed her heart and clutched tight. Instinctively, she moved to comfort her pilot. Then she jerked back to herself, and reared on hind legs just in time to avoid having Kate walk through her. She knew from experience that it wasn't pleasant when people walked through you.

"Stuff like this happens. We'll find it Boss. So don't beat yourself up over it," Kate said as she laid a comforting hand on Duo's shoulder. Her voice was that of a helpful friend, but her whole manner was a little more than friendly. Hel hissed. Then Duo turned and gave Kate a polite but distant smile.

"Thanks. If you'll look by the Leo we're dismantling, I'll check the offices," Duo said as he started walking in that direction. A brief disappointed look flickered across Kate's face. Obviously she had thought that Duo would suggest that they both search together. Then she sighed in resignation as she headed in the direction opposite of the one Duo had taken. Hel grinned, a feral thing of teeth and maliciousness.

"Wait to go, Maxwell. Shoot her hopes down. Now what exactly did you lose? Come on, come on. Don't keep the dragon waiting." Hel kept up a constant monologue as she followed Duo to the back offices. "It's got to be important. And personal. Hmph. You've gotta give me a clue, because I can't think of anything."

An hour went by, and a good part of another creeped past before Duo finally admitted defeat. By the time Duo came out from the back offices Hel was close to climbing the walls. She paced, tail lashing behind her, eyes glowing once again. All this time had passed, and she still didn't know what was wrong. He walked to the front door, where Kate stood having given up nearly a half an hour ago.

"You didn't have any luck either," Duo said making it more of a statement than a question.

"I'm sorry Boss. Nothing," Kate said with genuine regret. Hel sat down on her back haunches, trying desperately not to dig her claws in the cement floor. Why wouldn't they just *say* it?

"Thanks anyway. Why don't you go on home since you're coming in early tomorrow. I'll close everything up," Duo said. Then before, Kate could say anything else. "I insist. I'll be fine, so don't worry about me. I just want to be alone for a little while."

Kate gave him a doubtful look, but left anyway. The black dragon barely spared her a glance. Her attention was firmly fixed on her pilot. She watched as Duo leaned forward against a huge sheet of metal until his forehead rested on it. Then he slammed both fists into it. The sound of bending metal rang loudly in the warehouse, and Hel jumped as if she had been shot. Slowly and carefully, she approached where her pilot leaned against the now dented metal.

"Easy, easy. It can't be that bad, can it? No worse then what we went through together. Certainly not worth hurting yourself over. Come on, Maxwell. If you don't let me know what's wrong, how can I help? Duo... please," Hel said in a soft pleading tone. The sound of Duo's ragged breathing mixed with pounding of her heart to drown out all other noise.

"My cross. The cross Father Maxwell gave me. It's gone." Hel rocked back a little, shocked by the words. The pain that ripped through her was a mirror of the pain that was running through her pilot. It was almost too much to bear. She fought back the urge to throw back her head and keen; to express Duo's pain like all the times before when he couldn't or wouldn't grieve.

The cross was here, in the shop. Hel's diamond shaped head whirled around to look off in the distance. Then she froze, like a hunting dog that's just gotten a scent, and her forked tongue flickered out to taste the air. She didn't know how she knew that the cross was here, but she did. And she could find it by tomorrow. Excitement rushed through her.

"Go home, Maxwell. Everything's going to be all right. Shinagami lives, and looks like it's up to her to drag your sorry tail out of this mess. Go home, my friend. *Go home.*"

Duo's head came up off the metal, and a frown creased his forehead. He could have sworn that he had heard a voice. Like the strange whispers that he had thought he'd heard when he had piloted Deathscythe. And for some reason he suddenly felt... better. Calmer, even. Filled with the conviction that everything was going to be okay.

He shook his head, then winced as his hands reminded him why it was not a good idea to punch a large sheet of metal. Anyways, it was useless for him to stay here. Better to go get some sleep and come at this with a clear head. And who knew? Maybe the cross would turn up in morning.

As soon as Duo left, plunging the warehouse into darkness, Hel gave a little squeal of excitement. She couldn't stand still for all the nervous energy running through her. Not only would this provide her with a challenge, it was going to be fun. She went through a mental checklist, and laughed. Her pilot was going to be so surprised, especially if she could pull this off. And she would, even if she wound up having to sleep for the next two days to regain her strength.

Hel smiled, and then repeated a line more suited to Wing than herself.

"Mission accepted."

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Duo pulled up to the machine shop, trying to keep tension from turning his stomach to knots. He cut the motor to his truck, and then listened to the sounds of the cooling engine. Taking a deep breath, Duo told himself that Kate's message could mean anything. Then he gave a wry, half grin. He wasn't fooling anyone, least of all himself.

Opening the door, Duo walked up the gravel path to the huge building. The metal doors were already open despite the early hour. Bracing himself for the worse, he walked in. The entire morning shift stood in a crowd looking up at the catwalks. Instead of the usual cacophony of machines, shouts, and laughter only hushed whispers broke the silence.

"Boss!" Kate cut through the crowd, heading for Duo. All eyes turned on the braided ex-pilot. "I'm glad your here. Me and the guys came in early to finish the order for L3, and it was already there. No one will go up and get it down, and no one's going anywhere near the machines until it's down. Since you were so adamant about getting that order off, I figured you could get things straight. So I called you."

"What was already there? What's going on?" Duo asked calmly, his hands on his hips. Kate gestured towards the catwalks in explanation. With a sigh he looked up. For a moment Duo saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then his eyes widened, and his jaw fell open as what everyone was looking at became apparent.

It was a scythe. The wooden handle was broken and splintered, the blade was bent, and the edge was dulled with rust but it was still a scythe. Duo hadn't seen a real scythe in years, and doubted half the workers here even knew what it was. The only time he'd seen one himself was a few years ago in the Smithsonian. Then his breath caught in his throat as he saw the other thing that had caught everyone's attention.

Hanging from the blade by its golden chain was his cross.

His breath hitched once again in his throat. Then a huge grin split his face. His eyes sparkled suspiciously, and he quickly scrubbed his eyes before any incriminating tears could flow. Then he turned to the workers who were staring at him in astonishment.

"What is everyone looking at? It's no big deal. Someone found my cross and decided to have a little fun at my expense. Nothing to stop work over. We still have to get that stuff off to L3. Standing around isn't getting it done. Kate, get the machines going. Mike, where are those extra welders we ordered? Come on people, move!" With the explanation given, everyone laughed and went to work.

Duo had his own task to do. He sprinted to the ladder leading up to the catwalk, and climbed up the metal at dangerous speed. Once up above the warehouse floor, he walked towards the scythe taking the time to study it. The handle had been wedged into the metal mesh of the catwalk. It would take a lot of time and effort to remove. He decided to tackle that problem later. For now, he just wanted his cross back.

Getting down on his knees, Duo held on to the railing for support and leaned out over the warehouse floor. His fingers just caught the chain, and he strained to reach out a little farther until it slipped free of the blade. Then he quickly brought it to his chest, grasping it with both hands to make sure that it was real. Soon the cold metal grew warm, and only then did he slip the chain over his head. Then Duo bowed his head in respect, and said two words. "Thank you."

From her place among the rafters, Hel's tail twitched. One green, gem-like eye slitted open and a smile spread across her face. Then she again slept.

Sometime last Novermeber, I entered The Spirit of Sinagami in the 1999 Nanashi Fanfic Contest. I have to admit, I didn't think too much about it. I came back from Christmas Break, and there was an email in my box telling me that it had one in the best Alternate Universe category. I started crying. I would like to take a few moments to thank the judges, readers, and fans of Gundam Wing and the Nanashi Fanfic Contest for selecting my story as best Alternate Universe. I don't know what to say other than it is a great honor. I've never been so proud to be a fan and a writer as I am now. Thank you.

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The Spirit of Shinagami
Susan Lee Gidley
� 1999, Tsaiko