Part 2

It didn't smell like death here.

Nostrils flared, searching the unfamiliar scents in the air. Mint and..cedar? Eyes slowly cracked open and scanned the darkened area, waiting for the sight to adjust.

The ceiling was lower than usual, and not the cold metal of the lab. The only word that came to mind was 'strange'. Then it hit.

Running. Running from those men, escaping, hoping to find the one's responsible for this, the one's who could hopefully stop this nightmare and save the others...

Something moved.

Whipping around only to face a fey-like man, unbraided hair, almost black in the dim light of the room.

"You're up." The voice was a smooth baritone, almost unexpected from such a pretty face.

"Where am I?" The voice was pitched. Couldn't trust the stranger yet, not yet. Not until it was certain it wasn't one of them.

…

A delicate eyebrow twitched as the mouth tried not to grin as the petulant looking face of the kid sitting up on the couch.

"You're on my couch."

"Our couch." The voice coming from behind him almost startled him if it hadn't been expected. Heero always did those kinds of things.

The kid looked ready to run but bared shinny white teeth at them and a kind of growl was let out at them.

"Down, kitty." Duo murmured, letting his trademark smile slip into place. "We're not going to hurt you. We would just like to know who were the guy's chasing you and why you were doped up with tranks for animals."

The kid hissed something under his breath it sounded like 'fat chance'. Duo guessed it was probably 'fuck that.' Kid's running away from people usually had a tendency for cursing.

"You're not going to run." Heero's voice was soft, like he was talking to a skittish animal but the words were less than comforting. "You're going to tell us everything,"

Before he could speak again the kid was snarling and surged to his feet. "Fuck you!" He made for an exit but suddenly keeled over, gasping and trying not to puke.

Duo hissed and moved to help the kid who was shaking like a leaf. He kneeled and tried to grasp the kid's shoulders when the kid took an angry swipe at him, missing completely.

"w'z there twu ov ya..."The kid slurred, the pitch was off and Duo frowned and made to grab the kid again when he started to fall. "nun feelz gud." And promptly puked onto the floor.

Duo winced in sympathy and made 'shushing' noises as he took a firmer hold on the kid's stomach and soothingly rubbed his back in small circles. "It's okay, kid, it's going to be alright. You're going to be fine."

Heero was suddenly by his side, a wet towel in his hand and a bowl in the other.

Duo looked at him questioningly.

'Throw up.' He mouthed as he quickly set the bowl between the kid and the floor, waiting for him to stop dry heaving.

The kid groaned in agony and whimpered when Duo leaned him back so Heero could place the cool cloth on the kid's forehead.

Duo continued to make sympathetic noises as he returned the kid to the couch. "Poor baby." He crooned, removing the kid's hat to better secure the cloth Heero had brought.

Ebony strands cascaded from underneath the hood, wild and silky to the touch, falling to the floor and sweeping the ground. Duo hissed in surprise and dropped both the washcloth and the hat as if they burned him.

…

Heero returned from depositing the puke bowl in the kitchen and saw Duo frozen beside the couch. "Duo?"

Duo hadn't twitched until Heero padded over to where he sat and saw the long, black strands everywhere and looked to the pale, sweating face.

Duo's voice was low and harsh, "The kid's a girl."