Disclaimer applied:

Chapter 2: "…Of Phantom Mimes…"

Thump…Thump…Thump…

Steady low pounding of his heart beat tantamount to that of a drum beat could be heard continuously, invading his ears and preventing him from thinking clearly. He was desperately trying to catch his breath, his slim body unstoppable in trembling. He was unable to move his frozen fingers, rigid and shaking, either from fear or indecision of his next action. His instincts told him to run, yet escape was the last thing on his mind at the moment. What was first though…is to protect.

Protect someone. Steer him away from harm's perilous path.

Stay, fled not alone, not just to save himself, value not only his own life, but 'his' too.

And many others as well.

Pain.

What he needs to feel right now is pain, in the hopes of bringing him back to his senses. Maybe by then, he will be able to convince himself that what he saw and heard, was nothing but paranoia and overreaction. Just a trick of light, deception of reflection, distorted, nonexistent, purely imaginative.

Pulling his closed fist back, he gave all energy he had in that one thrust towards the lying piece of object, without any reluctance nor apprehension for what pain he is about to be subjected to.

With a sharp, determined look on his usually serene and pacified face, Quatre sent his fist diving onto the full-body mirror's smooth glassy surface.

Pain, the best sensation to erase the obscurity by illusions done to distort what's real.

'Pain, here I come…'

--

"Get off me."

"Nope."

"For the second time, I will ask you nicely, won't you PLEASE get off me!"

"Nope, no can do."

"I demand that you get off me this instant or I'll incinerate the object of your manly pride!"

"Uh—which is?"

"Don't go sniveling all over in the end for you brought this upon yourself, you psychotic braid-infatuated ape!"

"Hey, that's not a cute description at all! Care to come up with another one more pleasing to the ears?"

There was a sound of a glass shattering from upstairs which somehow managed to get through Duo and Wufei's intense bantering and in no time did it caught their attention. Duo instantly jumped to his feet, out of the bed where an exhausted Wufei lay on his stomach, attempting to relieve his muscles after an intense training with his katana. Despite the mysterious commotion though, Wufei appeared glad of ridding the burden on his back without further coercing, yet he forced himself to separate his body from the bed and follow Duo, who was already on his way to the stairs.

"It's Quatre…Guess he's finally awake…" Suddenly turning serious, Duo climbed the stairs two at a time, Wufei following closely behind.

"Indeed, I was starting to wonder if he is ill. He did look paler than usual. And him suddenly fainting for no explicable reason suggests something odd and worthy of attention is going on with him."

Duo was not given the chance to reply as they have reached the top of the stairs, and from there, they could make out Trowa's lean back facing them, from the door of Quatre's room which was now standing ajar.

"Wow, he's fast."

Wufei could only hide a perplexing smile upon Duo's comment.

--

"You're bleeding. What did you do that for?"

"Th-the doll—It—It was…saying…whispering…dictating…KILL over and over...H-horrible—sneer…Something evil…"

"Come again?"

Silence came next as Quatre's reply, his blonde head hung low so that his blonde bangs shaded his eyes from view, while there seemed to be a sudden arrival of dark, gloomy clouds which hovered menacingly above their heads. And Trowa was at a loss of what to say next, heck, he was even confused of the other's negative reaction. Has he, by any chance, offended him somehow? He didn't mean to sound skeptical. He was only trying to confirm what he thought he had heard. After all, for someone as logical as Trowa, it is hard for him to believe in something that is impossible and inexplicable.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, the tall serious lad approached the blonde with careful, calculating steps, testing the other's reaction. If Quatre so much as flinch, that would be Trowa's cue to leave, that's it, no questions asked.

Finally Trowa managed to kneel beside Quatre without receiving any negative hints that he placed a light hand on the other's shoulder and spoke in a smooth, quiet voice. "Let me see your hand."

Lifting his face, Quatre at last overcame his annoyance with Trowa and decided to deal with it later that he allowed a drop of tear to roll down his cheek, announcing his pain over the injury he so foolishly called forth. Smiling awkwardly, Quatre brought up his bleeding fist for examination, barely stifling a light-hearted laugh in the process. And to Trowa, it amazingly appeased his anxieties, not to mention brought some sort of excitement all over his body, a dangerous feeling indeed.

"It really doesn't hurt that much Trowa. Don't worry. It's fine. I'll take care of it myself, I guess I've bothered you enough, with nonsense and trashy stories about talking rag dolls…" Quatre's voice trailed off as he suddenly found it hard to continue, jade eyes stuck with the other's enchanting forest green ones.

Deep, eloquent, even without speaking, Quatre can tell the other's intense eyes wish to deliver him some sort of message. Whatever it was, Quatre could only hope, and his hope will remain for what he had seen right now, is enough to strengthen his fate.

His fate that perhaps, he does have a chance after all.

"Allow me…"

'…to take care of you…' Trowa almost said, yet his brain stopped his tongue just in time, and instead of finishing his sentence, he merely assisted the dazed blonde on his feet before leaving him there alone, promising to return after retrieving the first aid kit, located somewhere downstairs. Quatre could only nod as he watched him go.

--

'What's wrong with me…'

Trowa, lost in thought, practically bumped with Duo as he absentmindedly headed for the stairs, yet the other's cheerful voice managed to alert him somehow.

"Do I smell something fishy here? T-man, is Q-man fine? What's with the loud crash?"

"First aid kit." Was the other's quick and serious answer, walking past the eager Duo. Without waiting for any reply, Trowa descended the stairs in a hurry, still keeping a straight face. Wufei only gave a slight shake of his head before going ahead to Quatre's room.

"Man, what's up with him?" Letting his eyes linger on the spot from where Trowa was standing minutes ago, Duo allowed his wild imagination to run freely and come up with an explanation of what Trowa was doing in Quatre's room before sighing and finally following Wufei.

"Courtship these days…"

--

"Will you quit laughing already? I don't see anything funny about it. I should have known, not any of you will believe me." Crossing his arms tight over his chest, Quatre's action earned him a glare from Trowa, who was still tending over the bandage on his wounded fist. "Oops, sorry…" The blonde mumbled then bit his bottom lip, his cheeks tainted with a mild blush, very conspicuous against his usual pale cheeks.

Then, as though to get rid of the awkward moment, Quatre blew on his bangs, jade eyes staring upward as he began to fidget on his seat. Too much proximity is starting to suffocate him, not to mention, why did the room suddenly seem so small…and clamped…and…wait, he was never claustrophobic, or was he?

"Maybe Heero would believe you." Duo stuttered in between laughs while clutching his stomach and attempting to control his merriment at his friend's expense.

"Is that hideous thing the one you are referring to Winner? What a pity, it's the perfect picture of misery. It seemed as though every part of it screams agony and begs for a quick and painless termination." Eying the said object critically, Wufei refrained from touching the filthy rag doll, despite his desire to do so of examining the doll and searching for any hidden gadgets that might do Quatre's incredulous statements justice.

"This doll—"

"—should not be touched by an overly excited child such as you. A fragile and delicate object such as this must be handled with the utmost care, which I doubt something you even know Duo." Trowa carefully collected the doll in his hands, intercepting Duo, who now gave him an annoyed glare.

"Hey I meant it no harm Tro, now where's the fun, killjoys."

"Things are not meant to be fun ALWAYS Duo, can't you understand that?"

"Not you too Quat, come on, we came here for FUN alright? That's the main reason we agreed to take their challenge."

"No, you must mean, our PRIDE is the reason why we agreed to accept this mission Duo."

"Oh pride, fun, they're all the same, doesn't matter either way. Point is, why can't you all just relax and loosen up a bit? Lady Une and the girls were all right to send us to some desolated area far away from work and real life. We DO need to take a break once in a while."

"I'm in no mood to argue with you…Will everyone please just go? I'll see you all at dinner. I…think I just need some alone time to organize my thoughts, if you all won't mind?"

"Right, shove us away every time we come too close to your bare and vulnerable soul. To hell with friends and making deep connections and establishing trust thing—"

"Duo, what are you saying? I never meant that, all I'm saying is—"

"What are YOU doing Quat? You're the one acting suspicious here, I think you have some major explaining to do—"

"What do you think I'm hiding? I'm hiding nothing at all, I—"

"Listen here Quat—"

"The fact is—"

"Yes the FACT is, YOU never listen—"

"I'm fed up of your inability to understand—"

"What the fu—?"

There was a soft thud, a fist-size round object fell rolling on the wooden floor, and came to a stop just inches away from the new comer's feet. Silence pervaded the room as the clueless Heero studied the tableau presented before him upon his arrival to Quatre's room.

Trowa was standing rigidly, hands outstretched towards the head of a half-crouched Duo. Wufei and Quatre both stared at them with wide, astonished eyes, then at the object Trowa was holding.

It was…a headless ragdoll.

--

A.N: I shall be awaiting your reponses, minna-san. Any kind of comments are most welcome. Come again next time!

To Triolet: *As my first reviewer, thank you very much!)*Since this is my first try of writing a gundam wing fanfic, I suppose I will have quite a hard time in keeping them in character, I'll try my best though. Thanks for the advice, I'll try to keep it in my overloaded mind lol. Hope this chapter somehow answers some of your questions. As to why Quatre fainted, it will be revealed in future chapters. And hello fellow tactics fan, glad to have found someone who shares the same interest as mine lol. Anyways, I would love to have another review from you. Please don't hold back. Say what you have to. *smiles*