If there was one word to describe this situation, confusion just might be the one. Instead of laying in a heap on the floor, Quatre had managed to pull himself up into a sitting position against the wall while Catherine kneeled in front of him and attempted to spoon feed him her specialty soup. Trowa had since put his mechanic shirt back on, but was yet to button it back up as he looked on curiously at the pair.
"Now honey, you need to eat this soup to get your strength back." Cat said concerned as she held the spoon in front of Quatre's face.
The blonde looked questionably at the strange greenish brown liquid she called soup. He expected it to wink at him or something. Crossing his arms almost protectively across his chest, Quatre shook his head in refusal.
"I don't need any soup, thank you. My appetite just isn't up to it at the moment." He declined politely.
"Sweet heart, you NEED to eat this soup. It's GOOD for you." She said a bit more forcefully.
"I'll find some crackers later Miss, thank you for the offer, but no."
"I said eat the god damned soup, now eat the god damned fucking soup!" Cat didn't really have the best temper. She did look kind of funny when she turned that particular shade of purple however. Or so Trowa thought anyway.
Reluctantly Quatre took the bowl and spoon. He wouldn't be degraded by being spoon fed; that was something he was perfectly capable of. Sniffing it once, he slowly stuck the spoon in his mouth and tried to hide the wince as the putrid soup slid down his throat. Forcing a smile, he nodded in what he hoped appeared to be satisfaction. Cat didn't seem to notice however, for as soon as Quatre took the bowl, the roiled woman turned to Trowa.
"What the bloody hell were you trying to do Trowa! Scare him half to death! I oughta smack you good for that," Cat allowed herself a smug grin. " But it seems he already has."
Trowa directed a withering glare at his sister, but otherwise no response was given. Depending on this response, Cat nodded her head in triumph, crossed her arms, and turned her back as if to leave the room.
"Good. Now that there's no argument, you've got the rest of the day off. Take the boy home and make sure he gets some rest. And make sure he eats the rest of that soup! Don't even think about dumping it down the sink again this time, I know how to check those pipes dammit!" She turned to wink at her brother. "Be home by seven! Take care!" And with that she lost herself amongst the piles of parts. If she didn't want to be found she wouldn't.
The two boys exchanged suspicious glances. Taking things in stride was one of Trowa's strong points though, and after pouring himself another cup of coffee, he spoke without emotion over his shoulder.
"Don't worry, you can give it to Duo. He'll eat anything."
Quatre blinked a few times, not sure whether or not the other boy was cracking a joke or not. As Trowa offered nothing else, save taking the bowl and spoon from him and setting it on the counter, Quatre decided it was best to follow him.
"Don't you want to know my name?" Quatre asked as he followed the taller boy out of the door.
"Names are trivial."
How Quatre looked forward to the rest of the day spent cooped up in a room with this guy.
The room was dark, and purposely so. Giant shades were drawn closed over the massive office windows, no light was on, and the only noise that could be heard was a rhythmic clicking from behind the plush executive chair. Everything in the over sized room was sterile; everything in that over sized room was cold. Silently the door to the office slipped open, allowing a small shred of light to creep in. Then, just as silently it slipped shut once more. The clicking noises stopped.
"So good of you to join me. Report?"
"The target escaped sir. I accept full responsibility."
"What do you mean the kid's still alive Agent Zero One? I thought I told you to take care of him." Spoke an eerily calm voice from behind the executive chair.
"The subtle method didn't work sir. Requesting permission to take more direct means, sir." Responded the other from the wall across the room.
" . . . Request denied. I'm a very patient man, Agent Zero One. Where is he now?" The chair creaked slightly as the man shifted his position.
"In a small town approximately sixteen hundred miles from here sir." The voice remained just as professional, just as emotionless as before.
"Hum, brat ran far didn't he? Go to this town and take him out. Don't draw any attention back to the company, understand? No matter what. Oh, and Agent Zero One?"
"Yes sir?"
"I wont accept failure a second time." He rumbled.
"Mission accepted." The figure, barely a shadow on the wall, turned and left the room.
"How far can you run Winner?" Murmured the man in the chair, and a light, humorless chuckle followed. "How long can you hide?"
The stained yellow wallpaper was slowly drooping off the walls, the furniture was sagging and full of rips and tears, the floors creaked with every step, and the carpets smelled faintly of mold and old cat urine. Marvelous.
Quatre sat on the edge of a large green sofa, wanting as little of himself to touch it as possible. Looking around the floors with a wrinkled nose, he had also decided to leave his shoes on. Clanking and rustling sounded then from the kitchen, and curiously the blonde stood up to investigate.
"Shi-! Oh come on, what the . . . you've gotta be kiddin- ouch!"
Barely hiding a grin behind his hand at the other's obvious distress, Quatre peered around the corner to see what was the matter. Crouching on the floor was the boy from earlier, his pointer finger jammed in his mouth and a deadly glare directed at a fat rat perched inside the cupboard. Just as evil, it seemed, the rat glared back at the boy that had interrupted its nap. On the ledge of the windowsill lounged a plump cat. A lazy eye was turned toward the rat before it yawned, stretched, turned around, and went back to sleep.
A little startled at the sight of the rat (though not surprised) Quatre decided not to enter the kitchen at that moment in time. This was the dingy room that the soup had come from? Quatre shuddered.
"Are you okay?" He asked curiously.
Trowa turned his glare from the rat to the blonde.
"It bit me." Trowa growled simply.
"Well . . . I don't think it's a very good idea to stick your finger in your mouth if it bit you. It could have a disease! Or something . . ." Quatre took a few steps into the kitchen, switching his gaze back and forth between the boy and the pompous looking rat.
"I'm getting my shotgun." The other said, and got to his feet.
As he swept out of the room, more crashing could be heard from a room further into the house. Confused momentarily by what he meant, but slightly intimidated by his anger, Quatre wisely hopped out of his way as the unibanged boy touted a large, old shotgun into the kitchen and carefully took aim at the rat. The rat cocked his head to the side.
Realizing what the other was going to do, Quatre yelped in protest.
"Don't kill it!" He shouted, just as Trowa pulled the trigger.
Startled by the sudden scream in his ear, the bullet went wild and embedded itself into the wall near the window. The rat ran and the cat barely cracked open an eye. His jaw grimly set, and the rat now spotted on the kitchen table, Trowa took aim once more. Just then, Quatre snatched the rat up off the table and held the squealing rodent firmly in his hands.
"I said don't kill it!" Quatre repeated angrily. He almost feared the other boy would turn the gun on him.
Trowa then reluctantly put the gun down and directed the same withering glare upon him as he had placed on his sister earlier. Reaching up into the cupboard, he grabbed a cereal box down and tossed it on the table.
"Here's your lunch." He grunted as he left the room.
The rat looked dumbly up at his savior before sinking his teeth into the boy's thumb and running off. Thumb being promptly shoved in his mouth, a woeful glance was placed on the cereal box. There was a hole chewed into the side of it. Just then the cupboard came crashing down on the kitchen counter.
Quatre sure was a long way from home . . .
A/N: Long time no see! Heh heh. Don't hurt me? I've actually had the beggining to this chapter written for a little while now . . . just took a little while to scrape up a bit more. I'm trying to make the chapters longer, but it's haaaard! (whines) It's also hard to write for fun when your Advanced College Writing (waves hands around in exaggeration of its importance) teacher assigns ya four to seven page essays for homework each and every class. I hate college . . . who needs an edjimication anyway? And I got fired last Wednesday too . . . I suppose that gives me more time to write . . . (jabs a needle into the voodoo doll of her ex-manager with evil glee) Hope this chappy wasn't too bad . . .
Kinaua- (hopes she wont be murdered for taking too long) Yeah, poor poor Trowa, but did anyone ever get a chance to think of how the coffee feels? Hunh! Okay, anywho . . . it seems I have a thing for Trowa abuse . . . (cries and huggles Trowa plushie)
Meg-of-the-Moon- Perhaps we should start up a "Save Trowa From Evil Authoresses" fund! STFE (stef-e!) (gives Trowa plush a cookie)
Yurikitsune- I've read "Once" . . . but right now I can't remember what it's about . . . I'm sure it was a good story though. Wait, is that the one where Quat plans out all his stuff on chess boards? I liked that one! Hopefully you'll be surprised by all the other characters that make surprise appearences . . . bwahahaha!
Duet- I hate you. Just kidding! (severely misses high school) Thanks for enjoying my awesomely bad writing!
romeo-ambiences- Me too! (cuddles Quat plushie) Yeah, Quat can be a vicious lil bugger! Heh, stupid rat . . .
Ridley Jack- I know! He's jus' too durn cute! Yay! That means I'm wont feel so bad trying to sound all skamart! (nods head sagely)
Hatori Soma- Well, I'm glad you like it! (big cheesey grin)
TE-Bag- Firstly, cool name! Anywho, sorry bout that. I was feeling out a certain style. Kinda in a copy of Stephen King but not really. If that made any sense. But I promise from now on I'll only use paranthesis when I absolutely can't resist!
Sophie- (rubs ass) Okay okay! Nose to the grindstone, gah! People these days. I'm workin for peanuts here! Tehe. Hope ya liked this chapter.
Artemis Fenir- (goes into meerkat sp? pose) Did you say candy? Here's your next chapter! (looks expectantly for candy) I like chocolates with coconut filling and the little rootbeer flavored hard candies! (hint hint) (innocent smile)