A/N: Anyone interested in being a BETA? Would love one...
I stayed under my bed for the rest of the afternoon. I could hear them moving around, looking for me, but I was scared to go out from my safe spot. Lunch and Dinner went by, and soon I heard Duo come home from work.
"He's been gone the whole day?" Duo sounded worried, and it made my insides hurt. I didn't want them to worry, but I didn't want them mad at me either. And they would get mad when I went out there. And they would get madder and madder the longer I hid. I didn't know what to do anymore.
I could see feet move in and out of the bedroom sometimes, and I tried to be very quiet when they were in here.
'I am not here. I am not here I am not here.'
That was what I told them inside my head whenever they were in here. Trowa tried to look under the bed once, but that was the moment Duo came back. He didn't see me, but I was shaking bad when he left.
"Well, lookit this way Tro', he can use his words now." Duo sounded like this was funny, and it made me relax some. Duo thought the note I left was funny.
"I told ya this might happen, r'member? He's feelin' safer, so he's gonna start tryin' to see what you will do when he doesn't follow you to the tee."
I couldn't hear what Trowa was saying in return, but I could hear Duo clearly. I wasn't sure where Heero was, but I was afraid to find out. Heero scared me, and I never made a sound around him.
"Jus' relax. He'll come out soon, and he's gonna be watchin' ya fer a reaction."
I curled up a bit tighter into a ball, trying to stay warm. My head was tucked in the crook of my arm and I ended up lying on my side, just watching the little area I could see from my spot under the bed. When several minutes later Heero's face came into view, I jumped, moving my bed several inches and hissing angrily.
"I found him," was the flat tone the words left his mouth in, and I hissed at him, my eyes glaring at him.
"And you think I can understand that?" Heero asked me, and I blinked, letting out a slow hiss in my confusion.
"If you want to say something, speak to me. I am not Barton. I'm not the animal charmer."
I lashed out at him with my foot at that, but he merely grabbed my ankle and pulled me out from under the bed. When my upper body was exposed to the light, I twisted, sinking my teeth into his upper arm. He jerked, trying to get me loose but I held on tightly, pure anger making my vision white and my blood burn.
When I tasted something metal in my mouth, I gagged.
"What is your problem?" Heero hissed, pinching my jaw with his free hand and making my mouth pop open off his arm. I lashed out with my hand, and soon another pair of hands was on me.
"He's panicking. Did you have to pull him out?"
That was Duo. Oh God, two of them now. I struggled, flinging my free legs out wherever they could land until hands were holding those down as well.
I yowled, the sound hurting my ears and a snakes hiss overlapping the sound.
"Hush little one, David, calm yourself."
Trust-man. My trust-man. Why were these people holding me down? Why was he letting them? I keen, stretching my torso upwards, and keening softly.
"Let him go."
"Dude, can you see Hee-chan's arm?"
"Let. Him. Go. Now."
The hands leave me, and I curl up, keening again.
Hands are touching me again, and I give out a small inhuman cry, but the hands are different. They are gentle, not restricting. They are lifting me up off the ground, and against a cool chest. Trust-man had been outside, the cold was still on him. It cooled my anger, settled through me and let my vision clear to see green eyes looking down at me.
I blink rapidly, a pounding in my head hurting inside, and I buried my face into that cold chest, and give out another soft keen. He hums, and I feel it travel through me, in my blood and taking the last of the hot angry feeling with it.
"Are you with us now, David?"
I hiss gently, nuzzling the fabric of his shirt with my nose.
"Sss…ry…" I mumble, broken between short sobs that started to escape my mouth. Now that the anger was gone, just the fear remained, and Trowa, my Trowa was taking that away.
"Hush," he murmurs, and I cling to him. I feel him stand, and then another set of small hands brush my hair, and I lean further into Trowa.
"I'm sorry too little man, I was worried 'bout you an' Hee-chan."
"Sorry," I mumble again, "bad."
"What you did was bad, but it doesn't mean you are bad. You've been very good since Trowa met you."
"No… bad."
"Hush, we will talk about this later. I want you, Duo, to go help Yuy with his arm. I am going to go get David some food and a bath."
Duo slept in my bed again with me, whether to keep an eye on me or trying to make me feel better I didn't know. Trowa didn't do anything about me attacking Heero, or the note I left that morning, so I was still tense and unsure of what would happen to me. Trowa had already proven several times over that he wasn't like Aunt. I always got food, got to sleep in a real bed, got my own clothes and toys, didn't have to clean and cook everything, and got to take baths every night. But I have never made Trowa angry at me before, and people were different when they were happy then when they were mad.
I curled up against Duo more, feeling my body start to shake again. I had been doing this all night. I would start thinking too much, then start shaking and then Duo would hug me and talk to me. I would stop shaking, but I would just start doing it again a bit after. I think I was dozing off sometimes, but I couldn't see my clock from where I was laying, and it was hard to tell how much time was passing when I was shaking.
"You're thinking again," Duo murmured, and I felt his arms tighten around me as the shaking got worse. A whimper escaped my lips and I tried to keep quiet, but Duo's small hand started rubbing at my throat and chest. It helped relieve the slight pain that had been starting there, but it made the sobs I was trying to keep quiet come out.
"Want to hear a story?" Duo asked, and I nodded silently, my body trembling still.
"I met Trowa almost three years ago now, though I didn't see much of him until a year and a half after meeting him. There was a war going on, and we happened to be on the same side, though never working together. In all that time, I have never seen Trowa lash out at a person he cared about."
I let my head tilt so I am looking into Duo's eyes, and he is staring back at me.
"I know you're scared of what he is going to do, but he isn't going to do anything. Maybe some time-out, like stand in a corner for some odd minutes or maybe not let you get dessert, but he won't make you miss meals, or lock you up or hit you or make you go away. We don't know what you are used to, but I can guess several things that are probably true and it makes me hurt to think you had to live that."
I turn in his arms, my trembling starting to stop and bury my face into the warm skin of Duo's chest.
"But, I heard you speak today. You've been working hard on building those muscles in your voice-box. I am going to start helping you make sounds tomorrow, okay? Then when you get angry or upset, you can scream instead of lashing out like you did earlier."
I whimper, remembering the metally taste that came from Heero's arm.
"Heero shouldn't have pulled you out like that, but you can't just go 'round biting people, no matter how good it works on gettin' 'em away sometimes. Both of you got in trouble tonight."
My head shot up to meet Duo's gaze at that. Heero got in trouble because of me?
"You didn't make him get in trouble. He shouldn't have pulled you out like he did. That is why he is in trouble. You are in trouble for biting him."
I nod, understanding.
"So, because Hee-chan is my best friend, I grounded him. He cannot come over for two days. And for you, for the next two days you will be going to bed early. You also will not have any milkshakes after lunch, and no ice cream after dinner. And Trowa has a couple things you will be doing for him tomorrow as well, but he will let you know those, since that is his punishment for you."
I nod again, and curl back up into Duo. I could live with that.
