Chapter Ten
Chatty Cathy

"Heya Sally! How's it going?" Duo flashed her grin as he came to stand next to her. Sally tried to hide her startled expression as she schooled her face into a soft smile.

"Hi Duo, can I help you with something?"

"Why yes you can," Duo said as he leaned forward with his hands on his hips. "Where are you going?"

"I have a patient to see. Do you need something?"

"That patient wouldn't happen to be the girl Trowa brought in?" Duo eyed her carefully. "Is Trowa or Heero with her at this very moment?" As if on cue Trowa opened the door to a room a few doors down from where they were standing. Bingo! Duo thought to himself as he moved past Sally to meet Trowa.

"Hey, there you are! I've been wondering where you've been for the last few days." Trowa seemed just as taken aback as Sally. "Well, how is she? Is she in there?" Duo peered around him.

"Duo," Trowa said before Duo pushed past him. Opening up the door, he stepped inside and was met with two blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a glare that was no doubt a replica of Heero's.

"Holy shit!" Duo's jaw dropped to the ground as he looked at her. She lifted an eyebrow at him before he spun around to face Trowa and Sally who had joined him just inside the room. Throwing his arms up in the air, "what the fuck is going on!? Is this some kind of joke?"

"Duo, we can-" Sally started to say before Duo cut her off.

"Explain? Yeah well, you better start! She looks like fucking Yuy! And to be honest one Heero is enough to handle as is. Also, last I checked Heero didn't have any siblings! So who the fuck is she!?" Duo turned his attention to Trowa as he went on, "and seriously Trowa!? This is where you've been since we got back!? You and Heero have been hanging out with her!?" Duo threw a thumb in the girl's direction.

"Can I help you?" A voice came from behind him. Duo jumped as he turned around. Standing before him was the girl who moments ago was sitting on the bed.

"Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me!?" Duo ran his hands over his face. "She is freaking Yuy!" The girl glared at him. "Jesus! Does Une know? She has to know. There's no way you've been hiding her here for days without Une knowing. Holy shit when did Heero find out!?"

"Are you done?" The girl asked him.

"Done!? I don't even think I can comprehend this!" He threw his arms up again.

"Then go comprehend somewhere else."

"Huh?"

"You talk too much," the girl said as she narrowed her eyes at him. Then she turned on her heel, heading back to the bed. Sitting down she moved her shirt to reveal her shoulder. Duo could only gape at her. "Maxwell, I recommend shutting your mouth before a fly makes its way in there," she looked pointedly at him.

"What? Wait, how did you know my name?" Duo was dumbfounded as he scratched his head. Sally cleared her throat causing Duo to turn around to face her.

"She knows who you are, she knows who everyone is. But right now Duo," Sally gave him a sharp look, "I need to attend to my patient. So move aside."

Duo took a few more steps into the room to allow Sally to walk by. Followed closely by Trowa. Sally sat down on the bed next to the girl. She asked her a few questions before she removed the bandage that was wrapped around her shoulder. Trowa leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and head down. But Duo caught the small smirk.

Duo watched Sally carefully as she stared at the girl's shoulder. Sally looked confused and from where he stood it looked like the girl's shoulder wasn't even that bad. There were some stitches, but overall it didn't look like much to him. Then suddenly, Sally grabbed the girl's arm, quickly undoing the bandages that were on her wrist. Pulling them away, Duo saw nothing once again. No marks, no redness, nothing. What he did notice was the shocked look on Sally's face.

"How did you… how? I know you can heal quickly but you've only been here, what five days? How is this possible?" The corners of the girl's lips turned up ever so slightly.

"Do I need to answer that?" She looked at Sally. Sally shook her head after a moment.

"No, you're right. I just wasn't expecting such a change in such a short amount of time."

"I haven't been doing much. Easier to heal that way," the girl said with a shrug. "Your work is good too. I should only have a small scar left once it's completely healed."

"You're probably getting restless then," Sally said with a smile. The girl nodded her head. Sally let go of the girl's wrist and adjusted the collar of her shirt that had been covering her shoulder. "You think you're ready to run some of those tests we talked about the other day?" Sally looked at her.

"Sure."

"Good. I'll get it set up. Say maybe in two, or three days? I don't want you pushing that shoulder just yet though."

"Sounds good," the girl said. Sally nodded as she stood.

"Good. I'll be back a little later to remove the stitches," Sally said. Turning, Sally looked pointedly at him. "Duo," she said.

"Huh?"

"I'm going to say this once and only once. If you so much as speak a word about Serena being here, I will personally send her after you," Sally threw her thumb back at the girl, whose name was Serena. Duo looked between everyone. Trowa lifted his head, sending a questioning look Sally's way, and the girl, Serena, looked just as puzzled.

"You're joking right?" Duo asked, confused.

"You're capable of handling him right?" Sally asked, turning to Serena. Duo saw something pass over Serena's face.

"Yeah, he's not a problem," a sly smile formed on Serena's face.

"Good. Trowa, help me with something?" Sally turned to look at Trowa who looked as confused as Duo felt. Sally quickly nodded at Trowa. Then turned back to him, "stay here with her until one of us comes back. It shouldn't be too long," Sally said as she started making her way out of the room.

"Wait-what!? You want me to stay here with her!?" Duo sputtered.

"Yes, she needs a guard and I need Trowa for a few minutes, you'll be fine. Play nice Serena," Sally threw over her shoulder as she left the room. Trowa shook his head as he followed Sally.

Serena was still seated on the bed. She moved so she could sit with her legs crossed in front of her. Turning her attention to Duo, he was standing rigid with the same shocked expression on his face as he continued to look at her. Deciding if he was going to be watching her, she could either talk to him or just let him gape at her. She chose the former to see where it would lead.

"Are you just going to keep staring at me or are you going to speak?"

"Huh?"

"You're gaping at me. Do you plan to talk or stare at me?" She lifted a brow at him. She was slightly amused. His reaction had been the best by far since she had been there. It took Duo a few moments before he shook his head. The shock of everything seemed to finally fade.

"So..." Duo said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"For someone who tends to talk a lot, you seem to be lacking in words."

"Hey! I'm not lacking in words missy, it's just..." he trailed off again.

"I'd say you're lacking," Serena laughed.

"That's not funny! Hey wait-a-second, you actually wanna talk?" Duo stared at her with a confused look. Serena stopped laughing to shrug her shoulders.

"It's either that or we have a staring match."

"But you're like Yuy. So why would you want to talk? He never 'just wants to talk.'" Serena shrugged again. "You are like him right?" Duo asked.

"Yes."

"So, like down to every detail?"

"Yes," she lifted her brow.

"So… you're as strong as he is?" Duo shifted his weight, putting his hands back in the pockets of his jeans.

"Yes," Serena eyed him, wondering where this was going.

"And you're probably really good at hacking and stuff like that. Probably weapons too, right?"

"Yes," Serena said again. Duo nodded his head.

"Alright, so if you're exactly like him, which I am to assume is correct?"

"Yes," she dragged the word out. Serena wasn't liking where this might be heading. Duo nodded his head again.

"Then are you as inhuman as Heero is?"

"Excuse me?" Both of Serena's eyebrows shot up. What was he talking about!?

"To your feelings, emotions, you know all that stuff. Heero's terrible at expressing that shit. Or he's completely clueless about it. Whatever his deal is. Though somehow he has managed to keep Relena around. Not like none of us know they're together but I wonder how he handles it," Duo waved his hand as he spoke.

"I beg your pardon?" Serena was starting to see why Heero had made such comments about Duo in the past. He truly was something. She couldn't believe he was asking her this.

"You're his clone. I'm not an idiot as much as Heero probably thinks I am. But since you are and based on your answers to my questions I'm going with you're emotionally unavailable for whatever reason. Do you even have a boyfriend or something?" It was now Serena's turn to gape at him. "The only difference that I can honestly see is that you look semi like him. Enough to think you're siblings. That and you wanted to talk," Duo stopped to put a hand to his chin. "Though on second thought, that all could be some kind of act of yours. To try and win us over. Or you're the opposite of Heero in the emotions category. Which would mean you feel things, unlike him. Seriously, sometimes I wonder."

Serena stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before lifting a hand to her head while Duo continued to talk about whatever the hell he was talking about.

"My god, you are an idiot," Serena said in Japanese.

"Hey! I know what that word means! You're calling me an idiot!" Duo threw up his hands.

"How the hell did Heero put up with you during the wars and even now?" Shaking her head. "I don't want to know. I'm going back to my original statement. You talk too much."

"What!?" Duo asked loudly. "Yuy putting up with me? Are you joking!? I had to put up with his ass and I'm still putting up with it!" Serena pinched the bridge of her nose, as she closed her eyes. I'm never making this mistake again. As she continued to listen to Duo's rant.

Finally, after a good few minutes, he stopped talking. Or so she thought. As she looked back up at him. He opened his mouth again.

"You know, you're just a female version of him. Geez and here I thought Heero was bad. I wonder what it's gonna be like having you around. Are you going to be as stoic as him? Or just as big of an ass as he is?"

"What the..." Serena narrowed her eyes at him. Oh if Heero doesn't kill him, I'll gladly do it for him. Serena thought to herself as Duo opened his mouth again.

"Shut up, Duo."

"Heya Heero. How's it going?" Duo spun around to face him. A ridiculous grin on his face. Heero narrowed his eyes. He had heard a good chunk of their conversation before he had even entered the room.

"I should be asking you the same. What the hell are you doing down here?"

"Uh… I… um… was just in the neighborhood?" Duo laughed nervously. Heero's eyes darted over to Serena. She had her head in her hands and was muttering something to herself. Heero brought his eyes back onto Duo.

"I'll ask you one more time, why are you here?"

"I came down here to try and find out what was going on, alright?" Duo sighed. Heero growled but said nothing. "Hey, not my fault you and Barton left me out of the loop!" Duo threw his hands up in mock surrender.

"We didn't leave you out of anything. It was on a need-to-know basis and you didn't need to know," Heero continued to glare at Duo. He wasn't expecting Maxwell down here when he came to speak with Serena.

"Yeah, well... my feelings are still hurt," Duo huffed, turning his head away from Heero. "You could've told me about her. Not like I'm gonna tell anyone."

Heero saw Serena throw herself backward onto her pillow, as she groaned. It was apparent that she was done with Duo being there.

"Duo, just go. We'll discuss this later," Heero eyed him after watching Serena.

"What? No-" Duo tried but Heero sent him a warning look. "Fine, fine. I'll go… but I want answers," he pointed to both Heero and Serena before leaving the room.

"I don't like him. He's ungodly annoying," Serena said as she sat up. Heero tried to hold in his laughter but he couldn't as his chest rumbled. After a moment he settled down.

"I'm glad we can agree on something," he said. Serena smiled at him as he walked over, taking a seat on the bed next to her.

A/N

Happy Wednesday! We're halfway through the week, and hopefully, it's going well for everyone. As far as for myself... I don't know because this is prewritten, haha. What I can say is there's still plenty more fun to come, and we haven't even gotten to the really good stuff yet. I hope you all have a great Wednesday and I'll see you all again on Friday.

-MM