II
******************************
Quatre waited quietly for the
others to return. He typed in a few more commands, feeling slightly
blind in the darkened room. On opposite walls, computer screens spat
out data at the rate that one would talk.
It was silent, but hardly peaceful.
'The Computer Room' as it was dubbed, was the center of all information
and command of a Preventer unit. Both he and Heero were licensed
to use the systems involved, but Quatre preferred the tiny room to the
battlefield.
He stared at the computer screen,
immediately cringing as the gunshot went off. Silence took over,
and he delved in it for quite some time.
A tiny tear rolled down his
cheek as he switched the communications on. "Heero.. How did it go?"
"We killed the male and 3 others."
Heero replied monotonely.
"And the other?"
"We'll be back within 15 minutes,"
Heero answered, completely ignoring the second question.
"But."
"It's part of our job, not
yours. Don't get upset." Heero murmured. "Unit out.."
Wearily, Quatre nodded and
slipped his earphone off, sliding the attached wire out of a small indentation
on his wrist. Gently setting it against the desk, he slid deeper
into the plush chair and closed his eyes.
With the creation of the monsters,
there came a mutation of people in response. These children had appeared
in the past 20 years, and were just as much of a threat as the creatures
themselves.
With psychic powers and unusual
strength, these 'adepts' were classified as dangerous and were to be dealt
with immediately. The orders were straight from the government, and
there was no use questioning them.
The silence of the small room
enveloped him. Quatre nervously pulled himself to his feet and left
the room. He walked down the hall, then back to their apartment.
The group stepped inside, looking
slightly tired and sweaty. The room had already been air conditioned,
and they all pulled off their jackets instantly. There was a faint
noise from the television and Quatre smiled wearily as he saw the four
enter.
"I call shower first," Duo
announced as he tossed his jacket carelessly against a large brown armchair.
He grinned as he saw Quatre. "Hey! You missed all the fun!"
Quatre didn't answer but silently
picked up Duo's coat and folded it into a neat square. "The drinks
are in the fridge, everything else should be fixed."
"Thanks dude." Duo walked
into the bathroom, turned on the light, and disappeared.
Trowa sat down on the large
green couch and ran his hand through his hair. Heero and Wu Fei disappeared
into the kitchen, and everything seemed to go back to normal.
~~~~~~~
I returned from the shower feeling
much more like myself. Trowa and Quatre were watching telelvision
as usual, Heero was staring straight at his laptop, as usual, Wu Fei was
sitting and reading a book.. as usual.
You get the feeling there are
a lot of 'as usual's around here?
I decided it was time to start
spicing things up. Grabbing onto a small watergun, I retreated to
the sink grinning to myself.
Once the gun was filled, I
looked at my soon-to-be victims. They were totally unaware of my
prescence..
Good.. very good..
"FREEZE!!" I yelled as I stood
in the position of the doorway. Just to make my point clear, I squirted
the water straight into Quatre's face.
The reaction was not what I
wanted.
"DUO!!" Quatre snapped
as he turned his face away. His hands covered his eyes and his expression
turned into pain.
Heero and Wu Fei ran into the
room just as Quatre got up and ran out.
"Maxwell what did you do to
him?!" Wu Fei snapped.
"Nothing.. It's just water!"
I held the gun out, showing my innocence.
"Idiot," Wu Fei disappeared
again.
Geez, I never thought anyone
could get that upset about a water gun.. Sighing, I slipped back on the
couch.
Something really hard hit the
back of my head, making me fall to the ground.
Behind me, Trowa was holding
onto one of the couch pillows, his face still stoic. He sat down
where I'd been and returned to watching the television.
Letting out a loud 'HMPH!',
I went to apologize to Quatre.
You always know exactly when
you're in Quatre's room. First off, there's the smell. I don't
know what the guy does, but the place always smells exactly like fresh
sandalwood. It's not in that annoying so much it makes you gag way,
it just makes you feel comfortable.
Secondly, there's the cleanliness.
There's nothing on the floor, nothing stuck behind corners and absolutely
nothing that a maid could pick up anywhere. Makes me sick.
Third, it well.. feels
Quatre-ish. There isn't a television, but there's one small stereo
which has been known to play anything from simple instrumentals to relaxed
guitar music. The walls are a very light blue and the carpet's a
darker version. On a small table are several pictures, including
one of the 5 of us when we went to the beach on vacation.
I carefully flipped the lights
on, and saw Quatre sitting on the bed. His eyes remained tightly
closed, and for a moment I could swear I saw an expression of pain on his
face.
"Hey, Q-man.." I paused.
"You awake?"
Quatre blinked for a moment
then stared at me, the light glinting in his eyes just slightly.
"Duo?"
"You freaked out when I got
ya with the water gun, you okay?"
"I'm fine, it just startled
me.." Quatre smiled wearily. "I've been under a lot of stress
lately."
"Ah," I answered, not quite
understanding why he had become so upset.
"Duo, could you hand me that
bottle up there?" Quatre pointed to a small white medicine bottle
on a shelf.
"Yeah," That was funny..
I didn't know Quatre took any type of medicine.
"Thanks," he took the bottle
and pulled out two white pills. There was a moment of silence as
he stared vacantly at me.
"What, you want me to leave?"
Quatre nodded.
You ever feel like no one trusts
you? Just as I was leaving, I saw Heero enter into the room.
~~~~~~~~
Heero grunted as he sat on the
side of the bed and stared at the blonde. Quatre met his stare momentarily
then hid the bottle.
"I didn't like it anymore than
you did," Heero murmured silently.
He remained silent, his hand
gripping tighter around the bottle. "They're going to attack again,"
"We know that."
"And we'll continue killing
them,"
"Yeah." Heero shifted,
his face becoming more and more stonelike. "If you don't like it.."
"My father won't let me quit,"
Quatre answered. "I have no choice.." a faint, choked laugh escaped
his lips as he stared at the bottle. "It's funny you know?
They say ignorance is bliss.."
He slid the lid open and pulled
out a small white tablet. Taking a deep forced breath, he swallowed
it.
"It is.."
************************************
As I said, this probably wouldn't
make much sense, but it's kind of a layout for the next part. I figured
it would eventually turn into a mystery (weird considering a lot of it
is based on Blue Sub, huh?)
Thanks to those who reviewed,
it really helps me to have an initiative to keep writing and posting!
Oh yeah.. Congrats to all the
authors and fics here, we've passed 10K!!