"Where are you taking us?" Reina asked, putting a hand on Duo's elbow.
Duo's arm jerked a little, and though it was only the tiniest bit, Reina could feel the tension that overtook the entire arm. "The condominium. I think your room is next to Relena's, which is across from Heero's."
Todousa was whistling a melancholy tune softly, pausing every now and then. He stopped abruptly and spoke. "Don't want to bother you, but where am I to be put up for the night?"
"In the main living room." Heero's answers were always precise. He spoke in a clipped, short way. Both Relena and Duo were startled by his coldness, but not surprised. They had their share of his coldness plenty of times before, and both had been threatened to be killed by Heero. So they definitely expected the worst with Heero and meeting other people for the first time.
Todousa did not seem to mind, though. "I suppose I will always get what I get," he commented, trailing off. He became quiet, remembering.
The five walked on in silence. Duo opened the door, then stepped aside for the rest of them to enter. He looked behind him before going in himself, and spotted something stuck in the imitation brick wall. He pulled at it. It was an envelope.
"I wonder whose this is," he muttered to himself. He looked at the front. It was written in another language that reminded him of the Sumerian writing from way back when. "Damn. Oh well. I'll bring it in to show the others." He turned and closed the door gently behind him.
Quatre was sitting at his desk, drinking from a terra-cotta mug filled to the brim with green tea. Printed on the rough surface of the mug, "peace in the world" in deep green told of Quatre's seriousness about pacifism. A calculator sat on one end of the desk, a pile of papers and maps on the other. A calendar and a planner were skewed across the center, as well as some loose leaves and a few pens, pencils, an eraser, clips, and a few envelopes. He set the cup down and picked up a black ink pen.
"Only a few more to go," he murmured, signing another paper and adding it to the stack. Juni was on the computer in the other room, trying to get into the main database of the Zumin's inventory of supplies and also for the data on the pilots that were going to use the new mobile suits they had heard about. They didn't seem to be any better than any of themselves.
Juni paused and looked up from the keyboard. She wondered about what happened the day before quite a bit, pondering whether she should tell Quatre the whole truth. It was extremely difficult keeping it all in now that something had happened. Quatre was already suspicious, and she would have to be very careful from now on if she was going to keep it a secret. "Have you finished your paperwork yet, Quatre?" she inquired gently, glancing over her glasses.
Quatre looked up, startled. "Umm...almost. How about you?" He signed another sheet with fluorish, the pen making a clean swipe under his name.
Juni began typing again. "The pilots aren't any better than any of our pilots," she commented, scrolling down. She stopped, surprised. "Though this one seems very similar to Wufei. Astonishingly similar." She wondered if she said it too abruptly.
"Mmm," he replied, peering at a packet. Suddenly he opened his left drawer and pulled out an i.d. form. "It can't possibly be Wufei. But here is his i.d. You can compare it, if you wish. But I don't...it can't be him! He wouldn't be a traitor!" It was then that Juni realized her folly, reaching to get the form from a very upset Quatre.
"It may not be him, Quatre. I'll double-check, but I agree with you," she explained gently, trying to ease the shock. She should've said it in pieces, broken it down so the shock would not be so great. Quatre, once friends, trusted them greatly.
Quatre took a long swig of his tea before returning to his signing. He only had three more to go, then a bill to sign. But he would have to compose the mission plan after that, so he tried to hurry.
Juni felt helpless. The i.d. form almost matched exactly to the profile on the screen. She had to investigate somehow to prove Wufei wasn't one of them. There had to be a way. She scrolled up and down, ideas at a standstill in her brain. She weakly put the form down and turned to Quatre, who had just finished his papers.
"Quatre," she said. She wasn't sure how to tell him.
He didn't seem phased at all. "It's not him, is it?" He walked over. "Black hair, brown eyes, Chinese, name, Li Po Shen. Very unsociable." He paused, thinking it over in his mind. "Sounds like Wufei, all right," he finally said. "But how can we be sure that it's not a fake? A bluff?"
Juni didn't know how to respond. "I don't know. But I'm assuming you'll wish to tell the others now? Or at least, as soon as we possibly can?"
Quatre nodded mutely. He was in a daze. "We can call up Heero. We need to inform Trowa, too."
Juni looked sideways at him. His face was stony and impassive. She didn't know what to think. Quatre was never like this.
"So what does it say? Can you read it?" Duo questioned impatiently, peering at the paper that he found, now in Heero's hands. He looked at the others.
Heero was getting frustrated. Duo's nagging was bad enough, but what was worse was he couldn't read the note, either. He had just set it down when three raps sounded on the door, then burst open. Juni and Quatre stood before it, rather odd looks on their faces. Quatre leaned against the doorframe, closing his eyes. Juni put her hand on his shoulder and looked at him. He looked very shaken.
"What is it?" Todousa quickly asked, standing up. Duo and Heero also stood.
Juni spoke for Quatre. "We have found something strange in the Zumin pilot database. It may be Wufei."
Shock rang through the dead-silent room. Todousa did not know who this Wufei was, but he knew that he was a friend of the others. Relena did not know Wufei very well, either, but she did know that he had also been one of the former Gundam pilots.
"How do you know this?" Heero asked, walking over to them. Juni handed him some papers, and he quickly read them. The content was all there, and he knew what he needed to know. "This may be a bluff," he said, but he didn't look convinced. He knew, as well as the other former Gundam pilots, that Wufei was a soloist, a solitary soul in his lust for Justice. But he was quite the same. He couldn't say much.
Quatre walked slowly behind Juni, pulling out her chair for her to sit in it. But his eyes looked distant, like someone lost in his own world. Dark circles sagged under his eyes in bags. He looked exhausted. Weary and betrayed, he had worked himself to a state of illness. Heero and Duo were concerned and tried to get him to lie down.
"Have to..." he paused. "Have to inform--Trowa," he managed to croak out. Then he sat down, hard, right on the floor. He closed his eyes, curled up, and fell asleep, right then and there.
"What did he do?" Duo inquired, looking at Juni. "He must've been really working at it. But he did a good job."
Juni frowned. "All things he does are for his friends. You should be grateful. He's been working on this case for a long time, trying to draw up plans so nothing will go astray to his fault. He doesn't want you to be left in too great of peril if he can help it."
"We will always meet peril," Todousa said softly, looking at the ground.
Juni heard him, but she made no reply.
Heero glanced behind him at the now-silent Todousa. "If we seek peril we will most definitely meet peril. It is our own doing. But what else do we need to know?"
By now Duo had gotten Quatre on the sofa, with the help of Todousa. They returned and listened as Juni laid out the plans they had so far. But Todousa reminded them that Trowa had to be informed, as Quatre wished it to be.
"We don't have time to waste," Heero answered.
Duo looked at him, aghast. "But Quatre must have a reason."
Heero looked at him, indecisive. The entire ordeal was completely off-track. He had to bring it back before it became an impossible task, even for him. "Juni can report to Trowa. We need to move out." He turned and walked away, hands in pockets, towards the hangar. "Remember the plan."
"We'll meet you later!" Duo called, one arm up. "Right now, the Opular and I are gonna take some people out to the graveyard for a little visit," he declared, grinning. As much as he hated killing, he felt loathe to idleness. "What's he going to do in space alone? He can't do anything."
Todousa shook a shock of hair out of his eyes. "You under-estimate your team-mate," he commented. "And yet you feel inclined to degrade them?"
"No, and I understand them to be compliments, if that's the way you're thinking," Duo replied, eyebrows raised. He turned away. "And he doesn't think of it as a team. He's alone in this battle."
Relena added to that statement. "In all battles."
Reina had watched the entire scene silently. It was almost as if they were bickering, arguing as brothers would. And Heero and Duo knew each other well enough to be cousins, but never brothers. Heero was far too detached. Only, strange enough, she could've sworn she saw something between Heero and Relena. But she jumped to no conclusions. She was impatient, but waited for evidence to create her own ideas, right or wrong. Quatre was a good friend to all, never a kinder soul than he. She hadn't really paid much attention to Juni, being that she only saw her once or twice so far, but she could tell she was a good person. She hoped they would become friends.
Juni turned and laid a hand on Quatre's forehead. "No fever," she said, relieved. Reina came up and looked at Quatre. He was sleeping, but even then his face was not in peace. Something was going over in his mind, an idea of some sort that worried and frustrated him, a troublesome thought. Then she felt it.
"Juni," she began, looking at her strangely.
"Mmhmm? Is something wrong?"
Reina looked again at Quatre's face. His lips were moving, but there was no sound. She examined them more closely. Juni bent down and watched, also.
He was saying, "Juni, why? Why? Juni?"
[author's note: It took me a LONG time just to get this far, and I feel that this fic is beginning to be a drag. But maybe not. Please give me your feedback, because I might just end it somewhere in the next fic or two; if I even get that far. If I do, however, it will be quite a while because of school and homework and everything. So be patient, if you are actually waiting! If you have any tips or anything, they are greatly appreciated because writing can always be improved. Arigatou, thank you very much! ^_~]
Duo's arm jerked a little, and though it was only the tiniest bit, Reina could feel the tension that overtook the entire arm. "The condominium. I think your room is next to Relena's, which is across from Heero's."
Todousa was whistling a melancholy tune softly, pausing every now and then. He stopped abruptly and spoke. "Don't want to bother you, but where am I to be put up for the night?"
"In the main living room." Heero's answers were always precise. He spoke in a clipped, short way. Both Relena and Duo were startled by his coldness, but not surprised. They had their share of his coldness plenty of times before, and both had been threatened to be killed by Heero. So they definitely expected the worst with Heero and meeting other people for the first time.
Todousa did not seem to mind, though. "I suppose I will always get what I get," he commented, trailing off. He became quiet, remembering.
The five walked on in silence. Duo opened the door, then stepped aside for the rest of them to enter. He looked behind him before going in himself, and spotted something stuck in the imitation brick wall. He pulled at it. It was an envelope.
"I wonder whose this is," he muttered to himself. He looked at the front. It was written in another language that reminded him of the Sumerian writing from way back when. "Damn. Oh well. I'll bring it in to show the others." He turned and closed the door gently behind him.
Quatre was sitting at his desk, drinking from a terra-cotta mug filled to the brim with green tea. Printed on the rough surface of the mug, "peace in the world" in deep green told of Quatre's seriousness about pacifism. A calculator sat on one end of the desk, a pile of papers and maps on the other. A calendar and a planner were skewed across the center, as well as some loose leaves and a few pens, pencils, an eraser, clips, and a few envelopes. He set the cup down and picked up a black ink pen.
"Only a few more to go," he murmured, signing another paper and adding it to the stack. Juni was on the computer in the other room, trying to get into the main database of the Zumin's inventory of supplies and also for the data on the pilots that were going to use the new mobile suits they had heard about. They didn't seem to be any better than any of themselves.
Juni paused and looked up from the keyboard. She wondered about what happened the day before quite a bit, pondering whether she should tell Quatre the whole truth. It was extremely difficult keeping it all in now that something had happened. Quatre was already suspicious, and she would have to be very careful from now on if she was going to keep it a secret. "Have you finished your paperwork yet, Quatre?" she inquired gently, glancing over her glasses.
Quatre looked up, startled. "Umm...almost. How about you?" He signed another sheet with fluorish, the pen making a clean swipe under his name.
Juni began typing again. "The pilots aren't any better than any of our pilots," she commented, scrolling down. She stopped, surprised. "Though this one seems very similar to Wufei. Astonishingly similar." She wondered if she said it too abruptly.
"Mmm," he replied, peering at a packet. Suddenly he opened his left drawer and pulled out an i.d. form. "It can't possibly be Wufei. But here is his i.d. You can compare it, if you wish. But I don't...it can't be him! He wouldn't be a traitor!" It was then that Juni realized her folly, reaching to get the form from a very upset Quatre.
"It may not be him, Quatre. I'll double-check, but I agree with you," she explained gently, trying to ease the shock. She should've said it in pieces, broken it down so the shock would not be so great. Quatre, once friends, trusted them greatly.
Quatre took a long swig of his tea before returning to his signing. He only had three more to go, then a bill to sign. But he would have to compose the mission plan after that, so he tried to hurry.
Juni felt helpless. The i.d. form almost matched exactly to the profile on the screen. She had to investigate somehow to prove Wufei wasn't one of them. There had to be a way. She scrolled up and down, ideas at a standstill in her brain. She weakly put the form down and turned to Quatre, who had just finished his papers.
"Quatre," she said. She wasn't sure how to tell him.
He didn't seem phased at all. "It's not him, is it?" He walked over. "Black hair, brown eyes, Chinese, name, Li Po Shen. Very unsociable." He paused, thinking it over in his mind. "Sounds like Wufei, all right," he finally said. "But how can we be sure that it's not a fake? A bluff?"
Juni didn't know how to respond. "I don't know. But I'm assuming you'll wish to tell the others now? Or at least, as soon as we possibly can?"
Quatre nodded mutely. He was in a daze. "We can call up Heero. We need to inform Trowa, too."
Juni looked sideways at him. His face was stony and impassive. She didn't know what to think. Quatre was never like this.
"So what does it say? Can you read it?" Duo questioned impatiently, peering at the paper that he found, now in Heero's hands. He looked at the others.
Heero was getting frustrated. Duo's nagging was bad enough, but what was worse was he couldn't read the note, either. He had just set it down when three raps sounded on the door, then burst open. Juni and Quatre stood before it, rather odd looks on their faces. Quatre leaned against the doorframe, closing his eyes. Juni put her hand on his shoulder and looked at him. He looked very shaken.
"What is it?" Todousa quickly asked, standing up. Duo and Heero also stood.
Juni spoke for Quatre. "We have found something strange in the Zumin pilot database. It may be Wufei."
Shock rang through the dead-silent room. Todousa did not know who this Wufei was, but he knew that he was a friend of the others. Relena did not know Wufei very well, either, but she did know that he had also been one of the former Gundam pilots.
"How do you know this?" Heero asked, walking over to them. Juni handed him some papers, and he quickly read them. The content was all there, and he knew what he needed to know. "This may be a bluff," he said, but he didn't look convinced. He knew, as well as the other former Gundam pilots, that Wufei was a soloist, a solitary soul in his lust for Justice. But he was quite the same. He couldn't say much.
Quatre walked slowly behind Juni, pulling out her chair for her to sit in it. But his eyes looked distant, like someone lost in his own world. Dark circles sagged under his eyes in bags. He looked exhausted. Weary and betrayed, he had worked himself to a state of illness. Heero and Duo were concerned and tried to get him to lie down.
"Have to..." he paused. "Have to inform--Trowa," he managed to croak out. Then he sat down, hard, right on the floor. He closed his eyes, curled up, and fell asleep, right then and there.
"What did he do?" Duo inquired, looking at Juni. "He must've been really working at it. But he did a good job."
Juni frowned. "All things he does are for his friends. You should be grateful. He's been working on this case for a long time, trying to draw up plans so nothing will go astray to his fault. He doesn't want you to be left in too great of peril if he can help it."
"We will always meet peril," Todousa said softly, looking at the ground.
Juni heard him, but she made no reply.
Heero glanced behind him at the now-silent Todousa. "If we seek peril we will most definitely meet peril. It is our own doing. But what else do we need to know?"
By now Duo had gotten Quatre on the sofa, with the help of Todousa. They returned and listened as Juni laid out the plans they had so far. But Todousa reminded them that Trowa had to be informed, as Quatre wished it to be.
"We don't have time to waste," Heero answered.
Duo looked at him, aghast. "But Quatre must have a reason."
Heero looked at him, indecisive. The entire ordeal was completely off-track. He had to bring it back before it became an impossible task, even for him. "Juni can report to Trowa. We need to move out." He turned and walked away, hands in pockets, towards the hangar. "Remember the plan."
"We'll meet you later!" Duo called, one arm up. "Right now, the Opular and I are gonna take some people out to the graveyard for a little visit," he declared, grinning. As much as he hated killing, he felt loathe to idleness. "What's he going to do in space alone? He can't do anything."
Todousa shook a shock of hair out of his eyes. "You under-estimate your team-mate," he commented. "And yet you feel inclined to degrade them?"
"No, and I understand them to be compliments, if that's the way you're thinking," Duo replied, eyebrows raised. He turned away. "And he doesn't think of it as a team. He's alone in this battle."
Relena added to that statement. "In all battles."
Reina had watched the entire scene silently. It was almost as if they were bickering, arguing as brothers would. And Heero and Duo knew each other well enough to be cousins, but never brothers. Heero was far too detached. Only, strange enough, she could've sworn she saw something between Heero and Relena. But she jumped to no conclusions. She was impatient, but waited for evidence to create her own ideas, right or wrong. Quatre was a good friend to all, never a kinder soul than he. She hadn't really paid much attention to Juni, being that she only saw her once or twice so far, but she could tell she was a good person. She hoped they would become friends.
Juni turned and laid a hand on Quatre's forehead. "No fever," she said, relieved. Reina came up and looked at Quatre. He was sleeping, but even then his face was not in peace. Something was going over in his mind, an idea of some sort that worried and frustrated him, a troublesome thought. Then she felt it.
"Juni," she began, looking at her strangely.
"Mmhmm? Is something wrong?"
Reina looked again at Quatre's face. His lips were moving, but there was no sound. She examined them more closely. Juni bent down and watched, also.
He was saying, "Juni, why? Why? Juni?"
[author's note: It took me a LONG time just to get this far, and I feel that this fic is beginning to be a drag. But maybe not. Please give me your feedback, because I might just end it somewhere in the next fic or two; if I even get that far. If I do, however, it will be quite a while because of school and homework and everything. So be patient, if you are actually waiting! If you have any tips or anything, they are greatly appreciated because writing can always be improved. Arigatou, thank you very much! ^_~]