Braids of a Feather
By AlantisB
Chapter 4


Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Ranma1/2 'cuz if I did, I would not be so poor right now that its hard to afford my own freakin lunch at school! ^.^

A/N: ::eyes are all wide:: Wow..Ya know, I didn't ever think I'd get so many responses to one of my stories. I'm so glad people like it! ::wink:: Sorry it took longer then my other chapters to get out, but well...I needed a day break so now here's the next chapter! ::grins:: Alot of people told me I'm very evil for putting that cliffhanger there but well..I'm a very evil person! Infact I usually RPG all evil people hehe.

I'm boring you huh? You wanna know what happens to Duo right? Okay! On with the Story!



Talking "..."
Thinking '...'
Scene change OoOoOo




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11:45PM

Wufei grumbled in annoyance as he put a pillow over his head to drown out the noise. What the hell does a guy have to do for some sleep? He pulled the pillow down some and glanced at the red letters shining on his clock. It's almost midnight who in their right mind would be up at this ungodly hour! Worse yet, who would call him?

He sighed in defeat as he got out of bed pushing the hair that got into his face behind his ear as he stumbled to the videophone. He hit the answer key and put on the worst scowl he ever had.

"What the hell do you want?!"

Sally PO looked grim as she gazed at Wufei from the other side of the screen. Her eyes had bags under them and her curled hair wasn't as neat as it usually is.

"Sorry to wake you up Wufei. But it's really important." she replied.

He still gave her the worst glare he could muster in his sleephazed mind. It wasn't as intense as his normal glares that he usually gave Maxwell but it was all he could come up with.

"Well woman? Get on with it! I want to get back to bed."

"I need you to get all the gundam pilots and meet me at the Preventers office on Earth in the United States." Wufei was instantly awake when he heard the answer. He switched to his business mode.

"What happened?" asked the Asian.

Sally even looked grimmer as she gazed at Wufei. He didn't like what he saw in her eyes at all. Not one bit!

"I can't tell you over the phone in such a short time, just gather the gundam pilots and get here as fast as you can." Sally said.

"I can get Yuy, Winner, and Barton, but Maxwell is gone." Wufei narrowed his eyes. He still couldn't believe Duo left without telling him anything. They were friends and he should've said something.

Sally looked startled. "Duo is gone?"

"He left without telling me or Heero anything. He just up and left one night. All his stuff is gone and there is no trace of him on L2. Yuy thinks he is on Earth." He frowned. "It was irresponsible of him but what can you expect of Maxwell?"

She looked worried. They needed Duo but he was one of the best stealth pilots in the whole team. If Heero couldn't find him, then who could? That was one of the reasons Duo had been chosen for a gundam pilot. Despite his three-foot long braid and ameythest eyes, he could vanish in a crowd anywhere. It was almost like magic; it was eerie how he could appear out of no where and scare the shit out of you when you were on full alert. The fact he was a master thief and knifemen also added to his favor of piloting a gundam.

She looked down at the sheets on her desk then looked up at Wufei again. "Get the others and come here to Earth. We'll figure out what to do when you get here."

He nodded. "We'll be there in a week, woman. Now can I get back to sleep?" he demanded.

She offered him a small smile. "Yes, sorry to bother you at such an hour Wufei."

Without a thought he shut off the console and climbed back into his futon bed and covered himself with the blanket. He yawned and rolled onto his side. He filed away all the important information for tomorrow and slowly feel asleep.




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Ryoga rolled over on his futon. Then he did it again after another two minutes. He stuffed the pillow over his head after five minutes and tried to shut out the noise. How can anyone sleep with such a loud, drowning noise that didn't even allow him to think much less sleep?

Genma scratched at his fur on his back with a paw and rolled over onto his back. The noise stopped and for a moment, Ryoga thought he could finally get some sleep. He snuggled into his futon and closed his eyes, sighing in contentment.

Genma opened his mouth and sucked in alot of air then blew it out loudly. He repeated the process several times, not stopping once.

Ryoga growled and smacked Genma with his pillow to shut him up. The noise didn't stop. He glanced over to see how Ranma was doing. He was fast asleep with his covers everywhere and had his arms and legs spread out all over the place. His white tank top was all bundled up to the top of his chest and his blue boxers were showing underneath the covers. There was a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth.

Damn it all! It wasn't fair! How can Ranma get some sleep while he had to suffer and not get any? He couldn't leave the room, in fear that he would get lost and miss the chance of seeing his friend. But he all the same couldn't stand Mr. Saotome's loud snoring! Tomorrow he is definitely kicking Genma out into the dojo to sleep for the night.

He gazed at the clock and it read 12:00AM, blinking in red light.

He sighed again but this time in hopelessness as he got out a book to read and tried to forget about sleeping tonight.



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Duo climbed back into consciousness. His senses started to come back to him slowly. He cracked his eyes open. He opened them wider and looked around. He was in an alley; there was no bullies lettering the ground, no bats or knuckles lying about him. The trashcans were all covered with tin tops and it smelled like rotten eggs and diapers.

His pack was beside him and he looked on, real confused. He tried to sit up and barely surpressed crying out in pain. The pain exploded in the side of his stomach, his hands lying next to him could feel a sticky wetness. He lifted his hand and looked at it in the crude alley streetlight. It was all red from blood. His blood.

He gasped out in pain as he sat up slowly, forcing himself to move to lean against the wall. He sat there breathing heavily for a moment then glanced around him. His shirt was in tatters beside him. The once black long sleeve Chinese shirt was reduced to ribbons, which would look really good at the end of his braid. But he dismissed the thought; this isn't the time for that. Thinking of his braid, he could feel his hair was loose from it. It was spread about him in a wave of golden, amber brown tresses.

He used part of the tattered shirt to wrap around his torso to stop the blood flowing and used the other part to wipe his hands off to get rid of the blood. Then he struggled to stand up. He grabbed his pack with difficulty and started to walk out of the alley using the wall for support.

He didn't get very far before he had to rest again. He sagged against the wall. He was losing too much blood; he wouldn't make it if he kept bleeding like this. He needed help. But where? He wasn't sure he was in the same town any more. He almost growled in determination and stood upright again.

He got out of the alley but still used the wall for support as he walked down the street slowly. He stumbled every now and then and rested for about five minutes before he would go on again. He managed to get to the business district before his vision began to blur.

He was starting to get numb and he wasn't sure if his legs would support him anymore. He stumbled to the nearest store he could see and leaned against the door and ring the doorbell. His vision finally gave out on him and he felt himself falling. He could hear a faint, far away voice before seeing someone with brown hair in a white bow. Then he was blacking out.



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Ukyo woke to an annoying buzzing noise and glanced over at the clock. It was 1:00AM in the morning. Why was her alarm going off right now? Was it time to open already? She blinked back the sleep from her mind and realized it wasn't her alarm making that annoying noise, it was the doorbell to the downstairs restaurant.

She got out of bed and threw some clothes on. She grabbed her giant spatula and stomped down the stairs intending to gave this person a piece of her mind. She growled low and stomped over to the door holding her battle spatula ready to smack the person senseless and unlocked the door and swung it open.

She gasped in surprise when someone collapsed in her doorway with no shirt on and a heavy looking pack. She at first thought it was a girl because of the long hair but when she saw the chest she knew immediately it was a guy.

"Oh my god!" she squeaked out.

That wasn't what surprised her thought, it was the blood that was slowly leaking out of the makeshift bandage of what looked to be a tattered shirt. She dropped the spatula and took off the person's pack. She lifted the person and was again surprised at the lightweight of the stranger.

She walked with the stranger in her arms to the back room of the restaurant she owned, "Ucchan's", where she kept storage boxes and supplies in. She laid the man on the floor and immediately went to the phone. She dialed Dr. Tofu's office and tapped her foot waiting for someone to pick up. 'Pick up! Come on, pick up!' she thought.

A groggy voice answered the phone. "Uh..Moshi Moshi?"

"Dr. Tofu? Come quick this is Ukyo! Some guy came to my door and collapsed in the doorway! He's lost alot of blood. I took him to my back room but he needs help! " She said quickly, glancing at her backroom door, hoping that the doctor was half awake now to understand her.

He sounded much more awake over the phone when he answered her again. "Find some way to stop the bleeding and I'll be there in a few minutes." He told her then he hung up.

Ukyo thought quickly as she hung up the phone. She grabbed one of her towels and ran into the back room and took off the tattered bandage. She pressed the towel to the wound and saw it was only a small hole, about an inch thick. Her eyes widened and she put more pressure on the wound seeing all the blood spurt out.

'A gun shot wound..Someone shot this guy!' she thought. The stranger groaned in pain, and started to gasp trying to wake up from the depths of his mind. She realized she put a little too much pressure and lessened up on it a bit.

The door could be heard opening and then quick footsteps heading to the storage room. Dr, Tofu walked in and took over where Ukyo left off. He took out his supplies and whipped the wound area clean with alcohol and special herbs he mixed up that would make the patient feel no pain around the area. He frowned at the bullet wound and got out his scalpel and tweezers. He set to work.




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Cologne woke from her dreams and frowned in thought. What had wakened her? She got off her bed and grabbed her staff. Then used the five-foot staff to climb onto the roof and gazed out over Nerima.

She had felt an ancient power being used. It couldn't be Happy, he hasn't been seen since the failed wedding incident. It wasn't her; she was sleeping. So who had used such an ancient power tonight that had woken her?




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Quatre woke from his dreams in a gasp; he was shaking and sweating in cold sweat. His eyes darted around before he relaxed in his lover's arms that had pulled him close.

"Bad dream?" he murmured.

Quatre looked over into Trowa's green forest eyes and smiled weakly. "No, I don't think it was a dream." he replied.

Trowa raised an eyebrow and looked at his little one in a questioning gaze. Quatre sighed as he snuggled close to him and closed his eyes.

"I felt something with my space heart. Something really old and I felt a lot of pain. I think someone is in trouble," he said quietly.

Trowa hugged him closer burying his face in his blonde hair. "I'm sure it was a dream Quatre. Get some sleep and it will be all better in the morning."

Quatre nodded slowly and slipped into his dreams again but it was filled with ancient power and a world of pain.




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Well? How to you like it? Was it good? Bad? Tell me please! I really want to know.

Thanks for reading my story and the next chapter should be out real soon.
-AlantisB
SlrMoon2oo@aol.com