As I walked onto the balcony that evening I noticed the stars. Funny that. The stars I mean. They had looked so kind a year ago, friendly and peaceful. Now they just looked hard, cold, and above all, evil.
I sat in the room, stunned, Heero had just walked out, and then came the news, Heero had been killed in an accident. Strange, I didn't even cry, he had been my best friend, perhaps more.
Then Trowa disappeared, then Quatre and finally Wufei. I couldn't help feeling, I would be next...
"Duo, Duo!"
"Huh? What?" I spluttered. Trying to disentangle myself from the bed sheet, I fell onto the floor with a thump. Looking up from my undignified position I saw Hilde, my housekeeper standing over me, worry in her face. "Duo, you were dreaming again, weren't you?"
"No," I lied quickly.
Before I go any further with this wondrous tale, I had better introduce myself. Duo Maxwell here, the last of a bunch of pathetic losers who used to be friends. Hey, it's not my fault my friends got kidnapped if you want someone to blame; blame the guys who did it. Anyway another little tip is this, I don't want the guys who got my friends to get me, so to everyone else on this crazy colony I'm just David Morrow [only Hilde knows the real me], the guy with, yes you guessed it! The incredible hair!
Oops! Sorry, guess I love my hair a bit too much! Anyhoo, back to the story.
So there's Hilde, and me laying flat on my back like a complete twa... sorry, twit. As I lay there vigorously denying that I had not been having a bad dream I began to shake, and waves of icy panic started to engulf me.
Groaning I sat up and climbed back into bed. "Master Duo." Hilde's voice was sharp now. "You have to get up for work."
Work. The word I hate most, Monday mornings is the pits. It's not that I don't like my job, it's just my boss I can't stand. Miss Relena Peacecraft. The one woman in the entire world who can make me feel like I'm back at school. Ugh.
I groaned and rolled over on my side, "Give me five more minutes Hilde, mmkay?"
"No Duo, up, now."
Like I said, Monday mornings, hate em.
As I plaited my hair in the bathroom, I reflected on the dream. For a long time I had been plagued with it, and when I finally thought I was rid of it, it jumped up and bit me in the ar... um.
By the way, you might want to know that I'm second in command at Peacecraft enterprises, heehee! Not that I'm boasting, of course.
Dashing out of the front door, I made good my escape before Hilde could yell at me for not having any breakfast.
Rushing through the revolving door of Peacecraft enterprises I was suddenly pulled up sharply. "Yow!" I cried in surprise. Craning my neck to see what had happened I saw my braid had become caught in the door. I began tugging ineffectually on it, until, "David Morrow, report to Miss Relena's office."
This caused me to jump so much that with a final painful wrench the braid came free. I glanced at my watch; I was only five minutes late! Surely she wouldn't have noticed that!
As I dashed around the corner I banged into someone, papers flew everywhere and I tumbled head over heels to land with a crash at the base of a potted plant. Ow! I think I may have mentioned this before, I HATE MONDAY MORNINGS!
Looking up from my once again undignified position I saw Dorothy, Miss Peacecraft's secretary. That woman freaks me out, and I'm not just talking about the eyebrows!
"Ah, Mr Morrow," she said in that creepy tone of her's, "Miss Relena wants to speak to you right away."
I muttered a few choice words under my breath, but nothing out loud. As I walked down the hall to Relena's office I saw people mouthing "Good Luck!" at me. See, the problem is everyone knows that I'm always in there getting yelled at.
Stopping in front of the hard wood door, I knocked once. Hearing voices from within I supposed my boss was in a meeting, but when she opened the door I saw only a new guy, standing by the desk. Great, she was going to chew me out in front of him as well?
"Ah, David," she said calmly, "Come in please." Gulping I obeyed.
"Now David, in the past I have put a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, so now I give you another task, look after this new employee will you?" I felt like laughing. All that speech just to tell me I was meant to look after the new guy? Hah! I could do that easily!
Before I had chance to nod I felt icy waves of fear washing over me, uh oh, I remember thinking, this is not good. And then the world went black.
The hallway was crowded with guests; silently I stood by my parents, waiting for the interminable introductions to end. "Darling," my mother prompted, "greet the Yuy's." Huh? Where had they come from? I wondered, absent-mindedly tugging on my braid. Oh this is not cool, another part of my mind said. Duo, you are on the floor in Miss Relena's office, dreaming about the night before your parents died.
I noticed the Yuy's had a son with them, I grinned evilly, ah, another spoilt child to tease! But as he approached I saw he was about my age, with an indefinable air about him. He had brown hair [darker than mine] and midnight blue eyes. As I looked into those eyes I saw I would not be teasing this guy. The look in his eye was...well, it was dangerous.
Later, as I wandered around he came up and introduced himself, his name was Heero and he too had been forced to the party under protest. Soon we were approached by a blond-haired guy, with azure eyes and his complete opposite, a tall dark-haired boy with emerald eyes. The blonds name was Quatre; the brown-haired guy was called Trowa.
Sitting down to dinner we had quickly become friends. As I turned to grab a roll from the little cart whizzing by I noticed someone had sat down on the other side. I scowled, great. I had wanted to spend time with my new friends not listening to some namby-pamby stuck up kid going on about mommy and daddy's new plane and so on.
"Hi," the new guy said, "I'm Wufei chang." I smiled and nodded, this guy didn't look stuck up at all, "hi, I'm Duo."
"David Morrow, wake up this instant!" Huh? Who's that? Oh yeah, Miss Relena's voice.
Opening my eyes I saw her standing over me, hands on hips. Behind her was the new guy. Funny, he seemed a lot taller now. Then I realised this was because I was on the floor. Oh dear...
As I looked up at the dark-headed man behind my boss my vision went cloudy, when it cleared I felt nearly normal again. As the guy helped me to stand I felt my eyes widen. Funny, maybe it was the influence of my flashback, but the man before me, looked exactly like Trowa Barton.
~~~~~~~~
Once the almighty runner of the company had dismissed us I dragged the new guy out into the hall. He glanced at me nervously and I knew I must have been grinning manically.
"So," I said as pleasantly as possible, "I'm sure you got my name but I must have missed yours."
"It's Thomas Barlow." He said nervously. I gave an evil little laugh, backing him into a corner. "Oh that is funny." I said, "I could have sworn your name was Trowa Barton."
I swear, I've never seen a guy go so white in such a short amount of time. Desperately his eyes rolled around, looking for an escape route. There wasn't one. Suddenly he lashed out crying, "Are you one of them then? Did they send you here to find me?"
I reeled back, cheek stinging from the slap. He must have seen the shock in my eyes because he relaxed instantly. "You're not one of them, are you." It was not a question.
Shaking my head I replied. "No, look, Trowa." Don't you recognise me?" He looked at me for a long time, the seconds seeming to stretch into minutes. Finally I saw his eyes well up with tears. "Duo?" he whispered, "Duo, is that really you?"
"Of course it's me, what did you expect, a one eyed snake?" I joked. Trying not to let my emotions show through. "Duo, I can't believe it!" he cried, and we hugged each other fiercely.
"Well, well, well." Said a cold voice from behind. "Wait until Miss Relena hears about this." Spinning, I saw Dorothy standing behind me. Neither one of us had heard her approach. "I'm sure she'll be pleased to know it's you, Duo." I winced, hating to hear my name in the crowded hallway.
Let me once again explain. You already know why my ID has to remain a secret, but I also have to keep it from Relena because, well, I have been known to make fun of her as Duo. Another reason is Heero.
Now don't get me wrong, Heero is basically a nice guy, but he kind of has this history of trying to kill my boss. Not good you say, I quite agree. Anyway, ever since the last attempt [trying to strangle her with a nylon stocking] she's hated me as well. Mainly because I've supported him in every attempt on her life [Geez, give a guy a break, I hate the woman!] Now you know why Dorothy had this power over us, well, me.
"Listen Dorothy," I said as politely as possible, "it might not be such a good idea to tell Relena about this, I mean, after all, she might fire you too."
"Oh I don't think so Maxwell," she said, an evil grin on her face, "after all, it would be my duty to inform her of a murderer's counterpart being in the building. Gulp! I knew she would bring that up!
"Look," I said as politely as possible. "Maybe if we, I mean, I gave you a third of my pay, you wouldn't tell her?" she thought this over for several long minutes before nodding slightly. "Alright, you've got a deal."
Once she had walked off I turned back to Trowa. "So, wanna come over for dinner?" I said, trying to pretend that encounter had not happened.
Later as I dragged Trowa through the front door, I yelled out to Hilde. "Hilde, we've got company!"
"Duo, why didn't you tell me you were bringing home some...." She stopped and took a good look at the guy standing next to me. "Duo?" she said in a voice tinged with awe, "don't tell me this is...?"
"Yep!" I cried happily, "Hilde, this is Trowa Barton."
Later as Trowa and I sat around a warming fire, [I know kind of a pathetic thing to have, but hey, I'm an old-fashioned guy in some ways.] We talked about what had happened since he had vanished. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer. If I was a cat I would have been dead by now. "Trowa, why did you and the other guys vanish?" I asked in my nicest tone.
Instantly his face tightened, and his eyes lost the sparkly look they had been getting back. For a long time he sat there, not saying a word, I nervously began to fiddle with my braid. What if I had said the wrong thing? Finally he spoke.
"For a long time I didn't know. One night some guy's turned up on my doorstep and when I went to answer the door they hit me over the head. They left me in an old abandoned warehouse tied to a chair, and when they came back they started to torture me." He swallowed, as if the memories were too painful to tell. "After a while, I began to ask why? Why are you doing this to me? All I learned was that they had been hired to do this by someone. A she I think. That's all I know, but I remember them telling me they had everyone else, and that they were going to get you next, but they never did.
I escaped one night by rubbing the rope tying my hands, up against a rusty nail in the wall, I still have the scars, from that." He smiled sadly and pushed up his sleeves to show me the criss-crossing white welts underneath.
I felt my eyes blur in sympathy, and for a while we said nothing.
Eventually I roused myself enough to ask, "You got a place to stay?" Trowa shook his head slightly. "You can stay here then, there's enough space." Still silence. Then finally another nod, and a whispered, "Thanks."
After another emotionally draining night, Hilde roused me at seven in the morning. Mumbling something about "just five more minutes," I turned onto my side.
Once again though I was chased about until, groaning, I entered the bathroom. Glancing at the clock I felt my eyes go wide with panic, today was the day of the big conference. And I had two minutes to get to work. Oh shit.
I would have to use the teleporter, it made me feel sick but I had no choice.
As I appeared just inside the door, feeling decidedly queasy I might add, I saw people heading for the main hall. Grabbing one of my colleagues I asked why we were going there.
"Conference room's being re-decorated." Was the reply.
Hurriedly rushing in, I wondered where Trowa was, until I saw him sitting in a corner. "Hi," I greeted him. Before rushing off. I was in my seat just in time. The doors swung open, revealing my boss.
As the lecture droned on, about how we could increase the percentage rate or something, I set my mind to something that had been worrying me. I had thought everyone was dead, but here was Trowa alive and well. Maybe none of them were dead! In that case maybe we could find them!
As if in answer to my thoughts I heard a muffled click from somewhere off to the side. Glancing over I saw a shadow behind one of the pillars.
Looking closer I saw the shadow held a gun. Just as I was about to shout a warning the gun went off. Spinning around to see who had been hit, I saw Relena; slumped over the podium, blood trickling from her temples.
Jumping up I saw that I would be no use over there, half the crowd was already gathered around her and the other half was in a mild state of panic. So I opted for the next best thing. I ran after the assassin.
I hurtled out of the hall and down the corridor before anyone could stop me. Just ahead I saw my man, clothed in black carrying a gun that still smoked.
"Hey you! Stop!" I yelled. He ran even faster.
Pouring on a burst of speed I caught up with him. Grabbing him from behind, I swung him around.
And found myself gazing into a pair of midnight-blue eyes. I gasped, knees beginning to buckle, I stared. Yes! There was the messy dark bangs, and straight nose. The unmistakable shape of the face and body. "Heero?"
"Huh, do I know you?" came the reply. I swallowed, nearly crying.
"Heero, it's me, Duo."
"Duo?" the strong voice became cracked, I nearly didn't hear it, it wasn't even a whisper.
I looked down, my eyes streaming tears, without thinking I pulled my braid over my shoulder and began to tug on the end. This must have decided my identity for Heero, as I suddenly found myself swept into a huge hug.
"God Duo, I thought I'd never see you again."
For a long while we stayed like that, tears falling onto each other's faces, half laughing, and half crying. "Finally I came to my senses. "Heero, you've got to get out of here, what if people recognise you." [After all dark clothed people carrying guns don't come in here everyday do they?]
He sniffed and took a deep breath. Pulling himself together, I could see him doing it.
"Here," I whispered, "this is my address, go there and wait for me." He nodded once and was gone. Leaving me alone with a foolish grin on my face.
When I came out of my happy reverie I found myself still standing there. So I turned and headed back to the chaos scene. Inside a team of ambulance people had already efficiently cleaned up the mess and carted my dear boss off to the medical wing.
Trowa came over and grabbed my arm. "Did you catch him?" he hissed.
I stared at him blankly before realising what he was talking about. "What? The assassin? Naw, I decided I was to good a friend to do that." Trowa was obviously confused. "So you didn't catch him then?"
"Nope," I said, grinning cheesily.
"What's the matter with you Duo? You haven't stopped grinning since you came back from chasing that guy."
"Well," I said, now smiling like a complete idiot. "What if I told you, that the dear guy who shot the darling Relena is really someone we know, someone very close."
Trowa's eyes went very wide, "Heero," he breathed, "it is isn't it? It's Heero!" with this last exclamation he thumped my back hard. I winced and nodded.
"Where is he, is he far, can we go see him?" I laughed and fiddled with the end of my braid twirling the un-braided end around my fingers. "He's at my place, we'll go at the end of the day."
We really raced home that evening. Bursting through the front door I was confronted by a frantic, tear-stained Hilde.
"Oh master Duo!" she sobbed, "a man burst through the front door today, when I ordered him to go away he threatened me with a gun."
"It's alright Hilde, where is he?" I asked as soothingly as possible.
"He, he went upstairs," sniffled Hilde.
I grinned to myself. Heero had never been one for subtlety. As we pounded up the stairs I filled Trowa in on what had happened.
Bursting into my room, I saw Heero lying on my bed, calmly reading a book. Looking up he saw Trowa and jumped, emotion once more clouding his normally passive eyes.
"They told me everyone was dead." He whispered, still gazing at Trowa.
"They told me that too."
Later that evening, after a brief tour of the house Heero declared he was wacked, so I showed him up to my room where a small bunk had been set up. The other rooms were filled with junk, so until one was cleaned out by Hilde Heero was sleeping in my room.
As we got ready for bed, I was in one of the best moods I'd been in for a long time. I even began to hum. "Cut it out Duo," Heero said grumpily, "you sound like a cat yowling." I ducked my head to hide a grin; we had had this argument many times in the past. It was time for revenge.
"BLUUUUE MOOOON, YOU SAW ME STANDING ALOOOOONE, WITHOUT A DREAM IN MY HEART, WITHOUT A LOOVE OF MY OOOOWN! " I warbled, horribly off key I might add. As I swung around to see Heero's reaction, my face caught the full blow of a flying pillow. This made me grin even harder. It was war!
I grabbed a pillow and ran round the bed towards Heero. I then began pounding him. He put up a lot of resistance, but I was toooo good! After beating him to a pulp I began to tickle him mercilessly. Squirming he desperately tried to grab his own pillow. But to no avail. I had won, and he knew it.
"Give up?" I panted. He nodded, and just as I moved he grabbed his own pillow and came whacking back.
"Hey keep it dow..." Trowa had entered the room, unseen by either of us, until a flying pillow caught him in the mouth. "Yes!" I cried, "a perfect shot, thank you, thank you!" And I got off of Heero, to deliver a bow.
While my head was bent, Heero came up from behind and Trowa, after a moments hesitation joined him, the two of them pounding me from either side. "Two against one, no fair!" I shrieked.
Eventually we had to stop, as we were just to exhausted to continue. We all collapsed side by side on the bed. Too tired to even move.
That's how we stayed for the rest of the night, Heero on one side of me, Trowa on the other. We had talked well into the evening, and obviously fallen asleep somewhere along the line.
I was awoken rather rudely the next morning by someone kicking me in the kneecap. "Owwww." I moaned. "Hilde what did you do that for!"
"Huh?" another voice replied, in nearly the exact same sleepy tone. "Who's that?" I peeked one eye open and saw Heero lying next to me. Rolling over, I found Trowa on the other side.
Turning back over again I saw it was Heero who had replied to my sleepy exclamation. "Morning." I said, yawning hugely.
"Morning to you too." He said, yawning back at me.
I grinned at him, propping myself up on one elbow. "You should see the state of your hair, I think a bird nested in it."
"Yours isn't much better." He retorted.
I felt my eyes suddenly cloud with concern. "Heero, you know that stuff you told us last night, about you escaping and all. You gonna be Ok?"
He smiled at my concern, and pulled me into a friendly hug. "I'll be fine eventually Duo, honest." I smiled back, and he gently tugged my braid.
"Where am I?" came the sleepy question from my other side. Trowa had finally woken up. I rolled over again, so I was eye to eye with him. "You're in the house of the dead." I said in my loudest and creepiest voice.
"Yaaaah!" screamed Trowa scrabbling to get away from me. He got twisted in the bed sheet, and landed with a thump on his butt. Skidding across the polished floor.
"Hah, gotcha!" I yelled.
"Duo..." he said in a cautionary tone of voice.
"Yes?" I said innocently. "Is there a problem Trowa?"
"You, scared me to death, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"It wasn't me, it was Heero."
"Me! You did that!"
"Hah! You liar!"
"I'm not the liar, you are."
We had just begun to escalate into full out battle when Hilde walked in. "Morning Master Duo, morning master Trowa!" she said smiling. Then her expression changed. "Master Duo! Look at the state of this room!"
For the first time I looked at my room properly. It was a mess. Feathers had settled everywhere like giant snowflakes, [from the pillow fight,] bed sheets had been pulled off beds and clothes were strewn around the room.
"Uh Hilde, there's a good explanation for this, see we, well, um..." behind me I could hear the guy's sniggering. "We were having a discussion."
"Oh really? Then why are there pillow feathers all over the room?"
"We had a umm... disagreement."
"Oh I see, so that's why it resulted in a pillow fight."
"YEAH! That was it!"
Heero joined in, "Listen miss Hilde, we were just..."
"You!" Hilde shrieked, "you waltzed in here yesterday, what are you doing here now?"
"Hilde," I soothed, "this is Heero Yuy. A very good friend of mine."
She peered closer and suddenly smiled. "Ah yes, now I see the similarity between you and the boy in that picture over there." We all looked to where she was pointing. It was the photo on my bedside table. The picture was one of the five of us; I was standing in the middle of a group of fifteen-year-old boys. One arm around Heero, one around Quatre. Trowa was kneeling in front with one arm slung around Wufei. We were all grinning cheesily. I had kept the picture, as I hadn't the heart to throw it away. It brought back happy memories.
As Trowa and I staggered into work that morning, I noticed people talking in subdued voices. Glancing at me frequently and moving out of my way.
Finally I had had enough. I grabbed Howard's arm. [He was one of my co-workers.]
"Howard," I hissed, "why's everyone looking at me like I'm a poisonous snake or something."
"Uh, well, David. It's about your new position in the firm."
"My what"
"You're the new manager and runner of this company. Miss Relena passed away during the night."
I gaped at him for a long while in open-mouthed astonishment. Not even knowing what to say. Well actually I did, it was thank you Heero!
As I entered my new office I saw my stuff had already been moved there. Then the downside to my fortunes walked in. "Ah Mr Morrow, what's my first assignment?" It said in a creepy voice.
I choked back a wave of revulsion and said to the lurking menace. "There isn't one Dorothy, you may have a break."
"Thank you Duo, by the way, how is dear Heero?"
I swear I must have jumped ten feet in the air. How did she know about my Heero? Had she worked out that he was to blame for the shoot-out yesterday? Damn! That girl was too quick for her own good.
All this passed through my head in the space of a milli-second.
"Why do you ask that Dorothy?" I replied.
"I take it our dear friend was responsible for Miss Relena's death?"
"Just go and have a break Dorothy."
As she left the office I heaved a huge sigh of relief, and immediately rang Trowa's department...
The rest of the week passed uneventfully, apart from me adjusting to my new job, and Friday morning rolled around.
Once again we had been up talking, and once again we had all fallen asleep on my bed, [no more pillow fights though!]
Friday passed uneventfully too, until Trowa and I were walking home. Turning the corner, we came across a beggar huddled in a door shivering in the cold.
I crossed the street and brought a warm hot-dog. Returning I handed it to him. He smiled up at me with warm gratitude. "Thank you sir."
I started, and peered closer. Azure eyes peered out at me from underneath a mop of grimy hair, but surely, that wasn't, it was! Platinum blond hair glinted underneath the grime and filth.
"Trowa!" I hissed, "Trowa, come quick!"
"What?" he said wearily.
"You'll never guess!"
"What Duo!"
Now he just sounded pissed.
"Trowa, it's Quatre!" Hah! That woke him up.
"What? Where?"
"Over there."
"What him?"
"Yup."
Cautiously Trowa approached the beggar still huddled on the doorstep, who saw him coming and edged away slightly.
Trowa crouched down next to the filthy guy and spoke to him.
"Hi."
"What do you want?"
"Is your name Quatre Roberba Winner, by any chance?"
"How d'you know that?"
"Quatre, it's me, Trowa."
I turned away, not wanting to intrude on their private moment and walked home.
Heero met me at the door.
I explained what had happened, and where Trowa was. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard that another of his buddies was alive. I explained that they would probably be coming in a minute. I also suggested that we should run a bath, as Quatre looked like he hadn't had one in ages.
Soon we heard a soft knocking on the door. Running to open it I saw Trowa supporting Q.
Late that evening we were once more sitting in my room discussing what had happened. "I can't believe this!" I practically shouted. " Here we are all alive, maybe Wufei's not dead either!"
Quatre shook his head sadly. "They told me he was dead."
"They told that to Heero and Trowa as well, but they also said we were all dead. Maybe they're lying?" here I finished on a sarcastic note.
Quatre once more shook his head sadly. "No chance. They showed me the body."
For a while we sat in silence. Thinking of poor Wufei, who had in a way, died to save us. I blinked and found myself crying. Glancing over at Heero I saw he was too. We smiled weakly at each other. I looked over at Quatre and saw the smaller boy was leaning on Trowa's shoulder, sobbing.
I've never seen Trowa so grim faced. His eyes plainly said that if he ever found out who had done this to Quatre he would murder them on the spot.
Later when Quatre had finally fallen into a restless sleep, we sat around my bed looking at him. For a while we said nothing, until I sighed and shifted. "Look, we can't leave him like this on his own. If we drag the other beds in here, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement. After all, that's what friends are for right?"
I smiled painfully at Heero, who squeezed my arm slightly in consent.
I'm not quite sure how we managed to arrange the beds without waking Q, but we did.
The next morning as I awoke it was like coming out of a warm bath. I felt more rested than I ever have in my entire life. Blinking I glanced at my clock. Only 9: 30 on a Saturday morning! I was going to lie in for a bit longer.
Looking over at Heero's bunk I saw he was curled in a small ball in the middle of his bed. My gaze slid over to Quatre's bunk. Trowa was curled up on one side. Q on the other.
Suddenly a loud banging interrupted my reverie. Heero's eyes snapped open in the same instant. And he sat up, ready like a coiled spring.
Muttering curses at Hilde for being away visiting her sister I padded downstairs, my feet slapping on the cold wood floor. Heero right behind me.
Opening the door I yawned. "Yeah? What do you want?"
The reply was a blow on the side of my head, the world spun, colours danced in front of my eyes, and I just had time to see Heero's angry face before the world went black.
~~~~~~~
I woke to find myself strapped to a cold metal table in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse! Oh damn!
Craning my neck I saw I had been put into my normal clothes, and that my hands were bound by metal cuffs to my side. So the thugs, whoever they were, had had time to change my clothes.
A breeze on the back of the neck caused me to twist my head to see what was happening. I caught a glimpse of Heero, Quatre and Trowa, still out for the count. And standing in the doorway was... I strained to see. A woman, a silhouette against the doorway.
"Well, well, well, Mr Duo, fancy seeing you here." I stiffened, no! It couldn't be! Not... "I'm so glad to see you sir." Said Dorothy.
"What do you want with us!"? I yelled angrily, hoping someone would hear.
"Tut tut, is that any way to talk to me, after all, I have your life in my hands."
"Liar." I spat. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the others were regaining conciseness.
"I'm not lying my dear Duo." And she flicked a switch.
Instantly agonizing pain roared through me. I screamed, it hurt so much, visions flashed before my eyes. My parents standing waving me off on my first day at school, the awful waiting room in the hospital where I found out that they were dead, Heero's agonized expression as he talked about his escape. Then something he had said, "Duo, they'll stop at nothing." Then Trowa speaking, "It was a she, I think."
"Stop, leave him alone!" a voice yelled. Through a cloud of pain, I could just see Heero squirming and tugging at his bonds ineffectually.
As suddenly as it had started the pain and the visions stopped. "Your little friend seems quite upset about you being hurt." Dorothy said in an amused tone. "Perhaps he has a reason to feel this way?"
"Leave Heero out of this." I snapped, my voice tight with pain.
"After all, I'm sure he wouldn't want his dear Duo to get hurt." She continued. Almost like she hadn't heard me.
This really did frighten me; only a mad person would completely ignore me. "After all, when he was on that same table, I could read his thoughts as easily as I'm picking up yours." I could feel my eyes widening, and with a glance at Heero I saw his eyes were doing the same. Oh double damn!
Then the intense pain was back, worse this time; there was no visions, just pure pain. And let me tell you my friends, a bump or a graze or even a broken leg is nothing in comparison.
Faintly, as if through a long tunnel, I could hear Dorothy musing. "It's funny, life, death, they all seem one to me." She giggled. "They obviously don't to you or Mr Yuy." This really scared the shit out of me. I mean, I had though she was mad before but I really think she was insane.
Then the pain stopped again. I felt my head slump forward, and heard Dorothy, still giggling. Heero's enraged shouts and Trowa and Quatre's attempts to be reasonable.
Eventually I managed to croak out, "Why...why are you doing this to us?"
"Oh it's not them I want Duo." She said, and evil grin spreading over her face, "it's you."
"Then let my friends go, you have me now."
"Duo NO!" screamed Heero.
Dorothy looked at him for a while before saying, "ah, the still faithful Heero, tell me Heero, how much longer until you tell him how you feel, or your darkest secret perhaps? I could tell him, and you wouldn't be able to stop me." She turned to me, smiling now, "your right Duo, I should let them go, if only because it will cause them more pain to know they are free, and will never be able to get to you."
She turned to the men beside her [when had they come in?], "Release them." She ordered. As Heero was dragged off towards the door I caught a final glimpse of him, his eyes wide and desperate.
Now there was only me and Dorothy in the room. I asked her again. "Why?"
"Hah you were always in my way Maxwell, at your parents house, and later when you stopped me from rising in favour with Miss Relena. I soon decided you had to go, and this was the only way to get to you. Besides, I killed your parents too."
I glared at her for a long time without speaking, somehow before she had told me this, I knew she had done it, and when shouts and running footsteps echoed in the corridor I did not even flinch.
Suddenly the door burst open and Heero stepped in, followed closely by Trowa and Quatre. Quickly he ran to the control panel and pressed a button. The clasps around my wrists unlocked and I sat up rubbing them.
Heero threw me a gun, and I quickly aimed it at Dorothy. "Don't move or I blow your head off." I said as pleasantly as possible. To my utter surprise she laughed, she threw back her head and laughed long and hard. "Do you honestly think you would shoot your own cousin?" she asked disdainfully.
"Cousin?" I whispered, my voice cracking painfully. "You're my cousin?"
"Yes dear Duo, say hello to me then."
"No," I whispered, "my cousin is dead," and I raised the gun and shot her.
The bullet seemed to leave a trail of silver in the air, and the next few moments happened in painful slow motion. I saw it hit her. Saw her look down in surprise, and then back up at me.
She smiled as I stood there in complete shock. "This is your future Shinigami," she whispered, and laughed, she laughed until there was no breath left in her dying lungs. Then her eyes slowly closed, and she slid to the floor in a pool of blood.
For a long time I just stood there, gun in hand, not knowing what else to do, feeling sick. Until Heero tugged me away, sweeping me into a tight hug.
Then I cried.
~~~~~~~~
Two hours later I was sitting in my living room, a blanket wrapped round me, and a mug of something in my hands. But I was paying no attention. Heero was sitting behind me, rubbing my shoulders and trying to comfort me, but all I could do was shake.
Sensing another person walking into the room I saw Trowa, with Quatre following close behind. "Hey don't feel too bad Duo, it's not your fault. We wouldn't have got back to you if it weren't for Heero. I've never seen anyone so strong! He completely overpowered the guards!"
Slowly I raised my miserable eyes and looked at each of them in turn. My friends, who'd stick by me, tell me things. "Heero," my voice came out in a miserable croak, "she called me shinigami, what does that mean?"
For a long time there was silence, I could practically feel the other guys communicating over the top of my head with their eyes. I felt distant, cut off, but I had to know.
Eventually Heero spoke. "Shinigami means... well, the god of death."
So she had known I would kill her, maybe kill more people. In a way I was responsible for Relena's death as well. Oh God she had known.
For a while longer I sat there, surrounded by friends, people special to me. Then I cried again.
This time it wasn't with shock. It was with quiet grief for my mad and lonely cousin, my parents, poor Wufei and so many others who might have suffered at the hands of Dorothy in her madness.
And as I cried in that darkening living room, the sky turned black and rain started to pour from the sky, so it almost seemed that the heavens were crying with me, sharing in my grief.