***
Part II
***
Nothing is so
burdensome Truth and
oil always come
as a secret. to the surface.
~French Proverb~ ~Spanish Proverb~
Heero
watched as Wind and Shadow walked up towards the gate, Moon right behind them
and slightly in front of him. The guard sat up as Wind approached and then
paled suddenly as he took in his appearance. 'Strange.. ' he thought as the
pass Wind held out towards the guard was drawn away and he turned towards the
gate and pushed it inwards to walk past it not noticing the fear-filled gaze of
the guard. After he reached the threshold of the gate he saw why the guard had
reacted the way he did. The gate ran on a track.. and Wind's shove inwards has
twisted it off that track and into the ground beyond it.
He
followed Wind, and the other two inside the building and to the nurse's
station. One of the nurse glanced at him and he returned the look with a silent
glare. She got the hint and looked away quickly. He reviewed the directions he
had gotten from Dorothy in his mind and then glanced at the hall to the left.
He noted the door which he needed and then with a soft tap on Moon's shoulder
he directed his own eyes towards the door. The other Preventers visible eye
followed his line of sight and then gave him a slight nod.
Moon
left his side then to distract the remaining nurse that was at the station and
Heero slipped past the station to the door. Opening it quickly he slipped
inside and glared at the sight of the hall. This place he noted silently wasn't
fit for rats to live in, let alone people. Heero made his way silently down the
hall till he came upon the large glass patio door that had been mentioned.
Slipping through it to the garden outside he walked along the path towards the
large pines. Walking between them his eyes took in the rose garden and then the
man kneeling in front of a certain bush of yellow -pink roses. He couldn't tell
what he was doing, but it didn't matter to him. What mattered was the man had
the hair color of the man they had come for, but was it really him.
"Excuse
me." he said his voice emotionless, despite the thoughts running through
his mind about what would happen if this was *him* and someone did find out
about him. Dangerous ground.. indeed. The man glanced at him silently before
rocking back onto his heels and then pulling himself up straight. Heero's
breath hissed in his ears. It *was* him. He managed to keep his face
expressionless, but he was sure that the ex-general could most likely read him
by just looking at his eyes which were taking in the long disheveled hair that
covered most of one side of his face. A ginger brow split at the end rose in
query for a brief moment. "My name is Preventer Wing. If you would come
with me I will take you to the rest of our team and get you out of here."
A
small smile graced the older man's features for a minute before he shoved one
sleeve up his arm revealing the black band Dorothy had briefed them on. He
stepped closer to study it, finally taking Treize's wrist in his own hands to
get a better look at the center silver piece. His eyes narrowed slightly as he
studied it and then released the wrist stepping back and away from him.
"How
many are in your team?"
Heero
had been turning to lead the way out when he heard the question and glanced
back. "Four." Treize nodded silently apparently satisfied with the
short answer. He turned back towards the pines and began to retrace his way
back, glancing back behind him every couple of feet to confirm that Khushrenada
was still behind him.
*
Trowa
watched as Heero left through the door and then excused himself from the
station walking down the hall silently eyes flickering over the condition of
the place, old training helped with the slight smell from some area's. This was
the hall Dorothy hadn't been down and if he was any judge it was worse. As he
walked down the hall he began to take in the pattern to the doors and carts. It
seemed as if they were placed in a certain way for some reason. On impulse he
knelt checking one of the carts out and found dust, and a few cobwebs around
the bottom of it.
Apparently
it had not been moved for at least a year, maybe longer. Interest caught he
began studying the pattern and trying to figure it out. There had to be a reason
for it, why else go to the trouble of placing the carts 'exactly' so? He
spotted something along one wall and ran a finger along it. The raised line ran
down the wall disappearing behind the cart. Looking up he noticed another line
leading to another running down the wall parallel to the first he had found. He
caught it then. The hall had been remodeled. Where the carts were sitting were
where the old doors used to be. He studied the pattern he had put together with
this information and saw the key to it. It resembled a map of sorts. Mentally
he traced the path that the pattern revealed and ended up standing at what
appeared to be a dead end of a hall.
This
was the break in the perfect pattern. There was something here, perhaps even
behind the wall that was meant to be hidden and stay hidden from all but those
who knew of the remodeling and the pattern map. Well...it appeared that 'Shady
Meadows' had more than just one secret.. he laid his hand flat against the wall
and ran it along the surface slowly searching for anything that would suggest a
latch, or the fact that there once might of been a door here as well. He leaned
closer towards the wall and pushed slightly in various places.. maybe a
pressure plate instead of a latch. He stepped back and then wind milled for a
second as his heel caught on something. Catching himself against the side wall
he looked back at the wall and then down at the floor.
His
eyes picked it out right away. The area where his foot had caught was a piece
of a pattern area that was sticking up slightly higher than the rest of the
floor. Walking around it he studied the diagram in the floor and then looked up
at the area in front of him. It hit like lighting and his eyes darted back to
the floor and then to the wall in front of him. He had been testing the wrong
wall. There had been a door back here, but it had been sealed up for some
reason. There had to be something 'hidden' within the old room that was no
doubt behind that wall. Why go to so much trouble just to seal one room off and
leave a map so people could find it again. It made no sense unless there was
something important behind the wall.
Now
how to get past the wall without drawing to much attention or bringing the
building down around him. He studied the floor again walking carefully around
the diagram. Silently getting a little frustrated at the puzzle he looked at
the floor from a slightly off angle and then glanced at the wall, studying it.
There was something.. another pattern within the tiles on the floor. Looking
back up and walking closer to the wall it took him a couple minutes before he
found the same pattern on the wall. Running his hand over it he found the area
rough and raised slightly out from the wall. Following a gut feeling he took
out a flashlight from his jacket and shinned it on the wall slowly making a
pass with it all the way down the wall. He found the matching pattern near the
base of the wall.
Placing
the light back in his jacket he leaned against the wall making sure his foot
and calf hit the area that held the lower pattern while his shoulder pressed in
on the upper one. Shoving against the wall hard, he suddenly heard a small
'click' and stepped back for a second to see the wall swing in slightly. He
glanced around the hallway before slipping inside the door and turning around.
What he saw in front of him though shocked him speechless and he just stood
there staring unbelieving at the figure standing in front of him.
'Impossible...'
he thought silently.
*
Duo
lifted himself up onto the desk in the office they were waiting in for the baka
doctor to be fetched by the equally baka nurses. He wondered how Heero and
Trowa were doing, surely they were having a better time than he was. "Ne
Wind...this is getting boring as hell.. I thought we were going get to hassle
this Doc character...?"
Wind
glanced at him silently and merely raised an eyebrow at him. Duo got the
message though and shut up for the moment. 'No wonder Wing and him get along..
they act alike while on missions.. cold, silent and deadly as hell..' he
thought as he swung a leg back and forth from beside the desk.
Five
minutes passed and he jumped down. "Man.. what is taking him so
long..?"
"Why
don't you go and see?" the cool baritone said, as azure locked with
violet.
Duo's
expression lit up like a kid in a candy store and a smirk spread across the
braided Preventers face. "I think I will... " With that said he left
the room and was back at the nurses station. Snapping his fingers once in one
of the nurse's faces, she looked up annoyed. He smiled cheerfully back.
"We were just wondering ...Where is the doctor.. we can go to him instead
of waiting I think.."
The
nurse scowled up at him. "I told you already..." her voice seemed to
die in her throat as a tall shadow fell over him. He glanced back to see Wind
standing behind him coldly watching the nurse.
"He
has a point.. where is the 'good' doctor.. its just a couple questions and
we'll be on our way.."
With
a sigh the nurse gave them directions to find the Doctor, who was sitting in a
different office across the building. Duo felt like socking either the doctor
or one of the nurses.. they could of told them to begin with there was *two*
offices.. they walked inside the second office and he watched as the doctor
paled as Wind walked inside.
'Ok...now this is just getting weird.. I mean
sheesh.. I know he looks dangerous as hell, but he's not the devil.. you'd
think they are afraid he's going to attack them or something..' he thought as
he shut the door behind them.
"How?!
You?! I..." the doctor was almost frantic with fright it seemed for some
weird reason.
'Maybe
he realizes how much shit he's in for running this hell hole, not to mention if
he's actually *does* have that General here.. then he's in a shitload of
trouble..' Duo thought as he walked over and perched himself on the desk facing
the doctor. "So...what's up Doc?" he said grinning at the confused
and startled expression on the man's face. Slowly the man began to regain his
calm as he watched Wind, wary still of him as the taller man moved to seat
himself in one of the chairs.
"You're...oh
thank god.. So what may I do for you?"
Duo
snickered slightly. 'Nice try at a save Doc.. why don't you just spill
everything before we even start.' he shook his head and then shifted his
position so that he was sitting more comfortably.. still on the desk, but he
saw it shook the guy up to have him so close to him. "You can try telling
us just why you spazzed when we walked in. Got something to *hide* Doc?"
"What?!
What do you mean?"
'.this
guy is about a few cards short of a full deck.' Duo thought rolling his eyes as
he turned to glance at Wind. "You want to explain it or should I?" he
asked Wind.
Azure
eyes glanced over at the man behind him, and then Wind stood. "I think I
will.. could you please get out of the way?" He smirked slightly and then
slid off the desk and walked over to sink into one of the chairs, watching Wind
as he walked around the desk and picked the older man up by his shirt. 'oooh...
someone is going to get hurt.. if this keeps up..'
*
Wind
hauled the smaller man out of his seat, hands fisted in the shirt and lab coat
the doctor wore. The doctor watched him with widened eyes as he pulled him
close to his face. "I'm going to explain this to you like you're two.
Maybe you'll understand then.." A brief flash of anger for the insult
flashed across the doctor's features as he released the doctor to stand on his
own feet. It fled though becoming wary again when Wind began to speak again.
"First, I walk in here and everyone's stepping like their on eggshells
around me. I walk in here and you nearly go into hysterics at the sight of me
walking in. Two, I've been told you have a very important person here.. I want
to know how you got him and why he's being kept here in this rats nest."
The
doctor swallowed and then nodded absently before sitting down on the edge of
his desk, keeping his eyes on Wind. "Well.. the first answer would be its
who you are, Mr. Peacecraft. We've been in this building for only around ten or
so years. The first location of this clinic was in Sanc.. so its not often you
have.. "
The
doctor fell silent at the callous glare he was receiving from Wind. "Start
again.. the truth this time." he said coldly.
"Well..
can I ask what person you were referring to a moment ago?" the doctor
asked.
Wind
narrowed his eyes. "Khushrenada, Treize"
An
alarmed look fled through the other man's eyes at the name. "I thought he
was dead.. three years actually.." the doctor's head snapped back suddenly
as Wind backhanded him across the face.
Duo
lifted an eyebrow at the display of temper. "I should of warned you, Doc.
Wind hates liars.. I'd start confessing before you get him really pissed off..
that wouldn't be pretty. Trust me. You don't need your teeth to talk.." he
gave the older man an evil smirk and glanced over at Wind who was watching the
doctor silently, the azure dark and seething with anger. "Does he really
need to keep his teeth? I haven't played dentist for a long time." He held
back the snicker that tried to escape when the doctor's face went white.
Wind
glanced at him then back at the doctor. He stepped back and then gestured
towards the doctor. "True.. by all means. Maybe it will encourage him,
when he speaks the words better be true or he might lose something else of his
that's a little more important to him. "
Duo
sat up and then pushed himself out of the chair, walking towards them. Wind
turned away and began towards the door. "While you do your dentistry.. I'm
going to check to see what the other's have found."
Duo
cracked his knuckles on one hand, grinning as the sound made the doctor flinch.
He nodded and then cracked the other hand. "Kay.. you think we should ask
the ole' Doc here about those little black bands too..?" he asked.
Wind
paused in the doorway. "Sure. He can show us how they are removed when we
find Treize. Just remember the doctor needs to be able to talk and work with
his hands.. if you find anything else 'wrong' and he won't tell you anything.
Feel free to 'fix' it." he said walking out shutting the door.
Duo
turned back to the doctor and grinned. "So.. Doc.. which is it going to
be? Do I get to play dentist or are you going to tell me what we want to
know?"
