I'm so happy! I can't believe somebody ACTUALLY read my fic! Here's the
second chapter!
Chapter Two
Quatre was galloping through the woods in search of his prey. He could smell the deer as it ran along, straining with all its might to escape him. But it wasn't fast enough. He lunged at it, snarling, and sank his claws into its flank. It went down, its rear legs broken. Quatre lifted his massive paw to break its neck. He swung it down –
Quatre sat up in bed, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Cold sweat covered his body. He glanced around himself. He was in his bedroom and the sun was shining cheerfully through the window. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh of relief. 'It was just a dream', he thought. But then the last night's events came back to him and suddenly he wasn't so sure. He jumped slightly at the sound of footsteps coming his way. He expected to see the door open immediately, but he had to wait about another minute for the steps to reach him. He sniffed involuntarily. 'Duo,' he thought. He had smelled nothing, but for some reason he knew that that's who was going to come through the door. And he was correct. Duo opened the door timidly, trying not to make any noise but when he saw Quatre awake, he no longer needed to worry about the noise.
"Hey!" he said, grinning. "I'm glad to see you awake! Do you feel alright?" Quatre nodded. He looked up at Duo, his expression cold and dead.
"Is it me?" he demanded quietly. Duo faltered a little under Quatre's gaze; he had never seen this expression on Quatre's face before.
"No, it wasn't you. It wasn't any of us. It was that idiot, Lentil. You know, the guy we rescued back at that stupid werewolf planet."
"Lentil? Oh, you mean Lirle. A lentil is a type of bean. And speaking of food…"
"You're hungry? You should get dressed and come have breakfast. Trowa cooked it. He's pretty good. We're having-"
"Bacon, sausage, ham, eggs and pancakes. Hmm…a little bit too much syrup, I think. Orange juice, too. Oh! Fresh squeezed! By Heero? I wouldn't have expected that. Ah yes, a preemptive candy bar, too. At least you stayed away from the coffee – you know what caffeine does to you." Duo stared blankly at Quatre.
"How did you know what I ate?" he asked.
"I…I don't know…exactly…" Quatre answered, shaking his head.
"How did you know the orange juice was fresh squeezed? And by Heero?"
"I don't know…" Duo noticed a hint of fear in Quatre's voice and decided to change the subject.
"Well, you can go get breakfast whenever you're ready for it. I suggest you fill up because we've got another mission today." Duo turned to leave but Quatre stopped him.
"Hot?" he asked. Duo was confused by this statement.
"Excuse me?" he said. Quatre shook his head again.
"I tried to say 'does it feel hot in here' but all that came out was 'hot'." He could sense that something was wrong.
"No, I don't feel hot…" Duo replied. Then he saw the scared look on Quatre's face. "You know, I do feel kind of hot. Maybe you should open the window. See you at breakfast!" With that, Duo left Quatre alone in his room to wonder what was wrong with himself.
***
Wufei, Heero, Duo and Trowa, the proud chef, were all sitting around the table when Quatre arrived. They all greeted him but Duo was the only one who put any actual feeling into it. Quatre took a seat next to Duo and Trowa gave him a plate of food.
"Meat…" he mumbled and tore viciously into the food. His four friends tried not to stare, but they couldn't help it; he was eating like an animal. When Quatre was finished he wiped the excess food off his face with a napkin. Trowa looked down at Quatre's plate. It was perfectly clean except for two spots.
"You didn't even touch the eggs and pancakes." He observed, his feelings a little bruised. Quatre glanced at the afore mention foods on his plate.
"Bird food. Weasel food." he mumbled. "Birds eat bread, weasels eat eggs. I'm not a bird. I'm not a weasel." Everyone heard Quatre's voice, but they couldn't make out what he was saying. Duo shot a meaningful look at Trowa who then took the plate away from Quatre.
"You don't have to eat them if you don't want to. You're probably not feeling too well after last night." he said. Quatre snorted rudely and began pulling at his collar and scratching the back of his neck.
"Geez, it is TOO hot in here!" he panted. Heero and Trowa exchanged glances. Quatre was rolling his head with his eyes closed when he stopped suddenly and opened his eyes. Everyone was staring at him.
"What?" he demanded. Nobody answered. "Why are you all looking at me like that? Stop it! You're freakin' me out!" He pulled violently on his collar, nearly ripping it. "Would somebody turn on the FRIGGIN' air conditioner!?!" he yelled.
"Quatre, are you sure you're okay?" Duo asked.
"I'm fine." Quatre snapped.
"Alright, alright! Don't bite my head off!" Duo cried, holding up his hands. Quatre stopped moving altogether. He slowly turned his head to look at Duo. His mind was filled with images of doing just that – biting Duo's head off. He began to drool. Duo leaned away from him, afraid that Quatre might really bite his head off. Heero decided to speak.
"Quatre, I don't know what your problem is, but if you can't get your act together I'm going to have to suspend you for a while." he warned. Quatre whipped his head around to face Heero. For the first time Heero had seen him that morning, he looked like his normal self.
"I…I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me. I'll act better, I promise." Heero nodded in approval at Quatre's apology
"Well, if everyone's finished eating, we have a mission to go on." he said. Everyone but Quatre got up to prepare to go on the mission. 'Why did I do all of those horrible things just now? He wondered. What is wrong with me?'
***
The boys got into their Gundams and took off into outer space. Heero noticed Quatre's Gundam flying a bit shakily. He appeared over the intercom.
"What are you doing, Quatre?" he demanded. Quatre didn't answer. He was slumped over the control panel, wheezing.
"So…hot…" he gasped. His Gundam began to veer off course.
"Quatre, wake up!" Heero ordered. "You're gonna crash!" Quatre unfastened his restraints. He took off his vest and shirt.
"Can't…breathe…"
"Quatre put your shirt back on! You'll freeze to death!" Heero yelled. He watched Quatre fall forward onto the control panel, unconscious. Heero swore under his breath and contacted Trowa.
"Trowa, Quatre went unconscious. You and Duo take him back to the base. Wufei and I will complete the mission alone."
"Alright, we'll see what we can do."
***
Trowa and Duo managed to successfully get Quatre's Gundam back to the base using their own Gundams. They had to climb into Quatre's Gundam to get him out because he was still unconscious. They carried him to his bedroom and laid him on his bed. He woke up an hour later, feeling queasy and irate.
"Why'd you bring me back?" he demanded.
"You blacked out. You were about to crash." Trowa told him.
"I was fine. If you hadn't messed everything up, I could've done what I was going to do. I wasn't really going to crash. It was just part of my plan."
"Is that so? What was your plan exactly?"
"I don't have to tell you anything."
"Yeah, I thought so." Duo decided to butt in.
"Leave him alone, Trowa." he said. "I'm sure he had a really great plan." Trowa stared at Duo a moment then got up and left.
"Don't worry about him." Duo assured Quatre. "He's just mad because he didn't get to do his part of the mission. And besides, he's always like that. Insensitive, grumpy –"
"Geez, do you ever shut up?!" Quatre snapped. Duo closed his mouth instantly. Quatre thought he saw tears forming in his eyes.
"Omigod, I'm so sorry. I – I didn't mean that." Quatre apologized. "Duo, there's something seriously wrong with me. I haven't been right ever since last night. Haven't you noticed that I haven't even smiled all day? I can't even make my mouth do it anymore."
"Well, I've noticed that you've been…different. But I thought it was because of all the anxiety you had from the werewolf thing. You were the most worried that it would be you."
"Yes, I know…" Quatre suddenly became dizzy. "Duo…" he gasped. Duo's eyes widened in fear.
"What? What is it? I'm right here, Quatre. Quatre?! What is it?!" Quatre leaned from side to side, trying to keep his balance.
"It's happening again…" he whispered.
"What's happening?!" Duo cried. Quatre's head drooped. He let out the breath he'd been holding and raised his head. There were shadows under his eyes. Duo jumped up and backed away. Quatre's eyes glowed yellow for a brief moment.
"You're getting on my nerves again." Duo turned and ran towards the door but Quatre was too fast. He ran between Duo and the door. Duo stopped and backed away. Quatre locked the door and began to walk slowly towards Duo who was searching for another way out of the room.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're an extremely annoying human?" Quatre asked. Duo was still backing away from him.
"Trowa!" he cried. "Trowa, help!" Quatre snarled and jumped at Duo. He pinned him to the floor. Duo's cross popped out of his shirt. Quatre's eyes locked on it.
"Silver…" he hissed and jumped away. Duo heard Trowa running towards the room. He pounded furiously on the door. Duo got up to open it and Quatre attacked him again. But this time Duo held out the cross before Quatre reached him. Quatre growled at the cross in Duo's hand. Still holding the cross, Duo made his way to the door and let Trowa in. Trowa was shocked to see Quatre backed into a dark corner, growling at Duo.
"W – what? What happened to Quatre?!" he asked. He could hardly get the question out of his mouth.
"I – I don't know…We were talking and he attacked me!"
"I'm NOT a werewolf!! Do you hear me?! I'm NOT!!" Quatre screamed.
"We know you're not – " Duo began. He was cut off by a fit of cursing from Quatre. Duo exchanged worried glances with Trowa.
"We can't just leave him here." Duo pointed out. " We gotta take him to the hospital."
"I don't think we'll be able to. He'll probably just attack us every time we get near him."
"We hafta try at least."
"Okay…but if I get scratched or bitten…"
***
The sun had almost completely set by the time Heero and Wufei arrived back at the base. There were strange noises coming from Quatre's room so they decided to investigate. They walked into the room and saw Duo and Trowa lying exhausted on the floor. They were both badly injured and were bleeding and bandaged.
"What happened to you two?" Heero inquired.
"Quatre…" Duo answered breathily.
"What a couple of onnas! You two let that baby Quatre beat you up?!" Wufei growled scornfully.
"He's not such a baby anymore…" Trowa retorted.
"Where is Quatre?" Heero asked. Duo and Trowa pointed up at a corner of the ceiling. Heero and Wufei glanced up. Sure enough, Quatre was sitting upside down on the ceiling, still near the corner he'd been in earlier. He snarled at Heero and Wufei. The two of them jumped and drew their weapons.
"H – how – how did he – uh, – ?" Heero stuttered.
"We don't have a clue." Duo replied. Without warning, Quatre inhaled deeply, blinked and fell to the floor. He groaned and rubbed his head.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I don't know where to begin." Duo said.
Very, very peculiar, huh? Quatre climbing walls and sitting on the ceiling? Keep the reviews comin', people! I wanna know if you're likin' this!
Chapter Two
Quatre was galloping through the woods in search of his prey. He could smell the deer as it ran along, straining with all its might to escape him. But it wasn't fast enough. He lunged at it, snarling, and sank his claws into its flank. It went down, its rear legs broken. Quatre lifted his massive paw to break its neck. He swung it down –
Quatre sat up in bed, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Cold sweat covered his body. He glanced around himself. He was in his bedroom and the sun was shining cheerfully through the window. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh of relief. 'It was just a dream', he thought. But then the last night's events came back to him and suddenly he wasn't so sure. He jumped slightly at the sound of footsteps coming his way. He expected to see the door open immediately, but he had to wait about another minute for the steps to reach him. He sniffed involuntarily. 'Duo,' he thought. He had smelled nothing, but for some reason he knew that that's who was going to come through the door. And he was correct. Duo opened the door timidly, trying not to make any noise but when he saw Quatre awake, he no longer needed to worry about the noise.
"Hey!" he said, grinning. "I'm glad to see you awake! Do you feel alright?" Quatre nodded. He looked up at Duo, his expression cold and dead.
"Is it me?" he demanded quietly. Duo faltered a little under Quatre's gaze; he had never seen this expression on Quatre's face before.
"No, it wasn't you. It wasn't any of us. It was that idiot, Lentil. You know, the guy we rescued back at that stupid werewolf planet."
"Lentil? Oh, you mean Lirle. A lentil is a type of bean. And speaking of food…"
"You're hungry? You should get dressed and come have breakfast. Trowa cooked it. He's pretty good. We're having-"
"Bacon, sausage, ham, eggs and pancakes. Hmm…a little bit too much syrup, I think. Orange juice, too. Oh! Fresh squeezed! By Heero? I wouldn't have expected that. Ah yes, a preemptive candy bar, too. At least you stayed away from the coffee – you know what caffeine does to you." Duo stared blankly at Quatre.
"How did you know what I ate?" he asked.
"I…I don't know…exactly…" Quatre answered, shaking his head.
"How did you know the orange juice was fresh squeezed? And by Heero?"
"I don't know…" Duo noticed a hint of fear in Quatre's voice and decided to change the subject.
"Well, you can go get breakfast whenever you're ready for it. I suggest you fill up because we've got another mission today." Duo turned to leave but Quatre stopped him.
"Hot?" he asked. Duo was confused by this statement.
"Excuse me?" he said. Quatre shook his head again.
"I tried to say 'does it feel hot in here' but all that came out was 'hot'." He could sense that something was wrong.
"No, I don't feel hot…" Duo replied. Then he saw the scared look on Quatre's face. "You know, I do feel kind of hot. Maybe you should open the window. See you at breakfast!" With that, Duo left Quatre alone in his room to wonder what was wrong with himself.
***
Wufei, Heero, Duo and Trowa, the proud chef, were all sitting around the table when Quatre arrived. They all greeted him but Duo was the only one who put any actual feeling into it. Quatre took a seat next to Duo and Trowa gave him a plate of food.
"Meat…" he mumbled and tore viciously into the food. His four friends tried not to stare, but they couldn't help it; he was eating like an animal. When Quatre was finished he wiped the excess food off his face with a napkin. Trowa looked down at Quatre's plate. It was perfectly clean except for two spots.
"You didn't even touch the eggs and pancakes." He observed, his feelings a little bruised. Quatre glanced at the afore mention foods on his plate.
"Bird food. Weasel food." he mumbled. "Birds eat bread, weasels eat eggs. I'm not a bird. I'm not a weasel." Everyone heard Quatre's voice, but they couldn't make out what he was saying. Duo shot a meaningful look at Trowa who then took the plate away from Quatre.
"You don't have to eat them if you don't want to. You're probably not feeling too well after last night." he said. Quatre snorted rudely and began pulling at his collar and scratching the back of his neck.
"Geez, it is TOO hot in here!" he panted. Heero and Trowa exchanged glances. Quatre was rolling his head with his eyes closed when he stopped suddenly and opened his eyes. Everyone was staring at him.
"What?" he demanded. Nobody answered. "Why are you all looking at me like that? Stop it! You're freakin' me out!" He pulled violently on his collar, nearly ripping it. "Would somebody turn on the FRIGGIN' air conditioner!?!" he yelled.
"Quatre, are you sure you're okay?" Duo asked.
"I'm fine." Quatre snapped.
"Alright, alright! Don't bite my head off!" Duo cried, holding up his hands. Quatre stopped moving altogether. He slowly turned his head to look at Duo. His mind was filled with images of doing just that – biting Duo's head off. He began to drool. Duo leaned away from him, afraid that Quatre might really bite his head off. Heero decided to speak.
"Quatre, I don't know what your problem is, but if you can't get your act together I'm going to have to suspend you for a while." he warned. Quatre whipped his head around to face Heero. For the first time Heero had seen him that morning, he looked like his normal self.
"I…I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me. I'll act better, I promise." Heero nodded in approval at Quatre's apology
"Well, if everyone's finished eating, we have a mission to go on." he said. Everyone but Quatre got up to prepare to go on the mission. 'Why did I do all of those horrible things just now? He wondered. What is wrong with me?'
***
The boys got into their Gundams and took off into outer space. Heero noticed Quatre's Gundam flying a bit shakily. He appeared over the intercom.
"What are you doing, Quatre?" he demanded. Quatre didn't answer. He was slumped over the control panel, wheezing.
"So…hot…" he gasped. His Gundam began to veer off course.
"Quatre, wake up!" Heero ordered. "You're gonna crash!" Quatre unfastened his restraints. He took off his vest and shirt.
"Can't…breathe…"
"Quatre put your shirt back on! You'll freeze to death!" Heero yelled. He watched Quatre fall forward onto the control panel, unconscious. Heero swore under his breath and contacted Trowa.
"Trowa, Quatre went unconscious. You and Duo take him back to the base. Wufei and I will complete the mission alone."
"Alright, we'll see what we can do."
***
Trowa and Duo managed to successfully get Quatre's Gundam back to the base using their own Gundams. They had to climb into Quatre's Gundam to get him out because he was still unconscious. They carried him to his bedroom and laid him on his bed. He woke up an hour later, feeling queasy and irate.
"Why'd you bring me back?" he demanded.
"You blacked out. You were about to crash." Trowa told him.
"I was fine. If you hadn't messed everything up, I could've done what I was going to do. I wasn't really going to crash. It was just part of my plan."
"Is that so? What was your plan exactly?"
"I don't have to tell you anything."
"Yeah, I thought so." Duo decided to butt in.
"Leave him alone, Trowa." he said. "I'm sure he had a really great plan." Trowa stared at Duo a moment then got up and left.
"Don't worry about him." Duo assured Quatre. "He's just mad because he didn't get to do his part of the mission. And besides, he's always like that. Insensitive, grumpy –"
"Geez, do you ever shut up?!" Quatre snapped. Duo closed his mouth instantly. Quatre thought he saw tears forming in his eyes.
"Omigod, I'm so sorry. I – I didn't mean that." Quatre apologized. "Duo, there's something seriously wrong with me. I haven't been right ever since last night. Haven't you noticed that I haven't even smiled all day? I can't even make my mouth do it anymore."
"Well, I've noticed that you've been…different. But I thought it was because of all the anxiety you had from the werewolf thing. You were the most worried that it would be you."
"Yes, I know…" Quatre suddenly became dizzy. "Duo…" he gasped. Duo's eyes widened in fear.
"What? What is it? I'm right here, Quatre. Quatre?! What is it?!" Quatre leaned from side to side, trying to keep his balance.
"It's happening again…" he whispered.
"What's happening?!" Duo cried. Quatre's head drooped. He let out the breath he'd been holding and raised his head. There were shadows under his eyes. Duo jumped up and backed away. Quatre's eyes glowed yellow for a brief moment.
"You're getting on my nerves again." Duo turned and ran towards the door but Quatre was too fast. He ran between Duo and the door. Duo stopped and backed away. Quatre locked the door and began to walk slowly towards Duo who was searching for another way out of the room.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're an extremely annoying human?" Quatre asked. Duo was still backing away from him.
"Trowa!" he cried. "Trowa, help!" Quatre snarled and jumped at Duo. He pinned him to the floor. Duo's cross popped out of his shirt. Quatre's eyes locked on it.
"Silver…" he hissed and jumped away. Duo heard Trowa running towards the room. He pounded furiously on the door. Duo got up to open it and Quatre attacked him again. But this time Duo held out the cross before Quatre reached him. Quatre growled at the cross in Duo's hand. Still holding the cross, Duo made his way to the door and let Trowa in. Trowa was shocked to see Quatre backed into a dark corner, growling at Duo.
"W – what? What happened to Quatre?!" he asked. He could hardly get the question out of his mouth.
"I – I don't know…We were talking and he attacked me!"
"I'm NOT a werewolf!! Do you hear me?! I'm NOT!!" Quatre screamed.
"We know you're not – " Duo began. He was cut off by a fit of cursing from Quatre. Duo exchanged worried glances with Trowa.
"We can't just leave him here." Duo pointed out. " We gotta take him to the hospital."
"I don't think we'll be able to. He'll probably just attack us every time we get near him."
"We hafta try at least."
"Okay…but if I get scratched or bitten…"
***
The sun had almost completely set by the time Heero and Wufei arrived back at the base. There were strange noises coming from Quatre's room so they decided to investigate. They walked into the room and saw Duo and Trowa lying exhausted on the floor. They were both badly injured and were bleeding and bandaged.
"What happened to you two?" Heero inquired.
"Quatre…" Duo answered breathily.
"What a couple of onnas! You two let that baby Quatre beat you up?!" Wufei growled scornfully.
"He's not such a baby anymore…" Trowa retorted.
"Where is Quatre?" Heero asked. Duo and Trowa pointed up at a corner of the ceiling. Heero and Wufei glanced up. Sure enough, Quatre was sitting upside down on the ceiling, still near the corner he'd been in earlier. He snarled at Heero and Wufei. The two of them jumped and drew their weapons.
"H – how – how did he – uh, – ?" Heero stuttered.
"We don't have a clue." Duo replied. Without warning, Quatre inhaled deeply, blinked and fell to the floor. He groaned and rubbed his head.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I don't know where to begin." Duo said.
Very, very peculiar, huh? Quatre climbing walls and sitting on the ceiling? Keep the reviews comin', people! I wanna know if you're likin' this!