Author: Okay, this fic is a blast. Heero cracks me up.
Warnings: Potty mouths. You heard me. XP A tad of Fei's Episode Zero, with a splash of mentioned 5+M
-chapter three-
---
Duo spun in his chair, shooting a grin to Quatre and Trowa. "And now, my friends, you will meet Wufei."
---
"Maxwell," the Asian boy clipped, sliding into the seat next to Duo. Duo saluted him with a piece of lettuce, which Heero promptly snatched and ate. Duo glared at his blue-eyed friend, then grinned at Wufei.
"Hey, 'Fei. How's it hanging?"
Wufei snarled. "I feel like hanging that damned onna. She tried to take away my fucking lunch hour! And this time, it was NOT me who pelted her with a pencil. It wasn't," he added, glaring at the grinning Heero. Quatre stayed out of the conversation, occasionally glancing at Trowa and munching on his sandwich.
"Oh," Duo looked surprised, as if just noticing Quatre and Trowa. "'Fei, this is Quatre and Trowa
"Ah," Wufei arched a delicate eyebrow at the two, studying them closely. "Hn. Greetings." Duo snorted, but Wufei continued unfazed. "My name is Chang Wufei."
Quatre smiled. "Quatre Raberba Winner." Trowa stopped eating his tortured French fry to speak.
"Trowa Barton." Wufei nodded again, snatching a tomato from Duo's tray at the exact same time as a French fry was stolen by Heero.
"DAMNIT!" Duo hollered, swinging a fist at Heero and settling for glaring at the orange-clad Wufei. Eyes ablaze, it wasn't surprising when an orderly rushed over.
"Is everything all right?" A blonde Chinese woman donned in an orange uniform stopped next to Wufei, and seemed to direct her question at the raven-haired patient.
"Everything's fine, woman, so why don't you fuck off?" Wufei growled, obviously disturbed by her presence.
"Wufei…" the blonde woman started, but stopped when she saw Quatre and Trowa. Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing when they saw the new boys, but that might have had something to do with the fact that they were the only ones on the entire compound that wore normal clothes. "Hello, my name is Sally. You must be new here. Are you charges of Dorothy?"
Quatre nodded, not waiting to see if Trowa would respond on his own. "We both arrived today."
Sally smiled. "Well, you seem calm enough. I'm sure Dorothy's thankful for the break." She shot a wary glance at Duo, who still looked unstable. He turned his burning violet gaze at her and she frowned.
"Duo, are you all right?"
"He's fine, woman! Get lost!"
"Wufei," Sally glared at her charge, who returned it evenly. Heero smirked.
"Now, now, Ms. Po. Wufei hasn't done anything to anybody yet. Duo's mad at me because I stole his food." A growl from Duo confirmed his story, and though Sally obviously doubted it, she sighed.
"Very well. Watch your step however, Wufei. You're still on a warning." With a final glance at the Chinese boy, she spun on her heel and walked away. Wufei stuck his tongue out after her.
"She annoys the hell outta me," Wufei snapped, glaring at Quatre. The small blonde flinched outwardly, before grinning darkly.
"I'm sure Hell would be a wonderful place to visit. Butchering people always was a favorite of mine."
"What?" Wufei arched an eyebrow inquisitively.
"I said…" Quatre began, an eerie look on his face. Heero stared at him, bemused, while Duo glanced up briefly then continued to stuff what was left of his food into his mouth. Trowa cleared his throat, and Quatre looked at him, surprised. He glanced around the table to find everyone looking at him. "What?" he asked calmly.
"Multiple Personality Disorder," Trowa answered Wufei's silent question, and the Chinese youth nodded.
"I see. That was, well, odd. What are you here for?" He directed his question to the tall European.
"Arson."
"Arson? That's it?" Wufei sounded disappointed.
"I set a man on fire after he closed down my fortune telling stand at the circus."
Wufei blinked, twice, and snorted. When Trowa continued to stare at him passively, he looked to Duo. The violet-eyed boy shrugged, munching on a piece of bread. Wufei frowned, glancing at Trowa warily. The European looked stable enough, sitting there calmly and eating his food.
"What about you?" Quatre's soft, calm voice snapped Wufei to attention. "Why are you here?"
Duo snorted, and Wufei glared at him. "Idiot, don't mock Meiran like that."
"I didn't disrespect Meiran. I love Meiran." At Wufei's stormy gaze, he held his hands up defensively. "Not like that! I mean… like… uhh… Heero, help me out here."
"Meiran is Wufei's dead wife." Quatre's jaw dropped, and he waited for a burst of anger to come from the Chinese boy. He dared a look at Wufei, and saw that he was taking in his reaction.
"It's… true?" Quatre whispered. Wufei nodded.
"My wife Meiran died three years ago. For a year and a half, her ghost stayed with me and told me to attack people. I loved my wife, I would do anything for her. So I did. I killed many men and women, because my Meiran wished me to do so." Wufei's eyes darkened. "The bastards that own this institution stopped me from doing as my wife wished me to. It is an injustice they will pay dearly for, but for now Meiran seems happy to be here." Duo grinned.
"She's cool," he said, batting Heero's hand away from his tray.
"Wow," Quatre breathed, looking at the Chinese boy oddly. He seemed oddly stable for someone who talked to dead people. Quatre's gaze switched to Heero, who was trying unsuccessfully to grab more food from Duo's tray. "What about you, Heero?"
"Me?" Heero asked, incredulously. At Quatre's nod, he shrugged. "Not all that interesting. I worked for OZ… yes, I did. I'm young, I know, but I'm the best. Stop laughing, Duo. I worked for OZ for a few years, and when I'd get caught doing something for them I'd lie. If they didn't believe me I'd kill them, dispose of the body, and lie about their whereabouts. OZ caught on eventually, and they sent me here. Said I was a danger or some bullshit," Heero growled, rolling his eyes. "So, yeah, not all that exciting."
Duo smirked. "The most exciting thing that happened was here at the asylum."
Quatre arched a blond eyebrow, obviously interested. "Really? What?"
Heero's brow furrowed as he thought. "I used to wear a blue suit. The one I'm wearing labels me more dangerous than blue was. There aren't any blue suits anymore, the orderly died. Even before she died, they moved all of us around when she got put in a cell."
"That's so sad," Quatre murmured. "What was her name?"
"Relena Darlien." Heero smirked. "She became infatuated with me. Whatever excuse she could make to be near me, she made it. I never got any peace. I have one thing to thank her for, though, and that was Duo. After she'd followed me to the art room seven times, Duo ran over and started telling her about how someone was beating another someone over the head with something… or something." Heero waved his hand dismissively.
"She ran out, determined to be the good little orderly. Then Duo barricaded the door. The two of us were in there for…" Heero paused, brow furrowed to show he was thinking. "About four hours. We had each other's life stories memorized by the time they got the block down."
Duo grinned. "I was sent in the White Room for a week. It's a small, dark room with padded walls that you get sent to when you're bad," he added when Quatre looked confused. "As soon as I got out, though, me and Heero started hangin' out. Seems the princess was good for something."
"And, since we both were around each other all the time, you can bet Relena was there too. Duo yelled at her a couple times, but she'd send him back to Dore when he made her mad. Dore wasn't really fond of little Miss Relena."
Duo nodded, still grinning. "Those two fought all the time. I always told Dore about Relena following us around, and since Heero was my only friend she wanted to defend us."
"Relena had nail marks on her face for two weeks." Heero snorted, shaking his head at the memory.
"Eventually, Duo got the brilliant idea to start lying to her. I told her that her real name was Relena Peacecraft, and that people were planning to assassinate her. She became so paranoid it was hilarious.
"After two months she broke down and started screaming at the top of her lungs. She just sat on the hallway floor and screamed for hours. Dorothy got fed up and shoved her in my old room. She had no problem with Duo and me sharing a room. Relena used my room for a week. They let her wear socks, and she strangled herself with them in the night. Dore found her."
Quatre gasped, wide-eyed and pale. "That's horrible!"
Duo smirked. "It may be sad, but I still think it's goddamn funny." Heero chuckled and nodded.
"She was a nice girl, I guess, but she annoyed the shit outta me." He grinned at Wufei, who'd been eating off of Duo's tray while the story went on. Wufei rolled his eyes, yawning and grabbing Duo's fork, twirling it in his fingers.
"That's so sad," Quatre murmured.
"Aw, Quat, maybe we shouldn't have told ya that story." Duo frowned, looking guilty.
"No, no." Quatre shook his head, offering a small smile. "It's not a big deal."
Duo shrugged. "If you say so."
"Duo," Trowa spoke, startling everyone with the reminder of his presence. "Why are you here?"
"Yeah," Quatre added, nodding. "I'd like to hear your story, Duo."
"Hn." Heero sighed, settling back in his chair. "This'll take awhile."
Duo snorted, rolling his eyes. "My story isn't that long, Heero."
"Sure it is, Maxwell." Wufei yawned again, looking tired. "I'm fine, onna. I'm just tired." Quatre glanced around Wufei, but seeing no one there he assumed that Wufei was talking to Meiran. Duo glanced at him, amusement written all over his face.
"Get enough sleep, 'Fei?"
"I'm fine, damnit!" Wufei rolled his shoulders.
"Alrighty." Duo turned back to the newcomers, who were waiting patiently for his story. "Now, ya see, I used to live in a-."
"OWCH!" A loud yelp cut Duo off and he looked up, startled. Dorothy was rubbing her arm. From the looks of things, Wufei had stretched with the fork in his hand and stabbed Dorothy in the process. Said Chinese boy was looking awfully guilty at the moment. Wufei stood quickly and placed the fork on the table.
"Are you all right, onna? My apologies." Wufei reached out to place his hand on Dorothy's shoulder, but had his arms grabbed from behind. "What the...?" Strong arms carried him backward through the cafeteria, and Duo stood quickly.
"Hey! Stop that! Where are you going with Wufei?" he growled at the guards that had apprehended his friend, clutching the side of the table so hard his knuckles turned white. Heero was standing beside him, and turned to Dorothy.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," she mumbled. "I'm sure it was an accident."
"Where are they taking 'Fei?" Duo snarled, still glaring after the guards. Dorothy bit her lip.
"I assume they're taking him to the White Room."
"What?" Duo whirled, staring at his orderly. "Why?"
"He was on warning, Duo. He could be there for days. I'm sorry."
"No, they can't do that! COME BACK HERE WITH WUFEI!" Duo hollered, jumping out from behind the table and charging after the guards. He was blocked off quickly by another guard, and as he fought to get by another came and grabbed him from behind. "Stop! Let me go!"
"Get a sedative!" Duo paled at the command, struggling so hard that he heard vertebrate pop in the guard's back. He felt the guard twitch and suddenly the weight was gone, leaving him free to tear out of the cafeteria after the guard.
Dorothy placed a hand on Heero's shoulder, sighing at the crumpled guard. "Heero, you realize you'll get in big trouble for that."
Heero shrugged. "If he hadn't let go, he wouldn't just be unconscious right now."
"Yeah," Dorothy sighed. "I know."
---
Four hours later, a very unhappy Duo was seated in an elaborate plush chair that was set up so it faced a large mahogany desk. A nurse was administering his second shot that day, and he glared at her.
Behind the desk sat the Asylum's "counselor" of sorts, the one that determined whether patients were getting better or worse, whether they were violent or non-violent. Duo hated this man with a passion.
"Duo," the rich baritone greeted him, and Duo rolled his eyes. He hated the man's voice as well. "I'm sure you understand that the sedatives were your own fault." The nurse dabbed at his arm with a cotton ball, then nodded to the white-haired man. He smiled to her and she gathered her things, leaving the room quickly.
Duo glared at the counselor, but didn't speak. "If you had kept your "rage" under control, they wouldn't have been necessary. Wufei Chang's business had nothing to do with you."
If the tranquilizers hadn't begun to kick in, Duo would have leapt to his feet in outrage. "'Fei didn't do anything," he hissed. "It was an accident, Merquise!"
Zechs Merquise sighed, leaning back in his chair. "If it was an accident, then we'll find out. In the meantime Wufei is to stay in the punishment area." Duo shuddered inwardly.
"Then why the hell am I in here?"
"Treize told me that I should re-evaluate you. You injured quite a few guards on your hero trip."
Duo growled. "Hero trip? Funny, I thought you were supposed to be the hero." His tone was laced with sarcasm. "Super Zechs, here to save the crazies from themselves."
"It is in my best interest that all residents here remain safe. I will be speaking with those that were seated with you later today, Duo. Your evaluation will commence tomorrow, because today you're too loaded with sedatives to do anything." Zechs paused for effect, looking carefully at Dorothy's charge. He waved a hand dismissively. "You're free to go."
Glaring daggers at the young platinum-haired man, Duo eventually hoisted himself out of the chair and staggered to the door. His movements were sluggish and clumsy, but eventually Duo got the door open and was wobbling down the hallway to his room, trying to keep his eyes open.
Zechs sighed again, running a hand through his bangs. Duo, he thought. Why do you make things so hard on yourself?
---
When he finally arrived at his room, he opened the door to find Quatre, along with Heero and Trowa, sitting on the floor. He shot them all a confused glance, but then spotted the bed. Using his remaining energy to drag himself across the floor, he collapsed on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
"Hn," Heero smirked up at his companion. "I don't think he realizes that this isn't his room."
"Isn't that your bed, Heero?" Quatre questioned, indicating the one Duo was lying on. Heero nodded. "But if that's your bed, where will you sleep?"
Heero blinked. "My bed."
"You're going to move Duo?"
"No," Heero replied, shaking his head.
Trowa arched an eyebrow. "Do you want my bed?" It was Heero's turn to look confused.
"Why?"
"Duo won't mind if you share a bed?"
Heero's brow furrowed. "No, he's my best friend. He used to stay with me all the time." Heero smirked proudly. "He liked to hear me tell stories. About bears."
Trowa tilted his head as if he wanted to ask more, but held his tongue. Heero glanced at the clock on the wall.
"Duo will be out for a long time, so we should go get some supper while we can." He shot one last glance to his braided friend, then marched out of the room. Quatre glanced at Trowa, and the tall boy shrugged. They followed Heero almost immediately after, walking quickly to keep up with the Prussian-eyed boy's strides.
---
TBC
---
A/n: No, this isn't yaoi or shounen-ai. No matter how much I love it, this one's relationship-free! (Thus far, I'm still undecided about later on) Duo and Heero are just really good friends, end of story. So don't kill me ^^;
Warnings: Potty mouths. You heard me. XP A tad of Fei's Episode Zero, with a splash of mentioned 5+M
-chapter three-
---
Duo spun in his chair, shooting a grin to Quatre and Trowa. "And now, my friends, you will meet Wufei."
---
"Maxwell," the Asian boy clipped, sliding into the seat next to Duo. Duo saluted him with a piece of lettuce, which Heero promptly snatched and ate. Duo glared at his blue-eyed friend, then grinned at Wufei.
"Hey, 'Fei. How's it hanging?"
Wufei snarled. "I feel like hanging that damned onna. She tried to take away my fucking lunch hour! And this time, it was NOT me who pelted her with a pencil. It wasn't," he added, glaring at the grinning Heero. Quatre stayed out of the conversation, occasionally glancing at Trowa and munching on his sandwich.
"Oh," Duo looked surprised, as if just noticing Quatre and Trowa. "'Fei, this is Quatre and Trowa
"Ah," Wufei arched a delicate eyebrow at the two, studying them closely. "Hn. Greetings." Duo snorted, but Wufei continued unfazed. "My name is Chang Wufei."
Quatre smiled. "Quatre Raberba Winner." Trowa stopped eating his tortured French fry to speak.
"Trowa Barton." Wufei nodded again, snatching a tomato from Duo's tray at the exact same time as a French fry was stolen by Heero.
"DAMNIT!" Duo hollered, swinging a fist at Heero and settling for glaring at the orange-clad Wufei. Eyes ablaze, it wasn't surprising when an orderly rushed over.
"Is everything all right?" A blonde Chinese woman donned in an orange uniform stopped next to Wufei, and seemed to direct her question at the raven-haired patient.
"Everything's fine, woman, so why don't you fuck off?" Wufei growled, obviously disturbed by her presence.
"Wufei…" the blonde woman started, but stopped when she saw Quatre and Trowa. Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing when they saw the new boys, but that might have had something to do with the fact that they were the only ones on the entire compound that wore normal clothes. "Hello, my name is Sally. You must be new here. Are you charges of Dorothy?"
Quatre nodded, not waiting to see if Trowa would respond on his own. "We both arrived today."
Sally smiled. "Well, you seem calm enough. I'm sure Dorothy's thankful for the break." She shot a wary glance at Duo, who still looked unstable. He turned his burning violet gaze at her and she frowned.
"Duo, are you all right?"
"He's fine, woman! Get lost!"
"Wufei," Sally glared at her charge, who returned it evenly. Heero smirked.
"Now, now, Ms. Po. Wufei hasn't done anything to anybody yet. Duo's mad at me because I stole his food." A growl from Duo confirmed his story, and though Sally obviously doubted it, she sighed.
"Very well. Watch your step however, Wufei. You're still on a warning." With a final glance at the Chinese boy, she spun on her heel and walked away. Wufei stuck his tongue out after her.
"She annoys the hell outta me," Wufei snapped, glaring at Quatre. The small blonde flinched outwardly, before grinning darkly.
"I'm sure Hell would be a wonderful place to visit. Butchering people always was a favorite of mine."
"What?" Wufei arched an eyebrow inquisitively.
"I said…" Quatre began, an eerie look on his face. Heero stared at him, bemused, while Duo glanced up briefly then continued to stuff what was left of his food into his mouth. Trowa cleared his throat, and Quatre looked at him, surprised. He glanced around the table to find everyone looking at him. "What?" he asked calmly.
"Multiple Personality Disorder," Trowa answered Wufei's silent question, and the Chinese youth nodded.
"I see. That was, well, odd. What are you here for?" He directed his question to the tall European.
"Arson."
"Arson? That's it?" Wufei sounded disappointed.
"I set a man on fire after he closed down my fortune telling stand at the circus."
Wufei blinked, twice, and snorted. When Trowa continued to stare at him passively, he looked to Duo. The violet-eyed boy shrugged, munching on a piece of bread. Wufei frowned, glancing at Trowa warily. The European looked stable enough, sitting there calmly and eating his food.
"What about you?" Quatre's soft, calm voice snapped Wufei to attention. "Why are you here?"
Duo snorted, and Wufei glared at him. "Idiot, don't mock Meiran like that."
"I didn't disrespect Meiran. I love Meiran." At Wufei's stormy gaze, he held his hands up defensively. "Not like that! I mean… like… uhh… Heero, help me out here."
"Meiran is Wufei's dead wife." Quatre's jaw dropped, and he waited for a burst of anger to come from the Chinese boy. He dared a look at Wufei, and saw that he was taking in his reaction.
"It's… true?" Quatre whispered. Wufei nodded.
"My wife Meiran died three years ago. For a year and a half, her ghost stayed with me and told me to attack people. I loved my wife, I would do anything for her. So I did. I killed many men and women, because my Meiran wished me to do so." Wufei's eyes darkened. "The bastards that own this institution stopped me from doing as my wife wished me to. It is an injustice they will pay dearly for, but for now Meiran seems happy to be here." Duo grinned.
"She's cool," he said, batting Heero's hand away from his tray.
"Wow," Quatre breathed, looking at the Chinese boy oddly. He seemed oddly stable for someone who talked to dead people. Quatre's gaze switched to Heero, who was trying unsuccessfully to grab more food from Duo's tray. "What about you, Heero?"
"Me?" Heero asked, incredulously. At Quatre's nod, he shrugged. "Not all that interesting. I worked for OZ… yes, I did. I'm young, I know, but I'm the best. Stop laughing, Duo. I worked for OZ for a few years, and when I'd get caught doing something for them I'd lie. If they didn't believe me I'd kill them, dispose of the body, and lie about their whereabouts. OZ caught on eventually, and they sent me here. Said I was a danger or some bullshit," Heero growled, rolling his eyes. "So, yeah, not all that exciting."
Duo smirked. "The most exciting thing that happened was here at the asylum."
Quatre arched a blond eyebrow, obviously interested. "Really? What?"
Heero's brow furrowed as he thought. "I used to wear a blue suit. The one I'm wearing labels me more dangerous than blue was. There aren't any blue suits anymore, the orderly died. Even before she died, they moved all of us around when she got put in a cell."
"That's so sad," Quatre murmured. "What was her name?"
"Relena Darlien." Heero smirked. "She became infatuated with me. Whatever excuse she could make to be near me, she made it. I never got any peace. I have one thing to thank her for, though, and that was Duo. After she'd followed me to the art room seven times, Duo ran over and started telling her about how someone was beating another someone over the head with something… or something." Heero waved his hand dismissively.
"She ran out, determined to be the good little orderly. Then Duo barricaded the door. The two of us were in there for…" Heero paused, brow furrowed to show he was thinking. "About four hours. We had each other's life stories memorized by the time they got the block down."
Duo grinned. "I was sent in the White Room for a week. It's a small, dark room with padded walls that you get sent to when you're bad," he added when Quatre looked confused. "As soon as I got out, though, me and Heero started hangin' out. Seems the princess was good for something."
"And, since we both were around each other all the time, you can bet Relena was there too. Duo yelled at her a couple times, but she'd send him back to Dore when he made her mad. Dore wasn't really fond of little Miss Relena."
Duo nodded, still grinning. "Those two fought all the time. I always told Dore about Relena following us around, and since Heero was my only friend she wanted to defend us."
"Relena had nail marks on her face for two weeks." Heero snorted, shaking his head at the memory.
"Eventually, Duo got the brilliant idea to start lying to her. I told her that her real name was Relena Peacecraft, and that people were planning to assassinate her. She became so paranoid it was hilarious.
"After two months she broke down and started screaming at the top of her lungs. She just sat on the hallway floor and screamed for hours. Dorothy got fed up and shoved her in my old room. She had no problem with Duo and me sharing a room. Relena used my room for a week. They let her wear socks, and she strangled herself with them in the night. Dore found her."
Quatre gasped, wide-eyed and pale. "That's horrible!"
Duo smirked. "It may be sad, but I still think it's goddamn funny." Heero chuckled and nodded.
"She was a nice girl, I guess, but she annoyed the shit outta me." He grinned at Wufei, who'd been eating off of Duo's tray while the story went on. Wufei rolled his eyes, yawning and grabbing Duo's fork, twirling it in his fingers.
"That's so sad," Quatre murmured.
"Aw, Quat, maybe we shouldn't have told ya that story." Duo frowned, looking guilty.
"No, no." Quatre shook his head, offering a small smile. "It's not a big deal."
Duo shrugged. "If you say so."
"Duo," Trowa spoke, startling everyone with the reminder of his presence. "Why are you here?"
"Yeah," Quatre added, nodding. "I'd like to hear your story, Duo."
"Hn." Heero sighed, settling back in his chair. "This'll take awhile."
Duo snorted, rolling his eyes. "My story isn't that long, Heero."
"Sure it is, Maxwell." Wufei yawned again, looking tired. "I'm fine, onna. I'm just tired." Quatre glanced around Wufei, but seeing no one there he assumed that Wufei was talking to Meiran. Duo glanced at him, amusement written all over his face.
"Get enough sleep, 'Fei?"
"I'm fine, damnit!" Wufei rolled his shoulders.
"Alrighty." Duo turned back to the newcomers, who were waiting patiently for his story. "Now, ya see, I used to live in a-."
"OWCH!" A loud yelp cut Duo off and he looked up, startled. Dorothy was rubbing her arm. From the looks of things, Wufei had stretched with the fork in his hand and stabbed Dorothy in the process. Said Chinese boy was looking awfully guilty at the moment. Wufei stood quickly and placed the fork on the table.
"Are you all right, onna? My apologies." Wufei reached out to place his hand on Dorothy's shoulder, but had his arms grabbed from behind. "What the...?" Strong arms carried him backward through the cafeteria, and Duo stood quickly.
"Hey! Stop that! Where are you going with Wufei?" he growled at the guards that had apprehended his friend, clutching the side of the table so hard his knuckles turned white. Heero was standing beside him, and turned to Dorothy.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," she mumbled. "I'm sure it was an accident."
"Where are they taking 'Fei?" Duo snarled, still glaring after the guards. Dorothy bit her lip.
"I assume they're taking him to the White Room."
"What?" Duo whirled, staring at his orderly. "Why?"
"He was on warning, Duo. He could be there for days. I'm sorry."
"No, they can't do that! COME BACK HERE WITH WUFEI!" Duo hollered, jumping out from behind the table and charging after the guards. He was blocked off quickly by another guard, and as he fought to get by another came and grabbed him from behind. "Stop! Let me go!"
"Get a sedative!" Duo paled at the command, struggling so hard that he heard vertebrate pop in the guard's back. He felt the guard twitch and suddenly the weight was gone, leaving him free to tear out of the cafeteria after the guard.
Dorothy placed a hand on Heero's shoulder, sighing at the crumpled guard. "Heero, you realize you'll get in big trouble for that."
Heero shrugged. "If he hadn't let go, he wouldn't just be unconscious right now."
"Yeah," Dorothy sighed. "I know."
---
Four hours later, a very unhappy Duo was seated in an elaborate plush chair that was set up so it faced a large mahogany desk. A nurse was administering his second shot that day, and he glared at her.
Behind the desk sat the Asylum's "counselor" of sorts, the one that determined whether patients were getting better or worse, whether they were violent or non-violent. Duo hated this man with a passion.
"Duo," the rich baritone greeted him, and Duo rolled his eyes. He hated the man's voice as well. "I'm sure you understand that the sedatives were your own fault." The nurse dabbed at his arm with a cotton ball, then nodded to the white-haired man. He smiled to her and she gathered her things, leaving the room quickly.
Duo glared at the counselor, but didn't speak. "If you had kept your "rage" under control, they wouldn't have been necessary. Wufei Chang's business had nothing to do with you."
If the tranquilizers hadn't begun to kick in, Duo would have leapt to his feet in outrage. "'Fei didn't do anything," he hissed. "It was an accident, Merquise!"
Zechs Merquise sighed, leaning back in his chair. "If it was an accident, then we'll find out. In the meantime Wufei is to stay in the punishment area." Duo shuddered inwardly.
"Then why the hell am I in here?"
"Treize told me that I should re-evaluate you. You injured quite a few guards on your hero trip."
Duo growled. "Hero trip? Funny, I thought you were supposed to be the hero." His tone was laced with sarcasm. "Super Zechs, here to save the crazies from themselves."
"It is in my best interest that all residents here remain safe. I will be speaking with those that were seated with you later today, Duo. Your evaluation will commence tomorrow, because today you're too loaded with sedatives to do anything." Zechs paused for effect, looking carefully at Dorothy's charge. He waved a hand dismissively. "You're free to go."
Glaring daggers at the young platinum-haired man, Duo eventually hoisted himself out of the chair and staggered to the door. His movements were sluggish and clumsy, but eventually Duo got the door open and was wobbling down the hallway to his room, trying to keep his eyes open.
Zechs sighed again, running a hand through his bangs. Duo, he thought. Why do you make things so hard on yourself?
---
When he finally arrived at his room, he opened the door to find Quatre, along with Heero and Trowa, sitting on the floor. He shot them all a confused glance, but then spotted the bed. Using his remaining energy to drag himself across the floor, he collapsed on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
"Hn," Heero smirked up at his companion. "I don't think he realizes that this isn't his room."
"Isn't that your bed, Heero?" Quatre questioned, indicating the one Duo was lying on. Heero nodded. "But if that's your bed, where will you sleep?"
Heero blinked. "My bed."
"You're going to move Duo?"
"No," Heero replied, shaking his head.
Trowa arched an eyebrow. "Do you want my bed?" It was Heero's turn to look confused.
"Why?"
"Duo won't mind if you share a bed?"
Heero's brow furrowed. "No, he's my best friend. He used to stay with me all the time." Heero smirked proudly. "He liked to hear me tell stories. About bears."
Trowa tilted his head as if he wanted to ask more, but held his tongue. Heero glanced at the clock on the wall.
"Duo will be out for a long time, so we should go get some supper while we can." He shot one last glance to his braided friend, then marched out of the room. Quatre glanced at Trowa, and the tall boy shrugged. They followed Heero almost immediately after, walking quickly to keep up with the Prussian-eyed boy's strides.
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TBC
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A/n: No, this isn't yaoi or shounen-ai. No matter how much I love it, this one's relationship-free! (Thus far, I'm still undecided about later on) Duo and Heero are just really good friends, end of story. So don't kill me ^^;