Chapter Seven
Duo moved slowly down the stairs. They twisted around like a square spiral. This place was so ugly. The walls were stone. They were gray and dull. It was cold, and the paint on the banister flaked away into his palm. His and Quatre's rooms were on the fifth floor. The electrical controls were in the basement. In the last few weeks, Duo had explored the entire hospital from top to bottom, and had gotten to know several of the patients and staff very well. He also knew where just about everything was.
He found the electrical box without much trouble.
He disconnected a few of the more vital wires with even less trouble.
He nearly broke his neck trying to find the stairs in the dark.
But it was worth it. He had been careful to take out only the lights in this area of the building; he didn't want to kill anyone who was on some sort of machine to keep them alive, or to mess up a doctor in the middle of surgery. All around him people were rushing. He heard someone shouting that they needed 'start up the backup generators!' and Duo realized he needed to hurry. He reached the door they had agreed upon and waited silently, praying that Quatre would be there soon. The sound of restless movement nearby told him that at least one of the guards hadn't deserted his post, despite the dark.
'Come on, Quatre,' he thought. 'We don't have long.'
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Quatre stood still in the hall for a moment after Duo had gone dashing off, clearly pleased to have a course of action laid out for them. But Quatre couldn't help being afraid of his own plan. However, there was nothing for it. He walked down the hall and entered his own room.
"Sarah?" he asked of the darkness.
"What?" she said.
"I wanted to...apologize." Thank goodness for the darkness that hid his face. Did she know him well enough to hear a lie in his voice?" He hoped not.
"Oh?"
He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Look, we may have our differences, but we have to work together for now, so we need to try to get along."
The lights suddenly went on, momentarily blinding him. She stood next to the switch, studying him.
He knew that soon Duo would reach the basement and the light would go off again.
He had to hurry, since he wasn't sure he could find the door in the dark. Of course, he was assuming that she had a set of keys on her. If she didn't...well, that wasn't worth thinking about.
"What are you saying, Quatre?"
"I think we should continue with the experiments. This ability of mine may have its uses. I need to develop it more. You're the obvious one to go to. You know more about it than I do."
"You want my help?" she asked him, obviously incredulous.
"If you want mine," he replied softly. Giving in completely wouldn't assuage her suspicions. But he was running out of time.
She studied him for a long moment, then seemed to come to a conclusion. "All right." She crossed the room and picked up one of the needles. "Remember what I said: This only works when you're under heavy stress. Therefore, we have to induce something. Pain is easiest, I'm afraid."
He held up one hand. "Are we sure that it only works under stress? Maybe it's been like that so far because it's only been instinctive. Could it be done by an act of will?"
She looked thoughtful. "You know, that's very possible."
"That's good to know," he said, and shut his eyes.
"Why?" she asked, or at least started to ask. Actually, she opened her mouth, and dropped the floor, her eyes rolling back in surprise and pain.
Quatre opened his eyes and wiped them quickly. They were still watering from the sudden light. That was all; just the bright light.
He knelt by his sister and quickly checked her left pocket. It had her ID and her wallet. No keys though.
The lights went out, leaving them both in total darkness.
She was moving now. He checked the right pocket and found a comb, a pen, and...a set of keys! Then he fell back with a cry, her nails scraping bloody lines down his arm. He leapt to his feet and felt her talon grip his elbow. He tried to wrench away and felt what could have been teeth on his hand. In the dark he struck out and found his knuckles making contact with something soft. He heard her yell, but he almost didn't care. He just turned and ran down the hall as if his life depended on it. Perhaps it did.
The lights flickered as he reached the door and nearly crashed into one of the soldiers standing there. Then Duo was standing beside him, his face tense but his eyes alight with mischief.
"Oh good. I was starting to worry that you'd gotten bored and gone of to play golf or something," he said smiling.
"Golf?" Quatre asked in surprise, tossing the keys to him.
"Hey!" the soldier yelled, finally realizing what was going on.
"Sure, what else to rich kids do when they're bored?" Duo asked, ducking a wild punch from the soldier and unlocking the door.
"I played chess," Quatre told him sternly, and followed his friend out the door.
It was raining out, and the streets were dark and slippery. They dashed across them at a speed that would have better suited a marathon.
"Follow me!" Duo called, and ducked around a building. He lifted up a crate to reveal a shallow ditch beneath it. "Come on!" He dove in, Quatre on his heels. The crate slammed back down over their heads, and left them stranded in the darkness.
Raindrops beat down on the crate from the outside. Quatre began to think he would never get the sound out of his head. He lay gasping in the dark, desperately trying to slow the beating of his heart.
"Okay, he's probably gone by now," Duo said, and pushed the crate up. "Yeah, he went away. Let's get out of here before he comes back." He helped pull Quatre out of the ditch and to his feet. They walked at a more leisurely pace down the street.
"How did you know that was there? I mean, I know you use to live here and everything, but..."
"I built it. There are half a dozen of these sorts of things scattered all around the place. It's sometimes useful to be able to do a disappearing trick."
Quatre smiled. "Well, if we get away with this, we will have definitely messed OZ up, at least a little bit. Not only did they lose one of their pet-projects, they also let two of the Gundam pilots escape."
"Is this the part of golf where we yell 'fore!' and they duck?" Duo asked.
"I don't know about that, but this is definitely the part of chess where I say 'checkmate,' and knock over their king."
"Lucky king. He gets to lie down. I'm tired. Let's find a hotel."
"A different one than last time. We'd best be careful. I say we try to leave as soon as possible. Let's hope they haven't found your Gundam, that is to say, Trowa's Gundam."
"I don't think they will; I left it with a friend who owns a hanger. He's a good guy, he won't tell."
"If you say so."
Duo moved slowly down the stairs. They twisted around like a square spiral. This place was so ugly. The walls were stone. They were gray and dull. It was cold, and the paint on the banister flaked away into his palm. His and Quatre's rooms were on the fifth floor. The electrical controls were in the basement. In the last few weeks, Duo had explored the entire hospital from top to bottom, and had gotten to know several of the patients and staff very well. He also knew where just about everything was.
He found the electrical box without much trouble.
He disconnected a few of the more vital wires with even less trouble.
He nearly broke his neck trying to find the stairs in the dark.
But it was worth it. He had been careful to take out only the lights in this area of the building; he didn't want to kill anyone who was on some sort of machine to keep them alive, or to mess up a doctor in the middle of surgery. All around him people were rushing. He heard someone shouting that they needed 'start up the backup generators!' and Duo realized he needed to hurry. He reached the door they had agreed upon and waited silently, praying that Quatre would be there soon. The sound of restless movement nearby told him that at least one of the guards hadn't deserted his post, despite the dark.
'Come on, Quatre,' he thought. 'We don't have long.'
------------------------------------------------
Quatre stood still in the hall for a moment after Duo had gone dashing off, clearly pleased to have a course of action laid out for them. But Quatre couldn't help being afraid of his own plan. However, there was nothing for it. He walked down the hall and entered his own room.
"Sarah?" he asked of the darkness.
"What?" she said.
"I wanted to...apologize." Thank goodness for the darkness that hid his face. Did she know him well enough to hear a lie in his voice?" He hoped not.
"Oh?"
He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Look, we may have our differences, but we have to work together for now, so we need to try to get along."
The lights suddenly went on, momentarily blinding him. She stood next to the switch, studying him.
He knew that soon Duo would reach the basement and the light would go off again.
He had to hurry, since he wasn't sure he could find the door in the dark. Of course, he was assuming that she had a set of keys on her. If she didn't...well, that wasn't worth thinking about.
"What are you saying, Quatre?"
"I think we should continue with the experiments. This ability of mine may have its uses. I need to develop it more. You're the obvious one to go to. You know more about it than I do."
"You want my help?" she asked him, obviously incredulous.
"If you want mine," he replied softly. Giving in completely wouldn't assuage her suspicions. But he was running out of time.
She studied him for a long moment, then seemed to come to a conclusion. "All right." She crossed the room and picked up one of the needles. "Remember what I said: This only works when you're under heavy stress. Therefore, we have to induce something. Pain is easiest, I'm afraid."
He held up one hand. "Are we sure that it only works under stress? Maybe it's been like that so far because it's only been instinctive. Could it be done by an act of will?"
She looked thoughtful. "You know, that's very possible."
"That's good to know," he said, and shut his eyes.
"Why?" she asked, or at least started to ask. Actually, she opened her mouth, and dropped the floor, her eyes rolling back in surprise and pain.
Quatre opened his eyes and wiped them quickly. They were still watering from the sudden light. That was all; just the bright light.
He knelt by his sister and quickly checked her left pocket. It had her ID and her wallet. No keys though.
The lights went out, leaving them both in total darkness.
She was moving now. He checked the right pocket and found a comb, a pen, and...a set of keys! Then he fell back with a cry, her nails scraping bloody lines down his arm. He leapt to his feet and felt her talon grip his elbow. He tried to wrench away and felt what could have been teeth on his hand. In the dark he struck out and found his knuckles making contact with something soft. He heard her yell, but he almost didn't care. He just turned and ran down the hall as if his life depended on it. Perhaps it did.
The lights flickered as he reached the door and nearly crashed into one of the soldiers standing there. Then Duo was standing beside him, his face tense but his eyes alight with mischief.
"Oh good. I was starting to worry that you'd gotten bored and gone of to play golf or something," he said smiling.
"Golf?" Quatre asked in surprise, tossing the keys to him.
"Hey!" the soldier yelled, finally realizing what was going on.
"Sure, what else to rich kids do when they're bored?" Duo asked, ducking a wild punch from the soldier and unlocking the door.
"I played chess," Quatre told him sternly, and followed his friend out the door.
It was raining out, and the streets were dark and slippery. They dashed across them at a speed that would have better suited a marathon.
"Follow me!" Duo called, and ducked around a building. He lifted up a crate to reveal a shallow ditch beneath it. "Come on!" He dove in, Quatre on his heels. The crate slammed back down over their heads, and left them stranded in the darkness.
Raindrops beat down on the crate from the outside. Quatre began to think he would never get the sound out of his head. He lay gasping in the dark, desperately trying to slow the beating of his heart.
"Okay, he's probably gone by now," Duo said, and pushed the crate up. "Yeah, he went away. Let's get out of here before he comes back." He helped pull Quatre out of the ditch and to his feet. They walked at a more leisurely pace down the street.
"How did you know that was there? I mean, I know you use to live here and everything, but..."
"I built it. There are half a dozen of these sorts of things scattered all around the place. It's sometimes useful to be able to do a disappearing trick."
Quatre smiled. "Well, if we get away with this, we will have definitely messed OZ up, at least a little bit. Not only did they lose one of their pet-projects, they also let two of the Gundam pilots escape."
"Is this the part of golf where we yell 'fore!' and they duck?" Duo asked.
"I don't know about that, but this is definitely the part of chess where I say 'checkmate,' and knock over their king."
"Lucky king. He gets to lie down. I'm tired. Let's find a hotel."
"A different one than last time. We'd best be careful. I say we try to leave as soon as possible. Let's hope they haven't found your Gundam, that is to say, Trowa's Gundam."
"I don't think they will; I left it with a friend who owns a hanger. He's a good guy, he won't tell."
"If you say so."
