Chapter 8
Heero leaned forward, his eyes cold and determined. "I'm going to ask you again. This time answer me, and honestly. Have you seen Duo with in the last few weeks?"
James shook his head back and forth. "Duo left over a year ago," he said, as he had last time. His voice trembled slightly. "I haven't seen him since then."
"I know that you're lying. I know that Duo got to L2 safely. I also know that his Gundam is stored in your private hanger. He couldn't have opened the door to the hanger without you, at least not without breaking it. It's keyed to your voice." Heero slowly drew his fist back. "Tell me where Duo is."
Trowa caught hold of Heero's fist. "That's unnecessary," he said softly. "Look," he said in a louder tone, meeting James' eye. "We're friends of Duo. We're not going to hurt him, but we need to find him, now. You have to help us."
The man's eyes darted back and forth between the two. Trowa kept his face schooled to his ordinary unrevealing expression. Heero crossed his arms across his chest, but the threat of what would happen if James did not cooperate was clear in his stance.
"I don't know exactly where he is now," he began cautiously, "But I have a pretty good guess. Try Double-Dice. It's a motel, and an old hangout of Duo's. If he's laying low, that's probably where he'll be."
Trowa nodded and he and Heero made their slow way down the street. Neither of them thanked James or said good-bye.
"Think he was telling the truth?" Heero asked.
"I think so. We'll find out soon enough." Trowa suddenly stopped and leaned against a nearby wall.
"Trowa?" Heero asked, stopped to look at him curiously.
The boy shook his head and took a ragged breath. "I don't know," he said. "I just felt dizzy or something for a moment. I'm okay now."
Heero frowned. "Are you certain? If you're not in good physical health, we..."
"I'm fine. Whatever it was, it's over now."
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Duo woke up when Quatre started crying. At first he didn't know what had wakened him, and he sat up in bed and peered around in the darkened room. By the dim light from the window he saw Quatre roll over and sit up.
"Duo?" he asked softly.
"Are you okay?" Duo stood and flipped the light-switch, then put up a hand to block his eyes from the blinding light. "What's wrong?"
Quatre didn't move when the light struck his eyes. There were twin streaks on his face where tears had fallen, but he was calm now. "I'm sorry I woke you," he said. "I tried not to make too much noise."
"You didn't make any. I just had a sort of nightmare and woke up. I think you might be projecting your emotions or something. What's wrong?" Duo sat down on the edge of his bed and waited. He wanted to know what it could be that had filled Quatre's mind with shadows and gloom.
"I can't sleep, Duo. I keep having nightmares." Quatre sat up and rubbed the edges of his eyes. "I can't stop thinking about what I did to Sarah."
"She was evil, Cat. She deserved it."
"Nobody deserves that sort of torture."
"It's not like you had a whole lot of other choices."
"But Duo, it was just so wrong! It was like...I don't know, like kicking a baby or something. I attacked her in a way that she couldn't possibly defend herself against! It hurt her so badly." His voice grew softer. "I can still hear her the sound of her screams in my mind." He put his hands over his ears as though to block out some sound. His eyes, dark with despair, looked like bruises on his pale face.
"Quatre, stop. Just stop," Duo whispered. Sorrow made his fingers clench and his body shake.
"I've done an evil thing..." Quatre said, his voice like a mouthful of razors
"Stop!" Duo grabbed the other's shoulders and shook him. "Quatre, you're projecting your emotions! Either calm yourself down or stop projecting, but you're killing me!"
Quatre shut his eyes. After a few moments he asked, "Better?"
Duo took a deep breath. "Yeah." He stood and went the mirror and began to methodically fix his braid. It was a familiar task that quickly soothed his nerves and cleared his mind.
"I'm sorry," Quatre said uncertainly.
"I've got a question for you. Do you do that all the time?"
"What, shoot anguish at my friends? I try to avoid it," he said, trying to make light of it.
"No, I mean what I just did. Do you pick up on other people's emotions a lot?"
Quatre nodded.
Duo shook his head and finished his braid. "How do you stand it?" he asked.
"Not very well sometimes, I'm afraid." Quatre looked at his watch. "It's 5:47, nearly morning anyway. I don't feel much like going back to sleep. Do you want to go get some breakfast with me, or try to get back to sleep?"
"Have you ever known me to turn down food?"
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"You lost them? You just let them walk out of here? You incompetent-" she cut herself off. "Screaming won't help. Do we have any idea where they might be?"
"We know they're still on the colony, Doctor Winner. No crafts have entered or left the colony since the plague. The first will be leaving this morning."
"And the only way out of this colony is the shuttle bay," she realized.
"Ma'am," the soldier affirmed.
Sarah tapped her lips thoughtfully with a pencil. "We will not inform my supervisor," she said at last. "If all goes well, we should be able to recover my brother and his companion, probably this morning. They'll be in a hurry to leave, I imagine." She straightened up. "Assemble your men. We're going to the shuttle bay."
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Quatre and Duo filed out of the lobby and nearly crashed into Trowa and Heero.
"We've been looking for you," Heero said coldly.
"Well, you've found us," Duo answered. "And boy do we have a story for you! Oh, the plague is over, by the way. OZ sent in a doctor, but she turned out to be Quatre's sister, and we had escape from her so that she wouldn't dissect Quatre's head or something nasty like that, so..."
Trowa raised a questioning eyebrow to Quatre, who just said, "Let's talk about it over breakfast, okay Duo?"
"Okay, great. There's this really nice little place a few blocks from here that makes the best bacon and eggs you can imagine, and will give you a pile of pancakes this high!" He held his hands several feet apart to demonstrate, and led the way.
Breakfast was as good as Duo had promised it would be. He ate more than any of the others, though who knew how because he rarely stopped speaking. By the end of the meal, Trowa and Heero had been told everything that had happened, including Quatre's newly discovered abilities.
"But you have control of it now?" Heero wanted to know. "You don't..." he hesitated, "Leak emotions or something?"
"That's an interesting image," Duo said through a mouthful of toast.
Quatre ignored him. "No, it's under control. I think this morning with Duo will be the last time it gets away from me."
Heero and Trowa exchanged a look.
"About what time this morning?"
"I don't know, a little before six. Why?"
"That's about right then," Trowa said. "You got me too, not just Duo."
"But you didn't get me." Heero said thoughtfully.
"Well, you and Quatre have never been very close friends," Duo said, as though it was obvious. Perhaps it was too him.
But Heero was no longer interested in that. "Apparently distance is irrelevant. Duo who was only a foot from you, and Trowa who was several blocks away, were both effected. That could be useful to know."
"Only if I was planning to use this as a weapon. I'm not, so all information regarding it is interesting only from an academic point of view."
"Quatre..." Heero began.
"Don't we have enough ways of hurting people as it is?" Quatre demanded.
Heero was the first to drop his eyes. "We'd better get going," he said finally. "They're opening the shuttle bay at eight."
Heero leaned forward, his eyes cold and determined. "I'm going to ask you again. This time answer me, and honestly. Have you seen Duo with in the last few weeks?"
James shook his head back and forth. "Duo left over a year ago," he said, as he had last time. His voice trembled slightly. "I haven't seen him since then."
"I know that you're lying. I know that Duo got to L2 safely. I also know that his Gundam is stored in your private hanger. He couldn't have opened the door to the hanger without you, at least not without breaking it. It's keyed to your voice." Heero slowly drew his fist back. "Tell me where Duo is."
Trowa caught hold of Heero's fist. "That's unnecessary," he said softly. "Look," he said in a louder tone, meeting James' eye. "We're friends of Duo. We're not going to hurt him, but we need to find him, now. You have to help us."
The man's eyes darted back and forth between the two. Trowa kept his face schooled to his ordinary unrevealing expression. Heero crossed his arms across his chest, but the threat of what would happen if James did not cooperate was clear in his stance.
"I don't know exactly where he is now," he began cautiously, "But I have a pretty good guess. Try Double-Dice. It's a motel, and an old hangout of Duo's. If he's laying low, that's probably where he'll be."
Trowa nodded and he and Heero made their slow way down the street. Neither of them thanked James or said good-bye.
"Think he was telling the truth?" Heero asked.
"I think so. We'll find out soon enough." Trowa suddenly stopped and leaned against a nearby wall.
"Trowa?" Heero asked, stopped to look at him curiously.
The boy shook his head and took a ragged breath. "I don't know," he said. "I just felt dizzy or something for a moment. I'm okay now."
Heero frowned. "Are you certain? If you're not in good physical health, we..."
"I'm fine. Whatever it was, it's over now."
------------------------------------------------
Duo woke up when Quatre started crying. At first he didn't know what had wakened him, and he sat up in bed and peered around in the darkened room. By the dim light from the window he saw Quatre roll over and sit up.
"Duo?" he asked softly.
"Are you okay?" Duo stood and flipped the light-switch, then put up a hand to block his eyes from the blinding light. "What's wrong?"
Quatre didn't move when the light struck his eyes. There were twin streaks on his face where tears had fallen, but he was calm now. "I'm sorry I woke you," he said. "I tried not to make too much noise."
"You didn't make any. I just had a sort of nightmare and woke up. I think you might be projecting your emotions or something. What's wrong?" Duo sat down on the edge of his bed and waited. He wanted to know what it could be that had filled Quatre's mind with shadows and gloom.
"I can't sleep, Duo. I keep having nightmares." Quatre sat up and rubbed the edges of his eyes. "I can't stop thinking about what I did to Sarah."
"She was evil, Cat. She deserved it."
"Nobody deserves that sort of torture."
"It's not like you had a whole lot of other choices."
"But Duo, it was just so wrong! It was like...I don't know, like kicking a baby or something. I attacked her in a way that she couldn't possibly defend herself against! It hurt her so badly." His voice grew softer. "I can still hear her the sound of her screams in my mind." He put his hands over his ears as though to block out some sound. His eyes, dark with despair, looked like bruises on his pale face.
"Quatre, stop. Just stop," Duo whispered. Sorrow made his fingers clench and his body shake.
"I've done an evil thing..." Quatre said, his voice like a mouthful of razors
"Stop!" Duo grabbed the other's shoulders and shook him. "Quatre, you're projecting your emotions! Either calm yourself down or stop projecting, but you're killing me!"
Quatre shut his eyes. After a few moments he asked, "Better?"
Duo took a deep breath. "Yeah." He stood and went the mirror and began to methodically fix his braid. It was a familiar task that quickly soothed his nerves and cleared his mind.
"I'm sorry," Quatre said uncertainly.
"I've got a question for you. Do you do that all the time?"
"What, shoot anguish at my friends? I try to avoid it," he said, trying to make light of it.
"No, I mean what I just did. Do you pick up on other people's emotions a lot?"
Quatre nodded.
Duo shook his head and finished his braid. "How do you stand it?" he asked.
"Not very well sometimes, I'm afraid." Quatre looked at his watch. "It's 5:47, nearly morning anyway. I don't feel much like going back to sleep. Do you want to go get some breakfast with me, or try to get back to sleep?"
"Have you ever known me to turn down food?"
------------------------------------------------
"You lost them? You just let them walk out of here? You incompetent-" she cut herself off. "Screaming won't help. Do we have any idea where they might be?"
"We know they're still on the colony, Doctor Winner. No crafts have entered or left the colony since the plague. The first will be leaving this morning."
"And the only way out of this colony is the shuttle bay," she realized.
"Ma'am," the soldier affirmed.
Sarah tapped her lips thoughtfully with a pencil. "We will not inform my supervisor," she said at last. "If all goes well, we should be able to recover my brother and his companion, probably this morning. They'll be in a hurry to leave, I imagine." She straightened up. "Assemble your men. We're going to the shuttle bay."
------------------------------------------------
Quatre and Duo filed out of the lobby and nearly crashed into Trowa and Heero.
"We've been looking for you," Heero said coldly.
"Well, you've found us," Duo answered. "And boy do we have a story for you! Oh, the plague is over, by the way. OZ sent in a doctor, but she turned out to be Quatre's sister, and we had escape from her so that she wouldn't dissect Quatre's head or something nasty like that, so..."
Trowa raised a questioning eyebrow to Quatre, who just said, "Let's talk about it over breakfast, okay Duo?"
"Okay, great. There's this really nice little place a few blocks from here that makes the best bacon and eggs you can imagine, and will give you a pile of pancakes this high!" He held his hands several feet apart to demonstrate, and led the way.
Breakfast was as good as Duo had promised it would be. He ate more than any of the others, though who knew how because he rarely stopped speaking. By the end of the meal, Trowa and Heero had been told everything that had happened, including Quatre's newly discovered abilities.
"But you have control of it now?" Heero wanted to know. "You don't..." he hesitated, "Leak emotions or something?"
"That's an interesting image," Duo said through a mouthful of toast.
Quatre ignored him. "No, it's under control. I think this morning with Duo will be the last time it gets away from me."
Heero and Trowa exchanged a look.
"About what time this morning?"
"I don't know, a little before six. Why?"
"That's about right then," Trowa said. "You got me too, not just Duo."
"But you didn't get me." Heero said thoughtfully.
"Well, you and Quatre have never been very close friends," Duo said, as though it was obvious. Perhaps it was too him.
But Heero was no longer interested in that. "Apparently distance is irrelevant. Duo who was only a foot from you, and Trowa who was several blocks away, were both effected. That could be useful to know."
"Only if I was planning to use this as a weapon. I'm not, so all information regarding it is interesting only from an academic point of view."
"Quatre..." Heero began.
"Don't we have enough ways of hurting people as it is?" Quatre demanded.
Heero was the first to drop his eyes. "We'd better get going," he said finally. "They're opening the shuttle bay at eight."
