This part was late because I had school stuff that kept me from writing.
Sorry!! Anyway, thanks for the reviews. ^^
===========================================================================
He never really agreed with many of my views of the world, but then very
few people did. Looking back I see that in many ways I wasn't thinking
clearly on it. Though I tried to look past the things that happened when I
was younger, I never fully have, and in some ways that made it very
difficult to move on.
*******
A.C 198
The overhead light was flickering. Duo had to resist the urge to scrounge
up some tools and fix it himself. It was annoying, but also a much needed
distraction. It had been years since he needed to be in one of these
places. He didn't care much for hospitals. At least he didn't need to be in
it very long. He had assurances that he would be allowed to leave before
the night was over. It was the other four people he was worried about. It
was a miracle their bodies weren't floating in space as it was!
He'd only sustained minor injuries. Nothing life threatening. He'd only
gotten a close look at Dorothy's wounds, but if Trowa, Quatre and Relena
were worse off, as was briefly mentioned, they must have been pretty bad.
Damnit. Why wouldn't any of the doctors come talk to him!?
The same moment he thought that there was a knock on the door frame. "Duo?"
it was Hilde. At least she hadn't been in the other transport too.
Pushing himself up, Duo offered a grin. "Hilde! Hey.."
"If this is what you call being careful, I really hope you don't plan to be
reckless next time." she offered a smile, settling into the chair next to
the bed.
"Hey! I was careful!" Hrmpt. He wasn't the one who maneuvered the shuttle
right into enemy fire. True, it possibly saved the other shuttle entirely,
and if she hadn't jumped him he'd probably have dome something similar. But
for now he could push blame in creep-brow's corner. "So how is everyone?
The doctors won't tell me anything!"
"Trowa'll probably be released about the same time as you, but he'll likely
have to cut back on the acrobatics for a while." Hilde grumped lightly.
"Catherine's here, so she's able to get more information on him then the
others. Quatre's still in surgery so they won't say anything for sure.
Relena's a little better, but still unconscious."
There was one person that Hilde left out, "What about Dorothy?"
"She's fine. Bruised mostly, minor concussion, she's being held until
Relena is awake and decides what to do with her."
So they were holding her in the hospital. Duo sincerely hoped that they
kept her under close guard. "Do you think they'd let me see her?"
Hilde's jaw set slightly, in the stubborn way that it sometimes did when
she was angry at him for some reason. He didn't think she was angry right
then, but she wasn't happy.
"What?"
"She nearly got you killed!"
"Yeah, and I want to know why."
Hilde sighed, mood vanishing. "They'll probably let you see her. Trowa's in
there now."
"I bet that's a one-sided conversation."
In fact, when Duo finally managed to get to her room, he found that there
was next to none in the area of conversation. Dorothy was sitting up in the
bed, bandages around part of her head and at her upper left arm, which was
crossed over her chest with her right. And she was glowering in silence,
pale blue eyes narrowed at the young man leaning against the wall across
from the bed.
Trowa had his ribs bandaged, though that was hardly visible under his
shirt. He didn't look upset, or any real emotional at all. With his single
visible eye, he was looking right back at the girl, also in silence.
"Oi, oi. I hate to interrupt the staring contest, but the silence might
scare the nurses!" Duo cut in as he stepped into the room and plopped down
in the chair beside the bed. Three eyes turned to look at him. Two light
pupil-less eyes glowering in a glare that promised his slow painful death,
and one green gaze that was nearly empty. He didn't pay any mind to
Dorothy's glare -- Heero's had prepared him for anything! -- and instead
spoke to Trowa, "Why're you here, Trowa?"
"..."
It's hard to say how Duo knew that the silence was as close to spoken word
as silence could be, but he could nearly picture the three dots in a word
bubble over the tallest pilot's head.
That word bubble got actual words after a few moments.
"I wanted to thank Dorothy for saving our lives."
There was a loud snort from the 'life saver'. "And here I thought every
other sentence involved wanting to know where I'm keeping my dolls."
So she wasn't going to lie about having them? That surprised him a little
bit. From what Duo had heard, she struck him as someone who would jump
around words and subjects as much as possible to avoid losing her
advantage. Maybe by admitting to the weapons she was trying to gain
something?
"Well, that shuttle had some impressive fire power, Dorothy-chan." Duo
said, during his feet up on the wide cushioned chair so he could peek over
his knees.
She whipped her head around and glared at him again, forked eyebrows
lowering, "They weren't mind, Maxwell. If they were, we'd be dead."
"Oh really?"
"My people wouldn't have retreated once the threat was disabled. They would
have permanently eliminated it, then left. We were floating dead, as Trowa
explained to me. No weapons, no cavalry on the way. If my people had deemed
fit to attack us -- which they wouldn't have -- they would have finished
the job." There was a pause, then she concluded, "And they have orders not
to make any moves, under any conditions, until I give the signal, or in the
event that I am unable to contact them anymore, movement will automatically
come into effect."
There. That was the advantage. If they killed her, the people working for
her would strike. Should they hold her, the same outcome would occur.
Should they let her go, it would only be a matter of time. Either way,
unless they got the location of her storage facilities, she would win. And
she knew it. And perhaps worse, she knew that they knew it.
"So I guess you got yourself an insurance policy, ne?"
"Call it what you like."
"How long until you have to contact them next?" Trowa asked, interrupting
his long silence.
Dorothy grinned, "About three hours ago." For a second, Duo thought she was
lying for a reaction, but it suddenly struck him that she was completely
serious, not to mention telling the truth. She didn't give them much time
to react, just long enough for the two pilots to look at each other before
she added, "But they won't move for two days, at least."
"That was nice of you to leave a window." Duo commented as he attempted to
find some way to use this two-day window.
"I'm a nice girl."
"Is that so?"
She didn't get a chance to respond because Trowa pushed away from the wall
and turned towards the door, where Relena had just appeared. Her arm was in
a sling and a bandage not that different from Dorothy's around her head.
She waited until all three of them were looking at her before she spoke,
"Dorothy."
"Relena."
"Oi, is it just me, or did the temperature suddenly drop?" No one even
glanced at him. "Guess it's just me."
"How much do you have and where do you have them, Dorothy?"
"What will you do if I tell you?"
"What you were supposed to do with them in the first place!"
Oi, Relena was mad, but all Dorothy did was grin, as if she were getting
kicks out of this whole predicament.
"Relena, the weapons aren't the cause of wars. I've studied wars. Weapons
are just the method for which wars are fought. Even if there were no
weapons of a conventional sense, as long as there are people with wills and
separate desires and motives, they will find some way to wage a war. A war
for peace is merely a reason given for the senseless deaths of thousands,
even millions. It is an excuse. An explanation for why those who died's
lives were not wasted."
She was completely calm, if more than a little amused, as she spoke what
she believed. Relena just seemed to get more angry. "Tell me where the
weapons are, Dorothy?"
"After we all just got attacked by someone with hefty fire power hidden on
a seemingly harmless transport? Do you honestly believe that by destroying
every weapon that WE have control of is wise in the face of a possible
threat? Relena, your ideals are very beautiful, and though I disagree on
every point, I do respect them. You are a Peacecraft. Crafting peace for
the future at the expense of your own present, just like Milliardo-sama
did. The methods differ, but the end result would have been the same.
Nothing. War is in our blood. To take it away is to take away what makes us
human. A world without war, with absolute and total peace, would be a world
without life. The only true peace is found in the grave, so, I guess you
could say all wars bring peace, to at least some."
The first part, Duo might have agreed with. It's hard to fight a threat
with no weapons. The rest was bordering on insanity. Peace was death?
"Dorothy..." Relena said in a frustrated voice, but before she could say
much more, Dorothy responded.
"Very well. If you must know where I'm keeping the weapons, I will show
you." Dorothy looked towards Trowa and then towards him. Duo had stayed
quiet the last few minutes because interrupting two arguing ice queens was
even worse then telling Wufei that Nataku was a wimp. "I'll assume both of
you would want to go."
"Quatre's still in surgery." Trowa responded emotionlessly. He may be
ignorant of the smaller boy's feelings for him, but he was a good friend
and probably wouldn't leave until he was all right.
Duo hopped up from his seat, smiling widely, "I'm in! I wanna see how far
off Heero is!"
===========================================================================
Teaser: Find out what Dorothy's up to, and a couple hints on why they
were attacked in the first place.
Sorry!! Anyway, thanks for the reviews. ^^
===========================================================================
He never really agreed with many of my views of the world, but then very
few people did. Looking back I see that in many ways I wasn't thinking
clearly on it. Though I tried to look past the things that happened when I
was younger, I never fully have, and in some ways that made it very
difficult to move on.
*******
A.C 198
The overhead light was flickering. Duo had to resist the urge to scrounge
up some tools and fix it himself. It was annoying, but also a much needed
distraction. It had been years since he needed to be in one of these
places. He didn't care much for hospitals. At least he didn't need to be in
it very long. He had assurances that he would be allowed to leave before
the night was over. It was the other four people he was worried about. It
was a miracle their bodies weren't floating in space as it was!
He'd only sustained minor injuries. Nothing life threatening. He'd only
gotten a close look at Dorothy's wounds, but if Trowa, Quatre and Relena
were worse off, as was briefly mentioned, they must have been pretty bad.
Damnit. Why wouldn't any of the doctors come talk to him!?
The same moment he thought that there was a knock on the door frame. "Duo?"
it was Hilde. At least she hadn't been in the other transport too.
Pushing himself up, Duo offered a grin. "Hilde! Hey.."
"If this is what you call being careful, I really hope you don't plan to be
reckless next time." she offered a smile, settling into the chair next to
the bed.
"Hey! I was careful!" Hrmpt. He wasn't the one who maneuvered the shuttle
right into enemy fire. True, it possibly saved the other shuttle entirely,
and if she hadn't jumped him he'd probably have dome something similar. But
for now he could push blame in creep-brow's corner. "So how is everyone?
The doctors won't tell me anything!"
"Trowa'll probably be released about the same time as you, but he'll likely
have to cut back on the acrobatics for a while." Hilde grumped lightly.
"Catherine's here, so she's able to get more information on him then the
others. Quatre's still in surgery so they won't say anything for sure.
Relena's a little better, but still unconscious."
There was one person that Hilde left out, "What about Dorothy?"
"She's fine. Bruised mostly, minor concussion, she's being held until
Relena is awake and decides what to do with her."
So they were holding her in the hospital. Duo sincerely hoped that they
kept her under close guard. "Do you think they'd let me see her?"
Hilde's jaw set slightly, in the stubborn way that it sometimes did when
she was angry at him for some reason. He didn't think she was angry right
then, but she wasn't happy.
"What?"
"She nearly got you killed!"
"Yeah, and I want to know why."
Hilde sighed, mood vanishing. "They'll probably let you see her. Trowa's in
there now."
"I bet that's a one-sided conversation."
In fact, when Duo finally managed to get to her room, he found that there
was next to none in the area of conversation. Dorothy was sitting up in the
bed, bandages around part of her head and at her upper left arm, which was
crossed over her chest with her right. And she was glowering in silence,
pale blue eyes narrowed at the young man leaning against the wall across
from the bed.
Trowa had his ribs bandaged, though that was hardly visible under his
shirt. He didn't look upset, or any real emotional at all. With his single
visible eye, he was looking right back at the girl, also in silence.
"Oi, oi. I hate to interrupt the staring contest, but the silence might
scare the nurses!" Duo cut in as he stepped into the room and plopped down
in the chair beside the bed. Three eyes turned to look at him. Two light
pupil-less eyes glowering in a glare that promised his slow painful death,
and one green gaze that was nearly empty. He didn't pay any mind to
Dorothy's glare -- Heero's had prepared him for anything! -- and instead
spoke to Trowa, "Why're you here, Trowa?"
"..."
It's hard to say how Duo knew that the silence was as close to spoken word
as silence could be, but he could nearly picture the three dots in a word
bubble over the tallest pilot's head.
That word bubble got actual words after a few moments.
"I wanted to thank Dorothy for saving our lives."
There was a loud snort from the 'life saver'. "And here I thought every
other sentence involved wanting to know where I'm keeping my dolls."
So she wasn't going to lie about having them? That surprised him a little
bit. From what Duo had heard, she struck him as someone who would jump
around words and subjects as much as possible to avoid losing her
advantage. Maybe by admitting to the weapons she was trying to gain
something?
"Well, that shuttle had some impressive fire power, Dorothy-chan." Duo
said, during his feet up on the wide cushioned chair so he could peek over
his knees.
She whipped her head around and glared at him again, forked eyebrows
lowering, "They weren't mind, Maxwell. If they were, we'd be dead."
"Oh really?"
"My people wouldn't have retreated once the threat was disabled. They would
have permanently eliminated it, then left. We were floating dead, as Trowa
explained to me. No weapons, no cavalry on the way. If my people had deemed
fit to attack us -- which they wouldn't have -- they would have finished
the job." There was a pause, then she concluded, "And they have orders not
to make any moves, under any conditions, until I give the signal, or in the
event that I am unable to contact them anymore, movement will automatically
come into effect."
There. That was the advantage. If they killed her, the people working for
her would strike. Should they hold her, the same outcome would occur.
Should they let her go, it would only be a matter of time. Either way,
unless they got the location of her storage facilities, she would win. And
she knew it. And perhaps worse, she knew that they knew it.
"So I guess you got yourself an insurance policy, ne?"
"Call it what you like."
"How long until you have to contact them next?" Trowa asked, interrupting
his long silence.
Dorothy grinned, "About three hours ago." For a second, Duo thought she was
lying for a reaction, but it suddenly struck him that she was completely
serious, not to mention telling the truth. She didn't give them much time
to react, just long enough for the two pilots to look at each other before
she added, "But they won't move for two days, at least."
"That was nice of you to leave a window." Duo commented as he attempted to
find some way to use this two-day window.
"I'm a nice girl."
"Is that so?"
She didn't get a chance to respond because Trowa pushed away from the wall
and turned towards the door, where Relena had just appeared. Her arm was in
a sling and a bandage not that different from Dorothy's around her head.
She waited until all three of them were looking at her before she spoke,
"Dorothy."
"Relena."
"Oi, is it just me, or did the temperature suddenly drop?" No one even
glanced at him. "Guess it's just me."
"How much do you have and where do you have them, Dorothy?"
"What will you do if I tell you?"
"What you were supposed to do with them in the first place!"
Oi, Relena was mad, but all Dorothy did was grin, as if she were getting
kicks out of this whole predicament.
"Relena, the weapons aren't the cause of wars. I've studied wars. Weapons
are just the method for which wars are fought. Even if there were no
weapons of a conventional sense, as long as there are people with wills and
separate desires and motives, they will find some way to wage a war. A war
for peace is merely a reason given for the senseless deaths of thousands,
even millions. It is an excuse. An explanation for why those who died's
lives were not wasted."
She was completely calm, if more than a little amused, as she spoke what
she believed. Relena just seemed to get more angry. "Tell me where the
weapons are, Dorothy?"
"After we all just got attacked by someone with hefty fire power hidden on
a seemingly harmless transport? Do you honestly believe that by destroying
every weapon that WE have control of is wise in the face of a possible
threat? Relena, your ideals are very beautiful, and though I disagree on
every point, I do respect them. You are a Peacecraft. Crafting peace for
the future at the expense of your own present, just like Milliardo-sama
did. The methods differ, but the end result would have been the same.
Nothing. War is in our blood. To take it away is to take away what makes us
human. A world without war, with absolute and total peace, would be a world
without life. The only true peace is found in the grave, so, I guess you
could say all wars bring peace, to at least some."
The first part, Duo might have agreed with. It's hard to fight a threat
with no weapons. The rest was bordering on insanity. Peace was death?
"Dorothy..." Relena said in a frustrated voice, but before she could say
much more, Dorothy responded.
"Very well. If you must know where I'm keeping the weapons, I will show
you." Dorothy looked towards Trowa and then towards him. Duo had stayed
quiet the last few minutes because interrupting two arguing ice queens was
even worse then telling Wufei that Nataku was a wimp. "I'll assume both of
you would want to go."
"Quatre's still in surgery." Trowa responded emotionlessly. He may be
ignorant of the smaller boy's feelings for him, but he was a good friend
and probably wouldn't leave until he was all right.
Duo hopped up from his seat, smiling widely, "I'm in! I wanna see how far
off Heero is!"
===========================================================================
Teaser: Find out what Dorothy's up to, and a couple hints on why they
were attacked in the first place.
