Ok, I've come to a few decisions about this fic.hopefully I won't lose any
readers because of them. First off, I've decided to keep it romance free.it
just works better that way, and it keeps it simple.well, as simple as this
fic can get when Duo's senses are riding a roller coaster. He's going to
get his sight back, but a few other.changes are going to happen first. And
I do realize that talking is not technically a sense.but hey. I'm the
author, and what I say goes. Heaven knows that Duo uses his voice
enough.possibly to cover up who he really is.
Disclaimer: I don't own it, so don't sue.
*~*
Chapter 8
*~*
Duo's eyes blinked open slowly, and he lay still for a moment in the
drowsiness of morning. He soon sat up, and stretched his arms, rubbing his
eyes with his fists. He yawned, and glanced around to find himself in some
kind of office.
Wait a minute. . . I can see?! His eyes widened and he looked around more frantically, blinking repeatedly. He heard someone shift behind him, and he jumped to his feet whirling around, hand reaching for his gun.
Heero quirked an eyebrow from where he was sitting on a makeshift bed of some blankets.
Duo dropped his gun when he realized that it was just his friend, and let his defensive stance drop. Hey Heero. . . His hand threw to his throat as he realized no sound had come forth.
"Duo?" Heero asked as he too got to his feet, worried slightly as to why his fellow pilot was looking so frantic.
~~ I can't talk ~~ Duo mouthed back.
Why was this happening to him? Sure, yesterday things had been crazy, but it had seemed to centre on his senses. . . Talking wasn't a sense.
He gave a heavy sigh, vowing never to stop talking if he got his voice back. He missed it already, and he'd only tried to say five words, at the most.
*~*
Heero sighed as he watched Duo pace back and forth across the room, obviously stressed. He'd quickly found out that along with his voice, the feeling in his fingers had vanished. . . In fact, the feeling in his skin had vanished. He'd stubbed his toe countless times, having lost his sense of distances, but the braided pilot never noticed it once.
Grabbing the pen and paper that he had found an hour earlier, Duo scribbled a note for Heero.
??Have you heard anything from the scientists? Have they finished analyzing my blood sample? ~
Heero shook his head. "We should have news today." He replied.
Duo scowled. This was starting to bother him. He had begun to like 'sensing' his surroundings, even if he couldn't see any colours. Now that the talent had been taken away from him, he felt as if part of his abilities were missing. He had felt so powerful with the sixth sense behind him.
Wufei then stepped into the room, interrupting Duo's thoughts. "What's going on?" He asked, leaning on the wall beside Heero, who was standing. He folded his arms across his chest as he waited for a response.
Heero too, waited for a response, expecting Duo to reply as he usually did. It took him a moment to realize that Duo would not be able to respond in his usual manner. . . He didn't have a voice to respond with. "Duo's condition has not changed. We are waiting for word from the scientists."
Wufei nodded. "Will he be coming with us on our next mission?"
"It's undecided, at the moment." Heero stated, just as Duo stubbed his toe once more.
The braided boy winced as he heard his foot connect with the ground, knowing in his heart that if things didn't change, he wouldn't be going anywhere. Without his sense of touch, he had lost all sense of where things were in relationship with his position. Piloting a gundam would not be a good idea in his current state.
Taking back his paper from Heero, Duo scribbled down another note. handing it back, he headed into the hall, using his eyes instead of his sense of touch to decipher distances.
Heero glanced at the page, and then followed Duo down the hall.
~ Quatre and Trowa are back. ~
"How do you know?" the stoic pilot asked his friend as he caught up with him. Wufei followed close behind, having read the note over Heero's shoulder.
Duo took back the page when they reached the bottom of the stairs, having managed to avoid further injury. ~ Can't you hear them??~ he wrote before he continued toward the front door. He swung it open and grinned at his friends, waving.
Heero raised an eyebrow.
"Without his loud mouth to get in the way, he has good hearing." Wufei noted.
Pilot 01 thought this over as he watched Duo communicating with Trowa and Quatre through his sheet of paper that was starting to get crowded with his messy handwriting.
Deciding that he would be asking for another sheet soon enough, the stoic teen headed back up the stairs to the small cluster of offices that they had been using to sleep in, since it was less cold in the confined areas. He reached the room, and found a second piece of lined paper. He was just about to head back down the stairs when a meaningful beep sounded from his laptop, which was plugged into the wall.
Heero suppressed a sigh as he headed back into the room and flicked it open. Dr. J's metal, claw-like hand flickered across the screen before the man's face appeared. "Heero." He greeted his 'student'.
"Hn."
"We've analyzed the blood sample. There's nothing strange about it. Pilot 02 should be ready for battle, based on your decision of his state of health. We did find that he has a low white blood cell count. If he gets sick, he'll take a while to heal."
Heero nodded. "Understood."
The scientist nodded. "All right. You have another mission out in space before you head back to Earth, but all of the details aren't worked out yet. I need floor plans for the Oz base on the moon. Get them for me."
"Mission accepted."
The screen went blank. Heero thought the new information over for a minute before starting to hack into the Oz files. If Duo's blood was clear, then what was happening to him?
*~*
Downstairs, Duo grinned as he helped Quatre and Trowa stow the items they had bought in the gundams. He munched away happily on an apple . . . one of the only fresh food item he would have for days. Most of his diet consisted of dried or canned goods, all of them high in protein or fibers, or other stuff that was good for you.
"Duo, how are you feeling?" Quatre asked worriedly once they had finished. "Wufei told me you can't feel anything. You'll have to watch that you don't cut yourself."
Duo rolled his eyes. ~~ don't worry, Q ~~ he wrote. ~~ I'll be fine! ~~ the message was accompanied with a wide grin.
Quatre sighed, looking worried. "Just be careful, Duo. If you need help with anything, just ask, ok?"
The braided pilot grinned, and nodded.
The blond smiled back.
Suddenly, Duo's happy expression faded, and he appeared to be concentrating on something.
"What is it, Duo?" the Arabian asked.
Trowa looked at his American friend curiously. It wasn't often that Duo turned so serious, unless there was danger nearby.
Duo wrote down another message. ~~ There's a vehicle coming. . . I can hear it. ~~ He wrote.
"I don't hear anything." Quatre replied. "Are you sure?"
Duo nodded, and went to one of the boarded windows of the run-down warehouse. He pointed through one of the cracks as Quatre came to look as well.
Sure enough, in the distance on the road Quatre could see a military vehicle approaching them.
"They've found us." The blond said, his eyes widening. "We have to get out of here."
Duo nodded, and headed for Deathscythe while Trowa headed up to warn Heero and Wufei. The three soon appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and Heero took one glance out the window before nodding. "We're leaving." He stated. "Now."
By that time, a whole line of military trucks had appeared on the road, all of them barreling towards the warehouse. Mobile Dolls accompanied them, their footsteps thundering on the ground as they approached the pilots' hideout.
Within moments, the gundams had been fired up, and Duo was still trying to convince Heero that he could pilot Deathscythe.
~ I'll stick close ~ he wrote across the gundam message system. ~ We're not going far, and even if we have to fight, it won't be in here. I'll be out of the colony before I have to kick Oz ass, so it doesn't matter anyway. ~
Heero sighed as he read Duo's message for the second time. He exited the warehouse first, firing a few shots at the mobile suits, whose own bullets hardly bothered Wing Zero.
Wufei scowled at their weakness as he followed Heero, who was now heading for the exit, barely even noticing the continuous fire from the mobile dolls. "Where are we headed, Yuy?" He demanded.
"There's an abandoned resource satellite not far from here." Heero replied. "We'll head there."
"It's going to be cold." Quatre's voice sounded over the static. "If it's abandoned, that means the power will be down."
Heero nodded. "I know."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~ Duo's Only Chick
Wait a minute. . . I can see?! His eyes widened and he looked around more frantically, blinking repeatedly. He heard someone shift behind him, and he jumped to his feet whirling around, hand reaching for his gun.
Heero quirked an eyebrow from where he was sitting on a makeshift bed of some blankets.
Duo dropped his gun when he realized that it was just his friend, and let his defensive stance drop. Hey Heero. . . His hand threw to his throat as he realized no sound had come forth.
"Duo?" Heero asked as he too got to his feet, worried slightly as to why his fellow pilot was looking so frantic.
~~ I can't talk ~~ Duo mouthed back.
Why was this happening to him? Sure, yesterday things had been crazy, but it had seemed to centre on his senses. . . Talking wasn't a sense.
He gave a heavy sigh, vowing never to stop talking if he got his voice back. He missed it already, and he'd only tried to say five words, at the most.
*~*
Heero sighed as he watched Duo pace back and forth across the room, obviously stressed. He'd quickly found out that along with his voice, the feeling in his fingers had vanished. . . In fact, the feeling in his skin had vanished. He'd stubbed his toe countless times, having lost his sense of distances, but the braided pilot never noticed it once.
Grabbing the pen and paper that he had found an hour earlier, Duo scribbled a note for Heero.
??Have you heard anything from the scientists? Have they finished analyzing my blood sample? ~
Heero shook his head. "We should have news today." He replied.
Duo scowled. This was starting to bother him. He had begun to like 'sensing' his surroundings, even if he couldn't see any colours. Now that the talent had been taken away from him, he felt as if part of his abilities were missing. He had felt so powerful with the sixth sense behind him.
Wufei then stepped into the room, interrupting Duo's thoughts. "What's going on?" He asked, leaning on the wall beside Heero, who was standing. He folded his arms across his chest as he waited for a response.
Heero too, waited for a response, expecting Duo to reply as he usually did. It took him a moment to realize that Duo would not be able to respond in his usual manner. . . He didn't have a voice to respond with. "Duo's condition has not changed. We are waiting for word from the scientists."
Wufei nodded. "Will he be coming with us on our next mission?"
"It's undecided, at the moment." Heero stated, just as Duo stubbed his toe once more.
The braided boy winced as he heard his foot connect with the ground, knowing in his heart that if things didn't change, he wouldn't be going anywhere. Without his sense of touch, he had lost all sense of where things were in relationship with his position. Piloting a gundam would not be a good idea in his current state.
Taking back his paper from Heero, Duo scribbled down another note. handing it back, he headed into the hall, using his eyes instead of his sense of touch to decipher distances.
Heero glanced at the page, and then followed Duo down the hall.
~ Quatre and Trowa are back. ~
"How do you know?" the stoic pilot asked his friend as he caught up with him. Wufei followed close behind, having read the note over Heero's shoulder.
Duo took back the page when they reached the bottom of the stairs, having managed to avoid further injury. ~ Can't you hear them??~ he wrote before he continued toward the front door. He swung it open and grinned at his friends, waving.
Heero raised an eyebrow.
"Without his loud mouth to get in the way, he has good hearing." Wufei noted.
Pilot 01 thought this over as he watched Duo communicating with Trowa and Quatre through his sheet of paper that was starting to get crowded with his messy handwriting.
Deciding that he would be asking for another sheet soon enough, the stoic teen headed back up the stairs to the small cluster of offices that they had been using to sleep in, since it was less cold in the confined areas. He reached the room, and found a second piece of lined paper. He was just about to head back down the stairs when a meaningful beep sounded from his laptop, which was plugged into the wall.
Heero suppressed a sigh as he headed back into the room and flicked it open. Dr. J's metal, claw-like hand flickered across the screen before the man's face appeared. "Heero." He greeted his 'student'.
"Hn."
"We've analyzed the blood sample. There's nothing strange about it. Pilot 02 should be ready for battle, based on your decision of his state of health. We did find that he has a low white blood cell count. If he gets sick, he'll take a while to heal."
Heero nodded. "Understood."
The scientist nodded. "All right. You have another mission out in space before you head back to Earth, but all of the details aren't worked out yet. I need floor plans for the Oz base on the moon. Get them for me."
"Mission accepted."
The screen went blank. Heero thought the new information over for a minute before starting to hack into the Oz files. If Duo's blood was clear, then what was happening to him?
*~*
Downstairs, Duo grinned as he helped Quatre and Trowa stow the items they had bought in the gundams. He munched away happily on an apple . . . one of the only fresh food item he would have for days. Most of his diet consisted of dried or canned goods, all of them high in protein or fibers, or other stuff that was good for you.
"Duo, how are you feeling?" Quatre asked worriedly once they had finished. "Wufei told me you can't feel anything. You'll have to watch that you don't cut yourself."
Duo rolled his eyes. ~~ don't worry, Q ~~ he wrote. ~~ I'll be fine! ~~ the message was accompanied with a wide grin.
Quatre sighed, looking worried. "Just be careful, Duo. If you need help with anything, just ask, ok?"
The braided pilot grinned, and nodded.
The blond smiled back.
Suddenly, Duo's happy expression faded, and he appeared to be concentrating on something.
"What is it, Duo?" the Arabian asked.
Trowa looked at his American friend curiously. It wasn't often that Duo turned so serious, unless there was danger nearby.
Duo wrote down another message. ~~ There's a vehicle coming. . . I can hear it. ~~ He wrote.
"I don't hear anything." Quatre replied. "Are you sure?"
Duo nodded, and went to one of the boarded windows of the run-down warehouse. He pointed through one of the cracks as Quatre came to look as well.
Sure enough, in the distance on the road Quatre could see a military vehicle approaching them.
"They've found us." The blond said, his eyes widening. "We have to get out of here."
Duo nodded, and headed for Deathscythe while Trowa headed up to warn Heero and Wufei. The three soon appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and Heero took one glance out the window before nodding. "We're leaving." He stated. "Now."
By that time, a whole line of military trucks had appeared on the road, all of them barreling towards the warehouse. Mobile Dolls accompanied them, their footsteps thundering on the ground as they approached the pilots' hideout.
Within moments, the gundams had been fired up, and Duo was still trying to convince Heero that he could pilot Deathscythe.
~ I'll stick close ~ he wrote across the gundam message system. ~ We're not going far, and even if we have to fight, it won't be in here. I'll be out of the colony before I have to kick Oz ass, so it doesn't matter anyway. ~
Heero sighed as he read Duo's message for the second time. He exited the warehouse first, firing a few shots at the mobile suits, whose own bullets hardly bothered Wing Zero.
Wufei scowled at their weakness as he followed Heero, who was now heading for the exit, barely even noticing the continuous fire from the mobile dolls. "Where are we headed, Yuy?" He demanded.
"There's an abandoned resource satellite not far from here." Heero replied. "We'll head there."
"It's going to be cold." Quatre's voice sounded over the static. "If it's abandoned, that means the power will be down."
Heero nodded. "I know."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~ Duo's Only Chick