Shadow of the Revolution

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Gundam Wing or any other anime… ::sigh::

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Shadow of the Revolution

Chapter 9

Duo awoke to the still darkness of the early morning. Groaning, he tried to close his eyes and go back to sleep. Being unsuccessful, he warily opened his eyes and lifted his left wrist to take a glance at his watch. It read 5:32. Mumbling to himself that even Heero wasn't up at the ungodly hour and cursing his luck for not being able to sleep longer, Duo stumbled out of bed in a mass of unbound chestnut hair. Tripping over a few misplaced things on the floor, he managed to make it to the bathroom without any major injuries. Flicking on the light, he looked at the pale reflection in the golden-framed mirror. When he had run a comb through his hair a couple times so that it was not too tangled, Duo set about braiding it. After he was done, he washed his face with icy cold water to wake himself up. Duo dried off and headed down to the kitchen to grab something to drink. After taking 10 minutes to decide he wanted ginger ale and not coffee, Duo wandered the extravagant mansion in search of something to occupy his time until someone besides Heero woke up.

Passing by the door of the interrogation room, a thought struck Duo that he'd had the night before. Since they now knew, well, he and Quatre, knew the identity of their 'prisoner', they could do a background check on her. It was standard procedure in any capture, and Duo had nothing better to do with his time, plus he wanted to show Heero and Wufei that he wasn't just a goofball and that he could beat them to something. Walking lazily back to his room, Duo turned on his laptop and began the search.

"Now let's see," he said softly to himself. "Hmm… what was the chick's last name? Sonya… Dasher? No. It did start with a 'd' though. Umm… oh, I got it! Dracy. Yeah, that's it. Dracy."

Keying in the search name, he tapped impatiently on the desk while he waited.

Search in progress, the computerized voice said to him. Checking identity—match confirmed. Bringing up file of Sonya Dracy.

"Bingo," Duo smiled happily, but his face was quickly replaced with one of extreme mortification when the file showed up on-screen and he got a look at Sonya Dracy's photograph.

"HOLY MOLY RAVIOLI!!!"

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Loud, incessant beeping broke into the nightmares of Heero Yuy. Both his Prussian blue eyes shot open, wide and alert as if ready for an enemy attack. Realizing it had only been his alarm clock, he reached over with one arm and turned it off. He ran a hand through his unruly brown hair before sitting up in bed. Glancing out the window, he caught a glimpse of the rising sun hiding behind the mountains, making its way out over the horizon. It's red tinge reflected off the tranquil blue of the ocean, staining the water a blood-curdling red. He shivered at the memory of his nightmare; it was as if nature was mocking him by using the very thing that had calmed him the night before to unnerve him. Disregarding how horrible he felt, he quietly got out of bed and walked over to his bathroom.

He brushed his teeth absentmindedly, thoughts wandering back to the nightmare he'd had. Once he was done, he slipped into the shower and let the warm water pound on his bare skin. It was soothing, and somehow it relaxed him and made him forget his troubles. After 15 minutes, Heero stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed in a navy blue turtleneck and black pants. He grabbed a small towel and proceeded to dry his wet brown hair while his other hand flipped open his laptop.

After passing all the security and firewalls he had put up, Heero brought forth a list of all the best hospitals in the area.

"Hn. This is the one: St. Joseph Memorial Hospital. That's not too far from here."

His hands continued to work diligently until he was satisfied with the information he had.

"Room 507, ICU. Severe blood loss, fractured collarbone, and dislocated shoulder. Currently in coma. Life support utilized. Surgery not confirmed?"

Makes sense, Heero thought. If they were to go ahead with the surgery and she woke up the middle of it, it'd cause her a lot of pain. But they can't give her any sedatives right now because of her coma. That could worsen the situation entirely. Still, he thought with a bit of remorse, if they don't do anything soon, she won't make it.

He pushed his chair back, stretching his arms over his head, and then went back to remove any traces of his hack into the Medical Database. He pushed the lid of his laptop down, and was halfway out the door when a familiar voice and an accompanying rhythmic click called him back.

"Hello Heero…"

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Duo blinked rapidly to test his eyesight. Was he just delusional? Or was he really seeing this? The woman looked just like Blade! Maybe a bit older… but it was like they were identical twins! He decided to run another search.

Search in progress. He was once again told. Checking identity… match confirmed. Bringing up file of Blade Violet.

The profile was brought up on-screen and a picture of an almost identical raven-haired, hazel-eyed beauty as the one before appeared. Duo put the pictures side-by-side, and was more than astonished by the resemblance.

"Blade never said she had a twin sister… but then why do they look so alike?"

Deep in his mind, a little voice spoke to him. You already know the answer to that. You've known it all along.

"What are you saying?" Duo said aloud, and knew it must look strange to anyone who might be watching.

Ever since you first saw her, you felt that something wasn't right. You were even surer after you got to talk to her a bit. Aren't I right, Duo?

Duo only growled in frustration. Damn these voices in my head, he cursed.

But you know I'm right. You just wanted to ignore your gut instincts and deny the truth because she reminds you of Hilde.

That hit a nerve. He hadn't mentioned Hilde ever since their nasty break-up. It was like a trip to Hell and back when he had to spend an entire evening with her at the party. He didn't know what happened between them; things just turned sour all of a sudden. He was brought back to the present when his laptop indicated a security breach. Closing the files, he searched for the exact location of the intruder.

"He's in the shuttle hangar…"

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A piercing throbbing in his head caused Wufei to wake. In his state of physical and mental inertness, he could only make out two distant lights in front of him, and a few figures eyeing him from within the shadows. He fought to stay awake longer, but knew that it was one battle he wouldn't win. His breathing was ragged, choking gasps rather than even inhaling and exhaling. The lack of oxygen made him woozy, slurring his eyesight and making him feel so very tired.

He was bound in handcuffs, that much he knew. The feeling of the metal rubbing and tearing into his skin was a sensation he wouldn't soon forget. He couldn't make out his surroundings, or know how badly injured he was. But by the dull aches and pains all over his body, he could tell he would need plenty of time to fully recover.

Deciding he would solve other problems later, Wufei allowed his eyelids to droop and slumber to sink in. But before he was completely asleep, in that state of mind before sleep but after consciousness, he thought he heard a voice talking to him. A very familiar voice…

"We meet again, my Solitary Dragon…"

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Heero begrudgingly turned the alarm off. He had completely forgotten about the security system in his preoccupied thoughts. He just didn't understand it. Why would Doctor J call now? Despite the good Doctor's claim he was just checking up on him, Heero knew that something was going on. When the Doctor was involved, something was always going on. J didn't do things for the simple purpose of pleasantry. He knew something, and Heero was sure as hell going to find out what it was.

"Hey Heero!" a cheerful voice called from behind him.

He must've heard the alarm breach, he thought. But Duo's never up this early…

"Where ya goin', buddy?" he asked.

"Hn," was the stoic reply. "It's none of your business. I'll be back soon; I just have a few things to take care of," and with that, he jumped into the shuttle and started the engines. Duo's protests were drowned out by the sound of the shuttle taking off, as Heero made his way to pay a visit to a sick patient.

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Author's Notes: I'm surprised that I haven't had death threats yet. *Sigh* I'm so very, very, very, very, very, very, very sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up. I beg for your forgiveness!!! Don't give up on me just yet!

With the part about the surgery… I don't pretend to be a medical expert. That's just something that I thought up and if it is medically incorrect, then I apologize, but do give me some credit! (Even if it was a lame attempt…)

Thank you so very much (is it just me, or have I said very a lot today?) to Arion, Ley, Kywraith Amnesi, Blazing-Moon, and Meghanna Starsong. You guys (well, gals) are da best! You've given me encouragement to write this completely worthless fic. Thank you!

Well, do any of you have guesses as to what will happen next? I'd like to hear what you think. And Arion, who's to say whether or not I'll pair her with Quatre? I'm not saying I will, but I'm not saying I won't. As always, comments, criticism, etc. are welcome and appreciated!

Next chapter: Heero pays a visit to an injured friend; Wufei discovers his captor's identity; Quatre and Trowa play music together, and Duo is just trying to find something to occupy his time. All this and more in the next chapter. Stay tuned!

Adios amigos!

~Seeress