Look! Another chapter, finally. ^_^ I wrote the prologue forever ago, though it wasn't all that long ago that I posted it here. Um, almost a month. ^_^;;;; Please note the small adjustments to the warnings, and of course I still don't own Gundam Wing. *sob*

Warnings: AU, angst, all kinds of mental illnesses, language, ncs and abuse, a couple of OCs, OOC, shounen-ai and yaoi (eventually)

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Part 1

Heero, Trowa and I sat at our usual table with our dinner trays. It was the standard fare, cardboard meatloaf and instant mashed potatoes. I barely contained a sneer of disgust. I often thought that the menu alone in this place would drive a sane person out of their mind. I looked up as Duo's brash voice caught my attention. He could be clearly heard even thought he was still halfway across the cafeteria. I shook my head. There was a blonde boy trailing along behind him, with the kind of scared look about him unique to a deer caught in the headlights. A new patient, then. And having to contend with Duo, too. Poor thing.

"Yo! Guys!" Duo called out as he and the blonde kid sat at the table after collecting their own dinner trays.

"There's no need to yell, Duo, we're right here," I remarked dryly. He just grinned at me.

"Hey guys, this here is Quatre, he's my new roommie," he said, gesturing at the blonde, who was staring down at his dinner tray with a look of utter dismay. I could hardly blame him. He looked up when he heard his name, though.

"Hi," he said quietly, turning a bit pink. I stared. God, but the kid was skinny.

"Hey, don't worry man, none of these guys are going to bite you," Duo grinned, before starting to shovel food into his mouth. It didn't matter if it was disgusting or not, if it was edible, and Duo was hungry, he would eat it. Heero, Trowa and I were used to the food, so we had also started eating, though with less gusto than Duo. But the new kid, Quatre, had returned to regarding his dinner as if it was something he'd scraped off his shoe. "Oh, and guys," Duo added, "don't touch him, he doesn't like that." Quatre scowled, blushing even more.

"Damn! I almost forgot to introduce everyone!" Duo continued between mouthfuls of food. "The guy with the bang is Trowa, he has schizoid personality disorder. The Japanese guy is Heero, who like me, doesn't have a firm diagnosis, but is probably a sociopath. Charming, huh?" Heero glared at him, but Duo just grinned. "And he," Duo continued, gesturing at me, "is Wufei. He has schizophrenia. But don't expect him to do anything fun like talking to his shoes or conspiring with his toothbrush to take over the world, they have it all under control with meds. Not like when he first got here." Duo punctuated that statement with a gale of laughter. I glared daggers at him, and felt my face flushing a little. Quatre was staring at me with wide eyes.

"Duo…" I growled in annoyance.

"Aw, c'mon, Wu, it's all in good fun. We all know I'm the biggest psycho here!" Duo laughed humourlessly, and Quatre turned his gaze on him. I wondered what the poor guy was thinking of us. "Hey, Quatre, you never did tell me what you were in for," Duo added, looking at the blonde expectantly. Quatre blushed, looking away uncertainly.

"I… I was transferred here from Pinewood," he said nervously. Duo blinked, scratching his head.

"Pinewood, Pinewood… Hey, isn't that the eating disorder clinic?" he asked. Quatre flushed even more, and fidgeted in his seat.

"Yes," he answered. "They think I'm anorexic and bulimic." Silence ensued. We stared at his thin, almost skeletal frame. Down at his untouched meal. Back up at him. He scowled. "I'm not!" he snapped, folding his arms over his thin chest as if trying to hide.

"Sure, sure, of course not," Duo said amiably. Quatre quietly fumed. "Hey, don't worry about it, the doctors here don't know what they're doing anyway. They don't care, either, they're all just in it for the insurance money…" I sighed. Duo was off on one of his rants. Quatre looked distinctly unhappy. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Suddenly, Anderson appeared at our table, behind Duo. I scowled, and Trowa and Heero stiffened. He put a hand on Duo's shoulder, causing him to stop his monologue and look behind him. Quatre looked up as well, startled, and recoiled away from the man. Anderson gave Duo a slight nod, and then headed for the cafeteria exit. Duo stared after him for a moment, his eyes as hard as ice. Then he turned back to us, grinning. It looked more like a grimace, though. He stood up.

"Hey guys, guess I'll catch you later. You can just follow these guys back to the ward, Quatre. They'll look after ya. Later!" And he followed Anderson. Quatre watched him go, a confused frown on his face.

"What… what was that about?" he asked uncertainly, swinging his gaze back at us. Trowa, Heero and I looked at each other. I supposed that there was no reason for us not to tell him. He would find out sooner or later, especially since he and Duo were sharing a room.

"Duo is a drug addict," Heero announced, as if that explained everything. Quatre blinked at him in confusion. I sighed.

"Anderson steals drugs from the hospital pharmacy for him," I explained further. Quatre looked shocked.

"But why… why would he do something like that? He could get into a lot of trouble," he said, perplexed.

"He doesn't do it out of the goodness of his heart," Heero sneered in disgust, turning his face away. Quatre's face was blank.

"Duo… exchanges… favours in return for the drugs," I said slowly, trying to put it as delicately as possible. Quatre blinked a few times, and then realization dawned.

"Oh… Oh!" he exclaimed, his features twisting in disgust. "H-how can he do that?!?!" He started rubbing at his arms, as if the thought alone made him feel dirty.

"Duo is… complicated," I sighed, feeling suddenly quite weary. I looked at the doors through which Anderson and then Duo had disappeared. I felt a sense of helplessness creeping up on me, but quickly pushed it away.

"But, what about the doctors? Can't they tell he's using drugs? Don't they notice what's going on?" Quatre persisted, clearly quite agitated.

"The doctors can be remarkably obtuse," Trowa said softly, speaking up for the first time. Quatre looked at him in surprise. "They do not test him for drugs, despite his record and the obvious evidence that he is using, because they refuse to acknowledge the possibility that he could obtain drugs here."

"His record?" Quatre asked warily.

"Duo was sent to juvenile hall for a number of drug offences," I explained. "He was transferred here after several violent outbursts, the worst of which sent one of his fellow inmates to the hospital with life-threatening injuries." Quatre slumped down in his seat, stunned. He was probably wondering how safe it was to be Duo's roommate. I smiled weakly. "Don't worry, Duo's not going to attack you or anything." Quatre looked at me like he wanted to ask me why I was so sure of that, but he was distracted by the approach of two men. One was Dr. Khushrenada, but I didn't recognize the other one. Quatre suddenly sat up straight, his face going stony. I blinked at the sudden transformation.

"Ah, Quatre, I trust you've settled in nicely," the doctor said in that condescending voice of his that always made me wince. "I see you haven't eaten your dinner. Now you know you can't make a habit of that, hmm?" Quatre scowled. I couldn't blame him Khushrenada was an ass. "Your father and I have finished talking so he'll be off now."

The other man, presumably Quatre's father, leaned down to look Quatre straight in the face. I blinked in surprise as the blonde's face twisted in a combination of distress and disgust, and he leaned as far away from the man as his chair would allow.

"Now, Quatre, you're going to behave yourself here, aren't you? If I hear otherwise, I'm going to be very, very upset, you understand? You're going to get your head straightened out and stop this foolishness. I'm sick of it. I'll see you on visiting day, in two weeks. I better see some improvement," he said coldly. With that he turned and left, the asinine doctor trailing after him. Quatre glared daggers into the man's back. Yikes. There was definitely a story there.

Just then the buzzer announcing the end of dinner sounded. We cleared away the trays and headed back up to the ward. Quatre looked a little shell-shocked. A little intimidated by the whole situation. This was probably a lot of information for him to be processing. I supposed it couldn't be easy, processing the reality of being a patient in a mental institution. I could not really relate. My first few weeks here were a little… hazy. I frowned. I preferred not to dwell on those times, if at all possible.

It was a Saturday, and therefore a Movie Night, so about half the patients in our ward stationed themselves in the commons area upon our return from dinner. I took pity on Quatre and invited him to join us. We claimed our usual couch, but Quatre elected to pull over one of the chairs, presumably so he wouldn't be in danger of the body contact that the four of us scrunching onto the couch would have entailed. Even if Duo had not mentioned it, it was not hard to tell from his posture and behaviour that he was one of those people who did not like to be touched.

About two-thirds of the way through the first movie, something vapid chosen for its lack of violence, sex, language, and anything else interesting, the ward entry buzzer sounded. Everyone turned to see who was coming onto the ward. I pressed my lips into a thin line. Anderson had returned Duo. Duo was kind of… hunched, one arm wrapped around himself. His braid was undone, his hair hanging down in his face. He did not look up as he… he slunk down the hallway towards his room. There was no better word for it. I turned my gaze to Anderson, who was still hovering outside the security glass, watching Duo disappear down the hallway. He turned to meet my gaze, and the bastard actually smirked at me before turning and walking away. Rage boiled in my blood. The nerve of him.

Heero was already on his feet. Trowa and I followed him, and I sensed Quatre trailing along after us as well. Heero did not bother knocking when we reached Duo's door, and simply walked in. The room was dark. I flicked on the light switch. Duo was curled up on his bed, face to the wall.

"Go away," he ordered, his voice flinty. I sighed, rubbing my head wearily. Heero went over to the bed and forcibly turned Duo over. Duo glared up at him, arm still wrapped around his stomach. He had a split lip. And his eyes had a slightly glassy look to them. So he'd already taken some drugs, then. Of course, he'd want to take some right away, so he could forget about what he'd had to do to get them.

"Go away," he repeated. "Can't you leave me to get stoned in peace?" His voice was strained. That sense of helplessness was creeping up on me again. I saw it mirrored in the tension in Heero's body, in the set of Trowa's jaw. Quatre just looked lost.

"He hurt you," Heero stated. It was not a question. Duo shrugged him off, turning back to the wall, curling up tighter.

"So?" he finally replied, voice heavy with the encroaching drugs. "Anderson likes it rough sometimes. What the fuck does it matter?" A horribly, horribly, bleak voice.

"Of course it matters!" I snapped. "Fuck, Duo, why do you keep doing this to yourself?" Heero glared at me. I didn't care. Duo's body tensed.

"You don't understand," he replied, barely a whisper.

"You're right, I don't! I don't understand how you expect us to keep sitting idly by while you destroy yourself. I don't understand why you keep willingly subjecting yourself to that bastard time and time again, especially since he…"

"Shut UP!" Duo suddenly yelled, hands flying up to cover his ears. Quatre gave a small yelp of surprise.

"Fuck, Wufei, you should know better," Heero said, scowling. I sighed and rubbed my head. Heero was right, of course. I did know better than to broach that particular subject with Duo when he was so… vulnerable. It was best for now to let him drift in whatever escape the drugs allowed him.

"Fine. I'm sorry, Duo. Just let Heero check to make sure you're not too badly hurt, and then we'll leave you alone, okay?" I conceded. Duo lay quietly, having once again wrapped his arms around his middle. I started to wonder if he'd already slipped into a drugged slumber, but finally he nodded. I sighed. Trowa and I herded a profoundly confused Quatre out of the room, leaving Heero alone with Duo.

Quatre was wide-eyed. I think seeing such a profoundly different Duo from the one that he had met earlier had deeply disturbed him. Again, I could hardly blame him. But he didn't ask any questions, and for that I was very grateful. I was in no mood to offer further explanations.

We waited in the hallway until Heero emerged from the room with his damage report. The split lip, of course. Bruised ribs. A twisted wrist, probably sprained. And there was bleeding. There was always bleeding. Quatre was pale, his face unreadable. Heero and Trowa wore twin stony masks. I clenched my fists helplessly. There was nothing to do except return to the commons area, where the second movie had begun playing in our absence.

TBC

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Gah, I hope that wasn't too bad. I've never written from Wufei's POV before, even an AU Wufei. _;;;