Hey guys!  It has been awhile…but I think the length of this chapter makes up for it.  I've worked hard, trying to write every day on it.  I'll be starting my senior year in highschool this year, but I'm determined to get this fic done by my graduation!  Also, after it's finished, I'll go back to the beginning, re-write it so that the silly thing isn't only speaking, and so things like Trowa kissing Dakota 3x for 'the first time' and other such errors.  If you notice some huge errors, or even little ones, email me at sacriligevscrossx@hotmail.com - it'll be a HUGE help!  And if anyone would be interested in designing a website for me…it'd be cool.  I could draw you a picture or write you a fic for payment, if you would like. Thanks so much for reading, and remember – reviews mean inspiration!

Jet

Chapter 14

"Well Heero, you seem to be healing nicely." Doctor Thera Windsom, a double PhD in both medicine and psychology smiled at the boy.  He did not return the gesture, simply gazing at her, waiting for her to continue so he could leave.

"I will set up an appointment for you in the therapy division Heero.  You will need to go three times a week, for at least two hours a session until you can walk properly.  Other then your therapy you need to stay off your legs.  Otherwise you'll irritate them even more, and they'll never heal."  She glared at him.  "I've noticed several strains on your arm muscles – have you been walking on crutches when I strictly told you not to?"

Heero looked away.  She'd never understand. No…she never would.  Can't have us looking weak, now can we Heero?  Or is it Aiden now?  You saw your gang members…are you remembering yourself now?  Shut up, now is not the time for this.

When he had shushed the voice, he looked up at the doctor and gulped.  She was staring at him.  He could only suppose he had spoken aloud.

            "Should I make extra psychiatric appointments for you?  You have been seeing Dr. Zava as planned, haven't you?  No?  Perhaps I should speak to the young lady who was with you.  You really must see a psychiatrist.  Unless I am mistaken, you still have no recollection of things, do you?"  The doctor sighed.  This was worse then talking to a brick wall.  At least she was sure that the walls were listening.  With Heero, she could never tell.  She wished he would listen to her though; he'd never get better if he didn't.

            "Here is a card with instructions for you.  I will go talk to Ralara now, all right?  The nurse will be in in a few minutes to help you into your wheelchair. Behave yourself."  She told him, walking out of the room.

            Heero snorted at the empty space.  He ran a trembling hand through his hair.  A shrink.  She had prescribed one before, when he had first been injured, but he ignored it.  In fact, he had never even told any of his friends about the prescription.  Now she was telling Ralara, and Wufei too, since he was with her.  Between those two he would never get out of his appointments.  And therapy.  He had to go to therapy!  Just so he could look even more stupid by not being able to walk while the trainers sat there, probably talking childish talk, and prescribing small exercises so his 'poor little legs' could get used to it.  Just great.  Even greater was the fact that she had strictly forbidden his walking.  Ralara would see that was carried out too.  Women always seemed to be running his life.  Where did that thought come from?  Ralara is the only girl…isn't she? *Snicker* Not by a long shot Heero. What are you talking about?  Who are you anyway?  I don't think you ever told me.  All you do is deride me and order me around.  I think that I am perfectly capable of running my own head, thank you. Only snickers answered him, evil sounds that freaked the boy out.

            The sound of the door slamming brought him out of his reverie.  At least this time he wasn't mumbling to someone that no one could see; someone his own deranged mind was probably making up.  Or perhaps his consciousness had been split in half over his injury.  Or maybe, just maybe…it was real…

            In walked a nurse; she had his wheelchair.  Ralara and Wufei followed her in, and neither looked happy.  Heero winced.  He knew that he was going to get it from both of them once he was out of range of the other hospital patients.  He let the nurse pick him up and practically plop him into his chair, that ever-present fake smile plastered on her face.  He thanked her, but only after a hard stare from Ralara.

            Immediately Wufei took the handles and pushed him out the door, his face seemingly carved into stone.  Heero supposed that was so Ralara could look him in the face while she yelled at him.   For once, he didn't really care how loud she yelled. 

            "Heero, why didn't you tell us that you needed to see a psychiatrist?"  It had begun. 

            "I didn't want to go."  He stated simply. 

            "Heero, we all want you to get better.  How do you expect that to happen when you won't co-operate with your doctors?  Have you no sense of respect for those in authority?"  Wufei asked, a hard edge on his voice.  They were nearing the car.

            "Look…I just…did..n't…want a …dumb…shrink telling…me I…I'm stupid."  He snapped back, or attempted to anyway.

            "They're not going to tell you your stupid.  Dr. Zaran is a nice man.  He specializes in memories.  He'll help you get yours back.  He also works with speech conditions.  After your one-hour psychiatric session, you will be working for a half-hour on your speech."  Her tone and manner left no room for arguing, even if he had felt like it.

            "I…*sigh*…alright."  He slumped, defeated.  "Wh…when…do…I go?"

            "Today at three-thirty.  Quatre and I will be taking you.  The girls decided that if they were going to be staying with us from now on, they would have to get their stuff from their houses. Duo is taking them all in his truck.  He's thrilled."  Wufei did not sound at all pleased. "Tomorrow they are going shopping.  I don't know whom they'll con into that. Not that you'll have to worry, you have physical therapy tomorrow, and you will be going."

            "W..what is T…trowa doing?"

            "Extra training today.  Dakota came up with a new routine for him to work on."  Ralara offered.  

            "Oh…" He said, waiting for Wufei to pick him up and put him into the car, which they had finally reached. He sighed as Wufei drove off, looking sadly out of the window.  This was not going to be a very good day…

~~~

"You know Duo, we really appreciate you taking us around."  J'Amier gushed. 

            Duo just smiled.  It was almost funny enough to laugh out loud.  Here they were, five beautiful girls that anyone who had enough hormones to call himself a male would die to be with, all in his truck.  Two of them sat next to him, his girlfriend was practically sitting on him, and the other three were in back.  It was great!

            He started his truck up with a roar.  He loved his truck, almost as much as he loved his car.  While his car had style, no one had a vehicle with more power then his truck.  Duo took great pride in the fact that he had built it himself. 

            "So…where to first ladies?  Who wants to go first?"  He asked.  "I got plenty of room for everyone's stuff, so it don't really matter who goes first."

            "If you want to go to my house, it'd be cool.  I'm all packed and everything.  Brett, that's my half-brother, could help us load everything.  My parents won't even mind that I've been living with you guys – they've been trying to set me up for months!"  Ice volunteered from her place in the backseat.

            "Alright, to the Berk's it is!  Where do you live?"  Duo asked, the truck roaring to life.

            All the girls chatted to one another about various things as Ice gently gave Duo directions through the busy streets.  Her soft voice did not fit Duo's reckless driving, causing more then one other driver to shout words the girls were glad Duo was moving to fast to hear.  Sky just shook her head at Duo's excessively crazy driving, kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, and began a new conversation about all of the cute boys that she used to know before she met Duo.

            It wasn't long before the truck was pulling into a long side driveway lined with trees and strange looking sculptures.  Ice blushed.  She would never tell any of the girls that she helped to design all of the sculptures from the interesting comments that were flowing around the truck.  Just because her family was odd didn't mean that her new friends had to know that she participated in it.  Besides, she hadn't done anything as odd as her parents since she was young.

            A young youth ran out to meet the truck.  It was Brett, and by the look on his face, he wasn't happy to see Duo.  Duo ignored him, instead pasting on a wide grin.  He held out a hand for Ice, and also one for each of the girls who stepped out after her.  Of all of them, only Ralara thanked him.  These girls take chivalry for granted.  Sheesh.

            Ice ran to Brett, smiling broadly.  "Hi Brett!  I found a place to live, and the rent is going to be really cheap.  I came to get my stuff.  Do you want to help me load my stuff?  Are mom and dad home?" 

            "Uh…sure, I help you with your stuff…and yeah…mom and dad should be out in a minute…mom'll be thrilled to see your friends and that guy."

            Ice chuckled.  Her mother would probably pounce on Duo before he even knew what was happening! She had to explain their situation quickly, before Duo got hurt, Sky freaked, or both. 

            "Duo has a girlfriend with him, that girl with the long blue hair.  My boyfriend…well, I guess he's my boyfriend, lives in the apartment complex I'm renting."

            All of a sudden, an excited scream erupted.  "Ice!  You're finally living with a guy?"

            "Not just one guy – five of them!"  Sky explained excitedly.

            Brett scowled.  Unlike his stepmother, he hated the idea of Ice living with other guys – especially if she was neither dating nor married to any of them!  Ice's mother looked incredulous.  She turned to her husband who had just stepped out of the door and whispered something excitedly.  Brett sighed in exasperation as his father's entire face lit up.

            "You have a boyfriend and you're living with five guys?  That's wonderful honey!  Should we all help you get your things?" 

            "Um…sure.  But I'm not really living with them…I'm renting an apartment in the same complex as them…and they own the building but…" Ice tried to explain, but to no avail.  Her mother shushed her and shooed all of the girls, plus Brett and Duo, towards Ice's room where there were boxes upon boxes of things ready to be loaded up.

            Duo whistled as he looked at all of the things in Ice's room.  It was a good thing that she was going to have a large apartment, and an even better thing that his truck just happened to fold out into a trailer in the back.  I wonder if all the girls are this big of packrats… 

            Ignoring everyone's questioning looks, Duo ran back to the truck and hopped into the driver's seat.  He opened a panel on the dashboard, and flicked five black switches, being careful to do them in the correct order.  If his truck suddenly sprouted wings, or any of the other little surprises that he had hooked up in his little baby. 

            The truck shook slightly.  Extra panels of metal shot from the back end and top of the truck.  Wheels unfolded from the bottom storage container to rest on the ground.  Within seconds, his truck had become a tractor-trailer.  Duo smiled. 

            By this time, all of the workers had begun carrying boxes out towards Duo's truck.  Brett and his stepmother were the first, and they had the pleasure of seeing Duo's truck transform.  His stepmother dropped her box with a shriek, and Brett's mouth hung wide open.

            Duo jumped out of his truck/trailer and called, "It's perfectly natural for it to do that!  I built it myself!"  He walked over to Brett's stepmother and took her hand, helping her up.  Then he suggested that she go into the house and perhaps get her something cold to drink, they would take care of the moving.  He picked up the box, whistling, and began to help the others with the arduous task of moving Ice's piles of 'vital' junk.

            "There, that's the last of it."  Duo sighed, wiping the sweat off his brow.  Man, that took longer then he had thought.  Were all of the girls going to be this? Maybe he wasn't as lucky as he thought.

            "C'mon girls, lets go!  We've got a lot of more work to do!" He called.

            Ice hugged both her parents, kissing her mom on the cheek.  She walked over to Brett and hugged him tightly.  "I'm gonna miss you. And don't worry – I'm really just renting an apartment.  I'm not going to be sleeping with anybody but myself, alright?" 

            "Okay.  Promise to be good, and take care of yourself, alright?"  He asked softly.

            Dakota took this moment to walk up next to Ice and wrap her arm around Ice's shoulders.  She grinned at Brett, flexing her muscles.

            "Hey, don't worry about her.  I'll take care of her.  I'm a black belt in more then one kind of martial arts.  If any of those boys try anything with her, I'll beat the tar out of them!"

            Brett just smiled, waving at the girls as they walked to the car.  He raked his fingers though his hair as he walked away, sighing in frustration.  Sitting down hard on the stairs, he tried to think straight through the thick fog that confusion had created in his mind. She's living with other guys.  I don't care if she's renting from them…isn't it still the same?  I don't know…I suppose she's not living with them, cuz they have different rooms, floors even…but…I don't know…I'm worried about her…

~~~

Quatre wheeled Heero up to the white building, Wufei in tow, stewing.  He was still worrying about all of the girls and Duo, muttering to himself about 'braided bakas' getting the women, and 'he'd better not touch Ice' and something about honor as well.  The Arabian just smiled.  Even though he would never admit it, Wufei cared for that girl-a whole lot.  Quatre could practically feel the worry coming off of him in waves, mixed with strong affection.  He would never say a word of it though.  It was up to Wufei to express his affections, not him.

Heero gulped.  The building was not only an office, but also the colony's psychiatric ward. He might not have had any memories except his dreams, but he certainly had basic knowledge left, and he knew that a psychiatric ward was one place he defiantly did not want to be.  A memory itched at the edge of his consciousness. *White walls, a tall building…people screaming…something happening* Heero hissed in frustration – it was gone.

They had arrived at the waiting room.  Wufei wheeled him to the end of a row of chairs and sat down, staring blankly at Quatre.  The boy looked back as if to say 'What are you looking me for?'  Then he grinned and walked up to the registration desk.

"Hello, I'm here with Heero Yuy, he has an 11:30 appointment."  Quatre told the middle-aged woman behind the desk.  She stared at him for a few moments.

"Is this Mr. Yuy's first time with us?"  Quatre nodded.  "Is he capable of filling out his paperwork?"  Silence.  "Are you a legal guardian of some sort?"

"No ma'am, I'm his friend.  He lives with me and a few others."  He told her, smiling at her admonishing look. "If you don't mind, I'll help him fill out his paperwork."

The woman sighed, getting out a form for Quatre to sign.  "Sign here, so we'll know that you are assuming guardianship over him."  He did so, handing the paper back to her.  Her eyes bulged.

"Mr. Winner?" She hissed excitedly.  He nodded.  Hurriedly she began assembling a stack of forms, muttering apologies and excuses the entire way.  He smiled and thanked her.  "The doctor will be with him shortly.  Just give him the papers!"  She called after the boy, who had to hold in laughter.  It was amazing how much difference a person's name could make.

            Heero sighed at the paperwork Quatre had.  The next few minutes were spent with the boy asking him question after question about himself.  Some he answered automatically, such as his name, age, weight, and other personal things.  As for such things as previous psychological problems and childhood illnesses, he was bewildered. 
            Finally, after almost a half an hour, they finished.  Right on queue, the door opened and Dr. Zaran himself came out.  "Heero Yuy?" 

            The three boys rose, Wufei taking Heero's chair this time, and Quatre handing the doctor the paperwork.  He nodded, leading them to a room with soft lights, lots of comfortable seating, a few tables and chairs, a desk, and a bookshelf that covered the entire back wall. The doctor motioned for them to sit Heero down on one of the couches.  Dr. Zaran pulled up a chair and sat facing Heero.  He stuck out his hand with a smile. 

            "I'm Doctor Zaran, but you can call me Mell. My goal is to work through your memory and speech problem with you. I want to be your friend Heero."

            Numbly, he shook the doctor's hand as well. The doctor was using that baby voice with him.  He hated that.  I'm not stupid…I'm not!  He wanted to cry.

~~~

"Alright, who's next?"  Duo asked, being a little more careful on the road with his much larger vehicle.

            "How about my house?  I don't own much; I'm planning on buying it all.  You'll only have to deal with my dad anyway, it won't be too bad."  J'Amier commented. 

            Duo looked at her.  If her father was anything like Ice's mother…he wasn't sure he wanted to go! J'Amier was pretty, that was for sure – she was drop dead gorgeous (he would never tell Sky that though) – but she could be scary at times.  She knew almost as many types of martial arts as Dakota, and he was certain Wufei had been teaching her more at the center.

            The girls reminded him of himself, and the other four boys.  On the outside, they didn't really look threatening – well, Heero used to, but without his memories…yeah.  Each of the girls seemed innocent – but they all had many hidden talents.  Dakota could track, J'Amier was a martial arts master, and Ralara was one of the most talented nurses he had seen.  He was sure the other girls had talents as well, ones they had hidden from him so far.  If Heero were better…perhaps he could ask Trowa.

            J'Amier's house was on one of the nicer streets in the colony, painted blue with deep blue trim and decorations.  A man of about thirty-five, most likely her father, was planting shrubs in the yard.  Apparently he was a handy man.  Duo wondered if J'Amier had painted the house, or if her father was into that sort of thing as well. 

            When the truck stopped and J'Amier hopped out, giving the skinny man a large hug, it became perfectly clear that it was her father.  He was not at all as Duo had pictured.  He had pictured someone who could lift tons of weights, and talk sparingly in a deep gruff voice. The man wouldn't shut up, besides being puny enough that Duo thought he could easily take the man down. He had also expected a small, non-descript house with sparse furniture. 

            After being invited inside, all housing theories were shot down.  Crashed and burned was more like it.  Her house was lined with things; bookshelves, an entertainment center, computers, tools, tables, and beds.  There were tapestries in every room, as well as at least three pieces of artwork.  Every chair was decorated, every table painted.  All of the windows had flowers and candles on them.  Duo counted at least five fish tanks, seven cats, and who knows how many mice, rats, rabbits, and ferrets they had in cages.  In her room alone J'Amier had over thirty animals.  She even insisted on giving her father their address so that he could bring over her pets. 

            By the time they left J'Amier's house, Duo felt lightheaded.  Even though she only had one parent, her father made it seem like there was a room full of people!  At times like this, he found himself thanking God that he was an orphan.

            Still, the girls seemed to have liked it.  Sky was leaning on him in order to turn around and chat.  She was going on excitedly about the animals in J'Amier's house.  Apparently she was an animal person – he would have to keep that in mind for future dates.  Ralara seemed more interested in the decorations, asking incessant questions about who painted them, when, why, who made the art, whether J'Amier was herself into art, and so on and so forth.  Duo just shook his head.  He didn't bother break up their conversation to ask where to next, he just took off to Sky's house, the only place he knew how to get to.

~~~

            "Now, I understand that you have been having problems with your memory, is that right Heero?"  Dr. Zaran began, leaning forward almost too eagerly in his chair.

            Heero looked up at his two friends.  Quatre gave an encouraging nod, and surprisingly, so did the normally stoic Chinese man.  He looked back to the doctor, sighed, and started to speak.

            "Y..yes.  I ha-have dreams w-where…I s-see…things…but I d-don't remember th-them."

            After taking a few notes, the doctor replied, "And what exactly do you see in these dreams?"

            "I…" Once again he looked up at his friends.  They had spoken on the way here, deciding on certain things that Heero could not tell the doctor.  He wanted to know if this would be one of them.  Wufei gave a slight shake of his head; this was something that could not be discussed with another person outside of the five boys.

            "I…I don't remember…" Danger…the mission was in danger…there was only one way to escape…can't let them have Wing…  "I d-don't re-remem-remember any…anything about th-them at all…" The lie was foul on his tongue. A small red button.  So innocent really – it couldn't cause any harm on its own…his hand moved to push the button.  A voice said, "Mission accepted[i]" as a hand, his hand, pressed down that innocent red button. 

            "Do your nightmares ever linger Heero?"

            "S-sometimes."  This seemed to interest the doctor.  He urged the boy to continue with yet another question. 

            "Do they frighten you?"

            An explosion…wind, heat, pieces of shrapnel assaulting him from all sides…he was being thrown into the air…maybe he would never hit the ground… "N..no."  He lied again.  Of course they frightened him.  He never understood them, and when he tried to ask the other boys, they refused to talk about it. It was very scary, having dreams of himself doing things that he knew he had done, but had no memory it actually happening to him.

            Was he dead? It would feel good to die; then it would be over…finally it would be over.

~~~

            Sky lived alone in a rooftop apartment in the middle of the city, something that she enjoyed immensely.  Her companion, before she had met Duo, was a peregrine falcon who flew loose in her apartment named Cloud.  She had taken him in when he was young – he had fallen from his nest onto her windowsill. 

            Cloud shrieked in delight as Sky walked in, greeting her by flying up and beating his wings at her, as if he was attacking.  Duo flinched – he still was not used to the big bird.  Cloud calmed after a few moments, accepting the arm she put out to perch on. 

            Sky laughed at her friends' faces.  "It's alright guys, Cloud is a sweetheart.  Come on in, I'll show you the apartment." 

            They did, and were amazed as soon as they did. Sky had always seemed, well, to have her head in the clouds – a true blonde.  Her apartment, which she had decorated herself, spoke otherwise.  Each of the four rooms sported a different colored pastel wall, trimmed with flowered paper.  Dozens of fake flower arrangements sat on windowsills and tables.  Her carpets were thick and colorful, and the one wood floor she had was paneled in a beautiful design.  Pictures that Sky had painted herself of animals and landscapes hung in each room. 

            "Wow…" Ralara commented, looking around in awe. 

            "You guys like it? I'm glad!"  She beamed.  "Duo really it too, he's been over a few times." 

            "Where's your stuff babe?  You're not taking the furniture or anything are you?" Duo asked, wondering for the hundredth time if he was going to have to make two trips for all of these girls' things.

            "Oh, that's in the bedroom.  Everything is packed except for my paintings. I wanted everyone to see them!"  She exclaimed.  "We'll just have to pack them. I have extra boxes, newspapers and tape."  Duo groaned.  They could be here forever…

            While Sky showed the girls where the supplies where and started to take down the pictures and pack them, Duo began lugging stuff downstairs.  Sky had as much stuff as the other three girls combined.  From all of the boxes labeled "Makeup"  "Hair Accessories" and other girlish things, she could have opened up her very own beauty parlor.

            The girls chatted as they wrapped the paintings, often laughing at Sky's comments of how whipped Duo was.  They giggled, trying to go as slow as possible just to annoy the boy.  Several of the girls wanted to know where Sky had learned to paint.  Sky had told them she had taken private classes, but would be more then happy to teach them.  That caused a great deal of excitement, especially with Ice and J'Amier.  Dakota also seemed interested, claiming she worked with oils from time to time.

            Several hours went by before Duo could drag them out of the apartment and back into the truck, still talking about paintings of all things.

~~~

            "Now Heero, when a patient looses their memory, they often hear voices inside their head that tell them of their past.  Several other studies have been made where the voices have nothing to do with the lost memories, but for some reason, the subconscious creates them.  Have you had any problems of this sort?"  Dr. Zaran questioned.  The past half an hour with Heero had been quite interesting.  Despite the boy's protests that he did not recall his dreams, the doctor knew better.  In fact anyone who saw the nervous looks he gave as he spoke, would know the boy was hiding something.  Perhaps it was a voice – often people thought it they heard voices it meant that they would be locked away, or some other silly thing.  Many times those who heard voices were instead promoted to positions of power. He himself was one such person – but enough of that.  He looked attentively at the boy for an answer.

            "I…I…" Heero stopped.  Come on Heero…why don't you tell them about me…?  I'm your friend.  I've always been your friend, don't you remember? No I don't remember…I don't want to remember…Heero, Heero…don't insult me like that.  Now, why don't you tell that doctor just like a good little boy…come on now… "I…do have…o-one v-v-voice…" There's a good boy.  Now, tell him that my name is Heero, Aiden…What?  My name is Heero, not yours…No…my name is Heero…I'm the one who was the soldier, you're just the stupid pathetic little boy that hid all through those years of fighting…I kept you alive Heero…now I've been reduced to a voice in your head. I liked the control…Shut up!  You don't control me! You never did! Shut up, Shut up!  

            "S-ssshut up!" Heero shrieked.  "J-just sssssshut up!"   Everyone turned to stare at him, eyes wide.  The doctor's pen excitedly jotted down every word.

~~~

            Duo sighed in relief.  They were almost done, headed toward Ralara's house, which was situated on the edge of town.  She had decided to keep secret about her house – saying that the others would find out what it looked like when they got there.  None of the curious girls were too pleased, especially Dakota, who thought that being an ex-spy meant that she had the right to know everything.  Duo on the other hand, was ready to go home.  He had had enough of girl's gossip to last a lifetime.  He'd take one girl over five any day – not that anyone would find that out.  He wouldn't risk ruining his wild reputation.

            That brought a smile to his face.  He wasn't nearly as bad as most people thought, but he thought it was funny that they all thought he partied every night, and couldn't stand to sleep with less then three girls.  In truth, he'd never had sex in his life, and wasn't planning on it until marriage, but he'd never, ever tell anyone that.  He used his reputation to test people. If they treated him like a normal person, no matter what they had heard, he knew they were good people.  If they treated him like dirt because of what he had supposedly done, he knew how judgmental they were.  As for his current friends, they had all passed with flying colors, each in their own way.  Even Wufei, though he thought Duo very dishonorable, would probably talk to him like a man if Duo ever stopped teasing him. 

            "Duo, DUO!  You're going to miss my house!  Snap out of it!"  Ralara cried out, snapping him back into reality.

            "Huh?  Oh, yeah, right."  Man…I'm hungry…I wonder when we're going to eat. He wondered as he pulled up into the driveway.  His eyes widened, as he pulled further into it.  She lived on a farm!  Huge pasturelands unfolded behind the house, complete with stables, a barn, and a huge farmhouse. He felt his jaw drop.  He had read a bit about farms in books, and knew that each colony supported a few, but he had never seen one, much less knew anyone who actually lived on one! 

            The truck stopped, well back from the house, and all of the girls piled out.  Duo just sat there, stunned.  Finally Ralara popped her head in, grinning at him.  "Come on Duo.  My brother and his friends made supper for us. You're probably hungry – we ate lunch very early."

            "Food?"  He asked, jolting upright. 

            "Yes, food.  Good real farm food.  Come on, hurry up!"

            She didn't have to prod the boy any more after that. He practically jumped out of the vehicle, following her to the house.  All of the girls were already inside, sitting down at a large table. Also sitting there were seven boys, all staring at Duo.  At the head of the table was Ralara's brother, Brock.  Ralara took her place by his side, and Brock smiled at her.  She smiled back, a loving sisterly smile.  Duo felt a strong pang of loneliness.  He had never had a sister…

            Sky squeezed his arm, pulling him down beside her. She had a beautiful smile of her own on her face.  Perhaps he had never seen a sister's smile, but hers was good enough for him. 

            "This is my half-brother Brock.  These are the boys who live here and help take care of the farm.  They're my friends and his.  Perhaps you'd all like to introduce yourselves?"  Ralara spoke, turning to the first boy, a tall man in a brown suede jacket with bleach blonde hair. 

            "Um…alright.  My name is Irvine Calriean, and I'm nineteen years old.  I moved here…about three months ago.  I work with the horses." He smiled, looking at them through brown sunglasses. 

            "He never takes those off – he's only got one eye."  Ralara whispered to J'Amier.  J'Amier's eyes widened, and she nodded.

            "Is it my turn?"  The next asked, a shorter boy with bright orange hair tied around his neck.  "Right…I'm Daven Lathael, and I'm seventeen years old.  I've been here for two years; I came from a state orphanage.  I help with the basic handiwork – I'm a mechanic."  He finished, trying to recover from his first hesitation. Turning to the next boy, he grinned, his smile saying 'you're next!'

            "My name is Raven Dethane.  I am twenty-one years old, and I have been here for five years.  I take care of the farm's finances, and I am in charge of selling our products."  He looked at them with eyes as dark as his name, and hair to match, braided on each side. 

            "I think that boy is Native American!  I didn't know that there were any left." Ice whispered to Sky.  Sky gave her a blank look, and replied, "Of certain tribes, no.  But there is a whole colony of my tribe.  Didn't you realize that I was Native American too???"

            Ice took a good long look at Sky.  She did have tanned skin, and high cheekbones…and she was very beautiful, tall, and gracefully proportioned…but…her hair was the brightest blue that she had ever seen, and "High" wasn't exactly a very Indian last name."

            Sky sighed.  "My real last name is 'Highlander.' My hair is dyed, alright?" 

            Ice thought about it for a few moments, and then she nodded. She turned back to the others, where a short brown-haired boy was introducing himself as "Gerald Bouchan."

            After they had finished introducing themselves, the meal was served – Duo said the blessing.  It was a very good meal, with good quality food.  When the meal was over, the seven boys – 'men' helped Ralara and the others move her stuff. 

            Ralara gave each boy a hug and a kiss, even her brother, and said goodbye.  It was so touching, Duo almost felt bad for taking her away.

~~~

            Heero was shaking, trying to keep back tears. Wufei of all people was holding him, trying to consol him.  I can't believe I did that.  He's gonna send me away…have me locked up.  I'm not crazy…I'm not, I swear! Really…I'm not…

            "Hey, calm down.  He's not going to lock you up Heero.  I wouldn't allow it."  Wufei said firmly. 

            "R-really?" Heero asked softly. 

            "Really."  Wufei's eyes went wide as Heero sighed with contentment at his statement, and settled himself in his arms, burying his head in Wufei's shoulder.  Embarrassed, Wufei looked up at Quatre, who was talking to Dr. Zaran in hushed tones.  The doctor was nodding, and occasionally spoke back. 

            Nearly a half an hour later, Dr. Zaran had finished his assessment.  He turned to Heero, motioning Quatre to sit down, which he did, his mouth tight, his eyes full of worry.  Wufei pushed Heero up to pay attention, and poked him a few times to be sure that he was awake. 

            He was defiantly awake.  Fear shone in his eyes, and he reached out gripped Quatre and Wufei's hands as the doctor began to speak. Please…if there is a God…please don't let me be locked up…please.

            "I have observed that you have a very advanced case of schizophrenia, and I would recommend that you have sessions five times a week, for two hours apiece.  I would normally recommend that you be moved to the psychiatric ward here so that you could get attention twenty-four hours a day-" Heero hissed, taking in breath quickly.  "However…your friend convinced me that since your memory has been returning at home, that you should stay there, with people you know to trigger these vital memories. I would also recommend that you come for speech therapy five days a week, for an hour session." 

            There was silence for a minute. Then Quatre looked over to Heero and Wufei also looked over at him.  Heero sighed, and said, "A-alright.  I-if…I can get a r-ride."  He knew they worked all the time, so he would need a ride to come every single day.

            "Ralara will take you."  Quatre assured him.  He stood up, and thanked the doctor, and then pushed Heero out the door, followed by Wufei. It was a silent ride home, Heero sitting in the back, tears leaking down his face.

~~~

"I suppose we have stop by my place now, huh?"  Dakota questioned.  "I have my own apartment, but all of my stuff is at my mom's old house.  She doesn't live there, just my three brothers, but they're holding my stuff for me.  Such sweet brothers.  I only have my furniture at the apartment, and I don't think I'll need that with you guys." 

            The girls looked at Dakota with respect.  They all wished they could have moved out earlier.  Some faces were twisted with confusion, Sky's especially.  She finally spoke.

            "But Dakota, won't you lose your apartment if you just use if for storage space?  I know a lot of renters don't like it if you do that – my landlord refused to let me keep mine if I was going to be living elsewhere."

            Dakota grinned, a slow satisfied smile spreading across her face.  "Well, normally that would happen, but I happen to pay in advance, and I do use the apartment from time to time, when I want to get away from everybody." 

            No one needed to know that she had used the apartment as her base of operations during the war.  She had spied for both sides, collecting huge bounties.  She was, of course, the best in the business, and did not come cheap.  She knew who each of the boys were and what they did during the war.  Some of them probably knew who she was as well – Heero certainly would if his memory ever came back.  The other girls, besides what they had learned from the news, were as innocent in these categories as could be.  Not that that really counted anyway - the news had been mostly false information, used only as propaganda for whichever side paid more.

            Dakota realized she had been zoning out when Duo announced that they had arrived at her house.  She didn't even know she had given him directions!  I need to pay more attention.  Just because I'm not an active spy doesn't mean I don't need to keep sharp!

            The house they pulled up to was huge, three stories high, with decorations that made it look like a castle.  It also was defiantly not brand new. In fact, it was somewhat rundown, with some windows hanging off hinges, peeling paint, and dust everywhere.  This surprised Dakota a little bit.  When she had left for good three years ago, it had still been in fairly good condition.  Now it looked deserted, haunted, or both. What had happened while she was gone?

            The vehicle stopped a good thirty feet from the door, and its doors opened, Dakota the first to jump out.  Duo followed close behind her, and the rest of the girls in a cluster behind him.  Slowly Dakota walked to her door and slammed on it.  "Hello?  Jon?  Griffin? Ty? Anyone?"  She paused for a moment, and slammed again. "IT'S ME, YOUR BELOVED SISTER!  NOW OPEN UP BEFORE I BREAK THE DOOR DOWN!"  She screamed at the top of her lungs, ignoring the glares given to her by her startled companions.

            When the house stayed silent, she growled.  I know they're home.  Why are they all being so difficult?  Are they trying to hide something from me?  They couldn't if they tried!  Motioning everyone away from the door, she charged.

            Coughing at the dust that stirred, she climbed through what remained of the door.  The house was still and dark.  The entire room looked trashed, like bandits had looted it.  Slowly an idea began to form in her mind, and she didn't like it one bit.

            "Griffin?  Ty…?  ………Jon?"  She called again. Sighing, she turned to her friends. "I have no idea what's going on, but I know that they're here!  Duo and Sky, you cover the rest of this floor.  J'Ator, cover the second floor.  Ralara and Ice, take the top floor.  I don't really think they'll be up there, but please check.  Take flashlights, they should be by the door.  I'm going to check out the basement." 

            Nods of agreement followed her statement, and they spread out.  Dakota already knew who would find what.  Duo and Sky would find nothing but more trash, and would probably make out on her couch.  Maybe I shouldn't have told them to go together.  Well, I suppose they would have traded partners if I split them anyway…She still couldn't help but feel guilty.  J'Ator would likely find her rooms, and stuff that needed to be loaded.  A sensible girl, she'd probably get Duo and Sky to stop playing around and help load. Probably. 

Ralara and Ice would unearth her brother Ty, who always slept upstairs during the day, keeping the windows tightly boarded up.  She had known he was there, because even though all of the other windows were up, every single upstairs window was covered in some way.  As the two girls were both very attractive, he'd flirt with them instead of attacking.  Unless, of course, they were stupid and tried to ward him off with the flashlight. Then they might be in trouble. She cringed.  Well, if I hear them screaming…

She herself was prepared to deal with her lazy brother Jon, who practically lived downstairs.  He never came up unless there was a good reason, and even then usually lurked about the stairways instead of coming up fully.  He was petrified of the light, as was Ty.  Stupid vamps.  She scowled. 

Griffin could be found by anyone.  The only one of the three boys who could stand daylight, and her twin, he lurked.  Often he would play tricks on his brothers, shining lights on their sensitive eyes.  Her brothers weren't really vampires, but their eyes and skin were extremely sensitive to the light, and neither could go out during the day.  Ty was a strong telekinetic, and Jon was telepathic.  They claimed it was to 'make up for' their inability to handle daylight, but Dakota suspected that the abilities had caused the problem, not the other way around.

"Jon, are you down here?"  She called as she opened the door.  Go away.[ii] "Go away?  Come come now, I just got here!  You haven't seen me for almost three years!"  She chided, flicking on the light.  Oooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww! He screamed at her.

She strode in anyway, not attempting to hide the sway of her hips, or the deadly way she glided across the floor to kneel by Jon's bed.  He was a wreck, his hair mussed up and dark circles under his squinting eyes.  His eyes were totally black from his huge telepathic ability.  Some telepaths went blind from a shrinking pupil – Jon's was the opposite. The sheets were tangled and ripped, as was almost everything else in the room.  Dust was thick down here too, as if they hadn't cleaned since she'd left.

"Alright you, tell me what's going on!"  She hissed; grabbing his hair and yanking his head back so his slits for eyes were looking at her.

"Griffin.  He's been going nuts, ripping stuff and freaking out.  I think he's really insane, but Ty thinks it's his mutant.  You know how the doctors said that he had one, but they didn't know what?  Well, I think he's turning into an animal or something, at least mentally.  He only stays around for a few days, and then he'll be gone for months."  He told her.  He tore the house apart.  Ty and I have put it back together at night a lot, only to get up and find that he ripped it apart again.  We've found him passed out a lot too.  Sometimes he's himself, but when he is, he never talks about anyone except you.  Jon had switched to his mental voice, closing his eyes against the light.  Will you let me go now?

            "Sorry." She said, letting go of his head.  She did not sound sorry in the least.  "Now, what are the chances that Griffin could be

here right now?"  Well, I haven't seen him for a while, so I suppose it is possible…

            "AAAAAAAAAaaaaah!"  A high-pitched scream cut him off.  He looked up in shock, squinting as he did so.  He whispered softly to himself for a moment, then said, "You'd better get upstairs.  Ty – I just talked to him - is heading down to check it out; those two girls are helping him down the stairs.   Griffin showed up, and um…you'd better go get him or else your little friends could be in trouble…" 

            She slapped him, practically unhinging his jaw.  "Do not

Call them my 'little friends.'  They're very nice girls, not to mention beautiful.  But if you ever think anything bad about them-" She stopped at the next yell, this time a boy's yell.  That must be Duo… With that she bolted up the stairs, tensing for what she would find.

            Ty was there, dressed all in black except for a ratty blue t-shirt.  His hair was also unkempt, looking as if it had not been brushed for quite some time.  Dakota was confused.  Ty had always been the neat freak, cleaning up at night while she and Griffin slept.  He leaned on both Ice and Ralara, who looked completely petrified.  A black rag was tied over his eyes to block out the sun. 

            In front of her was Griffin; at least, she thought it was.  He had the griffin tattoo on his right shoulder and neck, and had the clear gray eyes that were Griffin's, but looked nothing like him! He was huge, as if he had been lifting weights for months.  His clothes were little more then strings and small patches of clothing.  What was left was stained, with sticks, mud, and grass in his hair.  He was snarling against bonds he could not see, bonds made by Ty.  His teeth were large, sharpened from use she supposed.  Above everything else, he had grown a beard!  She remembered when he had pleaded with himself in the mirror to get even one little hair on his clean-shaven face. Now it was thick, black and curly, matching the shoulder length curls that fell from his head. 

            "Griffin!"  She snapped, walking up to him.  He started at her voice, staring at her with those chilling eyes.  She glared back, her eyes a mirror of his.  "What are you doing?!" 

            Wordlessly his mouth worked.  He looked around at the house, looking confused and scared.  The boy trembled, trying to shake his head.  Again his mouth moved, but no sound came out.  His arm twitched, as if he wanted to move.

            "Let him go Ty.  I can take care of myself." She told him.  He nodded, turning, and walked down the stairs to join Jon in the gloom.

            Griffin fell forward into her un-expectant arms, weeping uncontrollably.  She looked over him to her friends, who stood there stunned.  Duo was in shock, a box of her stuff over his shoulder.  "Just get as much as you can, and lets go.  I'm going to take him with us!" She mouthed.  Jon? She asked in her head.  Yeah?  Come to the house as soon as you can. She pictured the place in her head. Did you get that? Got it. Now get out of here, before your friends leave you here with us freaks.  JON!  You're not freaks. And-Just go, okay?

            "Alright."  She whispered to him, shouldering Griffin, (who had conveniently passed out) and took him out to the vehicle.  It was a very long, silent ride home.



[i] This is supposed to be the scene where Heero self-destructs.  If I've gotten something wrong, please tell me!

[ii] Italicized text is thought, bold italicized text is Heero's split personality, and bold text is telepathic thought.