That's Childish, So Childish...
Chapter Seven: Too Late To Sleep, Too Soon To Rise...
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Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. But hey, I /do/ own a cactus. You can sue, but I don't think it'll like you... Or you might not like it. It tends to drink blood. So it'd get revenge for me...
Warnings: Sarcasm, maybe a little insanity, confusion, and potential medical detail (I don't know yet--I write these before the chapter! But really, little to worry about).
Pairings: Looks like 6x2 later... at the end. Simply because with the current flow of plot, changing that's too hard. Or are the numbers the other way around? I don't know. You get the general idea, though. No, no sex, not even later on--don't even get your hopes up for that. For other pairings with Zechs, you'll have to look at my other fanfic, or future ones (give me time, I'll get to them).
Duo, Quatre, and the Maganacs have a long talk and find out a few things about their visitor. As far as action goes, this actually has very little. Sorry.
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Duo deposited his charge onto a broad bed covered by fair linen sheets that made the boy seem all the more pale in comparison. Quatre followed him into the room, curious as a cat, worried for the youth, and eager to help put this unusual visitor to a bed for the doctor to look over. Together, they began getting those dirty rags of clothing off...
//Poor kid... Yeesh, what the heck's he been up to? He's got enough scars to be at least twice his age...// Duo mused grimly, before attacking a makeshift boot. //And all these things are hacked... Didn't he have /anything/ of his own? And speaking of things he should have with him, where are his parents, family, someone? Kids don't just go joyriding in military planes!//
Something slipped from the boot-wrappings to clatter on the floor beside the bed.
Frowning slightly, Duo finished taking those leather wrappings off and bent to pick it up as Quatre shook a sheet over the unconscious boy.
//What the...? A disc? Is this boy some kind of spy?// Straightening, he smiled at the sight of Quatre neatly tucking the sheets about their charge. "Hey, Quatre, can your computer handle old floppies? Seems our little friend brought us some sort of calling card. May as well take a peek at it--maybe it'll shed light on a few things."
The short blond Gundam pilot smiled slowly, nodding as he studied the disc. "Sure! I have to admit, I can't make any sense from what you told me--it all sounds so strange..."
Pausing, Quatre looked down at that pale boy's face, that wild mane of silvery-white hair spilled about those elegant, aristocratic features like an innocent halo. Tentatively, Quatre touched his own chest, right above the heart, frowning slightly...
Duo scratched the side of his head, bemused, eyes flicking from cute youth to confused friend. //I know he has some kind of instinct about people and things... He said as much, trying to tell me that Heero's not dead. Rashid and his people seem to have firm faith in it, too... So I wonder what it's telling him right now?//
Neither blonde appeared to intend moving anytime soon, so Duo reached out to touch Quatre's shoulder and break the trance. "Hey, Quatre... Wake up."
"Hmm?" Sandrock's pilot blinked, eyebrows arching a bit still as if confused by something, his hand still on his heart as he turned to face Duo. "Oh. Sorry. I just... There's just something very strange about this boy. Somehow, it seems to fit all the bizarre things you told me about, yet... I don't know. It's all so strange."
A gentle cough from the doorway announced a slightly-pudgy doctor from the village, bag in hand, drawing the attention of both Gundam pilots.
//I wonder what Quatre felt... But not here.// "Let's go on out and let the doctor do his business, Quatre," Duo suggested, tugging at the shoulder in his grasp before letting go and leading the way. //Then you can tell me about what your instinct just told you... I want to know more about our little foundling here.//
Without a word, the empathic blonde followed Duo out to the den, seeming lost in thought even as Duo stuck the disc into the drive and began investigating it. The computer reported a wide array of files, none of which had names that caught Duo's attention and all of which requiring decompression... So he set the computer at the long task of opening up that condensed information.
//Huh. I wonder what can be /that/ intriguing to Quatre about that kid...// Looking up after a moment from the computer's slow progress, Duo called gently, "Quatre..."
"Hmmm? Yes? Oh. Sorry, Duo, I was just thinking." Quatre flushed, finally looking about for a chair and sitting down neatly in one Duo had left by the computer earlier that morning.
//Penny for those thoughts? Or did inflation change that price?// Duo just chuckled and shook his head slowly. "That's okay... So, what did your Space-Heart tell you? Seems it told you /something/ interesting..."
Quatre frowned at the floor, eyes worried and quite lost. "That's true... It's hard to make sense of it, though. That boy... What did he call himself again?"
Duo mimicked Quatre's frown as he dug through his memories of the encounter. "Zechs Merquise... though he was about to say some other name."
One of Quatre's eyebrows tilted towards his hairline slightly. "The Sixth Marquise? That's a strange name to give yourself. I wonder why... Though it fits, somehow... kind of."
//Now you're over my head, Quatre. Hit reverse!// Shaking his head slowly, Duo smirked. "Back to the beginning, Quatre. You're losing me. First tell me what you picked up, okay?"
Blushing with embarrassment, Quatre dipped his head. "Sorry, Duo. Um... Well, you know I can sense a few things about a person's personality, and a few things about their feelings?"
//Not really, but that makes your special ability a bit clearer...// Duo nodded, though, so Quatre would stay on the current topic and not wander off again on a sidetrack.
"Okay, well... About him, um... He's a bit complex. There's something noble about him, something strong and fierce and determined and kind... yet he's insecure, too. What I can gather from his emotions, he's... torn, very confused and badly hurt, almost broken inside. But there's more..." Quatre frowned firmly at the floor as if some puppy had piddled on his sandal right now in front of him.
//Almost broken? Sheesh, poor kid... What the hell did those guys do to him?// "Hey, don't zone out on me now, Quatre! What else is there?"
The blonde pilot jerked, and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just... He doesn't fit. He feels... older than he looks, and a /lot/ older at that. It's not just experiences he's gone through... Something else is involved. And... well, he's dangerous. When he wants to be... As dangerous as you or me."
Duo scratched at his chin thoughtfully a moment, frowning slightly at Quatre. //Well... I suppose that last makes some sense, if the kid got a transport plane this far with a Gundam inside, on his own. But... Older. Huh. So it's not just me...//
"Something about him just... isn't right." Quatre stated softly, looking pained. "Not in a bad sense--I mean something's going on with him physically or mentally or emotionally and it's just... out of place. And it's skewing other things about him."
//That's one way to put it, I guess,// Duo decided. "That fits my impression of him. He's one weird kid..."
They both delved into their thoughts for a long moment. Duo gazed blankly at the screen before him, brushing bangs from his eyes. //Weird kid... And what are we going to /do/ with him and his stuff? Heck, I'm at a loss. It's like getting a Christmas invitation from Treize Kushrenada for the five of us to drop in for eggnog and peace talks...//
Again, a throat cleared at the doorway--the doctor stepped into the room. "Ahrm... Master Quatre? I think there are a few things... a few things you may want to know..."
//What? What's wrong with the kid?// Duo stiffened, straightening in the seat. "Hey, is he going to be all right?" //Sheesh, I know he looked like hell, but still...//
The gentle doctor shook his head firmly. "He will be fine with some rest and food and time to recover. He began to wake as I was working, so I gave him some pain medication--he will sleep for a couple hours more. None of the damage is permanent, I assure you, and rest is most vital to him now. But... there are things I wish to draw attention to all of you who may have to deal with him..."
Quatre nodded slowly, rising to his feet. "I'll get Rashid, then. Let's meet in the dining room."
Glancing at the computer, which was still sorting through and organizing the mixture of data from the disc, Duo followed his fellow pilot's example. //It'll still be here. I can look at it after the meeting. This doesn't sound like good news... Sheesh, that kid's got a bad streak of luck...// "Hey, Doc, I'll show you the way, then..."
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Sitting at one end of the dining room table with Quatre, Rashid, and the village doctor, Duo fought the urge to squirm with impatience in his chair.
//What else can go wrong for that kid? Will any of this help us make sense of what little he told us? What can we do about him? Or those mobile suits? Yeesh, this is confusing... I hope at least that disc he had has something helpful.// he sighed mentally. //At least it's getting our minds off what's happening in space, though, and our recent lack of orders...//
"You said it is important," Rashid stated softly, eyeing the doctor curiously, breaking the silence in the warm room.
//Thank God they know how to build here--to make the indoors as cool as possible,// Duo reflected happily. //Could be a lot worse... Though these dark clothes /are/ getting a bit hot... Not that I mind being warm, but after this, I think I might change into something lighter.//
The pudgy doctor shifted uncertainly in his chair, then began, "Well, I don't know how much you know about that boy... To all appearances, he's about seven or eight years old and coming to another growth spurt. His reflex-speeds are extraordinary! I injected a sedative, as he didn't seem too happy to find me next to him, which is understandable in his case... But after that... things are... strange."
Quatre tilted his head, interested. "Strange? How, Doctor Hassan?"
Sighing softly, the doctor looked at his hands on the table top. "I can confirm this, if needed, but... When people are growing, there are certain... spaces within joints not full of bone yet, and some that you can feel by hand. I'm fairly certain his are mostly fused already. And the scars... are too old for someone so young. He'd have to have been a baby when some of them occurred, and cuts like that--it's just not likely. Except for the recent burns, cuts, and bruises, all his injuries are old, just far too old... It doesn't fit."
The man paused, then continued, "That includes when he was brutalized."
Duo frowned at that, glancing at Rashid. //The boy reacted too fast for it to have been anything less than recent.// The older man was frowning as well, as if agreeing with Duo's thoughts. Quatre hadn't been told about that--he'd paled at the news.
"But... He's only a boy," Sandrock's kind pilot breathed, horrified.
"I'm... I'm honestly not sure about that," the doctor admitted quietly. "In part, he may act and be seven, but... in part, he may not be. I can try some blood tests--after he eats--and see what they say about him. He's a bit undernourished and dehydrated, and that much is definitely recent. I can tell you he was bound and tormented at a time, but that's among the more recent scars. He's also broken his ribs a multitude of times, and last not too long ago--his bones still bear the bumps where they've healed. Otherwise... well, I'd see what he can tell you by himself. To be honest, I don't think the blood tests will confirm his age either way."
Duo shifted his gaze to the table, guessing the others were lost to their own thoughts. //Young, yet old...? Looks like only he can sort out this puzzle for us!//
"I guess we go talk to him, then, after he wakes up and starts eating," Deathscythe's pilot offered. "Meanwhile, I can see what that disc I found on him says. It might help us confirm what is definite to be a wild story..."
Rashid nodded slowly. "There doesn't appear to be any other way to understand what happened. I will have someone bring his things into that room... But there is one more thing that may help us."
Quatre, too, had been nodding quiet agreement, but Rashid's words caught his attention. "What, Rashid?" he asked hopefully. "It looks like we may need all the information we can get on him... Perhaps he can guide us to where Trowa and Heero are! He had Heero's Gundam after all..."
"This," Rashid stated, picking up something he'd placed on the floor by his feet, and setting it on the table with a "clomp".
A silvery mask, almost birdlike in appearance, with glass over the eyeholes. A long crack traced from the top center down to the left and through one eyeglass. Faint bloodstains marked the interior, smeared the outer silvery surface, filled the crack. Also caught in the crack... a hair...
"A... helmet?" Quatre wondered.
"A mask," Rashid corrected absently--then started as if that word stirred something at the edges of his memory.
Duo reached out, picking up that hair carefully. Long, silvery-white, familiar... //The boy's...// He remembered seeing something silvery in the boy's lap when they met...
"This was his?" //Why would he wear a mask? And why is it cracked? Why would he keep it afterwards, damaged like this?//
Nodding, the Maganac Corps's leader frowned firmly at the strange headgear, as if that alone would make it give up its secrets. "It certainly seems so... Something about it is familiar--and it makes me think I heard that name before... `Zechs Merquise'... Something to do with Oz. I will have to check our files, and talk to the others."
Duo stared at the mask, too, eyes narrowed determinedly. //A mask... I don't think this can get any weirder! But... There's something important about this thing--I can feel it.//
//It has to be in those files on the disc.//
Standing abruptly, Deathscythe's pilot didn't take his eyes off the battered headgear as he stated, "I'll see what I can find on that disc... Mind you, I'm no hacker like Heero, though, but I've a feeling between you and me, Rashid, we're going to find the truth about this kid."
"I've a feeling that the truth won't be pretty," Quatre breathed softly, hand to heart again, a worried look in his eyes as he gazed into space. "That earthquake I mentioned before... may be nearer than we thought."
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Once again, Duo frowned at the material he'd been going over with the doctor about. Uncertainly, he scratched at his ear, as if that gesture would make this tangle clearer by scraping away whatever was hiding the missing pieces of this puzzle from him.
//I'm... I'm not sure I can make myself believe this. How could anything make someone... younger? And why try it on a kid?// "So you're sure about this stuff? That's really what this experimenting bunch is trying to do?" he asked the portly man, wishing his ears had betrayed him.
Solemnly, also frowning a bit, though he seemed more intrigued than upset, the doctor nodded slowly. "That's the quick version of what this material states. It goes a great deal into the methods--something about using hormones and manipulating the body's metabolism, sort of reversing things..."
Shaking his head, Duo stared at the sheets he'd given the doctor. "And they experimented on this kid?"
"There's really not much data about his condition before they started, so it's hard to tell. Maybe they didn't get a chance," the older man suggested gently. "Basically, it just has his name on the subject list, and that he was added in the last minute, somewhat injured... Hrmmm... Now that's a thought."
Duo blinked, still struggling to comprehend the facts recently stated and so not anxious for more unsettling information. //Huh? I hope it's a theory, mister--this is just... There's too many pieces, and they aren't fitting much at all.// Hopefully, but not expecting much, Deathscythe's pilot dared ask, "What is?"
Glancing over the research data again, the doctor explained, "Well... This might explain his scars. By playing with his metabolism... they may have sped up his healing. In other words, he may have been in no shape to object to /becoming/ a test subject... and after the treatment, they don't seem to have expected he'd be physically healed and capable of escape. And it had to be escape--this data's not complete, and I'm fairly certain they wouldn't have let a test subject go easily at such a stage..."
That made Duo's stomach churn sickeningly. //God... A human guinea pig after they tortured him. How could they do that to a person?!? It's just so... How could anyone /do/ that?//
"They tested that on a /child/?" Quatre's horrified voice burst from the doorway.
Duo turned to offer his fellow pilot a look of mixed sympathy and understanding.
But the doctor was replying hesitantly, "It's possible the stuff worked--and he /wasn't/ a child to begin with..."
//You're kidding!// "You mean--that stuff they were trying to make...?" Duo stammered disbelievingly.
"They /did/ make some Fountain-of-Youth potion, then?" Quatre continued, equally amazed. "But... I thought that kind of thing was tried before and never worked!"
Shrugging sheepishly, Doctor Hassan admitted, "There /have/ been advances in our knowledge of the mechanics of the human body... but I'm no expert in that end."
"Then perhaps what I found is more useful than I realized," rumbled a deep voice over Quatre's head.
The short blonde pilot looked up, beaming. "Rashid! You found something?"
//Maybe the pieces /will/ fit together now,// Duo dared hope, smiling warily at the tall Maganac. "Hey, is it good news?"
As Quatre moved to take a seat at the dining room table again, beside Duo, the Maganac shrugged, striding slowly in the younger man's wake. "That may depend entirely on the boy..."
"What did you find?" Quatre piped up eagerly. "He seemed nice enough, from what all of you told me, though I have yet to talk to him."
Rashid frowned slightly, and resumed the seat he had taken at their earlier meeting, the handful of papers clasped in one hand now being set gently on the smooth, polished wood. "I've found our notes on the /man/ known as Zechs Merquise... of Oz."
//Man... Then he was an adult? And part of Oz? That doesn't make sense, that last bit. Why would they try out such weird stuff on one of their own?// "Let's hear it, then... I'm getting too confused to speculate on more ideas of why this or that may be. It'll be easier to see what facts we have, first."
At Quatre's nod, Rashid tapped the papers with a large forefinger and began. "The information's very limited, to be truthful. He always was a rather obscure figure, staying--and working--in Treize's shadow, not terribly popular with the Alliance but idolized by the younger Oz Specials soldiers. Apparently the latter gave him the nickname `Lightening Count' for his near-legendary skills as an ace pilot and quick reflexes... Last we have on him, he was made a Colonel and rumored to be deep in the activity against the Gundams..."
A slow suspicious look touched Quatre's cheerful features. "Wait a minute... Is /he/ why all of you are so insistent I have you to back me up when we have a mission?"
To Duo's surprise, Rashid nodded grimly, sliding a picture forward for all to scrutinize. "Yes... We knew Oz had a true, experienced, ace mobile suit pilot up their sleeves, but who and where weren't known offhand. If you consider that the white suit in the boy's plane is, to all appearances, the same as the one that suicidal Gundam pilot faced in Siberia, the man is quite dangerous... And if the boy is the same person as the man..."
As one, both Gundam pilots looked down at the picture. A tall young man, impeccably dressed in his scarlet Oz uniform, stood on the platform of an Aries, long white-blonde hair caught mid-flutter from the wind, silvery mask gleaming sharply in the light as he faced the horizon, demeanor scrutinizing, predatory, though the majority of his face was obscured by the headgear, hiding his expression...
//It's... Heck, this guy could be the kid's older brother... But if that stuff /worked/... Why would they do that to their best? It's insane! How can this cold figure be that cute kid...?// Duo could only stare at the picture, emotions in turmoil. Yet as he studied the figure of the Oz pilot, he found himself biting his lip, thoughts straying along an unexpected path. //He's pretty darn hot-looking, though... Oh God, Duo, what are you thinking?!? Oz's best pilot would likely shoot you and say hello after! Don't get any silly ideas...//
Flushing hotly, Deathscythe's pilot forced his thoughts back to the kid. "So... Are we sure, then? This guy is now... that kid?" //It sounds wild... Like a fairy-tale.//
Quatre's sad eyes sank back to the picture, then he pushed it over to Duo, nodding. "It... it fits that way. What I felt, what all of you found... It has to be him. It's hard to believe... but it explains a lot. Somehow, something happened to him--he was hurt, then... used in that experiment thing." The pale-haired Gundam pilot's eyes closed briefly, recalling the doctor's full report. "I wonder what happened to him. Something must be going on /within/ Oz..."
Duo looked back down at the picture, feeling almost guilty. //I wouldn't wish such a fate even on an enemy...// Sliding fingers over the frozen flicker of long pale hair, he imagined those sad, innocent blue eyes again, under that mask--and felt anger stir deep inside, his eyes hardening. //Hell... How could they betray you? You were their best, their secret card, and heck, you look good enough to worship, so I don't blame those pilots Rashid mentioned idolizing you...//
"I think we need to talk to him," Duo stated softly, eyes not flickering from the picture. Those sad, pale blue eyes lingered in his mind, and his heart surrendered to their gentle gaze. "It's only right we hear his side... and why he's out here."
Quatre slowly nodded, thoughtful. "That's true..."
Rashid smiled wryly, rising to his feet. "A child should be easier to guard than a man, and for that I am thankful. Our last notes mentioned... he was quite deadly." He strode from the room in two swift steps.
Duo blinked at the man's back, feeling a touch sorry for the sedated youth. //From one imprisonment to another... They almost broke him, Quatre said. Will this finish what they started?//
Quatre just shifted his gaze back to the picture, sighing, looking uncertain, torn. "I just don't know... I've a feeling he's the least of our worries."
//I hope you're wrong, Quatre,// Duo sighed mentally. ///I/ expect he'll be quite a handful, if even half of what we think happened is true!//
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To be continued.
Chapter Seven: Too Late To Sleep, Too Soon To Rise...
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Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. But hey, I /do/ own a cactus. You can sue, but I don't think it'll like you... Or you might not like it. It tends to drink blood. So it'd get revenge for me...
Warnings: Sarcasm, maybe a little insanity, confusion, and potential medical detail (I don't know yet--I write these before the chapter! But really, little to worry about).
Pairings: Looks like 6x2 later... at the end. Simply because with the current flow of plot, changing that's too hard. Or are the numbers the other way around? I don't know. You get the general idea, though. No, no sex, not even later on--don't even get your hopes up for that. For other pairings with Zechs, you'll have to look at my other fanfic, or future ones (give me time, I'll get to them).
Duo, Quatre, and the Maganacs have a long talk and find out a few things about their visitor. As far as action goes, this actually has very little. Sorry.
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Duo deposited his charge onto a broad bed covered by fair linen sheets that made the boy seem all the more pale in comparison. Quatre followed him into the room, curious as a cat, worried for the youth, and eager to help put this unusual visitor to a bed for the doctor to look over. Together, they began getting those dirty rags of clothing off...
//Poor kid... Yeesh, what the heck's he been up to? He's got enough scars to be at least twice his age...// Duo mused grimly, before attacking a makeshift boot. //And all these things are hacked... Didn't he have /anything/ of his own? And speaking of things he should have with him, where are his parents, family, someone? Kids don't just go joyriding in military planes!//
Something slipped from the boot-wrappings to clatter on the floor beside the bed.
Frowning slightly, Duo finished taking those leather wrappings off and bent to pick it up as Quatre shook a sheet over the unconscious boy.
//What the...? A disc? Is this boy some kind of spy?// Straightening, he smiled at the sight of Quatre neatly tucking the sheets about their charge. "Hey, Quatre, can your computer handle old floppies? Seems our little friend brought us some sort of calling card. May as well take a peek at it--maybe it'll shed light on a few things."
The short blond Gundam pilot smiled slowly, nodding as he studied the disc. "Sure! I have to admit, I can't make any sense from what you told me--it all sounds so strange..."
Pausing, Quatre looked down at that pale boy's face, that wild mane of silvery-white hair spilled about those elegant, aristocratic features like an innocent halo. Tentatively, Quatre touched his own chest, right above the heart, frowning slightly...
Duo scratched the side of his head, bemused, eyes flicking from cute youth to confused friend. //I know he has some kind of instinct about people and things... He said as much, trying to tell me that Heero's not dead. Rashid and his people seem to have firm faith in it, too... So I wonder what it's telling him right now?//
Neither blonde appeared to intend moving anytime soon, so Duo reached out to touch Quatre's shoulder and break the trance. "Hey, Quatre... Wake up."
"Hmm?" Sandrock's pilot blinked, eyebrows arching a bit still as if confused by something, his hand still on his heart as he turned to face Duo. "Oh. Sorry. I just... There's just something very strange about this boy. Somehow, it seems to fit all the bizarre things you told me about, yet... I don't know. It's all so strange."
A gentle cough from the doorway announced a slightly-pudgy doctor from the village, bag in hand, drawing the attention of both Gundam pilots.
//I wonder what Quatre felt... But not here.// "Let's go on out and let the doctor do his business, Quatre," Duo suggested, tugging at the shoulder in his grasp before letting go and leading the way. //Then you can tell me about what your instinct just told you... I want to know more about our little foundling here.//
Without a word, the empathic blonde followed Duo out to the den, seeming lost in thought even as Duo stuck the disc into the drive and began investigating it. The computer reported a wide array of files, none of which had names that caught Duo's attention and all of which requiring decompression... So he set the computer at the long task of opening up that condensed information.
//Huh. I wonder what can be /that/ intriguing to Quatre about that kid...// Looking up after a moment from the computer's slow progress, Duo called gently, "Quatre..."
"Hmmm? Yes? Oh. Sorry, Duo, I was just thinking." Quatre flushed, finally looking about for a chair and sitting down neatly in one Duo had left by the computer earlier that morning.
//Penny for those thoughts? Or did inflation change that price?// Duo just chuckled and shook his head slowly. "That's okay... So, what did your Space-Heart tell you? Seems it told you /something/ interesting..."
Quatre frowned at the floor, eyes worried and quite lost. "That's true... It's hard to make sense of it, though. That boy... What did he call himself again?"
Duo mimicked Quatre's frown as he dug through his memories of the encounter. "Zechs Merquise... though he was about to say some other name."
One of Quatre's eyebrows tilted towards his hairline slightly. "The Sixth Marquise? That's a strange name to give yourself. I wonder why... Though it fits, somehow... kind of."
//Now you're over my head, Quatre. Hit reverse!// Shaking his head slowly, Duo smirked. "Back to the beginning, Quatre. You're losing me. First tell me what you picked up, okay?"
Blushing with embarrassment, Quatre dipped his head. "Sorry, Duo. Um... Well, you know I can sense a few things about a person's personality, and a few things about their feelings?"
//Not really, but that makes your special ability a bit clearer...// Duo nodded, though, so Quatre would stay on the current topic and not wander off again on a sidetrack.
"Okay, well... About him, um... He's a bit complex. There's something noble about him, something strong and fierce and determined and kind... yet he's insecure, too. What I can gather from his emotions, he's... torn, very confused and badly hurt, almost broken inside. But there's more..." Quatre frowned firmly at the floor as if some puppy had piddled on his sandal right now in front of him.
//Almost broken? Sheesh, poor kid... What the hell did those guys do to him?// "Hey, don't zone out on me now, Quatre! What else is there?"
The blonde pilot jerked, and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just... He doesn't fit. He feels... older than he looks, and a /lot/ older at that. It's not just experiences he's gone through... Something else is involved. And... well, he's dangerous. When he wants to be... As dangerous as you or me."
Duo scratched at his chin thoughtfully a moment, frowning slightly at Quatre. //Well... I suppose that last makes some sense, if the kid got a transport plane this far with a Gundam inside, on his own. But... Older. Huh. So it's not just me...//
"Something about him just... isn't right." Quatre stated softly, looking pained. "Not in a bad sense--I mean something's going on with him physically or mentally or emotionally and it's just... out of place. And it's skewing other things about him."
//That's one way to put it, I guess,// Duo decided. "That fits my impression of him. He's one weird kid..."
They both delved into their thoughts for a long moment. Duo gazed blankly at the screen before him, brushing bangs from his eyes. //Weird kid... And what are we going to /do/ with him and his stuff? Heck, I'm at a loss. It's like getting a Christmas invitation from Treize Kushrenada for the five of us to drop in for eggnog and peace talks...//
Again, a throat cleared at the doorway--the doctor stepped into the room. "Ahrm... Master Quatre? I think there are a few things... a few things you may want to know..."
//What? What's wrong with the kid?// Duo stiffened, straightening in the seat. "Hey, is he going to be all right?" //Sheesh, I know he looked like hell, but still...//
The gentle doctor shook his head firmly. "He will be fine with some rest and food and time to recover. He began to wake as I was working, so I gave him some pain medication--he will sleep for a couple hours more. None of the damage is permanent, I assure you, and rest is most vital to him now. But... there are things I wish to draw attention to all of you who may have to deal with him..."
Quatre nodded slowly, rising to his feet. "I'll get Rashid, then. Let's meet in the dining room."
Glancing at the computer, which was still sorting through and organizing the mixture of data from the disc, Duo followed his fellow pilot's example. //It'll still be here. I can look at it after the meeting. This doesn't sound like good news... Sheesh, that kid's got a bad streak of luck...// "Hey, Doc, I'll show you the way, then..."
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Sitting at one end of the dining room table with Quatre, Rashid, and the village doctor, Duo fought the urge to squirm with impatience in his chair.
//What else can go wrong for that kid? Will any of this help us make sense of what little he told us? What can we do about him? Or those mobile suits? Yeesh, this is confusing... I hope at least that disc he had has something helpful.// he sighed mentally. //At least it's getting our minds off what's happening in space, though, and our recent lack of orders...//
"You said it is important," Rashid stated softly, eyeing the doctor curiously, breaking the silence in the warm room.
//Thank God they know how to build here--to make the indoors as cool as possible,// Duo reflected happily. //Could be a lot worse... Though these dark clothes /are/ getting a bit hot... Not that I mind being warm, but after this, I think I might change into something lighter.//
The pudgy doctor shifted uncertainly in his chair, then began, "Well, I don't know how much you know about that boy... To all appearances, he's about seven or eight years old and coming to another growth spurt. His reflex-speeds are extraordinary! I injected a sedative, as he didn't seem too happy to find me next to him, which is understandable in his case... But after that... things are... strange."
Quatre tilted his head, interested. "Strange? How, Doctor Hassan?"
Sighing softly, the doctor looked at his hands on the table top. "I can confirm this, if needed, but... When people are growing, there are certain... spaces within joints not full of bone yet, and some that you can feel by hand. I'm fairly certain his are mostly fused already. And the scars... are too old for someone so young. He'd have to have been a baby when some of them occurred, and cuts like that--it's just not likely. Except for the recent burns, cuts, and bruises, all his injuries are old, just far too old... It doesn't fit."
The man paused, then continued, "That includes when he was brutalized."
Duo frowned at that, glancing at Rashid. //The boy reacted too fast for it to have been anything less than recent.// The older man was frowning as well, as if agreeing with Duo's thoughts. Quatre hadn't been told about that--he'd paled at the news.
"But... He's only a boy," Sandrock's kind pilot breathed, horrified.
"I'm... I'm honestly not sure about that," the doctor admitted quietly. "In part, he may act and be seven, but... in part, he may not be. I can try some blood tests--after he eats--and see what they say about him. He's a bit undernourished and dehydrated, and that much is definitely recent. I can tell you he was bound and tormented at a time, but that's among the more recent scars. He's also broken his ribs a multitude of times, and last not too long ago--his bones still bear the bumps where they've healed. Otherwise... well, I'd see what he can tell you by himself. To be honest, I don't think the blood tests will confirm his age either way."
Duo shifted his gaze to the table, guessing the others were lost to their own thoughts. //Young, yet old...? Looks like only he can sort out this puzzle for us!//
"I guess we go talk to him, then, after he wakes up and starts eating," Deathscythe's pilot offered. "Meanwhile, I can see what that disc I found on him says. It might help us confirm what is definite to be a wild story..."
Rashid nodded slowly. "There doesn't appear to be any other way to understand what happened. I will have someone bring his things into that room... But there is one more thing that may help us."
Quatre, too, had been nodding quiet agreement, but Rashid's words caught his attention. "What, Rashid?" he asked hopefully. "It looks like we may need all the information we can get on him... Perhaps he can guide us to where Trowa and Heero are! He had Heero's Gundam after all..."
"This," Rashid stated, picking up something he'd placed on the floor by his feet, and setting it on the table with a "clomp".
A silvery mask, almost birdlike in appearance, with glass over the eyeholes. A long crack traced from the top center down to the left and through one eyeglass. Faint bloodstains marked the interior, smeared the outer silvery surface, filled the crack. Also caught in the crack... a hair...
"A... helmet?" Quatre wondered.
"A mask," Rashid corrected absently--then started as if that word stirred something at the edges of his memory.
Duo reached out, picking up that hair carefully. Long, silvery-white, familiar... //The boy's...// He remembered seeing something silvery in the boy's lap when they met...
"This was his?" //Why would he wear a mask? And why is it cracked? Why would he keep it afterwards, damaged like this?//
Nodding, the Maganac Corps's leader frowned firmly at the strange headgear, as if that alone would make it give up its secrets. "It certainly seems so... Something about it is familiar--and it makes me think I heard that name before... `Zechs Merquise'... Something to do with Oz. I will have to check our files, and talk to the others."
Duo stared at the mask, too, eyes narrowed determinedly. //A mask... I don't think this can get any weirder! But... There's something important about this thing--I can feel it.//
//It has to be in those files on the disc.//
Standing abruptly, Deathscythe's pilot didn't take his eyes off the battered headgear as he stated, "I'll see what I can find on that disc... Mind you, I'm no hacker like Heero, though, but I've a feeling between you and me, Rashid, we're going to find the truth about this kid."
"I've a feeling that the truth won't be pretty," Quatre breathed softly, hand to heart again, a worried look in his eyes as he gazed into space. "That earthquake I mentioned before... may be nearer than we thought."
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Once again, Duo frowned at the material he'd been going over with the doctor about. Uncertainly, he scratched at his ear, as if that gesture would make this tangle clearer by scraping away whatever was hiding the missing pieces of this puzzle from him.
//I'm... I'm not sure I can make myself believe this. How could anything make someone... younger? And why try it on a kid?// "So you're sure about this stuff? That's really what this experimenting bunch is trying to do?" he asked the portly man, wishing his ears had betrayed him.
Solemnly, also frowning a bit, though he seemed more intrigued than upset, the doctor nodded slowly. "That's the quick version of what this material states. It goes a great deal into the methods--something about using hormones and manipulating the body's metabolism, sort of reversing things..."
Shaking his head, Duo stared at the sheets he'd given the doctor. "And they experimented on this kid?"
"There's really not much data about his condition before they started, so it's hard to tell. Maybe they didn't get a chance," the older man suggested gently. "Basically, it just has his name on the subject list, and that he was added in the last minute, somewhat injured... Hrmmm... Now that's a thought."
Duo blinked, still struggling to comprehend the facts recently stated and so not anxious for more unsettling information. //Huh? I hope it's a theory, mister--this is just... There's too many pieces, and they aren't fitting much at all.// Hopefully, but not expecting much, Deathscythe's pilot dared ask, "What is?"
Glancing over the research data again, the doctor explained, "Well... This might explain his scars. By playing with his metabolism... they may have sped up his healing. In other words, he may have been in no shape to object to /becoming/ a test subject... and after the treatment, they don't seem to have expected he'd be physically healed and capable of escape. And it had to be escape--this data's not complete, and I'm fairly certain they wouldn't have let a test subject go easily at such a stage..."
That made Duo's stomach churn sickeningly. //God... A human guinea pig after they tortured him. How could they do that to a person?!? It's just so... How could anyone /do/ that?//
"They tested that on a /child/?" Quatre's horrified voice burst from the doorway.
Duo turned to offer his fellow pilot a look of mixed sympathy and understanding.
But the doctor was replying hesitantly, "It's possible the stuff worked--and he /wasn't/ a child to begin with..."
//You're kidding!// "You mean--that stuff they were trying to make...?" Duo stammered disbelievingly.
"They /did/ make some Fountain-of-Youth potion, then?" Quatre continued, equally amazed. "But... I thought that kind of thing was tried before and never worked!"
Shrugging sheepishly, Doctor Hassan admitted, "There /have/ been advances in our knowledge of the mechanics of the human body... but I'm no expert in that end."
"Then perhaps what I found is more useful than I realized," rumbled a deep voice over Quatre's head.
The short blonde pilot looked up, beaming. "Rashid! You found something?"
//Maybe the pieces /will/ fit together now,// Duo dared hope, smiling warily at the tall Maganac. "Hey, is it good news?"
As Quatre moved to take a seat at the dining room table again, beside Duo, the Maganac shrugged, striding slowly in the younger man's wake. "That may depend entirely on the boy..."
"What did you find?" Quatre piped up eagerly. "He seemed nice enough, from what all of you told me, though I have yet to talk to him."
Rashid frowned slightly, and resumed the seat he had taken at their earlier meeting, the handful of papers clasped in one hand now being set gently on the smooth, polished wood. "I've found our notes on the /man/ known as Zechs Merquise... of Oz."
//Man... Then he was an adult? And part of Oz? That doesn't make sense, that last bit. Why would they try out such weird stuff on one of their own?// "Let's hear it, then... I'm getting too confused to speculate on more ideas of why this or that may be. It'll be easier to see what facts we have, first."
At Quatre's nod, Rashid tapped the papers with a large forefinger and began. "The information's very limited, to be truthful. He always was a rather obscure figure, staying--and working--in Treize's shadow, not terribly popular with the Alliance but idolized by the younger Oz Specials soldiers. Apparently the latter gave him the nickname `Lightening Count' for his near-legendary skills as an ace pilot and quick reflexes... Last we have on him, he was made a Colonel and rumored to be deep in the activity against the Gundams..."
A slow suspicious look touched Quatre's cheerful features. "Wait a minute... Is /he/ why all of you are so insistent I have you to back me up when we have a mission?"
To Duo's surprise, Rashid nodded grimly, sliding a picture forward for all to scrutinize. "Yes... We knew Oz had a true, experienced, ace mobile suit pilot up their sleeves, but who and where weren't known offhand. If you consider that the white suit in the boy's plane is, to all appearances, the same as the one that suicidal Gundam pilot faced in Siberia, the man is quite dangerous... And if the boy is the same person as the man..."
As one, both Gundam pilots looked down at the picture. A tall young man, impeccably dressed in his scarlet Oz uniform, stood on the platform of an Aries, long white-blonde hair caught mid-flutter from the wind, silvery mask gleaming sharply in the light as he faced the horizon, demeanor scrutinizing, predatory, though the majority of his face was obscured by the headgear, hiding his expression...
//It's... Heck, this guy could be the kid's older brother... But if that stuff /worked/... Why would they do that to their best? It's insane! How can this cold figure be that cute kid...?// Duo could only stare at the picture, emotions in turmoil. Yet as he studied the figure of the Oz pilot, he found himself biting his lip, thoughts straying along an unexpected path. //He's pretty darn hot-looking, though... Oh God, Duo, what are you thinking?!? Oz's best pilot would likely shoot you and say hello after! Don't get any silly ideas...//
Flushing hotly, Deathscythe's pilot forced his thoughts back to the kid. "So... Are we sure, then? This guy is now... that kid?" //It sounds wild... Like a fairy-tale.//
Quatre's sad eyes sank back to the picture, then he pushed it over to Duo, nodding. "It... it fits that way. What I felt, what all of you found... It has to be him. It's hard to believe... but it explains a lot. Somehow, something happened to him--he was hurt, then... used in that experiment thing." The pale-haired Gundam pilot's eyes closed briefly, recalling the doctor's full report. "I wonder what happened to him. Something must be going on /within/ Oz..."
Duo looked back down at the picture, feeling almost guilty. //I wouldn't wish such a fate even on an enemy...// Sliding fingers over the frozen flicker of long pale hair, he imagined those sad, innocent blue eyes again, under that mask--and felt anger stir deep inside, his eyes hardening. //Hell... How could they betray you? You were their best, their secret card, and heck, you look good enough to worship, so I don't blame those pilots Rashid mentioned idolizing you...//
"I think we need to talk to him," Duo stated softly, eyes not flickering from the picture. Those sad, pale blue eyes lingered in his mind, and his heart surrendered to their gentle gaze. "It's only right we hear his side... and why he's out here."
Quatre slowly nodded, thoughtful. "That's true..."
Rashid smiled wryly, rising to his feet. "A child should be easier to guard than a man, and for that I am thankful. Our last notes mentioned... he was quite deadly." He strode from the room in two swift steps.
Duo blinked at the man's back, feeling a touch sorry for the sedated youth. //From one imprisonment to another... They almost broke him, Quatre said. Will this finish what they started?//
Quatre just shifted his gaze back to the picture, sighing, looking uncertain, torn. "I just don't know... I've a feeling he's the least of our worries."
//I hope you're wrong, Quatre,// Duo sighed mentally. ///I/ expect he'll be quite a handful, if even half of what we think happened is true!//
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To be continued.