Between
Part 4
By Mieren
For a few seconds, it was almost like being alive again. Duo paused to gape at his the vivid detail of the Oz base around him, people moving up and down the corridors as though nothing were out of the ordinary.
"Incredible," he breathed. "I don't feel dead."
"We should start moving," Wufei interrupted, although he was also guilty of staring at his surroundings. "We need to find the medical wing."
"This way," Zechs said, walking even before he finished the first syllable. "The sooner we return to our bodies, the sooner I can kill you."
"I feel loved," Duo said sarcastically.
"You should be grateful that I'm helping you at all," Zechs snapped.
Wufei started to reprimand them both when an eerie howl echoed through the halls, the mournful noise causing all three young men to shiver.
"Already?" Wufei breathed.
"Who's up for a nice sprint to the medical unit?" Duo asked, false cheer coloring his voice.
"It's just a few doors down," Zechs said worriedly, looking around wildly for the source of the howling. "Come on."
Following the platinum blond, the three ran straight through a steel door to enter the room, all three of the pilots having to pause to reorient themselves. Not truly existing was bad enough, but walking through solid objects was just plain disorienting. Surprisingly, Duo was the first by far to regain his senses and tear around the room in a quick loop, surveying what he saw.
"Three beds that are occupied but not," he summarized.
"That has to be us," Wufei murmured thoughtfully. "Where are they?"
"Two are side by side on the west end," Duo reported quickly. "One is alone in ICU to the north with Treize hovering nearby."
"I'd be the one in ICU," Wufei said slowly.
"But Treize would be checking on me, not you," Zechs countered.
"Let's see what he's saying and then we'll go from there," Duo offered before they could resume squabbling. It was no secret that Zechs and Wufei weren't exactly fond of each other.
Both pilots nodded in response to his idea, stalking to where Duo had indicated to watch Treize as he spoke to the unconscious form.
"Please wake up," Treize murmured, moving his hand over what looked like empty space. The three observers assumed he was brushing back errant bangs. "I can't stand to see you hurt needlessly." His voice started to quaver, growing ragged. "Don't leave me." Trembling slightly in his grief, he leaned forward and gently kissed the comatose form beneath him.
Needless to say, Duo burst out laughing, tears streaming from his eyes. Even Wufei was chortling. Zechs was doing his best impersonation of a tomato.
"Shut up and get to your own bodies!" he snapped.
Still gasping to catch his breath, Duo staggered towards where he had seen the other two bodies, Wufei chuckling quietly as he followed. Sniffing loudly, Zechs turned to the body before him and, for lack of anything more intelligent to do, leapt at it.
Laughter ceased as Duo and Wufei approached the two beds containing empty vessels. Glancing at each other, they began circling the beds, trying to determine who was who. Duo was slightly taller, so he focused on the bed on the left, glancing at Wufei for confirmation. Stumped, the Chinese pilot shrugged. Their minds were made up when the blood-chilling howl resounded again, this time just outside the door to the infirmary. When a thick-muzzled head burst through the door, the debate was over. Duo leapt for the taller of the two forms and Wufei took the last remaining figure. As they dove, they heard a resounding cry from behind them.
"WAIT!"
Duo and Wufei sat bolt upright, trying to figure out the meaning of the cry and who it had come from. The voice had been disturbingly familiar.
Duo looked up to see who had spoken, blinking in confusion when he saw Wufei's stressed face a staring at him in absolute horror. Baffled as to how his Chinese companion could have gotten in front of him so quickly, Duo turned to face where he thought Wufei should be to his side, choking on his own tongue when he saw the spitting image of himself gaping back. The sight of a long-haired, brunette American made Duo jerk back, sending his unbound hair flying into his face. He gasped painfully and grabbed at the loose locks of hair in front of him. They were platinum blond.
"Wu?" Duo asked shakily to the figure that should have been him.
"This is not the time to chat, Maxwell," the longhaired brunette said unsteadily. He extended one trembling arm to point. "Look."
Easily the size of a bear, a midnight black dog stood snarling just inside the infirmary, still visible to the eyes of the three hapless pilots.
"Oh fuck," Duo managed, scurrying away from the threat.
Zechs, closest to Treize, who was confused beyond all reason, grabbed Treize's gun and unleashed a few rounds at the snarling hound. The Fade jerked slightly at the impact of the pistol shots and scurried backwards, issuing a threatening howl as he departed rapidly.
Duo and Wufei exchanged looks.
"At least they can be hurt now," Duo offered timidly, fiddling with his loose blond hair.
"You're overlooking far too much, Maxwell," Wufei snapped. "First off, how are we going to get into our proper forms? Second, if we can't, how do you keep from getting shot? You look like Zechs! Third and most importantly, how can they follow us here? Those things are supposed to remain Between!"
Zechs stepped in. "We're in the wrong bodies," he snapped. "The Fades are still there because we screwed up."
"What?" Treize asked. He was ignored.
"So how do we fix this?" Duo asked. A howl in the distance sounded atop his question.
"I don't know, but we better hurry," Wufei said. "Apparently, they can still see us."
To Be Continued….
Sorry, it's hard to fashion a fic after a screwy dream. I'm trying. R&R!
Notes:
Zechs is in Wufei's body.
Wufei is in Duo's body.
Duo is in Zechs's body.
Also, from now on, those three will be referred to by their mind/soul and not their bodies. An appearance does not a person make. =P~