Chapter 5: "I've gotten feedback on what those messages said…"
Blaze blinked repeatedly, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. After she stretched in her bed, she got up to get dressed. A slight dull pain began to throb in her ankle, and she sat back down on the bed quickly. 'Damn it. It wasn't a dream.' she thought. 'I really did go through all of that crap… and I… Heero… we…. Oh my God. Now would be a good time to fall into an endless pit.' She clenched her fists, handfuls of sheets wrinkled in her palm. She looked down at her ankle with bleary morning eyes, and noticed it was wrapped in an Ace-Bandage. Heero must have taken her to the doctor, where they fixed her up a little bit. She glanced down again at the brown cloth that wrapped her ankle and foot. Well, it looked like the damage wasn't that but still…
"HOW EMBARRASSING!!!" she shouted. She paused, then threw her hands to her head in a brand new headache. "Aw, shit… stupid piece of… lousy… damn…urgh…." she grumbled as she limped her way into the bathroom and downed two Tylenol dry. Unfortunately, it would take a while for the stupid drugs to kick in.
She turned to leave the bathroom when a bright flash blinded her. Once she got rid of the spots she was seeing, she saw a braid fly away. "DUO, YOU ASS!!!!" she shouted. "If I wasn't graced with a minor injury then I would chase you down those stairs and…." of course by this point of time, Duo was already at the bottom of the stairs, and bursting into the dining room.
Quatre choked on his tea, Wufei dropped his waffle he was preparing, and Trowa woke up from the morning paper he was leaning over. Duo laughed maniacally, and held up a Polaroid camera.
"Duo, what in heaven's name-" Quatre started, but was interrupted by Wufei.
"MAXWELL!!!! YOU MADE ME DROP MY BREAKFAST!!!!! IN-"
"justice." Duo finished. Wufei clamped his mouth shut and narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, I know Wufei. I've heard that one before. But this is worth losing a waffle over!!" The Great Shinigami started laughing again.
"Do you ever plan to tell us what is so fascinating?" Trowa asked coldly. Duo had just woken him up from a very good dream about … oh never mind.
"I just got a picture of Blaze when she wakes up in the morning!!" Duo exclaimed, as he waved the picture back and forth the get the image to show.
"Oh, no…." Quatre said quietly. He looked at Duo sympathetically. "You're dead!"
"Eh??" Duo replied in confusion. That wasn't quite the reply he was expecting. "Why can't you just start off with something better. Like, 'Hey! Good job, Duo!' Why do ya gotta say that???"
"Because it's true…" Trowa spoke up. "You're not suppose to see a woman in the morning unless she's ok with it. You really shouldn't do that."
The door swung open, and Duo stumbled back due to a sharp pull on his braid. "Aaaahhhh!!!! Okay! Okay! Lemme go!! I didn't mean it!! DON'T HARM THE BRAID!!!!!!!!!"
"Cut the melodrama, Duo." Blaze demanded. "Now give me the picture."
"What picture? I have no idea what you're-AAHHH!!! Alright, alright!!" Duo handed Blaze the unflattering morning picture, and she immediately let go of his braid.
"Don't. Try. That. Again." She hissed.
Just then, Heero came into the dining room, up to his elbows in grease. Silence fell across everyone in a New York minute. A quick flush appeared on Blaze's cheeks, and she kept her eyes down. She quickly joined Wufei in the kitchen, ready to make her breakfast. Wufei glared at her.
"Weak Onna…" he whispered to her.
Blaze reached her arm over his head to pull out the sugar from the cupboard, and stepped harshly on his foot in the process. Wufei stifled himself to keep himself from shouting in protest (and pain.)
"What's going on?" Heero asked suspiciously, as he looked around at everyone. Duo was petting his braid, Blaze kept her back to him and her shoulders hunched, and Wufei's face was red. Whether it was pain, anger, or both, he couldn't tell. Trowa and Quatre kept glancing at each other. Silence answered him. "I asked a question." he growled. He watched as Blaze threw away stuff into the trash can, and walked quickly back and forth, preparing herself some toast.
Heero peered into the trash, and noticed a crumpled up photo. He looked suspiciously at Duo. Duo put his hands up in defense. "Hey, don't look at me!! I didn't do anything!!"
"Duo…" Quatre spoke up.
"Yeah Q?"
"You're always to blame."
"Ouch!" Duo flinched.
Heero shrugged to himself, and walked into the kitchen to wash his hands. Whatever it was, it was small and miniscule. None of his concern. What was his concern was something that couldn't be said in the presence of his comrades. He glared back at them as they sat innocently at the table. Trowa raised an eyebrow at him, and Duo gave him a thumbs up. Blaze on the other hand, acted at if he wasn't there… that is until Blaze turned around just in time to crash into Heero, which caused her plate of sugar and cinnamon toast to squish right onto his shirt. In the process of all of this, God was laughing.
"Heero, what's the big idea??" she demanded. "Couldn't you have waited until I was out of the kitchen??"
Heero narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't start with me." he whispered to her, locking cold eye contact. They both looked away quickly. Okay, so perhaps his main concern was something he couldn't talk about to anyone… After all, it appeared that his "main concern" was trying to avoid ever confronting the topic.
Duo chose this time to start chanting, "Heero and Blaze, sittin' in a tree-" *splash*
Blaze emptied her glass of milk on Duo's head, and stomped out of the room in her frustration, muttering choice words under her breath.
Heero's usual glare turned especially harsh as he stalked out of the room as well. "I'll go change my shirt…" he muttered.
When Heero came back down after cleaning himself up, and gathered nearly all of the pilots and took them into the dining room for discussion. He noticed Duo was gone washing his hair. "How much longer is Duo going to be gone?" They all shrugged. "We have a lot to discuss…" he added. "Someone can just tell him what he missed out on."
"Alright, Heero. So what's the situation?" Quatre asked.
"I've gotten feedback on what those messages said." Heero started. "First off, there isn't going to be a war immediately. Hampshire is only toying with the colonies."
"It's a bluff??" Wufei snarled.
Heero nodded. "He doesn't have all of the necessities yet. He does have the permission, though. He is starting to reopen the production of mobile suits."
"So that gives us time…" Trowa responded.
"Yes. But there's more." Heero said. "Hampshire doesn't have a military force large enough to start a war. He has persuaded ESUN to start turning all Preventers into his battle force. Every Preventers Base will become a military base where mobile suit productions will be started."
"How much time do we have, then?" Wufei demanded.
"Not sure yet. It hasn't been established that far. Whenever they're ready, I suppose." Heero tapped the table with his fingers.
"I suppose it's up to us then, to make sure he isn't ready." Trowa said, as a small grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"In the mean time," Quatre spoke up, "the colonies need to build up their defenses."
Just then, Duo came in. "Hey! You guys started without me??" he whined.
"Shut up, Maxwell." Wufei said.
"I'll tell you everything later." Heero told Duo. "In the meantime, I have other things to talk about."
"Like what flavor Blaze's lip gloss is??" Duo prodded Heero's side with his elbow.
"Keep pushing, Duo." Heero growled.
"No really, that's a good question…" Quatre added. Everyone looked at him with shock. He shrugged as a smile played on his boyish features. "What? Don't tell me none of you are curious…"
Trowa cleared his throat and Wufei crossed his arms. Then all eyes fell on Heero. Heero closed his eyes in aggravation.
"Strawberry…" he said through clenched teeth. A satisfied grin fell on everyone's face. "There, are you all happy now? Can we get onto business?"
"By all means, Heero. Begin." Quatre said, waving his hand for him to continue.
"I already talked to Dr. J. about this…" Heero took a breath, then started to explain things. "I don't think Blaze has amnesia like she claims."
"Oh no… not this again…." Duo whined, covering his eyes with his hand.
"I'm serious!" Heero said harshly. "We got caught when we were retrieving information, and she used very extreme martial arts. No one knows how to do that unless they've had years of practice."
"This couldn't possibly be-" Duo started.
Wufei interrupted him. "Coincidence? I think that reason has been worn down."
"But what about when I had talked to her? She wasn't lying." Trowa reminded.
"Isn't there a possibility that she could be lying? A professional can get away with it. She can be a professional." Heero said.
"For who, is the question." Quatre noted calmly. "Honestly Heero, I'm not sure about this."
"You don't believe me." Heero narrowed his eyes into a harsh glare. The blonde boy twiddled his thumbs nervously, but shook his head.
"Well, I believe him." Wufei said arrogantly.
"I don't." Trowa said. "I talked to her. I know she's telling the truth. I had amnesia before, you know. I can admit that I was able to find a lot of myself in her eyes. I'm not backing down from it."
Duo rubbed his forehead, trying to clear his headache. "But… she's so… innocent. I don't know what to make of it…"
Heero shrugged with indifference. "Whatever is going on with her, it'll show itself again in time. And I know I won't be the only one to see it."
* * * * * *
A week had passed by, with no news and no missions. Everyone was getting apprehensive. Blaze on the other hand, wasn't fazed nearly as much. She was still doing her part in the main kitchen as the unofficial dishwasher, and she had always disappeared on her free time. She had told Quatre even if stuff did start happening, she probably keep doing what she was doing. She was counting on never being part of another mission again.
Quatre and Trowa played chess, while Heero, Duo and Wufei played cards. Go Fish, to be exact. Duo sighed, which turned into a large yawn. "Do you have any 4's?" he asked Heero.
Heero narrowed his eyes, and handed him a card. Heero peered at Wufei. "Do you have any 9's?"
Wufei smirked. "Go fish."
Heero's frown became more apparent. "I hate this game. Who invented this, anyway?" He drew a card, and slunk further into his seat grumpily.
"Checkmate." said Trowa.
Quatre stuck out his tongue at him. "Darn you and you're intelligent ways…" The blonde pilot muttered. Then he stretched in his seat. "Hey… do you guys ever wonder where the heck Blaze goes? Lets go look for her."
"Good idea." they all said, and quickly jumped up, eager to get away from their current positions.
"Where do you think she'd be?" Duo wondered, scratching his head thoughtfully. His common thinking action.
"We could check our room…" Heero mumbled. "But I doubt she'd be there… she never is."
"Hey…" Trowa started. "Do you suppose she found out about the lounge room downstairs?"
"Ah…" Wufei responded, eyes narrowed. But then again, his eyes were always narrowed.
All five pilots went down the elevator to the underground floor, where they could already hear the music coming through the double doors of the lounge and bar. Jazz. They all walked through nonchalantly, hands in their pockets. They found an empty table in the corner, which was off balance and tipped slightly. They quickly pulled up old wooden chairs. They scanned the room, while Duo left to get chips, salsa, and some beer (preferably).
There was one man playing a piano bar song, which was placed on the left side of the small stage. Preventers lounged around listening and watching, others playing cards or in lazy conversation. The room smelled of cigarette smoke, but mild at least. Most Preventers didn't smoke. Whatever the case, it was shady and mellow. The lights were dim, making it hard to try and find their subject.
"I wonder where she is…" Quatre said out loud, though more to himself. Wufei shrugged, as he drummed his fingers on the table impatiently, waiting for Duo to get back.
"She may not be here…" Heero said.
"She may very well be in her room." Trowa suggested.
The young men got up to leave, right when Duo came back with their food. "What?!" he exclaimed. "That's it?? We're leaving??? Damn! At least sit here and eat this… I didn't waste my money for nothin', ya know…" They sat back down with a groan.
The song changed to one something different, something also played by a piano. A couple of Preventers cheered.
"Thanks…" came the female voice, shy but familiar. All of the pilots whipped their heads to the stage.
"Of course. Of course she'd be ON THE STAGE…." Duo said. "Where else would she be??"
"Alright… well, this song is one of my favorites… or at least so far from what I've heard." Blaze said, tucking a free strand of light brown hair behind her ear. She was completely dressed in black, so she didn't stand out. A dim spotlight and the miniscule stage was all that made her acknowledgeable from everyone else.
Suddenly Wufei stood up with agitation. "Woman! What the heck do you think you're doing?!"
Heads turned, and Blaze finally noticed the familiar group. A large grin spread across her face. Her shyness was blinked away, and her mischievous expression came back. Oh this was going to be fun… She cleared her throat, and the man on the piano started the piece over again. Wufei had nothing more to do than to sit down and wait until she was through. She slowly started to sing.
"Try to think that love's not around
But it's uncomfortably near.
My old heart ain't gainin' no ground
Because my Angel Eyes ain't here.
Angel Eyes that old devil sent
They glow unbearably bright.
Need I say that my love's misspent
Misspent with Angel Eyes tonight…."
Quatre glowed at this. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "I didn't know she could sing like that!!"
"I doubt any of us did…" Trowa replied, and stole at glance at Heero who narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"So drink up all you people.
Order anything you see
Have fun you happy people
the laughs and the joke's on me
Pardon me, but I gotta run
the fact's uncommonly clear.
Gotta find who's now number one
and why my Angel Eyes..."
She turned her eyes across the hazy room, and made eye contact with Heero and his cold stare. Despite the fact that she was halfway across the room, something in her expression sent a cold chill down his spine, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end.
"Oh where is my Angel Eyes?
'Scuse me while I disappear...
Angel Eyes… Angel Eyes….."
She ended her song, and the room applauded, the pilots included. Except for Wufei and Heero, who kept glaring at her with suspicion. She quickly hopped off of the stage, waving a thanks to the pianist. She walked over to the group, with her hands on her hips. "What're you guys doing here??" she asked curiously.
"Looking for you." Wufei said arrogantly, and crossed his arms.
"Aww… how sweet…I feel so loved." she said overly sweetly.
"So is this where ya disappear to??" Duo asked, as he pulled up a chair for her. She took the seat gratefully.
"Yeah… I overheard some guys saying they were going to come down here. I've been coming down ever since. I really like the music." she grinned, and dipped a tortilla chip into the salsa.
"You sang really well!" Quatre said brightly.
Blaze chuckled. "Thanks!" she said, as she reached for another chip.
"Where'd you learn that song?" Heero asked monotonously.
"Someone had played it on the Jukebox over there." she pointed to the old jukebox next to the entrance. "I liked it so much that I listened to it every now and then when I came."
Heero placed another question on her. "How did these Preventers know you?"
"They didn't." she shot back, her words containing more of a bite than she meant. "They're like that with everyone." she explained. She cross her arms in agitation. "What is this, Heero? An interrogation?"
"It wouldn't be a bad idea…" he mumbled to himself.
"I heard that…" she snapped. "You're such a mood spoiler, Heero!" she pouted. "You can't ever let me have any fun, can you??"
"It depends on what you consider fun…" Heero growled.
Duo chose this time to intervene. "Heero, buddy… heh… bad choice of words…really bad choice of words…"
Wufei snorted. "Maxwell, you're just American. You're mind can make linoleum seem perverted."
Blaze scoffed at this. "Excuse me, but what if I'm American??"
Trowa raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean 'if'? I haven't the slightest doubt in my mind that you are."
Duo grinned his infamous grin, and clapped Wufei across the back in a buddy-like good ol' fashion. "American nothing, my Chinese amigo! I'm 19. In fact, we all are. Not to mention males, or at least I certainly hope so. With the exception of dear Blaze, of course. That's something that you can't help but know that we guys have in common. It's a… special bond! Don't act as if you don't have any of the same thoughts that I do!"
Blaze started laughing at this. "Yes… bonding in just below the mid-region, right?"
Quatre choked on his bottled water that he had bought during Blaze and Heero's argument. "Blaze!" he exclaimed. Even in the haze of the lounge, the flush in his cheeks and ears were evident.
Trowa stifled a laugh, while Duo laughed in surprise. She shrugged off their shock. "It's not like I don't know what you guys are talking about. I hope you know females can get your stupid sexual connotations just as easily as the next. We're all people of similar minds…"
"That's bold to say…" Trowa said, raising they eyebrow of his only visible eye.
"Well it's true…" she scoffed. "We women think the same thing as men. Only with things like love and other similar emotions mixed into it."
"Ah, the perspective of a female…" Duo sighed.
"Like guys don't think about those things too?" Quatre said defensively, and a little hurt.
"Love sucks." Wufei huffed.
"Then you've never fallen…" Blaze replied. Then she made a 'tsk, tsk' sound. "Wufei's too tough for love, huh? So much you are deprived of."
"And I suppose you have?" Wufei shot back with his ebony black eyes.
"No… but I get the impression that it feels great…" she grinned.
"Another bad choice of words…" Duo said, shaking his head shamefully.
Blaze laughed and replied, "No, those were the precise words that I was looking for."
Duo raised an eyebrow, and thought of making a comment, but was cut short by Heero.
"Duo, shut up." Heero demanded. "Just… stop thinking."
"Aw, now that hurt…" Duo said with mournful eyes.
Blaze patted his head. "There, there little one."