Um, the usual: I do not own Gundam Wing or the characters (though sometimes I wish I did) except for Mia.
Cautions: Cursing, Some Violence (though it sucks), Yaoi-ness, Firearms ... those sorts of things. And now, on with the story . . .
Chapter Two: Fight or Flight
Trowa awoke the next morning to a funny smell. It smelt like he were in a wonderful bakery full of tasty treats. The fragrance was so strong, in fact, he thought he could almost taste it, like it was coming from his own house. And in a few seconds, he realized that it was. Racing down the stairs, wondering who could have stolen his morning job, he stopped short in the kitchen to see Mia fixing breakfast.
"Hey, Trowa. Sleep all right?" she asked while she was setting the table.
"Huh?" Trowa replied, still not believing his eyes. Quatre, who had woken with the abrupt exit of his partner, soon skidded to a stop beside him.
"What's all the fuss?" Quatre asked tiredly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his fist.
"Just making some breakfast," Mia said.
"Wow," Quatre said quietly. "Mia, you're up early."
Mia offered him a wry smile. "It's almost twelve o'clock, Quatre."
"Okay, who are you and what have you done to the real Trowa who burns our —" Duo stopped short in the doorway, his jaw hitting the floor as he watched Mia flip several pancakes over, the cooked sides a perfect golden brown. " — pancakes.... Mia, you can cook?"
She blinked, wondering why he sounded as though that was the most impossible thing in the world. "Yes, I can. Picked a few things up while washing dishes at one of them old fashioned restaurants."
Heero wandered in pulling a shirt over his head, nearly bumping into the group gaping in the doorway. "Can we move into the kitchen?" he asked in a sleepy, annoyed voiced. The pilots seated themselves around the table, pouring themselves glasses of orange juice from an old glass pitcher that had been placed on the table. Mia removed the last few pancakes from the griddle and added them to the small mound that she had been building on a plate to the side. As she brought them to the table, she realized something wasn't quite right.
"Where's Wufei?" she asked.
"Still sleeping, I guess," Duo replied, reaching a fork towards the plate before she could even put it down. Mia pulled it quickly away, narrowing her eyes as a warning.
"Go wake him up, then, you can't eat without him," Mia stated matter-of-factly.
Duo groaned. "Come on, Mia, I'm starving! You go wake him up."
"They bicker like a married couple," Quatre muttered quietly to Trowa, who in return could not hold back a smile. Heero, overhearing this, gave his plate the Perfect Soldier death-glare. That was not something he needed to think about, especially this early after his waking up.
Mia's gaze flickered to Quatre for an unnoticeable second, and she sighed. "Fine, I'll get him. Just don't eat them all, Duo. You may still be the bottomless pit you always were, but your friends are hungry, too."
She placed the large plate down on the table and briskly walked to the living room and up the stairs, purposely ignoring the snide comment, "Yes, dear," from Duo. He had heard Quatre as well.
"Now, which is his room..." she murmured quietly as she looked down the hallway containing two doors to the right, and three to the left.
The first one on either side was open, revealing a messily made bed in each and several articles of clothing strewn about. The next door on the left was closed, but she knew that was Duo's room, even though he rarely ever slept in there. She shook her head, remembering how she first figured out the sexuality of the four. How could she not after she accidentally saw Duo crawling under the covers in the bed he shared with Heero? Blushing furiously at the thought, she reasoned with herself to try and make herself feel less like a voyeur. They shouldn't have kept the door halfway open!
The last room down the hall was her own, so Wufei's had to be the second door on the right side. Since it was closed, she knocked. No answer. She knocked again. Still no answer. Shrugging, she slowly turned the knob and opened the door enough so that she could stick her head in, wincing slightly when it creaked. But the scene that met her eyes was something that made her forget all else.
Wufei's room was extremely neat. There was a dresser next to the door, his bed on the right wall, a desk on the other, the curtain was drawn over the window opposite the door, and right behind her in the left corner was a small pile of clothes that needed to be laundered. She slowly walked in enough so that she could close the door over behind her, and paused to stair at a sleeping Wufei. He was lying on his side, arms hanging over the side of the bed, legs tangled within a messy mass of sheets and blankets, his head nestled on a pillow. He was even snoring! But it was a quiet, distinguished sort of snoring. For a moment she froze, realizing he wasn't wearing a shirt, praying he wasn't one to sleep in the nude. But she soon sighed in relief, realizing he was wearing a pair of black sweatpants.
She crossed the room to the window and pushed back the curtains, allowing the almost-noon sun to pour through the window, dousing his figure in gold. And yet, he still didn't wake up. Mia almost laughed. She strode over to the side of his bed, and instantaneously became mesmerized by the sight. His side rising and falling slowly with each breath, the light snoring that sounded almost like a purr, the way his skin seemed to glow bright in the sun. He looked like a god that had been sent to earth, for punishment or for pleasure she couldn't say, but he seemed to be absorbed in a rather intense dream. It almost made her dread waking him up, but...
"Wufei?" she said quietly, brushing a dark strand of hair from his closed eyes. She then placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle shake. Mia almost gasped; his skin was warm and soft... like a blanket you want to wrap yourself in after a long day playing of in the snow. "Wufei, come on, wake up."
He groaned slightly and shrugged her hand off his shoulder, shifting to lie on his back and draping an arm over his eyes.
"Come on, Wufei, it's almost noon. Get up."
Wufei groaned again, trying effortlessly to untangle his legs from his sheets and rubbing his eyes with his arm. He moved it slightly so he could peer at whoever was in his room with him, and when he did he smiled slightly.
"Meiran..." his free arm reached up, gently wrapping half-way around Mia's waist and pulling her down a bit. Mia's eyes widened slightly as she put her arms out to keep herself from falling on top of him. She tried to pull back, but he was strong, even when half-awake.
"Wufei," she started, "Wufei, what're you doing?" Her hands were resting on his chest now, their faces inches apart, and Wufei made like he was going to kiss her.
"Wufei, wake up, it's me!"
Her shrill response sliced through his sleepiness, and Wufei opened his eyes a bit more, fully awake. "Mia? Mia!" He jumped as though touched by fire, letting her go and backing up against the wall, grabbing at his blankets. Mia stumbled back but regained her balance, simply staring at him with a bewildered expression on her face. Then she did something he hadn't expected her to do. She smiled.
"Must've been some dream." She chuckled nervously. "Come on, breakfast is ready... though I doubt anything's left by now. You're... a sound sleeper."
Wufei gaped, unable to think of anything to say that would explain what he had almost done. She hesitated, as though waiting for him to get up or reply, and then began to back up. Wufei could have sworn he saw the faintest trace of a blush coloring her cheekbones. Then she hurried out. Wufei leaned his head back and banged it on the wall, closing his eyes. This was just great. Mia would tell Duo, Duo would tell absolutely everyone, and everyone would tease him. Not what he needed right now. Damn that woman anyway. Damn all women.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"What took you so long?" Duo asked cheekily with a mouth full of pancakes, syrup, and orange juice.
"Didn't wanna' wake up," Mia replied quickly, keeping herself busy by putting all the dirty utensils she used to prepare breakfast in the sink. Wufei entered the kitchen, now wearing a shirt, and seated himself in the only available seat between Heero and Quatre. Mia turned around to face them all, her gaze lingering on Wufei for a moment before moving on.
"Aren't you joining us, Mia?" Quatre asked innocently, taking a sip of his juice.
Mia smiled at him. "Sorry, Quatre, I already ate. Had to get up early this morning." She glanced at the clock. "And now it's about time I go again. Quatre, your shirt and Wufei's sweatpants are in the dryer, they should be finished within the hour. Also, I've got some of my own things in the washing machine, and if one of you could stick those in the dryer when they're finished I'd be eternally grateful." They all gave her wary looks, causing her to chuckle. "Nothing of that sort, I did a load of, ah, delicates before you all woke up. Oh, and I borrowed the laptop in the living room to research something, I hope you don't mind, it's no different than it was before. I did a little bit of grocery shopping this morning, there are things for sandwiches in the refrigerator in case you get hungry later." As she was saying this, she was pacing back and forth a bit, trying to remember if she had said everything. When she reached the counter next to the back door, she grabbed the shining silver key off of it and stuffed it in the pocket of her black pants. "I think that's about it... I should be back around seven, there's something in the freezer you can make for supper. See you later."
Mia strode to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open. She looked over her shoulder, her face breaking into a smirk at their utterly bewildered faces. "Any questions?"
"Yeah," Heero said, "where are you going?"
"Where am I going?" she repeated slowly. "I'm, eh, I'm just going into town for a bit. Little bit of sight seeing, I suppose."
"Why don't you wait a bit, and we'll come with you?" Duo asked.
"Come with me? No!"
They stared.
"I mean, no thank you. I can handle myself. Duo, I thought you would know that..."
He blinked. "Yeah, I know that," he replied with a grin. "Have fun, then."
Smiling, she nodded, "Yep. See you all later." And she was gone faster than the blink of an eye.
Heero gave an intense look to Wufei, who was staring at his plate, swirling his fork around in the syrup that Trowa had generously placed on his plate along with two pancakes.
And of course, it was Duo who voiced what they were all thinking, "What was that?"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Heero sat down in the living room in front of his laptop, grumbling quietly to himself. He lifted the top and flipped it on, sitting back and waiting for the programs to load. As soon as the busy light at the top right corner of the screen stopped flashing, signaling that it was finished loading, Heero immediately clicked on the mail icon. He was checking to make sure they hadn't gotten any word of new missions or of trouble anywhere. Only something wasn't quite right when the program opened.
Soon enough, Heero realized that the address he used to keep him and his fellow pilots informed was not the current active account. In fact, the active address was one he had never heard of and one he couldn't decode: M4OZMM22469. But he knew who it had to belong to, as there had only been one other person that had used his laptop besides him: Mia.
He casually looked around to make sure no one was watching him and quickly clicked on the archive folder, which held the exchanges of messages between this address and others. Heero shamelessly skimmed the messages, finding nothing interesting. That is, until he got the most recent files. Heero stopped skimming and began reading:
'Dear Ms. Maxwell,
Thank you for contacting us about the offering of your skills. We feel that you may be of some help to the foundation. Please reply to this message to confirm that you are, indeed, Mia Maxwell.
P4OZDB00001'
Then:
'Maxwell,
We have been informed of your personal connection with the pilot of Gundam_02. A meeting is being arranged to add this information into our plans and use it to the best of our ability, and our advantage. I, personally, will need to meet with you to discuss your role in our plans. Meet me for breakfast at 6:30 sharp at the Blue Soldier Café on West Main Street. Failure to report will result in loss of position and participation in the final action taken about the rebels; and, of course, your possible extermination.
P4OZDB00001'
Heero's eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed in anger. He quickly skimmed through the rest, deleting the account from the laptop so that if Mia decided to use it again she wouldn't realize that she'd left her account active. Heero shut the laptop just as Duo and Quatre came bounding down the steps, and continued to stare at the closed computer deep in thought, trying to piece together and figure out everything he just read, trying to decipher the vague allusions and jumbled bits of sentences.
His thoughts, however, were interrupted as Duo delivered a rather forceful slap to his back, which wouldn't have ordinarily bothered him; this time, however, it did. Heero buckled forward slightly and violently stood up from his chair, causing it to fall over with a loud noise as it smashed against the hardwood floor. Duo, sensing that that wasn't the best thing to do at this time, hid behind innocent little Quatre, who stared up at Heero with his big, turquoise eyes.
"I'm sorry, Heero. I sh-shouldn't have d-done that. Very sorry... I'll be going now," Duo said quickly before running into the kitchen, Quatre not too far behind.
Heero sighed, picking up the chair and sitting back down. His facial expression soon changed from that of anger to concern.
"How do I tell Duo she's betrayed him?"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mia came back to a quiet and, what she thought, empty safe-house. Pulling the key from the door, she slowly closed it over behind her, looking around the empty living room and listening for any sign of life. Moving from the door, she called, "Anybody home?"
Duo poked his head out from the kitchen shortly after. "Yep! How was sight-seeing?"
"Sight-seeing? Oh! It was fun... very interesting," she replied quickly, blinking as Heero snorted on his way into the kitchen. "What are you up to? Where is everyone?"
"Well, we're all in here making dinner except Trowa and Wufei. I'm helping," he grinned broadly at that. "I'll be back in a few minutes." And he popped back into the kitchen. Mia turned around, aiming to go for the stairs but instead bumped into Trowa, who had come up behind her while she was talking to Duo. Giving a muffled squeak, she stepped backwards, rubbing the back of her neck embarrassedly when she saw who it was.
"Sorry I startled you," he replied quietly, with a small smirk. "Wufei asked me to tell you that your laundry is finished and in your room."
"Oh... thanks, Trowa." Mia started again for the stairs, but she was stopped by a question of his.
"He has been acting strange today... do you know what's bothering him?"
Mia simply stared at him, raising an eyebrow as though she hadn't the slightest clue. Trowa simply nodded and continued on into the kitchen, and Mia hopped up the stairs, heading towards her room. Upon entering, she saw a basket full of her cleaned laundry resting on the bed. The only problem was, her travel bag wasn't anywhere in sight. Grabbing the basket, Mia decided to ask Wufei if he knew where it was, walking across the hall to his door. Mia put the basket down and knocked, waiting for a response from inside. When there was none, she knocked again.
"Gee, doesn't this seem familiar," she muttered, remembering this morning after there was no answer again. She opened the door a little, peering in to find Wufei meditating. Biting her lip, she quietly closed the door, grabbed her basket, and headed back downstairs.
Mia placed the basket on the couch, remembering that she had brought her bag into the laundry room with her. Sure enough, there it was, resting on the floor right where she left it. Picking it up and dusting it off, she went back into the living room, opening the bag and placing it on the couch. Mia then began to fold her laundry, packing it as she went along.
Duo practically bounded out of the kitchen, a wide happy grin on his face. He was wiping his hands on a dish towel and made sure that the kitchen door had closed all the way before he proceeded to sit on the arm of the couch. When he saw Mia folding laundry, he thought it harmless. But as he realized she was packing laundry, that grin faded from his face faster than water evaporates in a 100º heat wave.
"What are you doing?" he asked slowly.
"Packing," Mia said.
"Stupid question..." Duo mumbled. "Why are you packing?"
"Another stupid question," she answered with a hint of a chuckle in her voice as she flattened what she had already put away.
Several minutes passed before Duo spoke again, gently grabbing her wrist as she went to put a shirt in her bag. "Stay... please stay."
Mia looked up into his sad indigo eyes and almost immediately replied that she would; that look always got Duo what he wanted. But she couldn't comply this time, she simply couldn't. Closing her eyes so that she didn't have to see his hurt expression, Mia leaned forward to wrap Duo in a friendly embrace.
"I can't, Duo. I wish I could, but I can't; I've got to move on."
Before Duo could respond, Heero poked his head out of the kitchen door, stifling a scowl and a hiss at the sight of the two hugging. "Supper's finished," he said coolly, "come and get it before it's gone."
Without any sign of reluctance, Duo abruptly pulled away and strode into the kitchen. Mia followed shortly after putting away the shirt she had been holding.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Duo and Mia brought an uncomfortable silence over the entire dinner table; and if they were spoken to, their responses would come in short, one-word answers, and not at all polite.
"Shouldn't we wait for Wufei?" Quatre asked cautiously as he watched Duo and Mia begin to spoon spaghetti onto their plates.
"No," they both said without looking up.
"Why not?" Trowa asked, surprised. Wasn't it just Mia this morning who was practically swearing it was an evil to not wait for him to eat breakfast?
"He's meditating," Mia replied curtly.
"Now? He doesn't normally meditate at this hour. Are you certain, Mia?" Quatre asked curiously, looking up at the deserted stairwell.
"Yes, quite sure, Quatre. Forget about it."
Trowa glared at her as he watched a hurt expression flicker within Quatre's bright turquoise eyes. But without anything more said he, too, began to fill his plate. Several minutes into supper, they were interrupted by quiet, but hostile, murmurings.
"I don't understand why you have to go," Duo was saying between slurps of spaghetti.
"I just do," Mia replied.
"That's not a reason," Duo countered. "Look, is this about the job? 'Cause if it is you could come work with us and stay —"
"Duo," Mia interrupted sharply, her voice raising slightly. "I have to go. That is that, all right? Nothing you say is going to make me change my mind. Nothing, understand?"
Duo grumbled something incoherent and scowled at his plate, then looked up to glare at Mia. "I should've known you'd be like this. Mia, you haven't changed one bit."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mia asked.
"I'm offering you a job, a home, and protection; and yet again you're throwing my generosity back in my face," he began, "that hurts, Mia, it does."
"Again?" she replied, ignoring the latter comment. Duo looked as though he were trying very hard to keep his anger under control. Heero could see that his hand was shaking, and was debating removing the fork in it for safety reasons.
"Mia, I've offered you that before, and you threw it back in my face."
She stared at him like he was crazy. That was it for Duo, he dropped his fork loudly on his plate and stood up from his chair so abruptly he caused the entire table to shudder.
"Mia, I did everything for you back on L2! And you never even thanked me!"
"Duo, what are you talking about?!" Mia stood, too, her eyes narrowed in frustration.
"Who was the one who kept you out of trouble? I was. Who gave you a home with the most successful group of street orphans there was? I did. Who kept you out of trouble when you got caught stealing something? I did. Who beat the other boys up because they made fun of you? I did. Who shared his meager little portions of food with you when you couldn't scrounge anything for yourself?! I did! I did all those things, Mia, and you just took, took, took. Never a 'thank you' or anything!" Duo's voice had risen with each sentence, his face flushing with fresh blood and adrenaline.
Mia opened and closed her mouth several times, as thought not quite sure how to say what she wanted. Finally, however, she simply lost control, and in one quick movement she slapped him across the face — hard. Duo stared at her wildly, his face contorted with anger, hurt, and surprise. Quatre and Trowa stared, shocked as well, whereas Heero simply wanted to kill.
"That," she began slowly, her voice oddly quiet, "is a lie. You know it is, too. Don't you, Duo? Which is funny, because you never lie." Mia seemed unearthly — insane, perhaps. There was an indecipherable gleam in her eyes, her voice was deathly quiet and heavily coated with sarcasm.
Duo simply glared at her in response, gently curled fist brushing up against the spot on his cheek that was tingling with pain and glowing a rich red.
"Duo, I'm not denying that you helped me. Hell, you practically saved my life! If it wasn't for you, I would have died like so many others who didn't have the superior amount intelligence of a street-kid like you. But don't pretend that you did everything; don't play the hero. Don't bring up the past just because you're mad at me because I have to leave. Who was the one who patched you up when you got beaten up? I was. Who nursed you back to health when you got the flu that one time, and could barely even sit up? I did. Duo, you could have died of that! I was there for you just as much as you were for me, and —"
"And then what, Mia? You do remember what happened next, don't you?" Duo interrupted, his tone matching hers. "You left. You left without any hint at all that you were going, leaving me behind to worry my ass off about you, wondering if you were still alive, if you were going to come back. If you still even loved me." As fast as Duo's voice had sobered, it had flared back up again, bitter as vinegar. "Mia, I actually cried myself to sleep after you left! And then I was taken to the Orphanage and lost all hope of ever seeing you again! But, no, it couldn't have just rested in peace, you had to come back! Look, here you are, right in front of my face, the same Mia you always were. The same scrawny little girl who couldn't steal an apple from a cart that wasn't even being watched! And now, just as soon as you get here, you want to leave again?!"
"Duo, I have no choice but to leave —"
"Bull shit, Mia! You always have a choice — always! God damn it! Just damn it all! Mia, it would have been so much better if you hadn't come back. Christ, you should have died! In fact, that's how it will be from now on. Mia, you don't exist anymore. From now on, you're dead to me!"
He took a moment to revel in the contorted mass of emotions that flickered across her face: hurt, fear, anger, pain, and then more hurt. Satisfied, he turned and slammed the chair into the table, causing it to shake again, and ran up the stairs just as Mia ran out the back door.
On his way to his room, Duo met Wufei in the hallway. Obviously not seeing the expression on his friend's face, Wufei stopped him. "Hey, Duo, is Mia back yet?"
Duo gave a curt nod and started to move again, but the other boy wasn't so keen on letting him go yet. "Where is she?"
Drawing in a shaky breath, Duo grabbed Wufei's shirt and slammed him up against the wall so fast that Wufei hadn't even realized what had happened until he felt pain rip through his spine. "Gone," was the only answer he muttered before stalking off to his room and slamming the door.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Although he wouldn't admit it, Wufei was anxious to see where Mia had gone. He figured she was probably half-way into town by now. That is, he had before he heard the distinct sound of a muffled sob. Following the sound around to the side of the house he found her. Sitting with her back up against the house and her legs drawn up so her elbows rested on her knees, she held her hands over her face. Whether she was trying to stifle her sobs or to keep herself from crying altogether, he could only guess.
Mia turned her head the opposite way, biting her bottom lip. She would be weak if she were to cry, and she had not a doubt in her mind that Wufei would agree with her. She felt a light shift in the air as he sat down next to her and the knot in her stomach clenched tighter and tighter, and grew colder and colder. Mia managed to gain control of herself, breathing in silent, hiccoughing gasps. In order to preoccupy herself, acting as though she had no knowledge of the boy sitting next to her, she began to undo her braid slowly to waste time. She was almost sure that he would be bored enough to leave her, but he didn't. Instead, to her shock, he began to help her un-plait the rest of her hair.
Just like I knew it would be... he thought to himself, fingers gently combing through the soft, silky strands of her hair in somewhat of a relaxing manner. He continued until her body shook no longer with ragged breaths and until she turned slightly to look at him. Wufei wondered exactly what it was about her that made him feel so different. That made him want to bring down the sarcastic and strong shield that he had been building over time.
"What happened, Mia?" he asked quietly, withdrawing his fingertips rather reluctantly from her scalp.
"I'm dead," she said bitterly.
Wufei blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Duo and I got into an argument. He saw me packing and threw a fit."
When he made no further comments, she took it as a hint to continue.
"He kept saying things about how I abandoned him, and just left him to worry; and how I have the nerve to just come waltzing back to see him and then leave again so abruptly..." She stopped, trying to swallow the painful lump that was swelling in her throat at the thought of what else he had said. Mia was sure her voice shook, but if Wufei noticed it he didn't show it.
Clearing his throat a bit, Wufei turned so that he was facing her completely. "Well, it did seem to tear him up. He must've really cared about you, Mia, and to see you leaving again must only be even more tormenting. You two haven't even had a real conversation, and I know Duo's itching to catch you alone so that you can fill each other in on things." That would be typical of Duo, he loved to talk.
Mia's body tensed as he spoke and although he did not see, she only grew angrier at his words. Her dark hair had fallen so that it hid half of her face, so when Wufei saw her body shaking, he assumed she was crying. He reached a hand hesitantly out, but it was immediately slapped away as Mia turned quickly and pounced him, yelling, "Did you just come out to berate me some more?!"
Wufei caught her, surprised, and fell backwards. Her eyes flashed furiously, but Wufei could see hurt hidden beneath her anger. He didn't respond with words, but sat up slowly, surprising himself by removing her arms from either side of his head to pull her into a soothing embrace. Mia didn't refuse it and simply rested there, her face buried in the crook of his neck as she drew in deep breaths to keep the tears from falling.
Meiran was too proud to cry, too... a voice said inside Wufei's mind. He dipped his head down so that his lips barely brushed against her ear and whispered, "It's okay, just let them go."
His breath was warm on her skin, and Mia felt a small shiver run up her spine in spite of it. His scent was almost intoxicating, a sweet mix of sandalwood and jasmine — the incense he used during meditation — but she brought her head up to look at him, eyes questioning his intentions. Two crystalline tears slipped quickly over her cheeks.
Slowly, as though he were trying not to frighten a small animal, he brought his hand up and allowed his fingertips to gently caress her cheek, tracing the contours of her face: brushing a few rogue strands of hair from her forehead, trailing down the bridge of her nose, across her lips, tilting her chin up. Her face was so familiar and at the same time it was unique. Honor, independence, loyalty, kindness, and pride all melded together into a mask of perfect beauty and innocence. All the while they were being drawn to each other like two magnets of opposing poles, until they could feel one another's breath on their own. And just as they were about to kiss a voice violated the silence that had befallen dusk.
"Wufei!?"
They jumped away from each other like they had been scorched by the flames of Hell and Wufei scrambled to his feet with a rapidly beating heart. Taking a deep breath to regain his composure, Wufei walked to the corner of the house to see Quatre standing outside the back door searching the yard for him.
"Quatre?"
"I think you should come in here. Sally's on the line and she's got some extremely important information for us all."
"Kisama!" he muttered under his breath. "Injustice.... I'll be there in a minute!"
With a nod, the little blonde boy bounced back inside. Exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, Wufei turned back around to see if Mia would be all right.
She was gone.
