I hope you're all enjoying this…I'm enjoying writing it. Sorry for the slow going. ^____^;;;;

Absolute Zero

Continued

5. Subject

          Not one of the pilots could convince Heero to go to sleep after Mary's accident. For a while, he wouldn't even let her be taken from the bathroom. Every time the paramedics would try to approach her body, Heero would scream at them, trying to tell them she wasn't dead but unable to. The end resolution was to have some of the paramedics hold Heero back so Mary's corpse could be taken out. Later on, Heero sought out a small corner and situated himself there, determined not to move or to fall asleep. None of them could figure out what had killed Mary. It was clear that she had been electrocuted. And undeniably, there were appliances in the bathroom. The only suitable conclusion was that she had touched something electrical with wet hands by accident and the shock had knocked her back, causing her to fall near the tub where they had found her. Heero had still been curled up protectively in the corner of the bath tub, shivering by that time because of the diminishing heat of the water, and staring into Mary's glazed-over eyes.

          Duo had pulled a chair near Heero's corner and sat there trying to get him to go to bed or at least come out. At last he had resigned and contented himself to watching over Heero. But it hadn't been long before sleep had gotten the better of him. He awoke slowly the next morning to see Heero sitting cross-legged in front of him, looking down at a small red rose in his hands. Yawning he sat up and stretched, oblivious to how dim the light in the room was.

          "Good mornin', Heero!" The Japanese pilot continued to stare at the rose. "What ya got there, buddy?" A chill ran down his spine as cold air blew in through the open window, stirring the gossamer curtains. As he watched, Heero opened his hands and the rose lifted slowly into the air, hovering just inches above his palms.

          "H-how did you…?" Quietly, so quiet that it seemed to be only a figment of the imagination, a small, young voice drifted into Duo's ears, riding on the wind.

          "Ring…around…the rose – ie……pocket…full…of po-sies……" Heero's head lifted slowly.

          "Wake up."

          Duo woke with a start. 'What was that?' he wondered. Nervously he looked around. Heero was still sitting in his corner, facing the wall.

          "Was it a…dream?" He placed a shaking hand over his chest; his heart was jumping so hard and so fast it hurt. "Oh man, that's got me shaken up pretty bad…" Sitting up in his chair he laughed. "It ain't nothin' a little coffee can't cure." Mechanical beeping sounded softly in the room. He looked up, searching for the source of the noise. It was coming from Heero's laptop computer. At first he thought nothing of it but then he realized –

          "Damn, it's been almost two weeks since Heero would've talked to J!!" Prussian blue eyes followed him as he scrambled over to the computer resting on the table top and took it out of "sleep" mode. A small window was flashing in front of the desktop. "Call waiting" it read. Duo bit his lip as the window flashed and the beeping continued.

          "Great, this is just great…what am I supposed to do?!" He sighed. "I guess I'll just try to stall him." Moving his finger over the mouse pad, he clicked the accept button on the window. Immediately, more windows popped up.

          "Enter password…PASSWORD!?! What password?! Geez Heero, you don't make it easy, do ya?" He turned to look at Heero sitting in the corner but the silent boy was gone. "Huh? Where'd he go?" Concerned, he swiveled the other way, trying to locate Heero, and jumped when he found him to be standing right next to him.

          "You seriously gotta stop doing that…" Heero lifted his hand slowly, seemingly oblivious to Duo's words. The long-haired American watched with mild interest the other boy's fingers moving slowly across the keyboard. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the computer beeped and all the windows cleared. He was now free to accept the call that was undoubtedly from Dr. J. Unsure of what to say, Duo stared at Heero for a moment then accepted the call. Dr. J's half mechanical face appeared on the screen. He looked surprised.

          "Where is Heero?" he demanded.

          "Uh yeah, I thought you might ask that…he's…around…" Duo eyed the Japanese boy carefully, thankful that he was out of the camera's range.

          "It has been nearly two weeks since he's checked in. I need to speak with him. Put him on."

          "Well he's…kinda…he can't talk to ya right now." Already he was searching his mind for something further to say. He couldn't lie and that hadn't been a lie; Heero really couldn't talk to anyone at the moment. But Dr. J would ask why Heero couldn't talk to him and then what would he say? A possible answer presented itself as Quatre walked into the room, rubbing a faint scar on his cheek absently. In his other hand he carried a cup of coffee.

          "I thought I'd come and check on you and Heero…" he began. Upon seeing who Duo was talking to, he virtually froze. Duo pushed the laptop's screen down slightly and hopped up from the chair.

          "Quatre, you gotta help me out here! Dr. J wants to talk to Heero but… well you know the problem with that…" He shook his head. "Should we hide this from him or what? I mean, he might be able to reverse it…"

          "That's a good question. I hadn't thought about this happening…" He paused briefly. "Maybe…maybe we should let Dr. J know about it. I mean, something like this is too hard to hide forever. I think it's better to just let him know sooner." Duo nodded in agreement.

          "Sounds like a plan!" Grinning, he pushed Quatre into the chair. "You do it."

          "Me…what, wait a minute, you were talking to him!" Before he could protest any more, Duo had pulled the laptop's screen back up and he was staring into Dr. J's cybernetic eyes.

          "Number four, where is Heero and why can't I speak with him?" Quatre faltered for a moment.

          "You see…Dr. J…" He stopped to clear his throat. "On our last mission together, Heero was involved in…an accident." Now it was Dr. J's turn to pause.

          "Quatre, are you trying to tell me my pilot is dead?" His tone said all too clearly that he would do more than just disbelieve Quatre if those words left his mouth. The young blonde shook his head vigorously, tossing his golden locks to and fro.

          "No, no, it wasn't that bad. He's still alive…but he's been rendered unable to pilot the gundam." He gave Dr. J a moment to absorb this before continuing. "He can barely talk or walk. He can't write or type because the words are too hard for his mind to process. We suspect that he's lost most if not all of his memories."

          "Let me speak with him."

          "But –."

          "Let me speak with him, please." After a moment's hesitation, Quatre nodded then moved from the chair. He and Duo sat Heero down in front of the computer screen. The old scientist was visibly shocked at the vacant expression on Heero's face but for only a split second.

          "Heero, can you understand me?" Heero stared at Dr. J's image on the screen. He couldn't understand why the person he was looking at was flat. Slowly he reached out and touched the screen. It was as if he was looking at a picture…but the picture moved and made sounds. He couldn't understand.

          "Why haven't you sent a report from your last mission?"

          "That man stole our childhood, Heero." Heero stared at Dr. J in confusion. "We hate that man." Duo and Quatre tensed as Heero's mouth opened.

          "I…" They watched as the former pilot's eyes narrowed. "…I…hate you."

          "In your face Wufei, that's a whole sentence!" Duo grinned proudly as Quatre sighed. Dr. J was silent for a moment before speaking.

          "Bring him to my lab immediately." Without giving any of them time to respond, he ended the call.

          "Uh…I don't think that's a good thing…"

          "No…" Quatre sighed again. "It isn't a good thing."

***

          Getting to the colony that Dr. J's lab was stationed on proved to be less difficult than the pilots had believed it would be. At first, not all of them were going to go. Duo and Quatre were to go with Heero to the laboratory but Trowa was concerned with Quatre's ceaseless scratching of his arms and face and had even seen him open some of the old wounds. He committed himself to the trip when Duo mixed up the medications Quatre was supposed to be taking. Wufei showed considerable yet false disinterest in what Dr. J might find about Heero's condition. Allured by the possible results of a few tests, he decided to go along with them under the pretense that he had nothing better to do and didn't want to be left alone with all the "annoying hand-maids".

          With Quatre's connections, it was relatively simple to get a semi-private shuttle out to the colony. Keeping a low profile, they snuck into the lab and started down the long corridors to the heart of the place where they would find the doctor waiting. Silently, Heero observed their path. It seemed familiar to him. 'I know this place…I shouldn't be here.' The other pilots kept going as he stopped suddenly. Wufei, lost in thought, didn't seem to realize the body in front of him had ceased its forward motion and bumped into it, receiving a small shock that was just enough to bring him back to his senses. He mumbled to himself, somewhat annoyed. It wasn't long before the others noticed and stopped as well.

          "Why'd ya stop, Heero?" Duo asked, confused. He watched Heero retreat a step. With a reassuring smile, Quatre said,

          "Come on Heero, we're going to take you to see Dr. J. You'll be fine, I promise." His smile faded as Heero shook his head slowly.

          "No." He said. There was no emotion behind the word. It was simple and flat – which made it all the more chilling.

          "But he might be able to help ya, Heero!" Again the handicapped boy shook his head.

          "No." Quatre opened his mouth to make another appeal but someone else's voice cut him off.

          "Don't bother pleading with him." A time-crippled, half-mechanical man emerged from the shadows. "I'll handle it from here." Heero began to take another step back but was quickly caught by two rather large men. They exchanged glances when both of them received small static shocks. Dr. J stepped forward and stared at his young trainee.

          "You're just going to let them grab you, Heero? You're just going to let them take you? Is that what I taught you, Heero?" The boy's slightly widened blue eyes drifted off to the side. No sound came from his partially opened mouth. The old scientist moved directly in front of Heero and raised his hand as if he meant to strike the boy. Still he received no response. Frowning, he lowered his hand.

          "What did you let them do to you, Heero?" After another moment of silence, he motioned for the men to take Heero away.

          "Hey, where're you taking Heero?!" Duo demanded.

          "I need to find out for myself what happened. You all are welcome to come along and I ask that you do. I would like to ask you all some questions."

          "Well I'm comin' with ya, whether you like it or not!" Dr. J nodded once and continued on into the shadowed recesses of his laboratory.

***

          Dr. J and his assistants ran multiple tests on Heero. But every question they answered only led to more unanswered ones. Somewhat impatiently, the aged man tried presenting these new questions to the other boys but to no avail; they could not answer many of the questions either. Duo voiced once again a question he had been asking for the past hour.

          "Where's Heero?" At that moment, one of Dr. J's assistants walked in.

          "The final test has been set up, Dr. J." she informed him quietly.

          "Good, thank you." The young woman left as Dr. J stood, supporting some of his weight on a small cane. "Come with me and I'll show you where Heero is." He turned abruptly and walked away. The four unsuspecting and bewildered boys followed after briefly exchanging silent yet meaningful glances.

          They arrived shortly in a fair-sized observation room. Computers ran the length of almost every wall. Their small blinking lights were the only lights in the room, aside from the steady glow of the monitors. One of the walls had a large window in it reaching just short of a few inches from either of the side walls. They could see nothing through it, however, for there was an equally large slab of metal covering it.

          "Heero has been being tested this entire time." Dr. J began. "He will have to be retrained. This final test will tell me what to focus on the most." He nodded to another assistant sitting at a computer. A button was pushed and the sheet of metal lifted slowly and noiselessly. On the other side was a well lit room containing only a young boy wearing a loose green tanktop and black, spandex shorts. He looked around briefly before going back to staring straight ahead absently.

          "Why do you have Heero in there?" Duo demanded, making his way to the window. "Just what kinda test is this??"

          "Be patient, Duo. You will see." He turned to the same assistant. "Begin the test." he ordered. Another button was pushed. Even more silent than the metal sheet that had covered the window, a panel in the far wall of the room Heero was in slid open. They watched closely as a man stepped out quietly. He held a menacing knife in his hand.

          "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Duo cried. "YOU'RE GONNA HAVE HIM ATTACK HEERO!?! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!" He pounded on the window, trying to get Heero's attention.

          "Don't waste your strength. He can't hear you, that room is sound proof. He can't see you either; the other side of that window is a mirror. And Heero can defend himself just fine." Quatre stepped towards Dr. J.

          "Dr. J, I don't think you realize just how serious Heero's condition is! He can barely move!" The old doctor ignored Quatre's pleas and watched the events through the window. The knife carrying man charged at Heero without a sound.

          "Forget this, I'm bringin' this test to an end!!" Duo murmured. He looked around for a button to push or a microphone with which to tell the man to stop, shoving assistants out of his way left and right.

          "Stop that! Don't touch that!! You'll ruin everything!!"

          "In case you didn't notice, that's what I'm tryin' to do!"

          "Duo, be careful! That's my arm!!" Trowa joined the small scuffle to help Quatre get free while Wufei watched from his perch atop one of the computers. Wufei's dark brown eyes took in the man's movements as he approached Heero. Finally the mentally handicapped boy seemed to notice another person's presence. He turned slowly to face the body flying towards him.

          "YOU'RE GONNA KILL YOUR OWN PILOT!!"

          "Heero will not be killed, I assure you! Then it all would have been a waste of my own time!!"

          "Dr. J, just stop the test, please!!"

          "While you're fighting, the test is still running." Trowa pointed out.

          "Damn it, stop the test, old man!!" Duo reached for a button, causing everyone to be turned towards the window. They looked up in just enough time to see it happen. The man leaped at Heero, knife held high, and gave a small yell. Those two, impurely innocent, deep, dark blue eyes locked on the man.

          "Back…" Heero's voice was quiet but they all heard it because all activity in the observation room had ceased. And everyone saw the man rocket backwards and slam into the wall. And everyone heard the loud snap. And everyone saw him fall to the floor. And everyone knew he was dead. No one could say anything. Heero stared at the dead body on the floor for a moment then reached up and scratched his head.

          "Cold now…?" They watched him turn toward them, looking into each of their eyes.

          "I thought you said he couldn't see us." Wufei half whispered.

          "He…he can't see us." Dr. J sputtered. "It isn't possible. It physically isn't possible!" A small jolt of surprise passed through all of them as another panel opened and at least six armed men charged at Heero.

          "The test is still going!" Dr. J growled, trying to get onto his feet correctly. Wufei hopped down, landing next to one of the assistants.

          "Stop the test." he instructed him.

          "I'm sorry, I can't do that." Wufei glared at the man.

          "Are you brain dead? He'll kill all those men! Stop the test."

          "I only take orders from Dr. J."

          "Stop the test, you fool!! Haven't you been watching?" Dr. J snarled as he righted himself.

          "Yes, sir, right away!" The assistant typed in a  code then pressed an intercom switch.

          "Abort the test immediately!" he cried. But he was too late. Though they could not see it, a massive wave of energy exploded from the infantile teen, sending men flying in all directions. The window rattled fiercely from the pressure being exerted on it. It began to look like a bubble someone was trying to blow out the frame.

          "GET UNDER COVER!" someone screamed. All the assistants and pilots dove to the floor while Dr. J situated himself behind a sturdy computer, all of them trying to protect themselves from flying glass. Just as it seemed the glass could stretch no further and would shatter, it sucked back into place with the sound of wind being drawn into a vacuum. All sound disappeared. Then all at once it came back as the entire slab of glass burst into an innumerable amount of sparkling shards, raining down among the cowering people in the room. Only seconds after, it wasn't just glass that was falling around them. Duo squeaked.

          "Somethin' just landed on my back…" he whimpered quietly. Trowa, who was nearest to him, looked up slightly to see what it was. He grimaced but just a little.

          "It's an arm." he informed the trembling Deathscythe pilot.

          "AAA, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!!!!" Duo jumped up in a panicked frenzy, throwing the arm to the floor. He froze when he caught sight of the other room. The walls were stained with fresh blood and body parts. Flesh dripped from the ceiling, resembling crimson snow. Every now and then there came a sickening splat sound as part of a leg or arm or other appendage plopped down onto the floor. And in the midst of it all stood Heero, his hair waving in a wind that was not there, framing his head and face like a small brown halo. He surveyed the damage he had caused, his head partially turned away from Duo. The braided boy felt a surge of nervousness as the steely eyes turned on him without warning. For that moment, the first pilot looked to Duo as he had before. His facial expression, though not easily identified, was the one he was so accustomed to seeing. There was no blank look in his eyes, his mouth was not hanging open. There was no childish fear there. There was only confidence. There was only superiority. There was Heero Yuy, the pilot of the gundam Wing Zero, the perfect soldier. He could almost hear Heero asking him what he was staring at. The connection was severed suddenly, almost painfully, when Heero blinked. His hair dropped back into place. He became an empty shell once more.

          "You're not Heero." Duo mumbled accusingly. "Who are you? Do you know what you've done?" He winced then continued in a whisper. "Do you even care?" He himself blinked and brought himself back to reality. Looking around he wondered, 'what was I doin'? I can't remember…' Glass and bones crunched around him as the others stood. He felt Quatre's hand on his shoulder.

          "I think he does care, Duo." he said with a small smile. Duo raised an eyebrow.

          "What?" he asked.

          "From the floor it sounded like you asked Heero if he cared what he did…and I think he does care." Duo smiled at the young blonde.

          "You must've gotten some glass in your ear, Q-man. I never asked Heero that." Quatre frowned slightly.

          "But you did…I heard you." Duo shook his head, still smiling.

          "Nope, it wasn't me. I think I'd remember sayin' it." Wufei folded his arms after brushing himself off.

          "I heard you say it too. I think it was one of the only times I've ever heard you use proper grammar.

          "Well then, that really proves I didn't say it." Duo joked.

          "Never mind that…" Dr. J said, coming out of his makeshift shelter. "What's most important now is Heero. I have to find out what that was and how he can do that…"

          "Oh no you don't, I think you've done enough tests on Heero!"

          "There is no question in the matter. You may observe the tests but you will not stop them nor will you interfere." Without another word he began to walk away.

          "You can't just treat him like he's your own personal guinea pig! He's a human being!!" Duo yelled at Dr. J's retreating back.. The scientist made no effort to respond. With a quiet growl Duo whipped around to yell into the other room.
          "Run away, Heero! Get out of here!!" His eyes widened when they failed to perceive Heero. "Where'd he go??" he wondered aloud, vague panic making his voice quiver. He barely heard Dr. J's voice as he continued down the hall.

          "You may not interfere."

***

          While Heero was being prepared for the next test, the other pilots were completely free to leave. They did not however; none of them, especially not Duo, particularly trusted that Heero would be alright should they leave him to the care of the mad scientist. When everything was set up, they were permitted to watch through a separate window. They could not enter the control room, as per Dr. J's request.

          Heero was seated at one end of the room. The chair was raised slightly and looked unlike any chair the boys had ever seen. Metal cuffs with wires running along their surfaces held Heero's arms and feet. Even more wires were attached to his head with colored suction pads. At the other end of the room, a neat and orderly line of simple, wooden building blocks rested on a small platform. A poster with a diagram of a castle made from the blocks hung on the wall behind that.

          "He just won't rest until Heero's dead, will he?!" Duo punched the wall below the window, a little harder than he had intended to.

          "Don't worry Duo." Quatre said reassuringly. "We won't let that happen." Their attention focused on the room as Dr. J's voice echoed through it and the hall they were standing in.

          "Look closely at the diagram on the wall, Heero." Dr. J instructed. "I want you to arrange the blocks in just that way, using the abilities you showed earlier." Silence ensued.

          "Do you understand me, Heero?"

          "Yes."

          "Go on then. Do as you were instructed." Silence settled over them again. Then finally, a short yet profound noise broke it.

          "No." Above all others, Dr. J seemed to be the most shocked.

          "I will not tolerate this insolence, Heero. Do as you were told."

          "No."

          "If you don't follow instructions, Heero…" The old man hesitated. "I will be forced to discipline you."

          "No." Frowning, Dr. J looked down at a computer panel.

          "You've left me no choice, Heero." He flipped a switch. The ex-mercenary's body tensed. His eyes widened.

          "What's he doing to him?" Duo asked in confusion. Trowa observed carefully the way Heero's mouth opened more and more, a scream of pain caught in his throat. It dawned on him as foam began to ooze out and slide down the boy's cheek.

          "He's…electrocuting him." Duo could hardly contain his rage.

          "He's doing WHAT!?" He pounded furiously on the door to the control room. "Hey stupid, don't you think he's been electrocuted enough already?!" Heero slumped in the chair slightly after the electricity was cut off.

          "Will you follow orders now, Heero?" Heero lifted his head.

          "Yes."

          "Good. Now, arrange the blocks as you see them on the picture." Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei watched quietly and Duo banged on the door a bit longer. Finally he realized that the test had started and he pressed himself up against the glass for a better look. Heero's blank eyes moved slowly over the picture then examined the blocks set out in front of him. He could see that the bottom was a long, red, rectangular block. On top of that was something that looked like a rectangle with half a circle missing from it, as if it were half of a square with a hole in it. The side with the half circular hole was pointing downward. He could see the block that matched this one. He could understand that this block was supposed to go on top of the red block. He could not, however, understand how he was to get it there.

          "Show us the powers you used before, Heero." Everyone stared on as Heero's head and eyes drifted to the side. His eyelids dropped. They waited a few moments. Then just as Dr. J was about to say something, the seemingly sleeping boy's head swiveled to face forward, his eyes open yet narrowed. His hair wavered, a small, almost undetectable motion. Very slowly the yellow block began to lift into the air. As his eyes moved, so the block moved and soon it was sitting atop the red, rectangular base of the structure. In complete awe, everyone else looked on as more and more blocks were added to the pile. So caught up were they in the fact that the impossible was being proven possible right in front of their eyes that they forgot to look at the person proving it. Sweat dropped from the Wing Pilot's skin like rain. His pounding heart served as the rolling thunder and his increased breath was as the hurricane, completing the storm of exertion in his body. The observers noticed only when the last block lost altitude quite suddenly, though remaining in the air.

          "Come on Heero, you can do it." Dr. J urged. Heero's eyelids flickered as sticky liquid flowed over them. Duo felt worry and anger rise within him as he took in what was happening to Heero.

          "Heero doesn't look too good…" he murmured.

          "Yeah…maybe they should stop." Quatre agreed.

          "They'll have to stop soon; his nose is bleeding." At Wufei's words, Duo's violet orbs went directly to Heero's nose. Sure enough, the thick, scarlet substance was running down his nostrils and dripping from his lip. He coughed and spluttered silently to them, as they could hear him only when Dr. J pushed the intercom button; he was choking on his own sweat and blood.

          "Don't you give up, Heero! I didn't teach you to be a quitter!" When Heero's eyes began to roll back into his skull, Duo decided that he could take it no longer. Ferociously he attacked the door between himself and the control room.

          "Stop it!!" he screamed. "Can't you see you're hurtin' him!?!" He turned back for one last glance at the straining boy behind the window. At last Heero gave in to the stress. His body slumped forward and his head rolled to the side. The waves of energy he had been forcing out followed the motion of his head. The four pilots jumped back instinctively; so powerful were the waves headed in their direction that they could actually hear them moving. So many fine cracks appeared in the window they had been watching through that it became as white as the plastered wall it was set in. Fearlessly, Trowa touched the glass. A small hole just the size of his finger appeared in it and on his skin was left what appeared to be slightly lumpy powder. The waves had been so strong and so fast they had crunched the window into dust without moving it an inch. Words were not needed. Everyone could see quite clearly for themselves just how powerful Heero had become. And they all knew that when he awoke, he was not going to be happy.

*I dun care if the glass thing is possible or not, I think it's cool.*