Disclaimer: Didn't we do this already? I don't own these beautiful boys,
though I wish I did. I just put them in this story to make their lives
hell. Its what I do. (
~*~*~*~*~ And then there was one
1:30 AM
Heero shuddered and pulled the blanket tighter around himself. It didn't really help though, even the couch was cold despite the fact that he had been sitting in it for nearly a half hour. He shot a glance at Wufei who was bent over the fireplace.
"Can't you get that fire running any faster?"
"I'd love to see you try and do this." His voice dripped with resentment. And why shouldn't it? They did pack him into the car while he was sleeping. He hadn't stopped moping about the violation for hours. But that was still no excuse to get crabby.
"Don't take that tone with me!"
"take it easy there Heero. You're supposed to be on vacation. You two can tear each other's throats out when we get home." Trowa lent over the couch and handed Heero a steaming mug. Taking a sip, he calmed a bit. Hot chocolate. Leave it to Trowa to find a way to shut him up. He did have a point though. Part of the reason they were even there was to relax and get the tension worked out.
It was origionally Quatre and Duo's idea. The two had spent hours in the library discussing the various portions of their plan. Lure us all out to dinner, which would force Heero to leave his gun behind. Invite them all over for the night afterwards, so they could pounce on Wufei without too much trouble. Pack the group into a car and drive for 3 hours to a place in the middle of nowhere where the night temperature could freeze water in under 30 minutes.
"Some vacation." Heero muttered before taking another sip. And speaking of the two little schemers.. "Any idea where Quatre and Duo got off to?"
Trowa sat at the other end of the couch, watching Wufei silently swear at the fireplace. At first Heero thought he didn't hear him. But after a moment he sat back a bit and replied.
"Quatre went out to get some food for tomorrow. Duo went to find a room." He paused, a thoughtful look on his face. "You know Duo; he always has to have first say on the rooms."
That was true. Any time the boys went somewhere new, vacation, a mission, Duo always ended up getting the best room. The rest usually had to bunk with each other. Last time, they tried to break tradition by putting Wufei in the same room as Duo...a mistake that would not be repeated anytime soon. Halfway through the night, Wufei had tried to shoot him. Lord knows what the baka had done to get him so riled, but he steered clear of Wufei for the rest of the week.
Heero's mind snapped back to present time at the sound of his name. Wufei was standing over him, a slightly more than annoyed look on his face, as he waved his hand in front of Heero's eyes.
"Hey! Are you listening to me?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Lost in thought."
"Well if you want this stupid fire lit so bad, you can help you know. Go see if Duo has something we can use to get more than hot coals. A lighter, matches, kerosene, some C4, anything!"
Heero opened his mouth to protest against Wufei's rudeness, but held back when he caught Trowa's stern expression from the corner of his eye. Giving Wufei one last icy glare, he cast aside the blanket and moved to the hallway.
//I WILL go one week without loosing my temper on that ignorant fool. Just one week. Then I put Wufei through the wall.\\ ~*~*~*~*~ side note: Ya, I know. I made Heero a little harsh in this one. He seems to be having a bit of a feud with Wufei. Lord only knows why. Get used to it. Wufei is gonna go through a DRASTIC change of character. ~*~*~*~ 1:35 AM
Finding Duo wasn't all that difficult. One needed only to follow the rhythmic pounding of whatever was coming out of his stereo. And tonight was no exception. Heero had no idea how well insulated the doors were until he opened it, the volume of the music causing him to shake his head a few times to clear the ringing out of his ears. He had barely heard the music from the hall. Closing the door behind him, Heero stood against the wall and amused himself by watching Duo.
The braided American had on some sort of haunting melody, much in contrast to his usual array of heavy metal. The ghost like voices made Heero shudder a bit. Duo must have been practicing a few martial arts moves to the music since he was frozen in position, his brow furrowed in concentration. He looked almost angry, as if the music itself inspired him to place pure rage into every shot. If only his concentration was like that the rest of the time.
Bored of watching Duo just stand there, Heero turned his attention to the room itself. It was nothing special really. A small closet, a desk, a dresser, a window. Perhaps the reason Duo had selected this particular room was the double sized bed that was nestled up against the wall. Duo must have tested the springs on it right away; the covers were strewn all over the place. He had enough blankets mind you, which explains why Heero couldn't find any when he unpacked. Red ones, black ones, green ones, even a huge blue one with a dial that hung over the edge of the bed.
An electric blanket!
Heero's eyes widened. Lady luck was on his side after all. He took a step towards the bed just as Duo moved, executing a near perfect seiken chudan-tsuki, catching Heero in the ribs. Reflexes kicked in and within moments, Duo was flat on his back with a fist dangerously close to his head. His downward trip had pulled the stereo chord out of the wall, snapping him from his musical daze to greet the sight.
"What the? Hee-chan! I...I didn't...when did you....."
A sudden look of pain on Duo's face brought Heero back to his senses. He had been kneeling on the american's chest. Muttering a barely audible "sorry", he rose and moved back to his original target.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking." Duo got up and straightened out his shirt. Getting knocked to the floor didn't really bother him that much anymore. Heero did it so often, it was almost becoming routine.
"I thought you were gonna help Wu-man get the fire going."
hero wrapped the electric blanket around his shoulders and clicked it on. "You had something better." within seconds, the warmth was thawing his arms and back. A slight smile found its way to his face as he closed his eyes, taking in the faint scent of the blanket. The tranquility was shattered as Duo continued his rambling.
"It's not that cold in here, you know Heero."
"So?"
"You know what your problem is? You've been outside so much; I bet you've caught a cold or something!"
"Hn..." //pleeeeease go away. Let me relax.\\
"I'm serious! I mean, c'mon! You were only out in the rain for how long? You could get really sick if you keep that up."
//I don't CARE! Go away!\\
"I've got it! I'm gonna go get you something for that cold. Don't argue, you'll thank me in the morning. Doctor Maxwell is on the case!" He sprinted out the door, still chittering happily to himself. Heero let out a sigh. With any luck, Duo's attention would waver off and he could relax in peace for once. ~*~*~
Quatre was barely through the door when he was ambushed by Duo, who promptly relieved him of a shopping bag and started rummaging through it.
"What are you looking for Duo?" Not hearing, he snatched the second bag and started to pull out cans and bottles. Quatre glanced at Trowa, a questioning look forming across his face. Trowa simply shrugged and returned to his book.
"Hey! Get out of there!" Wufei set down his hot chocolate on the table and reached across trying to grab the bag.
"Hey, Q, did you grab any hotsauce?" Spying the hand that was threatening to steal his bag away, Duo cried out. "What do you think you doing?!"
"That stuff has to last all week you know. The last thing we need is you eating it all in the first day!"
Duo held up his hand sin mock surrender. "Relax Wu-man! I'm just looking for something spicy!"
"What do you need it for?" Quatre loaded his arms with cans and started the task of stocking the cupboards.
"Heero's catching a cold. I'm gonna use a remedy that I was taught by an old friend." A mischievous grin crept across his face. Wufei cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Using hotsauce?"
"Yup! I'm gonna burn the cold right out of him!"
Trowa set down his book and gave Duo a look of disapproval. "Heero won't stand for it. You'll never get him to take whatever your cooking up."
"And I'm not hanging around when he blows his top. I'm gonna go grab a room." Wufei grabbed his hot chocolate and ventured down the hallway. Duo just shrugged off the lack of approval.
"What Hee-chan doesn't know won't hurt me."
Quatre put away the last of the cans and chuckled a bit. "How do you expect him to not notice that you're trying to poison him?"
"Hey! I resent that. Besides, he won't find out what's in it cuz YOU'RE not going to tell him." He jabbed a wooden spoon at Quatre.
"But Duo..."
"Shush! No. I've made up my mind. This is for his own good."
Quatre sighed, defeated. "Trowa, I'm going to go get some sleep. You better get a room before there's none left."
Trowa nodded and followed Quatre down the hall. Tossing a teaspoon of some sort of liquid that smelt like liquorish into the mixture, Duo followed.
"Lets see him get mad at me when I make him well in under a day!" ~*~*~*~ 1:37 am
Nudging the door open with his hip, Duo swayed into the room with such flourish it was a miracle and a half that he didn't spill the bowl in his hands.
"Aaaaaand here we are! One cold killer courtesy of our very own Duo Maxwell! Guaranteed to get rid of the worst cold symptoms in 24 hours or your money back!"
He stopped and looked around. "What? Don't I get applause? How about a thank you at least?"
Duo turned to look at the bed. Curled up in the electric blanket was Heero, the-soldier-who-sleeps-like-a-log as Duo had nicknamed him in fun last year.
"Oh thanks. You could have at least told me you were sleeping."
Duo set the bowl down on the dresser, clicked off the light, and nestled in behind Heero. "Sorry Hee-chan. but this was MY bed first." ~*~*~*~ 5:30 am
Wufei sat on the edge of the bathtub and played with the knobs. A good warm bath would sooth his nerves, he decided. He was just too tense. After all, this was vacation. He should be relaxing. Everyone needed a break from all the havoc and the missions. Maybe it was a good thing that the others had chosen to bring him along. Although, they could have woken him up first. Waking up in a car with your arms tied down by a seatbelt isn't the best way to improve on an already cranky mood.
Shutting off the water, Wufei stood and began to undo the buttons on his shirt. Yes, a few hours of soaking all to himself. This would be nice. He started to slide the third button out of its hole when a faint noise caught his ear. A foot across tile. Someone was in the room.
He tensed and turned, ready to give out an earful to whoever was invading his quiet time, when something collided with the side of his head. The force of the blow sent him toppling forwards, landing on his elbows in the bathtub. He pulled himself up a bit and tried to shake the stars form his eyes. Another blow, to his back this time, caused his hands to slide out from under him and he fell. The dull pain spread through his back and into his head to add to the already forming migraine. Someone was out to kill him! Panicking, Wufei tried to get up, but a heavy foot landed between his shoulder blades and pushed him back down.
Unable to move much more than an inch to either side, Wufei did the only thing he could and struggled to throw the attacker off. ~*~*~*~ 5:33 am
*thump*
*thump*
Trowa rolled over groggily and pulled the blankets over his head. It was bad enough he got to sleep sp late. Couldn't people be courteous enough to let him sleep in peace?
*Thump*
It was probably Duo. That boy downed so much soda on the way to the cabin last night that he was probably still coming off of his sugar high. Trowa sat up and rubbed his eyes, forcing them to focus.
*THUMP*
*THUMP*
*THUMP*
That was it. It was time he had a little talk with Duo about courtesy. Making his way down the hall, he cracked open Duo's door, hoping to catch him off guard. His anger melted away instantaneously at the sight before him.
Duo was fast asleep, snoring quietly. A dopey grin had broken out across his face as he snickered a bit. Must be having a good dream. His arm was draped protectively around Heero's waist, and his head was resting in the crook of his neck. Even Duo's braid was strewn across Heero. The two looked so adorable like that, and when Heero reached out to hold the end of the braid like a teddy bear, Trowa mentally cursed himself for not bringing the camera. This would have made a wonder snapshot for the scrapbook that Quatre was making.
But...
//If Duo's sleeping, who was making the noise?\\
Trowa started back down the hall towards his room. Whatever the banging had been from, it was gone now. Maybe he could actually get back to sleep. Turning to open his door, a sliver of light caught his attention. Someone was in the bathroom. Maybe whoever was awake would know what all the noise had been about.
He knocked lightly on the door a few times before opening it all the way. He couldn't see anyone there. It figured, someone had left the light on. Maybe it had been Quatre who was using the light as a guide. It was quite dark in the halls at night. He turned his attention to a dripping noise. The taps for the bathtub hadn't been turned off properly. He sighed. In the morning, he decided, the group would have to have a talk about racking up the utility bill like that. This place was a rental after all.
Walking over to turn the taps off, Trowa's breath caught when he spotted the body floating facedown in the water.
"Wufei!!!"
~*~*~*~ End part 1.
Sorry for the changing of the page structure but during a 3 am sugar rush, I plotted out the rest of the story and decided it would be more efficient in the end to put each section on a separate page. Just to let you know, I'm planning on starting this off as a "whodoneit" and then doing a twist at the end. See if you can figure out who my bad person is.
plz review! your not getting the next part until I get more reviews!
~*~*~*~*~ And then there was one
1:30 AM
Heero shuddered and pulled the blanket tighter around himself. It didn't really help though, even the couch was cold despite the fact that he had been sitting in it for nearly a half hour. He shot a glance at Wufei who was bent over the fireplace.
"Can't you get that fire running any faster?"
"I'd love to see you try and do this." His voice dripped with resentment. And why shouldn't it? They did pack him into the car while he was sleeping. He hadn't stopped moping about the violation for hours. But that was still no excuse to get crabby.
"Don't take that tone with me!"
"take it easy there Heero. You're supposed to be on vacation. You two can tear each other's throats out when we get home." Trowa lent over the couch and handed Heero a steaming mug. Taking a sip, he calmed a bit. Hot chocolate. Leave it to Trowa to find a way to shut him up. He did have a point though. Part of the reason they were even there was to relax and get the tension worked out.
It was origionally Quatre and Duo's idea. The two had spent hours in the library discussing the various portions of their plan. Lure us all out to dinner, which would force Heero to leave his gun behind. Invite them all over for the night afterwards, so they could pounce on Wufei without too much trouble. Pack the group into a car and drive for 3 hours to a place in the middle of nowhere where the night temperature could freeze water in under 30 minutes.
"Some vacation." Heero muttered before taking another sip. And speaking of the two little schemers.. "Any idea where Quatre and Duo got off to?"
Trowa sat at the other end of the couch, watching Wufei silently swear at the fireplace. At first Heero thought he didn't hear him. But after a moment he sat back a bit and replied.
"Quatre went out to get some food for tomorrow. Duo went to find a room." He paused, a thoughtful look on his face. "You know Duo; he always has to have first say on the rooms."
That was true. Any time the boys went somewhere new, vacation, a mission, Duo always ended up getting the best room. The rest usually had to bunk with each other. Last time, they tried to break tradition by putting Wufei in the same room as Duo...a mistake that would not be repeated anytime soon. Halfway through the night, Wufei had tried to shoot him. Lord knows what the baka had done to get him so riled, but he steered clear of Wufei for the rest of the week.
Heero's mind snapped back to present time at the sound of his name. Wufei was standing over him, a slightly more than annoyed look on his face, as he waved his hand in front of Heero's eyes.
"Hey! Are you listening to me?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Lost in thought."
"Well if you want this stupid fire lit so bad, you can help you know. Go see if Duo has something we can use to get more than hot coals. A lighter, matches, kerosene, some C4, anything!"
Heero opened his mouth to protest against Wufei's rudeness, but held back when he caught Trowa's stern expression from the corner of his eye. Giving Wufei one last icy glare, he cast aside the blanket and moved to the hallway.
//I WILL go one week without loosing my temper on that ignorant fool. Just one week. Then I put Wufei through the wall.\\ ~*~*~*~*~ side note: Ya, I know. I made Heero a little harsh in this one. He seems to be having a bit of a feud with Wufei. Lord only knows why. Get used to it. Wufei is gonna go through a DRASTIC change of character. ~*~*~*~ 1:35 AM
Finding Duo wasn't all that difficult. One needed only to follow the rhythmic pounding of whatever was coming out of his stereo. And tonight was no exception. Heero had no idea how well insulated the doors were until he opened it, the volume of the music causing him to shake his head a few times to clear the ringing out of his ears. He had barely heard the music from the hall. Closing the door behind him, Heero stood against the wall and amused himself by watching Duo.
The braided American had on some sort of haunting melody, much in contrast to his usual array of heavy metal. The ghost like voices made Heero shudder a bit. Duo must have been practicing a few martial arts moves to the music since he was frozen in position, his brow furrowed in concentration. He looked almost angry, as if the music itself inspired him to place pure rage into every shot. If only his concentration was like that the rest of the time.
Bored of watching Duo just stand there, Heero turned his attention to the room itself. It was nothing special really. A small closet, a desk, a dresser, a window. Perhaps the reason Duo had selected this particular room was the double sized bed that was nestled up against the wall. Duo must have tested the springs on it right away; the covers were strewn all over the place. He had enough blankets mind you, which explains why Heero couldn't find any when he unpacked. Red ones, black ones, green ones, even a huge blue one with a dial that hung over the edge of the bed.
An electric blanket!
Heero's eyes widened. Lady luck was on his side after all. He took a step towards the bed just as Duo moved, executing a near perfect seiken chudan-tsuki, catching Heero in the ribs. Reflexes kicked in and within moments, Duo was flat on his back with a fist dangerously close to his head. His downward trip had pulled the stereo chord out of the wall, snapping him from his musical daze to greet the sight.
"What the? Hee-chan! I...I didn't...when did you....."
A sudden look of pain on Duo's face brought Heero back to his senses. He had been kneeling on the american's chest. Muttering a barely audible "sorry", he rose and moved back to his original target.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking." Duo got up and straightened out his shirt. Getting knocked to the floor didn't really bother him that much anymore. Heero did it so often, it was almost becoming routine.
"I thought you were gonna help Wu-man get the fire going."
hero wrapped the electric blanket around his shoulders and clicked it on. "You had something better." within seconds, the warmth was thawing his arms and back. A slight smile found its way to his face as he closed his eyes, taking in the faint scent of the blanket. The tranquility was shattered as Duo continued his rambling.
"It's not that cold in here, you know Heero."
"So?"
"You know what your problem is? You've been outside so much; I bet you've caught a cold or something!"
"Hn..." //pleeeeease go away. Let me relax.\\
"I'm serious! I mean, c'mon! You were only out in the rain for how long? You could get really sick if you keep that up."
//I don't CARE! Go away!\\
"I've got it! I'm gonna go get you something for that cold. Don't argue, you'll thank me in the morning. Doctor Maxwell is on the case!" He sprinted out the door, still chittering happily to himself. Heero let out a sigh. With any luck, Duo's attention would waver off and he could relax in peace for once. ~*~*~
Quatre was barely through the door when he was ambushed by Duo, who promptly relieved him of a shopping bag and started rummaging through it.
"What are you looking for Duo?" Not hearing, he snatched the second bag and started to pull out cans and bottles. Quatre glanced at Trowa, a questioning look forming across his face. Trowa simply shrugged and returned to his book.
"Hey! Get out of there!" Wufei set down his hot chocolate on the table and reached across trying to grab the bag.
"Hey, Q, did you grab any hotsauce?" Spying the hand that was threatening to steal his bag away, Duo cried out. "What do you think you doing?!"
"That stuff has to last all week you know. The last thing we need is you eating it all in the first day!"
Duo held up his hand sin mock surrender. "Relax Wu-man! I'm just looking for something spicy!"
"What do you need it for?" Quatre loaded his arms with cans and started the task of stocking the cupboards.
"Heero's catching a cold. I'm gonna use a remedy that I was taught by an old friend." A mischievous grin crept across his face. Wufei cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Using hotsauce?"
"Yup! I'm gonna burn the cold right out of him!"
Trowa set down his book and gave Duo a look of disapproval. "Heero won't stand for it. You'll never get him to take whatever your cooking up."
"And I'm not hanging around when he blows his top. I'm gonna go grab a room." Wufei grabbed his hot chocolate and ventured down the hallway. Duo just shrugged off the lack of approval.
"What Hee-chan doesn't know won't hurt me."
Quatre put away the last of the cans and chuckled a bit. "How do you expect him to not notice that you're trying to poison him?"
"Hey! I resent that. Besides, he won't find out what's in it cuz YOU'RE not going to tell him." He jabbed a wooden spoon at Quatre.
"But Duo..."
"Shush! No. I've made up my mind. This is for his own good."
Quatre sighed, defeated. "Trowa, I'm going to go get some sleep. You better get a room before there's none left."
Trowa nodded and followed Quatre down the hall. Tossing a teaspoon of some sort of liquid that smelt like liquorish into the mixture, Duo followed.
"Lets see him get mad at me when I make him well in under a day!" ~*~*~*~ 1:37 am
Nudging the door open with his hip, Duo swayed into the room with such flourish it was a miracle and a half that he didn't spill the bowl in his hands.
"Aaaaaand here we are! One cold killer courtesy of our very own Duo Maxwell! Guaranteed to get rid of the worst cold symptoms in 24 hours or your money back!"
He stopped and looked around. "What? Don't I get applause? How about a thank you at least?"
Duo turned to look at the bed. Curled up in the electric blanket was Heero, the-soldier-who-sleeps-like-a-log as Duo had nicknamed him in fun last year.
"Oh thanks. You could have at least told me you were sleeping."
Duo set the bowl down on the dresser, clicked off the light, and nestled in behind Heero. "Sorry Hee-chan. but this was MY bed first." ~*~*~*~ 5:30 am
Wufei sat on the edge of the bathtub and played with the knobs. A good warm bath would sooth his nerves, he decided. He was just too tense. After all, this was vacation. He should be relaxing. Everyone needed a break from all the havoc and the missions. Maybe it was a good thing that the others had chosen to bring him along. Although, they could have woken him up first. Waking up in a car with your arms tied down by a seatbelt isn't the best way to improve on an already cranky mood.
Shutting off the water, Wufei stood and began to undo the buttons on his shirt. Yes, a few hours of soaking all to himself. This would be nice. He started to slide the third button out of its hole when a faint noise caught his ear. A foot across tile. Someone was in the room.
He tensed and turned, ready to give out an earful to whoever was invading his quiet time, when something collided with the side of his head. The force of the blow sent him toppling forwards, landing on his elbows in the bathtub. He pulled himself up a bit and tried to shake the stars form his eyes. Another blow, to his back this time, caused his hands to slide out from under him and he fell. The dull pain spread through his back and into his head to add to the already forming migraine. Someone was out to kill him! Panicking, Wufei tried to get up, but a heavy foot landed between his shoulder blades and pushed him back down.
Unable to move much more than an inch to either side, Wufei did the only thing he could and struggled to throw the attacker off. ~*~*~*~ 5:33 am
*thump*
*thump*
Trowa rolled over groggily and pulled the blankets over his head. It was bad enough he got to sleep sp late. Couldn't people be courteous enough to let him sleep in peace?
*Thump*
It was probably Duo. That boy downed so much soda on the way to the cabin last night that he was probably still coming off of his sugar high. Trowa sat up and rubbed his eyes, forcing them to focus.
*THUMP*
*THUMP*
*THUMP*
That was it. It was time he had a little talk with Duo about courtesy. Making his way down the hall, he cracked open Duo's door, hoping to catch him off guard. His anger melted away instantaneously at the sight before him.
Duo was fast asleep, snoring quietly. A dopey grin had broken out across his face as he snickered a bit. Must be having a good dream. His arm was draped protectively around Heero's waist, and his head was resting in the crook of his neck. Even Duo's braid was strewn across Heero. The two looked so adorable like that, and when Heero reached out to hold the end of the braid like a teddy bear, Trowa mentally cursed himself for not bringing the camera. This would have made a wonder snapshot for the scrapbook that Quatre was making.
But...
//If Duo's sleeping, who was making the noise?\\
Trowa started back down the hall towards his room. Whatever the banging had been from, it was gone now. Maybe he could actually get back to sleep. Turning to open his door, a sliver of light caught his attention. Someone was in the bathroom. Maybe whoever was awake would know what all the noise had been about.
He knocked lightly on the door a few times before opening it all the way. He couldn't see anyone there. It figured, someone had left the light on. Maybe it had been Quatre who was using the light as a guide. It was quite dark in the halls at night. He turned his attention to a dripping noise. The taps for the bathtub hadn't been turned off properly. He sighed. In the morning, he decided, the group would have to have a talk about racking up the utility bill like that. This place was a rental after all.
Walking over to turn the taps off, Trowa's breath caught when he spotted the body floating facedown in the water.
"Wufei!!!"
~*~*~*~ End part 1.
Sorry for the changing of the page structure but during a 3 am sugar rush, I plotted out the rest of the story and decided it would be more efficient in the end to put each section on a separate page. Just to let you know, I'm planning on starting this off as a "whodoneit" and then doing a twist at the end. See if you can figure out who my bad person is.
plz review! your not getting the next part until I get more reviews!