Part 2
Sorry this took so long to get up. But with school and my extreme lack of a life, I haven't had the inspiration to continue this. That and the fact that I have started up and old project of mine that I call the CCFF Files. Wanna know what that is? Well if I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise now would it? Expect that up sometime before Christmas..or at least the first few chapters of it seeming that there are over 20 of them.
Anywho, Ive done enough ranting for now. On with the story.
~*~*~*~
Part 2
6:02 AM
"Are you sure he's ok?" Quatre set a warm cloth to the side of Wufei's head. a fair sized bump was forming over the small cut. Wufei cringed and backed up till he was almost in Trowa's lap.
"He's in shock. He should be ok once it passes. We'll just have to keep an eye on him until he can tell us what happened."
"Do you think he could have fallen? He might have knocked himself out on the tap or something." Heero leaned forward to grant Duo access to the fire poker. Best someone got the fire going again. Duo stabbed at the glowing logs a few times thoughtfully and looked back at Wufei. He seemed to be ignoring the discussion altogether as the other three bickered over the possible events of the night.
//Doesn't anyone care about Wufei? The poor guy looks scared out of his mind and all they can do is sit there and argue instead of easing his nerves!\\ He turned his attention back to the fire.
"Hey Trowa! Didn't you turn the logs before you went to bed? The fire's colder than an ice cube here!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I turned them. They must have burnt out faster than I thought."
"You should have put another log on." Trowa just shrugged and went back to the discussion. Duo set the poker aside. That fire wasn't going to cooperate. He'd have to try again later. Getting up, he paused momentarily to admire the poker, sitting in the golden tray with the rest of the collection. It was the nicest thing in the cabin, he had noted earlier on. //It must be a pain in the ass to keep that shiny.\\ His brow furrowed in thought as he looked back at Wufei for a moment, then ventured into the kitchen. ~*~*~*~ 7:05 AM
The laptop's keyboard scolded Duo with dull clicks as he hacked his way into Heero's hard drive. Only an hour had gone by and Heero had already made a full report on the weekend AND changed his password AGAIN.
Trying to regain the free pass he once had was risky business. If Heero were to walk in on him.well, it wouldn't be pretty. Having the foresight to cover this possibility, Duo had set up a tripwire with a bell on each end in the hallway. If anyone came near, he'd know well in advance.
"C'mon.there must be something in here! Heero always notices stuff! Uneventful trip.forced to leave weaponry behind.god, Hee-chan, someone has to teach you to write an interesting report. Wufei isn't even mentioned in here! Hmm.a new journal entry." Duo opened the file and scanned through it.
October 23
A recent attack has left the group shook up. //attack?\\ Unable to provide evidence, I am left to seek answers form Wufei himself. I've never seen him so upset. He isn't one for fear like this. This may have damaged his psyche more than we anticipated. Quatre and Trowa are convinced that it was an accident. Duo hasn't said much either way. But by the way he looks tat hr group, he suspects something. I'm sure of it. Perhaps one of us.
//Well, if I didn't before, I sure as hell do now.\\
So Heero thought it was something more than an accident too. That was good. Heero never sided with him. All he had to do now was go pool ideas with Heero and maybe the uneasy feeling would leave.
//.perhaps one of us.\\
~*~*~*~ 7:45 AM
"Is he talking yet?"
Heero shut the bedroom door and shook his head. "He won't talk at all. I've never seen him this bad. It's like he's regressed to a young child."
"You know what I think?"
"Accident?"
"Attack."
"I guess it was pretty obvious then, wasn't it?"
"No, Not at first. But while Quatre was cleaning him up, I spotted another cut on the back of his head and some light bruising on his shoulders."
"Did you tell anyone else?"
"No. Quatre is already upset that his quiet vacation was interrupted. No need to stir things up further."
"Agreed. Why don't you go talk to him? He seems to trust you more right now."
"I'll see what I can do." ~*~*~*~ 7:53 AM
Duo kicked through the foliage in hot pursuit of dry logs. The air was warmer now, the few strands of light that peaked through the trees created an almost fantastical environment. It was going to be a beautiful day. Off to one side, Quatre was snapping dead branches off a tree. He seemed fine now, as if the dim sunlight and light frost covering the forest warmed his spirits as well.
"You sure you're all right Q? You haven't said two words in nearly an hour."
He gave a reassuring smile. "Yes, Duo. I'm fine. Why worry? Accidents happen. I won't let it ruin my vacation."
"You know, you're the only person who thinks that."
"Not true. Trowa think so too. He told me so. You guys are just too tense. Wufei will be fine. Enjoy the day Duo! We're on vacation!" Quatre snapped off another branch and headed back to the cabin.
//Trowa? Why would Trowa pass something off so easily? Hmm.maybe Quatre's right. I'm letting the stress get to me. I'm on vacation. I should be harassing Heero, not worrying!\\
He turned to follow Quatre back when a frightful thought grazed his mind. The tripwire. If Heero activated it now, he'd be dead! Fueled by this most unwanted thought, Duo set wings to his heels and motored past Quatre and into the cabin. He slid around the corner past the kitchen and into the hall. To his dismay, Heero was already standing at the door.
//He doesn't look ready to kill me. He must have missed the trip wire.\\
Heero turned an annoyed eye on Duo. "Shh!" He leaned in, his ear on the door. This wasn't like Heero at all. First complaining about the cold, then withholding suspicion from the group, now spying!
"What are you doing?" Duo hissed down the hall.
"I sent Trowa in to talk to Wufei."
Duo cocked an eyebrow. //Wow. Spying AND paranoid.\\ He waited impatiently for Heero to elaborate. Not getting a response, he cleared his throat noisily. Heero sighed and sent Duo an icy glare.
"What? So they're in there talking. Big deal. Come back to the porch and help Quatre and me with the wood."
"Duo, they've been in there for over 20 minutes. I'm going to check on them." Heero moved to open the door and a cold breeze flowed through the hallway. The nerves in Duo's body clutched at him. There was something wrong here. Something very wrong.
"Heero, I've got a bad feeling about this. I don't think you should-"
WHUMP
~*~*~*~ 8:20 AM
Duo hit the ground stomach first, knocking the wind out of him for a moment. Stars flashed in his eyes and the entire hallway tiled a bit. He groaned and hefted himself to his knees.
"Quiet you klutz! You're going to wake the dead, tripping over your own two feet like that! It's a good thing we're not on a mission right now or you would have given us away!"
Duo looked back, rubbing his head a bit to clear the stars. It didn't make sense. There was no carpet to trip over and he KNEW he didn't trip over himself. He may be a little off balanced but never that much. He was about to get up when he saw it.
A thin silver strand strung between the hall where his brown tripwire once resigned. It could barely be seen unless you tilted your head to just the right angle that the light from the kitchen reflected off it.
How could Heero not have tripped on it? It was at just the right level to the ground and very tight. Whoever set this up was ingenious. It was tied neatly to a nail and ran through a tiny pulley that ran the string up the side of the wall. It tucked under another pulley that hugged the ceiling then ran across the ceiling a few times before vanishing through a small hole set in the top of the door. It must have taken hours to set up. //But why would anyone go through the effort.\\
Heero sighed and reached for the doorknob again, turning it slowly so as not to disturb the people in the room. No sense giving himself away if they didn't hear Duo hitting the floor like that. Duo's ears perked as the faint twang of string breaking just as Heero took a step forwards.
"Heero! Don't!" Duo dove forwards, tackling Heero about the knees and dragging him down just as a shower of daggers came through the door, impaling themselves in the wall behind them. Heero looked down at Duo, then back into the room.
"That was too close."
"No kidding."
"They're not in there, are they?"
"Nope."
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"We have a situation on our hands. Get Quatre. We need to talk." ~*~*~*~
Hehe! Sawy there's no more for now! Haven't had the time to work through this. Yes, there's a reason for Wufei's odd behavior. Have you deduced who's our culprit? Betcha haven't! ;) REVIEWS! I need REVIEWS! Hints, tips, guesses, ANYTHING! you people are killing me here!
Sorry this took so long to get up. But with school and my extreme lack of a life, I haven't had the inspiration to continue this. That and the fact that I have started up and old project of mine that I call the CCFF Files. Wanna know what that is? Well if I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise now would it? Expect that up sometime before Christmas..or at least the first few chapters of it seeming that there are over 20 of them.
Anywho, Ive done enough ranting for now. On with the story.
~*~*~*~
Part 2
6:02 AM
"Are you sure he's ok?" Quatre set a warm cloth to the side of Wufei's head. a fair sized bump was forming over the small cut. Wufei cringed and backed up till he was almost in Trowa's lap.
"He's in shock. He should be ok once it passes. We'll just have to keep an eye on him until he can tell us what happened."
"Do you think he could have fallen? He might have knocked himself out on the tap or something." Heero leaned forward to grant Duo access to the fire poker. Best someone got the fire going again. Duo stabbed at the glowing logs a few times thoughtfully and looked back at Wufei. He seemed to be ignoring the discussion altogether as the other three bickered over the possible events of the night.
//Doesn't anyone care about Wufei? The poor guy looks scared out of his mind and all they can do is sit there and argue instead of easing his nerves!\\ He turned his attention back to the fire.
"Hey Trowa! Didn't you turn the logs before you went to bed? The fire's colder than an ice cube here!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I turned them. They must have burnt out faster than I thought."
"You should have put another log on." Trowa just shrugged and went back to the discussion. Duo set the poker aside. That fire wasn't going to cooperate. He'd have to try again later. Getting up, he paused momentarily to admire the poker, sitting in the golden tray with the rest of the collection. It was the nicest thing in the cabin, he had noted earlier on. //It must be a pain in the ass to keep that shiny.\\ His brow furrowed in thought as he looked back at Wufei for a moment, then ventured into the kitchen. ~*~*~*~ 7:05 AM
The laptop's keyboard scolded Duo with dull clicks as he hacked his way into Heero's hard drive. Only an hour had gone by and Heero had already made a full report on the weekend AND changed his password AGAIN.
Trying to regain the free pass he once had was risky business. If Heero were to walk in on him.well, it wouldn't be pretty. Having the foresight to cover this possibility, Duo had set up a tripwire with a bell on each end in the hallway. If anyone came near, he'd know well in advance.
"C'mon.there must be something in here! Heero always notices stuff! Uneventful trip.forced to leave weaponry behind.god, Hee-chan, someone has to teach you to write an interesting report. Wufei isn't even mentioned in here! Hmm.a new journal entry." Duo opened the file and scanned through it.
October 23
A recent attack has left the group shook up. //attack?\\ Unable to provide evidence, I am left to seek answers form Wufei himself. I've never seen him so upset. He isn't one for fear like this. This may have damaged his psyche more than we anticipated. Quatre and Trowa are convinced that it was an accident. Duo hasn't said much either way. But by the way he looks tat hr group, he suspects something. I'm sure of it. Perhaps one of us.
//Well, if I didn't before, I sure as hell do now.\\
So Heero thought it was something more than an accident too. That was good. Heero never sided with him. All he had to do now was go pool ideas with Heero and maybe the uneasy feeling would leave.
//.perhaps one of us.\\
~*~*~*~ 7:45 AM
"Is he talking yet?"
Heero shut the bedroom door and shook his head. "He won't talk at all. I've never seen him this bad. It's like he's regressed to a young child."
"You know what I think?"
"Accident?"
"Attack."
"I guess it was pretty obvious then, wasn't it?"
"No, Not at first. But while Quatre was cleaning him up, I spotted another cut on the back of his head and some light bruising on his shoulders."
"Did you tell anyone else?"
"No. Quatre is already upset that his quiet vacation was interrupted. No need to stir things up further."
"Agreed. Why don't you go talk to him? He seems to trust you more right now."
"I'll see what I can do." ~*~*~*~ 7:53 AM
Duo kicked through the foliage in hot pursuit of dry logs. The air was warmer now, the few strands of light that peaked through the trees created an almost fantastical environment. It was going to be a beautiful day. Off to one side, Quatre was snapping dead branches off a tree. He seemed fine now, as if the dim sunlight and light frost covering the forest warmed his spirits as well.
"You sure you're all right Q? You haven't said two words in nearly an hour."
He gave a reassuring smile. "Yes, Duo. I'm fine. Why worry? Accidents happen. I won't let it ruin my vacation."
"You know, you're the only person who thinks that."
"Not true. Trowa think so too. He told me so. You guys are just too tense. Wufei will be fine. Enjoy the day Duo! We're on vacation!" Quatre snapped off another branch and headed back to the cabin.
//Trowa? Why would Trowa pass something off so easily? Hmm.maybe Quatre's right. I'm letting the stress get to me. I'm on vacation. I should be harassing Heero, not worrying!\\
He turned to follow Quatre back when a frightful thought grazed his mind. The tripwire. If Heero activated it now, he'd be dead! Fueled by this most unwanted thought, Duo set wings to his heels and motored past Quatre and into the cabin. He slid around the corner past the kitchen and into the hall. To his dismay, Heero was already standing at the door.
//He doesn't look ready to kill me. He must have missed the trip wire.\\
Heero turned an annoyed eye on Duo. "Shh!" He leaned in, his ear on the door. This wasn't like Heero at all. First complaining about the cold, then withholding suspicion from the group, now spying!
"What are you doing?" Duo hissed down the hall.
"I sent Trowa in to talk to Wufei."
Duo cocked an eyebrow. //Wow. Spying AND paranoid.\\ He waited impatiently for Heero to elaborate. Not getting a response, he cleared his throat noisily. Heero sighed and sent Duo an icy glare.
"What? So they're in there talking. Big deal. Come back to the porch and help Quatre and me with the wood."
"Duo, they've been in there for over 20 minutes. I'm going to check on them." Heero moved to open the door and a cold breeze flowed through the hallway. The nerves in Duo's body clutched at him. There was something wrong here. Something very wrong.
"Heero, I've got a bad feeling about this. I don't think you should-"
WHUMP
~*~*~*~ 8:20 AM
Duo hit the ground stomach first, knocking the wind out of him for a moment. Stars flashed in his eyes and the entire hallway tiled a bit. He groaned and hefted himself to his knees.
"Quiet you klutz! You're going to wake the dead, tripping over your own two feet like that! It's a good thing we're not on a mission right now or you would have given us away!"
Duo looked back, rubbing his head a bit to clear the stars. It didn't make sense. There was no carpet to trip over and he KNEW he didn't trip over himself. He may be a little off balanced but never that much. He was about to get up when he saw it.
A thin silver strand strung between the hall where his brown tripwire once resigned. It could barely be seen unless you tilted your head to just the right angle that the light from the kitchen reflected off it.
How could Heero not have tripped on it? It was at just the right level to the ground and very tight. Whoever set this up was ingenious. It was tied neatly to a nail and ran through a tiny pulley that ran the string up the side of the wall. It tucked under another pulley that hugged the ceiling then ran across the ceiling a few times before vanishing through a small hole set in the top of the door. It must have taken hours to set up. //But why would anyone go through the effort.\\
Heero sighed and reached for the doorknob again, turning it slowly so as not to disturb the people in the room. No sense giving himself away if they didn't hear Duo hitting the floor like that. Duo's ears perked as the faint twang of string breaking just as Heero took a step forwards.
"Heero! Don't!" Duo dove forwards, tackling Heero about the knees and dragging him down just as a shower of daggers came through the door, impaling themselves in the wall behind them. Heero looked down at Duo, then back into the room.
"That was too close."
"No kidding."
"They're not in there, are they?"
"Nope."
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"We have a situation on our hands. Get Quatre. We need to talk." ~*~*~*~
Hehe! Sawy there's no more for now! Haven't had the time to work through this. Yes, there's a reason for Wufei's odd behavior. Have you deduced who's our culprit? Betcha haven't! ;) REVIEWS! I need REVIEWS! Hints, tips, guesses, ANYTHING! you people are killing me here!