OUT OF TUNE
Chapter Fifteen: Departure
As the action increases, bits will become choppier so as to keep the pace moving back and forth and so ya'll be on your toes!! :D Cuz I want you to ballet stars, y'know! Sorry if the choppy plot disturbs you!!
Dr. Seamus gulped the rest of his soda down nervously as his brown eyes watched the group standing before him. Each one wore a steady glare that rivaled steel in its strength. Slowly, delaying the inevitable, he pulled his plastic cup away from his lips and set it down on the counter. He glanced up at them again and smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"This room isn't open to the public, so I'll have to ask you to-" he began but Wufei grabbed his lab coat collar and picked him up. The Dr. hadn't been expecting this reaction in the least, nor was he expecting it when Wufei slammed him into the cupboard behind him. Yet just when he was starting to expect his death, did salvation step in. Sally, or as Dr. Seamus recognized her as Dr. Po, stepped forward and laid a firm hand on Wufei's forearm. She gave him a small, sweet smile before turning on Seamus with a fierce glare.
"Start talking Seamus, where is Dorothy Catalonia?" she demanded. Dr. Seamus near fainted when he felt Wufei shake him but remained conscious somehow.
"I really don't have any idea as to what you are-"
SLAP!
The heads of the group all turned in the direction of Sally, who had slapped the Dr. with all her might. Even Wufei, who had experienced numerous slaps like it was surprised.
"Shut it, we know what's going on. Now we need to know where she is. We're transferring her now," she added. Dr. Seamus gulped again, this time in fear. His eyes turned to Wufei, who had recovered from his surprise and was staring down the doctor. Averting his eyes from the Chinese man, he turned to the two standing behind Sally; Duo and Hilde gave him no solace either in their expressions. He nodded finally and Sally signaled Wufei to let the man go.
Straightening his collar and clearing his throat, Dr. Seamus frantically looked for an escape route but to no avail. He knew that telling these people would cost him his job and the payment he'd been promised by Duke Dermail, but that was the price, he reasoned, for his life. For Wufei Chang looked deadly serious.
"We've taken her to Room 709 but she should have already been moved again to Room 813. We've been moving her so…" But the brilliant scheme of moving Dorothy around so no one could find her went unheard for the group had already taken off for Room 813.
"Room 810, 812..." Duo read quietly as they walked down a near abandoned hallway of the older wing of the hospital.
"Room 813, she's in here!" Hilde cried. The group rushed in to find Dorothy sleeping peacefully on a small cot in the room. Duo pushed forward and picked her up gently before turning to Sally. Dr. Po stepped forward and began checking Dorothy over to make sure she was all right, then made a motion of her head for Duo to move forward.
"We'll take her to the hospital and get her situated. Duo, we'll use one of this hospital's transport vans.
But I want you take my car to the dock and find Trowa!" Sally ordered, heading off for where the transport vans most likely were. Duo followed, running as fast as he could with Dorothy's weight in his arms.
Once they had reached a reliable transport van, Duo took off in the direction of the parking lot. Wufei watched him go with a glare that rivaled the one he'd given Dr. Seamus. As soon as Maxwell was out of sight he turned his glare on his girlfriend.
"You let him take *my* car?"
***
"I'm sorry sir, but the last flight to Earth is all booked up at the moment," the young man behind the airline counter informed Trowa. The gundam pilot banged his fist on the slab of smoothed over metal that separated this infuriating man and his computer from him.
"Isn't there some other opening!?" he demanded, his emerald eyes fire.
Panicked clicking of a keyboard replied but the young man's shake of the head was his final answer. Trowa groaned and pulled away from the counter, frustrated more than he'd ever felt in his life. The urge to pull this man over the counter and bash his perfectly trimmed head and face into the wall was overpowering his sense of reason. However, he remained calm and set his face. He pulled a pen and piece of paper off the counter and scribbled down his cell phone number.
"This is my cell phone number, call me if anything opens up and I mean *anything*!" And with a threatening glare, he passed the paper and pen over the counter. Unseen by the other passer bys was a $50 dollar bill tucked beneath the paper. The young man nodded with a disgusting grin and memorized the number before slipping it into his pocket, along with the money.
Trowa walked away, part of him triumphant, part of him disgusted, and part of him sick with apprehension.
***
The sense of urgency that surrounded Duo and the car he was driving seemed palpable as he navigated his way through the streets of the colony. Although he'd tried to restrain his reckless driving ways, he felt that now was a good time to unleash the pent up driving monster. However, with an iota of caution he had the foresight to put on his seat belt. (A golden star for Duo!)
He'd reached the last intersection that stood between him and the docks and, hopefully, Trowa. Yet as he neared the crosswalk the yellow light that he'd been so desperately hoping to fly through betrayed him and turned red, forcing him to come to a screeching halt. Unfortunately, the car behind him did not have the lead foot that Duo had been blessed with and Duo was sent flying forward as Wufei's car was rear-ended by a red and white Chevy Malibu.
"Shit!" Duo cursed, his eyes wild. He could see the docks from where he was, yet now he'd probably lose precious time having to deal out the insurance information he didn't have.
***
Sally looked back at Dorothy, making sure she was all right. With one last smile to Hilde, Sally turned back to Wufei.
"Do you have your cell phone with you?" she asked, her tone quiet despite the loud tension in the car. Wufei nodded and gestured towards the glove compartment, his black eyes focused on the highway that stretched from the main colony's city to the suburbs and eventually the Sally's place of work. Sally smiled her gratitude and opened the compartment and shuffled momentarily for the phone before pulling out the small silver contraption and quickly dialing Trowa's cell.
"C'mon, pick up Trowa," she whispered into the receiver. However, the little black phone rang on into the silence of Trowa and Dorothy's abandoned apartment. The echo of the cell tried in vain to fill the void that had been created by the absence of the two lovers' presence. The Christmas decorations seemed to droop as the phone rang on.
"He must have forgotten it on the kitchen table, he always does," came Dorothy's weakened voice from the backseat. Sally turned 180 degrees in her seat to look at the girl who was now propped up against Hilde's shoulder. The blonde girl laughed half-heartedly at the memories of the times Trowa had forgotten his phone and had to come back in a flurry of cuss words and tantrums that were so cute that the often led to interludes of kisses and nuzzling.
"Where is he?" she asked, suddenly feeling the complete absence of his presence from her. She'd become so accustomed to him being around her in such a short time that she could not imagine being without him now. Sally's face fell at the question and her blue eyes were brimming with tears.
"He's at the docks, Dorothy."
***
Trowa looked out on the departing space ships. Within the hour and half that he'd been at the docks he'd seen dozens of couples torn apart by this stupid idea of Quatre's. The young man snorted disgustedly at himself for falling for Winner's ploy and for letting him get under his skin so. He turned from the large thick paneled windows and sat in one of the uncomfortable metal chairs that characterized the docks of every colony. He surveyed his surroundings for what seemed the billionth time but nothing seemed to change. The faces all seemed to stay the same although he knew this was impossible for thousands of those faces were leaving each half hour. And as the startling reality of just how many people were leaving the docks each hour, a growing suspicion of the ticket teller's honor began to rise within him.
With a small piece of hope he reached into his jeans pocket and searched for his for his cell phone. Yet when the cool, black plastic didn't meet his fingers he stood and reached deeper yet into his pockets, hoping beyond hope that he hadn't done what he thought he'd done.
"SHIT!!" he cried aloud, kicking his bolted down chair. His outburst made several of the awaiting people around him to jump up in surprise and even back away from this disheveled looking young man. Trowa looked about himself, a crazed glaze falling over his green eyes. He ran another hand down his jacket pocket, hoping to find his phone but it was no use, he'd left it at the apartment yet again.
He ran his other hand through his mussed up hair and over his unshaven face. He realized just how crazy he must look at that moment but the thought was hastily pushed aside as it occurred to him that he'd been wasting precious time that was giving Quatre a more than necessary head start. Knowing that Dorothy was stuck with that thing that his best friend had become was enough drive to kick start Trowa into motion.
His pace started as a quick walk but soon he found himself running for the ticket teller's station. Within only a few minutes he found himself glaring at a blazing orange "Out To Lunch" sign. Cursing the ticket teller's union** that deemed his lunch break be so damned early, he pushed away from the counter and ran to another. However, the absurdly young girl behind the counter was much too preoccupied with who Terry was no dating and whom Sami was interested in. Trowa felt like screaming at these people, crying out his story but just as he opened his mouth his green eyes caught sight of yet another couple clutching to each other's arms. He turned to get a good look at them.
The young man's blue-gray eyes seemed to absorb the tears the girl was letting fall down her reddened cheeks. He ran his slender fingers through her short brown hair and gave her a forced smile, which she tried to return. She put her hand up to his shoulder and affectionately tugged at his somewhat long light brown hair in an effort to keep their parting from being so entirely tragic. He smiled and pulled her hand away from his neck to kiss it, before kissing her on the forehead. Their kiss seemed to pause time and the only thing Trowa could see move was the last single crystal tear fall from her left eye. He watched that tear, fascinated at how similar these two seemed to be to he and Dorothy. He hung his head, time still moving sluggishly. He needed to be with Dorothy and these two needed to be together; he knew the solution.
***
Duo glowered at the retreating back of the greasy man who had cursed him out for what seemed like days all because of a little dent. 'At least he doesn't have a Chinese man who'd be more than willing to use a black belt on him waiting for him,' he wanted to scream. However, after a grueling two hours of negotiating with the man over telephone numbers and money amounts he was free to find Trowa. He looked over the dock's parking lot and the sense of urgency that had driven him so fast 120 minutes before now only increased as it occurred to him just how immense the docks were and just how small one person was…He was looking for a piece of hay in a stack of needles.
**I'm all for the union people, but you gotta poke fun at it occasionally!! :D
Hope you liked, and that you aren't ready to kill me for taking so long to put up this chapter!! Love you all!
MadameHotaru.of.87
Chapter Fifteen: Departure
As the action increases, bits will become choppier so as to keep the pace moving back and forth and so ya'll be on your toes!! :D Cuz I want you to ballet stars, y'know! Sorry if the choppy plot disturbs you!!
Dr. Seamus gulped the rest of his soda down nervously as his brown eyes watched the group standing before him. Each one wore a steady glare that rivaled steel in its strength. Slowly, delaying the inevitable, he pulled his plastic cup away from his lips and set it down on the counter. He glanced up at them again and smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"This room isn't open to the public, so I'll have to ask you to-" he began but Wufei grabbed his lab coat collar and picked him up. The Dr. hadn't been expecting this reaction in the least, nor was he expecting it when Wufei slammed him into the cupboard behind him. Yet just when he was starting to expect his death, did salvation step in. Sally, or as Dr. Seamus recognized her as Dr. Po, stepped forward and laid a firm hand on Wufei's forearm. She gave him a small, sweet smile before turning on Seamus with a fierce glare.
"Start talking Seamus, where is Dorothy Catalonia?" she demanded. Dr. Seamus near fainted when he felt Wufei shake him but remained conscious somehow.
"I really don't have any idea as to what you are-"
SLAP!
The heads of the group all turned in the direction of Sally, who had slapped the Dr. with all her might. Even Wufei, who had experienced numerous slaps like it was surprised.
"Shut it, we know what's going on. Now we need to know where she is. We're transferring her now," she added. Dr. Seamus gulped again, this time in fear. His eyes turned to Wufei, who had recovered from his surprise and was staring down the doctor. Averting his eyes from the Chinese man, he turned to the two standing behind Sally; Duo and Hilde gave him no solace either in their expressions. He nodded finally and Sally signaled Wufei to let the man go.
Straightening his collar and clearing his throat, Dr. Seamus frantically looked for an escape route but to no avail. He knew that telling these people would cost him his job and the payment he'd been promised by Duke Dermail, but that was the price, he reasoned, for his life. For Wufei Chang looked deadly serious.
"We've taken her to Room 709 but she should have already been moved again to Room 813. We've been moving her so…" But the brilliant scheme of moving Dorothy around so no one could find her went unheard for the group had already taken off for Room 813.
"Room 810, 812..." Duo read quietly as they walked down a near abandoned hallway of the older wing of the hospital.
"Room 813, she's in here!" Hilde cried. The group rushed in to find Dorothy sleeping peacefully on a small cot in the room. Duo pushed forward and picked her up gently before turning to Sally. Dr. Po stepped forward and began checking Dorothy over to make sure she was all right, then made a motion of her head for Duo to move forward.
"We'll take her to the hospital and get her situated. Duo, we'll use one of this hospital's transport vans.
But I want you take my car to the dock and find Trowa!" Sally ordered, heading off for where the transport vans most likely were. Duo followed, running as fast as he could with Dorothy's weight in his arms.
Once they had reached a reliable transport van, Duo took off in the direction of the parking lot. Wufei watched him go with a glare that rivaled the one he'd given Dr. Seamus. As soon as Maxwell was out of sight he turned his glare on his girlfriend.
"You let him take *my* car?"
***
"I'm sorry sir, but the last flight to Earth is all booked up at the moment," the young man behind the airline counter informed Trowa. The gundam pilot banged his fist on the slab of smoothed over metal that separated this infuriating man and his computer from him.
"Isn't there some other opening!?" he demanded, his emerald eyes fire.
Panicked clicking of a keyboard replied but the young man's shake of the head was his final answer. Trowa groaned and pulled away from the counter, frustrated more than he'd ever felt in his life. The urge to pull this man over the counter and bash his perfectly trimmed head and face into the wall was overpowering his sense of reason. However, he remained calm and set his face. He pulled a pen and piece of paper off the counter and scribbled down his cell phone number.
"This is my cell phone number, call me if anything opens up and I mean *anything*!" And with a threatening glare, he passed the paper and pen over the counter. Unseen by the other passer bys was a $50 dollar bill tucked beneath the paper. The young man nodded with a disgusting grin and memorized the number before slipping it into his pocket, along with the money.
Trowa walked away, part of him triumphant, part of him disgusted, and part of him sick with apprehension.
***
The sense of urgency that surrounded Duo and the car he was driving seemed palpable as he navigated his way through the streets of the colony. Although he'd tried to restrain his reckless driving ways, he felt that now was a good time to unleash the pent up driving monster. However, with an iota of caution he had the foresight to put on his seat belt. (A golden star for Duo!)
He'd reached the last intersection that stood between him and the docks and, hopefully, Trowa. Yet as he neared the crosswalk the yellow light that he'd been so desperately hoping to fly through betrayed him and turned red, forcing him to come to a screeching halt. Unfortunately, the car behind him did not have the lead foot that Duo had been blessed with and Duo was sent flying forward as Wufei's car was rear-ended by a red and white Chevy Malibu.
"Shit!" Duo cursed, his eyes wild. He could see the docks from where he was, yet now he'd probably lose precious time having to deal out the insurance information he didn't have.
***
Sally looked back at Dorothy, making sure she was all right. With one last smile to Hilde, Sally turned back to Wufei.
"Do you have your cell phone with you?" she asked, her tone quiet despite the loud tension in the car. Wufei nodded and gestured towards the glove compartment, his black eyes focused on the highway that stretched from the main colony's city to the suburbs and eventually the Sally's place of work. Sally smiled her gratitude and opened the compartment and shuffled momentarily for the phone before pulling out the small silver contraption and quickly dialing Trowa's cell.
"C'mon, pick up Trowa," she whispered into the receiver. However, the little black phone rang on into the silence of Trowa and Dorothy's abandoned apartment. The echo of the cell tried in vain to fill the void that had been created by the absence of the two lovers' presence. The Christmas decorations seemed to droop as the phone rang on.
"He must have forgotten it on the kitchen table, he always does," came Dorothy's weakened voice from the backseat. Sally turned 180 degrees in her seat to look at the girl who was now propped up against Hilde's shoulder. The blonde girl laughed half-heartedly at the memories of the times Trowa had forgotten his phone and had to come back in a flurry of cuss words and tantrums that were so cute that the often led to interludes of kisses and nuzzling.
"Where is he?" she asked, suddenly feeling the complete absence of his presence from her. She'd become so accustomed to him being around her in such a short time that she could not imagine being without him now. Sally's face fell at the question and her blue eyes were brimming with tears.
"He's at the docks, Dorothy."
***
Trowa looked out on the departing space ships. Within the hour and half that he'd been at the docks he'd seen dozens of couples torn apart by this stupid idea of Quatre's. The young man snorted disgustedly at himself for falling for Winner's ploy and for letting him get under his skin so. He turned from the large thick paneled windows and sat in one of the uncomfortable metal chairs that characterized the docks of every colony. He surveyed his surroundings for what seemed the billionth time but nothing seemed to change. The faces all seemed to stay the same although he knew this was impossible for thousands of those faces were leaving each half hour. And as the startling reality of just how many people were leaving the docks each hour, a growing suspicion of the ticket teller's honor began to rise within him.
With a small piece of hope he reached into his jeans pocket and searched for his for his cell phone. Yet when the cool, black plastic didn't meet his fingers he stood and reached deeper yet into his pockets, hoping beyond hope that he hadn't done what he thought he'd done.
"SHIT!!" he cried aloud, kicking his bolted down chair. His outburst made several of the awaiting people around him to jump up in surprise and even back away from this disheveled looking young man. Trowa looked about himself, a crazed glaze falling over his green eyes. He ran another hand down his jacket pocket, hoping to find his phone but it was no use, he'd left it at the apartment yet again.
He ran his other hand through his mussed up hair and over his unshaven face. He realized just how crazy he must look at that moment but the thought was hastily pushed aside as it occurred to him that he'd been wasting precious time that was giving Quatre a more than necessary head start. Knowing that Dorothy was stuck with that thing that his best friend had become was enough drive to kick start Trowa into motion.
His pace started as a quick walk but soon he found himself running for the ticket teller's station. Within only a few minutes he found himself glaring at a blazing orange "Out To Lunch" sign. Cursing the ticket teller's union** that deemed his lunch break be so damned early, he pushed away from the counter and ran to another. However, the absurdly young girl behind the counter was much too preoccupied with who Terry was no dating and whom Sami was interested in. Trowa felt like screaming at these people, crying out his story but just as he opened his mouth his green eyes caught sight of yet another couple clutching to each other's arms. He turned to get a good look at them.
The young man's blue-gray eyes seemed to absorb the tears the girl was letting fall down her reddened cheeks. He ran his slender fingers through her short brown hair and gave her a forced smile, which she tried to return. She put her hand up to his shoulder and affectionately tugged at his somewhat long light brown hair in an effort to keep their parting from being so entirely tragic. He smiled and pulled her hand away from his neck to kiss it, before kissing her on the forehead. Their kiss seemed to pause time and the only thing Trowa could see move was the last single crystal tear fall from her left eye. He watched that tear, fascinated at how similar these two seemed to be to he and Dorothy. He hung his head, time still moving sluggishly. He needed to be with Dorothy and these two needed to be together; he knew the solution.
***
Duo glowered at the retreating back of the greasy man who had cursed him out for what seemed like days all because of a little dent. 'At least he doesn't have a Chinese man who'd be more than willing to use a black belt on him waiting for him,' he wanted to scream. However, after a grueling two hours of negotiating with the man over telephone numbers and money amounts he was free to find Trowa. He looked over the dock's parking lot and the sense of urgency that had driven him so fast 120 minutes before now only increased as it occurred to him just how immense the docks were and just how small one person was…He was looking for a piece of hay in a stack of needles.
**I'm all for the union people, but you gotta poke fun at it occasionally!! :D
Hope you liked, and that you aren't ready to kill me for taking so long to put up this chapter!! Love you all!
MadameHotaru.of.87