Follow the Lights

- Five -

The sound of sudden, splintering wood rips Wufei from the protection of sleep. He rolls up onto one elbow, his gaze fixed on the closed door to the dimly lit room.

"It's started," Trowa says softly.

"What...?" Wufei begins. But no, he thinks he knows.

Heero contributes tersely, "Quatre's here."

For a moment, Wufei isn't sure he'd heard that right, but then the loud crash of a body connecting with a wall in the other room, reinforces the truth of that statement.

"Then what are we doing in here?" Wufei demands, hoping he has the strength to go to his friend's aid. "We should be helping him."

"I agree," Heero replies quickly.

"Unfortunately, Duo is adamant about us remaining here."

Wufei's jaw clenches. His hand fists weakly in the rumpled bed clothes. Another crash. An abbreviated shout of pain. The scuffling of two bodies breaking apart and the silence of them circling each other.

He glares at Heero and Trowa in turns and demands, "Who cares what Duo wants? Get out there already!"

"Wufei, you don't understand," Trowa begins.

"We cannot disobey him."

Wufei gapes at the two of them for a moment. "What are you talking about?"

"He owns us, Wufei. Heero and I chose to give him possession of our souls." He glances toward the door as another loud thud and startled yell resonates from the other room. "You have no idea how much we would like to be out there fighting, but we can't."

"I don't believe this..." Wufei mutters, staring at the door once again as the sounds of the struggle grow louder and closer.

From his bed, Heero smirks. "Besides, it looks like we might not have to go anywhere after all. The fight's coming to us."

Trowa almost grins. "Something tells me Duo's never going to hear the end of this..."

Heero chuckles darkly.

Wufei glares at Trowa and Heero, not even sure of what to think of the pair of them. But before he can decide on what to say to that odd exchange, the door to their room shudders violently under the weight of a heavy body colliding squarely with it. Again, a body is slammed into the wood. And again. Wufei winces in sympathy with the unfortunate combatant taking the brunt of that beating.

The fourth blow is too much for the door; it crumbles from its hinges swinging drunkenly inward and is quickly followed by a tangle of braid and black. Duo tumbles to the floor, gasping for breath.

Framed in the jagged doorway, Quatre glares down at his old friend, the promise of death in his eyes. In a very quiet voice, Quatre informs the barely conscious youth, "No one takes from me what is mine, Maxwell." He then steps into the room.

"Duo!" The shout comes from Heero but Wufei doubts Duo even hears it. Quatre does, however.

Startled, he pauses in his advance. "Heero? You're... you're alive?"

Heero glares at the blond young man and opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by a sudden movement. Wufei watches as Duo grasps a hold of Quatre and slams him into the nearest wall before pinning his body there.

"Of course he's not dead," Duo replies in a surprisingly calm voice. "That's your specialty, not mine."

Quatre turns his formidable glare in Duo's direction. Their faces mere inches from each other Quatre makes no secret of his contempt. "I would never hurt them!"

"Yeah, intentionally," Duo replies, his grip remaining firm. "Would you like me to tell you how you would kill them if given the chance? Yeah, that sounds like a good bedtime story. Well, here it is, Quat, so pay attention because I don't like to repeat myself.

"That space heart of yours? That gift? It's killing you and you don't even see it. And you don't see it because as soon as you're drained, you don't bother to rest up, you just borrow whatever energies you can from those around you."

"What are you talking about, Duo?" Quatre yells, a tremor in his voice. "This has nothing to do with my empathy—"

"This has everything to do with your empathy! You're a vampire. A real vampire, Quatre. You feed off of the energies of others and you don't even know it. Hell, I wouldn't have figured it out if I hadn't gone away from you and this damn city and realized how drained I'd been."

Quatre shakes his head. "No, that article about vampires... That author..."

"I didn't learn this stuff off of the internet, Quatre. Give me a little more credit, will you?"

"Then where...?"

"From the Bedouin, Q. They know about you. They've always known."

Quatre shakes his head. "No. They've filled your head with nothing but—"

"The truth, unbelievable as it is. And that truth is that you'll continue drawing energy from those around you until they die of exhaustion!"

"This is ridiculous, Duo! No one near or dear to me has ever died of—"

In a firm quiet voice, Duo differs, "Your mother did."

Quatre's voice drains away into the sudden silence of the room.

"But when you were a kid, you didn't have to take the energy you needed," Duo continues. "As the youngest child and the only son of the richest man in L4, you had all the energy and attention you ever needed. But you know what really fucked you over, man? The war. Because it wasn't about energy and admiration anymore. You upped the ante to souls."

Weakly, Quatre shakes his head. "No..."

"Yeah. And you almost took Wufei's!"

"...no..."

"Yes, Quatre. When he opened himself up to meditate in your house he almost bit the big one." Duo examines Quatre's face as if he could peel the innocence from him to reveal the beast beneath. "It's time you accepted what you are and learned to control it. Before you do more than hurt someone. Before you do more than kill them. Before you take their soul and make it yours."

Quatre leans as far forward as Duo's grasp will allow him and yells, "That's exactly what you've done if I'm to believe you! You've taken Trowa and Heero's will so what makes you so much better than me?"

"Because once they're safe from you, I'll do whatever is necessary so they can have it back!"

"And what exactly will that be, Duo?"

Duo glares at Quatre for a long moment before replying in a low, dangerous voice. "That doesn't concern you."

"The truth is that you don't know!"

"God damn it, this isn't about me! This about what's best for our friends. Jesus, Quatre. What part of this vampirism thing are you not comprehending?" Duo shakes Quatre violently. "You. Almost. Just. Killed. Wufei!"

Wufei shivers at those words, suddenly clearly recalling the moment before Duo had caught him in mid-fall. The weakness. The whispering. He closes his eyes as Trowa's hand settles on his shoulder, reminding him that he isn't alone in this mess.

Into the following breathless silence, a soft, scared whisper is heard: "D-duo?"

"Yes, Quatre?" Duo replies wearily.

Wufei opens his eyes once again, watching Quatre swallow convulsively in an attempt to force out the words he wants to say. "I almost... Wufei, I almost... didn't I?" He has to pause and lick his suddenly dry lips. "... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Duo's palms slide up and down his forearms in a gesture of comfort. "I know, Q. I know."

Another long, painful pause swells in the room.

"Duo?"

"Yeah?"

Quatre takes a deep breath and says in a steady voice, "Kill me."

Wufei holds his breath, waiting for Duo's response. Slowly, Duo shakes his head and with each motion, the gesture grows more and more forceful. "No, Quatre. I won't kill you. You can't be something that you're not and you're no coward."

"But I'm not fit to live amongst others..."

"Maybe not right now, Q. But you'll be all right eventually. And you've got me to keep you on the straight and narrow."

Quatre sighs and leans his head back against the wall. "Those Bedouin must have made quite an impression on you, Duo."

"Yeah. And they were really good at yodeling, too."

Quatre chuckles. Wufei listens as the sounds of Quatre's mirth amplify until he's no longer laughing but sobbing dryly against Duo's shoulder.

"It's okay, man. It's okay," Duo croons softly, changing his grip on his friend to hold him close. "The Bedouin, they taught me what to expect from your situation, about how you'd unknowingly target the people you cared about the most, about how to get a grip on your abilities so you can control it consciously, about how to protect myself and others if need be."

Body shaking with fatigue, Quarter murmurs, "I have the feeling there will be a need. Soon." He turns his head against Duo's shoulder and gazes at Wufei with an expression of deep regret.

Wufei gasps as he feels the sudden pull on his mind, body, and spirit. The complete lack of light and dark opens up within him once more and he can hear the distant, hungry echo of the creature within Quatre whispering once more. Duo's shout is barely audible to him.

"Damn it, Q! Stop it!"

"I can't, Duo! I'm sorry!"

Wufei feels himself falling back onto the bed. He can sense the dual presences of Heero and Trowa settling themselves in front of him, attempting to protect him by whatever meager means they have available.

"Don't be sorry, you ass! Be in control!"

"Duo! You're asking too much of me right now! I can't!"

"You will!"

"Damn it, just knock me out!"

A resigned sigh precedes the sound of flesh striking flesh. It's the last impression of his surroundings Wufei has before he succumbs to Duo's comforting darkness once more.

- End of Part Five -