Newbreed
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.
Chapter 4: Sorting it out.
After the incident with Cathryne everyone tried to keep things neutral around the house. Even Duo kept his hyperactive personality at a minimum to try and help reassure their two guests. As for the two guests, they kept mostly to themselves while trying to decide what they were going to do. Nobody had seen Heero and Trowa only appeared when they were eating because Cathryne had said that he needed to eat. Even though he only ate twice a day and about half of what everybody else ate. After everyone was done he would leave and nobody could figure out where they had gone. They had searched the entire house top to bottom one day when they couldn't find either boy. They decided that incase something were to happen and they needed to talk to their guests that they needed to know where they were at all day long. At dinner one night Quatra asked Trowa where Heero was. Trowa told him that he was resting. Seeing that they weren't going to get answers that way he tried the direct approach and told Trowa about them trying to find the two boys but coming up empty handed. He said that there might be an emergency so they would really like to know where their guests kept running off too. Trowa nodded and said that they were staying elsewhere for the time being until they could decide on what to do about their offer.
"Oh! I'm so sorry we didn't mean to scare you off. We were just wondering if you wanted to help us. It's really okay if you don't we can try and find you a place to live and hopefully you wont ever have to deal with the Guild again. I'm sorry that you felt it necessary to leave the house that was not our intentions. Is that why we never see Heero? I'm really, sorry we all are. Could you please come back? We wont force you into anything I promise. We just want to help you."
Quatra seemed genuinely sorry so Trowa thought over his offer and decided that the best way to see if these people were enemies would be to actually live with them for a while. Trowa told them that he would talk to Heero about it and would come back later with him. Quatra offered to call Heero telepathically but Trowa seemed against the idea and went to get him in person. Before Trowa left Quatra tried to apologize. He said that he would never use his powers intrusively and that if they were uncomfortable with it that he wouldn't use his powers around them at all. Trowa looked at Quatra with a strange look in his eye. He told Quatra that they both had adequate defense against intrusion and that neither he nor Heero were uncomfortable around telepaths though Trowa did make the observation that Quatra was uncomfortable around them and that if he would like they could stay away from him. Quatra seemed a little taken aback by that observation but said that it wasn't that he was uncomfortable around them it was just that he had never before come in contact with someone he couldn't read. He said that it was unnerving. Trowa nodded and said that all the empaths he had come across had said the same thing. Trowa told them that he had yet to meet a telepath, empathy (A/N sorry my computer wont let me take the 'y' out), or someone with those types of powers that could read either him or Heero. One telepath took a guess that it was in part due to their training and also part of a natural defense due to their powers. Trowa turned once again to leave but stopped at the door and looked back.
"When we first arrived you asked us what our powers were. At first we weren't sure who you were but it seems as though you are just projects for the other scientists so it wont matter if you know or not."
With that his skin and hair seemed to grow darker and his hair receded back until it was a uniform length. All over his body turned a deep black in color and seemed to sprout fur. From behind him came a tail as his clothes melded into him to become part of his black fur. He fell forward onto all fours as his arms became legs. His whole body turned sleek and muscular and his nose and mouth pop out into a snout that had sharp teeth and whiskers. Instead of a boy rushing out of the house there was a panther.
Everyone stared in shock at seeing the boy change into an animal. None of them had been expecting a shape-shifter. They had thought that since they were trained by two mad scientists to be weapons of mass destruction and all that they would have a more offensive type of power like Wu-Fei's pyrokenisis. The fact that it turned out that Trowa was a shape-shifter was kind of funny. Of course they weren't sure what he was capable of and they didn't know what kind of powers Heero had. But they were still reassured in a way since they now knew what one of their powers was and were pretty sure that the other power wasn't going to be a strong offensive type that they were safe for the time being.
Everyone was discussing Trowa's power and so didn't hear when he brought Heero into the house. When Quatra noticed them he invited them to join everyone in the living room. The furniture made a circular shape and everyone was seated around talking. The two took a seat on an unoccupied loveseat while Quatra went back to sit next to Duo. Everyone was happy that their guests had decided to come back into the house especially Duo since he had like a million questions to ask. Unfortunately for him though it didn't look like Heero was too comfortable with them. Trowa had been coming in for meals ad stuff but they hadn't seen Heero at all since the night were he had put Cathryne in a strangle hold. Duo didn't seem to mind though and went on with his questions like nothing was wrong.
"So we know Trowa is a shape-shifter but what kind of power do you have? Why did you think you had to start living outside? Was it because of something we did? How old are you? Do you have any family we should contact? Do you want to help us take the Guild down or are you still working for them?"
There would have been more questions but when Quatra noticed how confused the two boys were and he knew that Duo could go on forever so he decided to put a stop to it. He told Duo to calm down and take a deep breath. Then he told the two boys that they didn't have to answer everything only what they were comfortable with. He explained that Duo could be overwhelming when you didn't know him. Duo just glared at him then looked expectantly towards their guests hoping for answers.
Trowa looked at Heero then at Duo and told them that Heero had shape-shifting abilities as well. He said that since they changed in to animals so much that they were more comfortable outside. Neither of them had any family to contact and they didn't know how old they were. As for working for or against the Guild, they weren't sure. They had been raised and trained by the Guild and they knew what would happen if they turned on the powerful organization. Then again they had never been given the opportunity to live outside the Guild with the other person. There had never been a way to get them both away before. Now that they had the chance they didn't want to blow it. The others nodded understandingly and agreed to let the two think over their offer. Though Duo didn't seem quite so content, it was like there was something about the boys that was bothering him. When he wouldn't stop staring at Heero Wu-Fei asked him what was wrong.
"How come you don't talk?"
Duo being who he was had stated what was bothering him for everyone to hear without any regard to sensitivity. But before the others could chastise him on it they realized that he was right and none of them had ever actually heard Heero say anything. Heero looked at Trowa and after a while he nodded.
"He can't talk. There was an 'accident' during a training session and Heero's vocal cords were ripped out. They never fully healed so he can't speak anymore. Somehow we are still able to communicate using a type of telepathy like the kind we use to communicate with animals."
Duo apologized for prying but said that he had a natural curiosity. Quatra on the other hand seemed like he wanted to ask a lot more questions. Which thankfully Sally said would have to wait for the morning since they all needed their sleep. They showed Heero and Trowa to the room that the other boys shared and told them they could sleep with them for the night. The room had previously held three twin beds but upon the arrival of their two guests had been exchanged for two bunk beds. The bunk beds were positioned against two walls on either side of the room with one of the twin beds in the middle and their dressers against the wall the door was on. As it turned out Trowa and Heero had never slept in a bed before and so by morning they were curled up together on the floor in a blanket.
When Cathryne came in to wake them up for breakfast she found Trowa propped up on the wall with Heero curled up in his lap. Trowa was awake and playing with Heero's hair so he asked if she needed something when she didn't say anything. Cathryne jumped in surprise. She hadn't thought that he had noticed her but thought that they had been trained to notice people and she was being foolish if she thought she could sneak up on them even if it was with good intentions. She nodded and said that she had come to see if anyone was awake for breakfast. She told him that it was Saturday and so they could relax today. She said that the others would get up later for breakfast and that he could eat now or come with the others later it was up to him. He looked confused for a moment but just nodded his head and said that they would be down with everyone else. Cathryne smiled and left after one last look at Heero. They looked so peaceful lying there. It was easy to forget what they had been trained to do. It was horrible to have to remind herself that those two had seen and would continue to see horrible things in there lives and would most likely commit some of those horrible things. She really didn't want to think about it so she went back downstairs to drink her morning coffee with Sally.
She had come to appreciate the quiet of the mornings before the boys woke up and began their days. It was always pleasant to have her quiet time. At first she had spent it alone but after a while she noticed that Sally was up before the others as well and had invited her to the kitchen for some conversation. After that the two had come to enjoy each other's company and had expanded from a good friendship to something a little more. They hadn't told the others about their relationship at first because they were afraid of what their friends would think. It was hard enough with them being Newbreeds that they didn't want to lose the friends they had made that accepted that part of them by asking them to accept more that was different about them. Of course they shouldn't of worried so much and they had eventually told everyone when Quatra had gotten tired of holding in the fact that they were both emotionally exhausted. He had ordered them to bed and had let them take a few weeks off so they could rest and let everyone adjust to the change. Sally had moved in to her room and had started taking closer care of the boys while Cathryne was able to help Sally with her patients from other cells within the rebellion. In the end the arrangement was best for everyone.
The addition of the two shape-shifters was going to be interesting. Since she knew a little bit about what Trowa and Heero had gone through and what was waiting for them upon their return to the Guild she thought that Trowa would eventually take their offer and join them. She also knew that Heero would go wherever Trowa went even if it was back to the Guild. But after seeing them this morning she now knew for sure that if Trowa thought that the Guild was what was best for Heero then that would be where he would go. Thankfully she was also sure that he would see that they weren't trying to hurt them. Given enough time they could learn to trust in this cell if not in the rebellion itself.
When Quatra got up that morning he noticed that Trowa and Heero were gone. He woke everyone up and went downstairs to try and find them. But when they got down there all three of them stopped in the stairwell. Heero was helping Sally set the table wile Cathryne and Trowa finished the cooking. The three late risers stared slack jawed at the meal that was being placed on the table. As Sally gestured for them to enter the kitchen and sit down they tried to ask what was going on but all that came out were odd grunting noises. Wu-Fei was the first to start thinking clearly and decided to find out what was going on. While Wu-Fei questioned Sally and Cathryne duo and Quatra started eating. As it turned out Trowa and Heero weren't used to sleeping in that long and had decided to get up and help in the kitchen. They had already eaten and we're just on their way out when the others had walked in. Cathryne and Sally nodded to the boys and told them to be back by diner time. Both the boys nodded in the affirmative and quickly shifted to the form of wolves as they took off at a dead run towards the woods.
After breakfast and when they were thinking more clearly the three boys started asking questions about their new roommates. They wanted to know if the girls had been hurt in any way and then admonished them for not waking someone up when it was clear they were going to be alone with the two boys. At first the girls looked amused but that quickly changed to outrage by the end of the rant.
"First off Wu-Fei it's not like we can't take care of ourselves and besides you were all sleeping. Secondly they are supposed to be considering our offer to protect them. You know that will mean that you will have to trust them since they will be living and working with you. We're supposed to be encouraging them to trust us not scare them off by treating them like threats."
Cathryne yelled at Wu-Fei but spread her glare over all three boys. She told them that they knew how to act better then that and that they better start or she would start giving them extra chores. The boys straightened up and promised to do a better job of welcoming them. Duo complained that it was hard to make someone feel welcome when they were never there to begin with. Cathryne saw his point and decided to do something about that. She told Duo that he had just volunteered himself to take part in her experiment. She said that since Duo made such a good point that it was now his job to invite the other boys to do something that would help them relax. Since they liked to be outside and probably wouldn't do anything without the other she suggested that he take them on a nature walk or something.
So Duo started planning out his nature walk and how he was going to get Wu-Fei and Quatra to go along with it. He knew that Quatra would go out of simple curiosity but that it would take something more to get Wu-Fei. He had all day since they weren't going to be back until diner so he went to watch some TV. Wu-Fei went to practice martial arts in the basement turned dojo while Quatra went to do whatever it is that Quatra does all day.
TBC…
Hello again! Sorry for not updating for so long but my computer crashed then when I finally was able to get a few chapters written I dropped the laptop they were on. I've been having bad luck with electronic stuff lately so I'm really sorry this is so late! Hopefully I'll be able to get more out soon. Please review!