Chapter 9: Une Chanson Triste

A/N: Warning: Mention of drugs.

"Pass it here, Duo!" a teammate yelled from down at the opposite wing. It was the first game of the season, and the team had been practicing hard. Duo, already knowing the importance of team work, a lesson hard learned during the war, nodded, and passed the puck across the ice.

Duo had shown such talent at practice that Coach Higgins had immediately added him to the first string of forwards. He had been heaped with praise at his athletic talent. So much so, in fact, that it was obvious that a few of the players were jealous. Duo had found himself feeling a little cynical at that. He wished they knew how hard won his "natural talent" was. Luckily, Duo's charm won over most of the team, and they were functioning well tonight. The score was 1-0: for Saint Christopher's.

A rush of cold air blew past Duo's face as the Sentennial players rushed to catch up with Rick, to whom Duo had passed the puck. The clattering of sticks and boards was fierce, but they were too late, and Duo knew itRick was on a breakaway, and he slid the puck easily between the goalie's legs. 2-0 for Saint Christopher's. Coach Higgins blew the whistle.

"Ok, boys, change it up! We've got enough of a lead. 2nd string, you're on! Don't let us down!"

There was a lot of clattering and tripping as the 3 boys already on the ice hobbled over to the bench in their skates. The 2nd string forward players jumped over the side of the rink, in a flurry of jersey's and helmets. The game was back on!

Duo looked up into the stands at his 4 compatriots. Quatre waved down cheerfully, and the other boys smiled slightly. Grinning to himself, Duo refocused himself on the game. It was nice to have a goal again. He could easily fall back into "mission mode" and his old routines again. Granted, this wasn't at all like war, and indeed he was glad it wasn't. It was nice, though, to settle into his old routine again and win.

2nd string was playing well, but their 1st string defense was getting tired. Coach ordered another switch over and once again chaos reigned as sweaty teenagers clambered around in bulky equipment. Duo found it quite ironic that he had gone into armed combat wearing less safety gear.

After the second period, Saint Christopher's was sitting pretty at 3-0 scoring. However, as the third period wore on, it was obvious that their efforts had taken a toll on the Saint Christopher's players. As the second goal of the night for Sentennial was scored, Coach Higgins called a time out.

"They're catching up, boys, and do you know why?"

A chorus of moans and grunts came from the exhausted players.

"Well, I'll tell you then. It's because you're giving up! Now I want to see you all giving it your hearts, souls, and livers out there! Let's widen our lead!"

Coach's enthusiasm seemed to have perforated the minds of the teenagers sitting in front of him. They went on the ice with new gusto for the game. They played hard for 15 minutes, and though they didn't score again, neither did the other team. Suddenly, a Sentennial player broke through the defenses. The team watched helplessly as a one on one battle played out between their goalie and the player. They needn't have worried. Danny was on fire tonight, and executing a series of movements that shouldn't have been humanly possible, Danny landed in the middle splits, preventing the puck from entering the net! The spectacular save gave Saint Christopher's new heart, and the first string forwards made their play. Going up the ice, Rick, Davis, and Duo passed the puck back and forth, avoiding the other team and body checking hard when they couldn't be avoided. The puck finally came to Duo and he shot it straight into the upper right corner of the net. Just in time! The buzzer rang and the Saint Christopher's team descended on Duo in a massive group hug.

As they headed towards the change rooms, Rick slapped Duo on the back and said,

"Hey, man, great game. Wanna come to an after game party?"

Duo hesitated slightly. Heero was going to want to do mission debriefing tonight. Plus, he couldn't abandon his friends.

"Could the guys come?" Duo asked slowly, his mind pondering possible scenarios.

"Course man! Everyone's invited! It's in town. A friend of mine's family has a place."

"What about the principal? And coach?"

"Awww, they know! Everyone just signs out and says they're going to the team party. We aren't prisoners!"

"Well, okay, I just have to check with Heero."

"You his bitch or something'?" Rick was starting to sound challenging. They were all in the change room now, and pulling off their skates.

"No! Of course not, I just want what he wants to do."

"Now don't get offended, I didn't mean nothin' by it. Call me on my cell when you know."

Rick handed Duo a piece of paper with a number scribbled on it.

"Thanks, I will."

From the moment the five pilots stepped into the glaring lights and blaring music in the house where the party was being held, Duo knew that it wasn't a good idea. However, they had come too far to stop now, and they forged ahead. Duo pretty much voiced everyone's thoughts for them when they came upon the party scene, though,

"Well, shit."

Quatre's POV

The whole house smelled like sex and alcohol. A heavy stink of drugs was layered in the atmosphere. Blaring music assaulted our ears and teenagers were everywhere. The five of us moved uncertainly over to a couch. As we sat down, I looked over at my friends. I could already sense their jumbled emotions, ranging from disgust to fear. Heero looked about as lost as I felt, and Wufei wore a look of consternation. Duo just looked troubled, and Trowa, well… he didn't look comfortable at all. Following protocol, we sat and observed for a few minutes. Suddenly Duo let out a horrified exclamation,

"Oh, God."

We soon saw what he had been referring to. Over on the couch opposite us was a very unstable looking teenager injecting an unidentifiable substance into his arm. Something like a whimper was ripped from my lips, though it took a while for me to notice that it was me who made the sound. My hands were shaking, and the other guys weren't doing much better than me. Given that, I don't know why it surprised me so much when Wufei catapulted himself into action, and launched himself at the other boy. He ripped the needle from his hands, and threw it as hard as he could towards the opposite wall. Before the we could even register what Wufei had done, he was running out the door. We quickly followed.

We sat outside on the doorstep for what seemed like hours, but was probably in reality less than 20 minutes. I was lost in a recollection I had thought I had put behind me.

Flashback:

He was strapped down to a chair. He was restrained from head to toe, though this didn't prevent him from trying to recoil in absolute terror, as the doctor and the needle drew closer to him.

"Don't look at me like that, Quatre, this is for your own good. You'll thank me for it later."

The plunger was depressed, and Quatre allowed himself to slip into oblivion, knowing that the world that awaited him when he awoke would be filled with a drug-induced pain, as Instructor H counteracted his normal growth process with hormone replacement therapy.

The first round of drugs, he had been told, were to prevent him from exceeding the size limit in his gundam. There would be no time for cockpit adjustment during the fighting, so Instructor H said, and in addition, being small was essential for missions that involved stealth, and possible crawling through air conditioning vents. The second was to ensure that he would retain the proper body strength despite his diminutive size. Then there had been the third and fourth rounds, and the frightening part about them had been the fact that he wasn't told what they were for.

He was ripped from his painful recollections by a strong arm snaking its way around his shoulders, and as he came back to himself, he realized he was crying, softly. Alarmed, he tried to stem his tears, but found that the more he tried, the less successful he was. So he gave in, leaning into Trowa's comforting arms.

End Quatre's POV

Collecting himself, Heero stood up.

"Let's go," he said gruffly.

They had all been disturbed by the scene at the party. The others nodded their ascent, and they began the walk to the bus stop. It had started to rain while they were inside, and so, cold, wet, and tired, they sat down on the bench beside the sidewalk. They didn't talk about what they had seen. Having all gone through the same painful process, each pilot already knew how disturbed the others were feeling. It had been awful to see someone voluntarily allowing the drugs to take over their life when they themselves had had no choice. If being manipulated by an aggressive regiment of drugs wasn't enough to utterly destroy any tolerance for drugs as a recreational means in each of the pilots, the withdrawal symptoms at the end of the war certainly were.

As they got off the bus, they made their way back to the school in shell shocked silence until Duo broke in,

"Guys?"

An assortment of grunts greeted his question.

"I want to go home."

This was said with such an intonation of despair that for a moment, nothing was said in response. The other pilots all considered the preventers HQ they had come to perceive as home over the past year. Eventually, it was Trowa who replied for them all,

"I think we all do, Duo."

On the way up to their room, the boys ran into Dr. Gus.

"Have a good time boys?" Dr. Gus' voice was enthusiastic and warm, and to his credit, his grin faded only a little when he received their stony looks. He didn't miss a beat.

"I guess not, then. Have a good sleep, don't let the bed bugs bite," and with a wink, a chuckle, and a skip in his step, Dr. Gus was off.

"He's got a good heart, that man does," Quatre said with quiet certainty.

"If you say so, Quat," Duo responded, voicing his confidence in Quatre's judgement of character.

The halls were mostly deserted except for the occasional group of students loitering in the halls. It was late, a little past curfew, but the staff were being lenient because of game night. For this reason, the pilots were only a little surprised when they heard Joshua's voice calling, lowly, but in an absurdly compelling fashion.

"Hey guys! Where have you been? Robbie and I were looking for you. We wanted to congratulate you, Duo, on a great game!"

"Thanks Joshua."

Despite their exhaustion, mental and physical, Duo and Quatre found the strength to smile encouragingly at Robbie, who was all but hiding behind Joshua. Trowa, too, found some stores of gentleness in him usually reserved for the animals in the circus and his closest friends. Wufei and Heero hung back, a little more awkward than the others.

"We were… at a party."

A look of comprehension dawned on Joshua's face as he noted the distaste on his new friend's face.

"Oh. You should have asked me about it. I could have told you not to go there. Rick's parties are always disgusting."

"We'll certainly keep that in mind next time," Duo said, with a rueful grin.

"Heh… After that, I don't know if I want to go anywhere," Wufei continued.

"Oh, don't say that. There are plenty of nicer places to go in town. I'll tell you what, I can take you all out somewhere after school one day next week, if you want."

The boys looked to Heero, who forced an excuse for a smile.

"That might be nice, Joshua. Thank you for offering."

Joshua didn't flinch at Heero's stiff formality, instead, he smiled warmly in return and said,

"Anytime."

Suddenly, Robbie spoke, for the first time in the presence of the gundam pilots. His speech was slow and faltering, but it was a start.

"W-we could take them to the park… To watch t-the sunset, like we sometimes do, right Joshie?"

Robbie looked so uncertain of himself that Joshua hastened to reassure him.

"That's a great idea, Robbie, I'm sure they'll love that!"

At that point, Joshua glared significantly over Robbie's head, as if daring the pilots to disagree. Nobody did, however, and the usual pleasantries were exchanged as the boys said goodnight.

Entering their room, the pilots got ready for bed quietly. Nobody was quite sure who had made the decision, but 20 minutes later found the bunkbeds pushed together, and the five teenagers stretched out close by each other on the bottom bunks, sleeping soundly.