Secrets Untold

By: Cryn

Disclaimer: Standard procedure; Gundam Guys aren't mine.

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Quatre woke the next morning on the sofa and panicked when Duo was no where in sight. Sitting up he yawned and picked Hope off of the floor. She meowed and rubbed her head against his bare chest. Quatre smiled and looked down at her and he frowned.

There was blood on her fur, patches matting together in small clumps. Quatre searched her over and could find no wounds on her tiny body, then started to examine the basement for a source of the crimson stains. He almost wretched when he entered the bathroom to find the counter covered in swirls of blood. Looking around, he spotted a kitchen knife on the floor, it too was stained crimson. Starting to panic, he raced upstairs, ignoring the small drops of blood on the floor that created a straight path to the door.

"Hilde!" He shouted, "Hilde!"

The raven-haired woman appeared on her steps sleepily. The man she was with had obviously left already. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and yawned.

"What is it Quatre?"

"Duo's gone and there's blood everywhere downstairs." He was shaking in fear.

"Oh my god not again…" Hilde sighed and looked out the front door. "Quatre, sit down a moment…"

"What do you mean not again!?" Quatre shouted.

"Quatre sit, I need to make a phone call."

Hilde bustled through the kitchen and grabbed the portable phone, then went into the basement to the bathroom. She knew that her basement bathroom was his favorite hide away during these moments of his. During Duo's short stay with her after he and Solo ended things five years ago he had constantly drugged himself to sleep and left the bathroom in a mess of blood and pills. Finding it once again covered in blood was not a real shock to her either and she wondered where the pill bottles were. Taking an old washcloth, she started to clean the mess as she dialed a number.

"Hey, this is Solo." The man's voice was tired.

"Solo, this is Hilde, is Duo there?" She stopped cleaning and prayed for a response.

"Yeah, he's asleep on the couch." Solo stated sadly and sighed, "He showed up, blood dripping from his arms. What happened?"

"I have no idea."

"Hilde, I have tickets for one of his friends to get off the planet to L3. Duo's been trying to help him he said. The shuttle leaves at noon, he has four hours to get on it."

"Alright." Hilde thought for a moment, "I'll be right there."

"See you soon." Solo muttered and the phone clicked.

Returning the phone to its charger in the kitchen, Hilde looked at Quatre. He was lying on the couch, the kitten in his arms as he stroked her fur gently. The blonde looked absolutely miserable there, confused and not really knowing what was happening.

"Quatre, pack your things, we're leaving in ten minutes." Hilde sighed, walking up to her loft; "We can get breakfast on the way if you're hungry. Solo's place is one town over, we've got about an hour's drive."

It took them just under an hour to get to Solo's apartment, but it seemed like longer. Streets passed by and Quatre didn't even blink. Hilde just concentrated on making the right turn, if she missed the road, she'd have to go the long way around and find the secretive street again. She didn't bother start a conversation, it was obvious to her that something big was going on between the pilots that she best not get involved in.

Solo opened the door, looking drained and confused. Hilde nodded once and entered, dragging Quatre in behind her. There was no blood on the floor, which was a welcomed sight seeming how she was already dreading cleaning up her own home.

"Solo, what happened? My basement is a mess... again," Hilde spoke softly, looking around for the man in question.

"I don't know, he showed up here a little after seven looking stoned and bleeding." Solo didn't quiet his voice, but the concern was transparent, "Hilde, the man is a mess."

"Where is Duo?" Quatre asked suddenly, stealing from Hilde's grasp and looking around hopefully.

"He left... I couldn't keep him here long enough to talk with you two," Solo sighed heavily, "I have your tickets, Quatre, right? He said to take Hope and leave, use the second ticket for her carrier. I'm guessing this is the cat he was mumbling about..."

"What? No!" Quatre sunk to the floor, sitting in the middle of the living room, "He said he was going to come with me, no matter what happened."

"He asked me to beg you to go. You need to get on that shuttle to L3. Wufei is expecting you."

Quatre looked up at Solo, disbelief in his eyes. Why was Duo abandoning him... Did he not want to be together anymore... What happened last night in the bathroom to leave so much blood all over the place...?

Hilde growled and held out her hand for the tickets, "Thanks a lot, Solo. C'mon, Quatre. Duo's flaking again."

Hilde sounded angry at this, not confused or hurt... What on earth was happening here?

They left, Quatre finally noticed Duo's car was not parked outside the complex. He really was gone...

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"Are they gone?"

"Yea... Duo, you better have a damned good reason for breaking that kid's heart. He looked ready to fall apart into nothing."

Solo growled at Duo, who was on the floor of his lofted bedroom, shaking.

"I had to."

"Yea, why?" Solo snapped, grabbing a pile of gauze wrappers and throwing them out.

"Because they are going to find me, and kill me for what I did. If he had stayed, they'd have done the same to him."

Solo's face went soft as he watched Duo. The man in front of him was shaking, not from the blood loss or the drugs he had taken, but in terror. Solo had never seen Duo physically shaken like this... ever.

"What is going on, Duo?"

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"Where are we going?" Trowa asked coldly from the passenger seat of Heero's car.

The pilot had been hellbent on reaching some distant place, but Trowas was unfamiliar with this part of the American landscape. They flew down highways, then on and off side streets... it's like Heero was possessed, he barely spoke.

"Hilde." He said firmly.

"Hilde? Why?"

"Duo's favorite hiding place and... never mind," Heero cut himself off and kept his cold eyes on the road in front of him.

"And?"

"Shut it, Barton, or I'll crack your head again. I still don't understand what's going on here," Heero snapped and that was the end of the conversation.

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Hilde watched the shuttle leave, Quatre on it safely. Wufei knew the Arabian boy was coming and was going to meet him at the docks in a couple of hours, once the flight landed. So many of them were left in the dark, Hilde had to wonder what the hell was going on amongst the pilots. This was certainly causing upheaval in more ways than one. For some reason, she could not figure out just what was happening.

Taking a round about route home, she swung by Solo's place one more time. Sure enough, parked in a secure back lot was a slick black Mustang.

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(1) Please don't kill me for my... ungodly Hiatus...

(2) Uhm... Please, don't kill me for my absence...

(3) Please R&R?

(4) *ducks and covers*