Kandice: Whoo-hoo! Chapter Four! We're actually doing better at this posting thing than we thought we would.

Kassidy: Alright, don't jinx it, babble-mouth. Just do your disclaimer thing and let's get on with the story.

Kandice: Kay! Anyway, me'n' Kass don't own GW. We just borrow them to play with and return them (mostly) unharmed. Suing us will just get you a bunch of dust bunnies... and you've probably got enough of those of your own.

Kassidy: Girl, what is it with you and those stupid dust bunnies....

Chapter Four

Not Like The Rest, Part Two

It took nearly two hours of charm, half-truths, and tiny white-lies for Quatre to wrangle all the information he needed from the redhead, Cathy, about her brother, Trowa.

So, just after two hours later, Quatre was knocking on the man's door. Something had happened. When he wiped away that dollop of soup, it had felt like something had slammed into the shields he kept up to protect his mind from other's emotions. Or maybe like someone had set the nozzle of a super-suction vacuum cleaner to it. Either way, it was highly unusual... and possibly dangerous.

This worried Quatre for two main reasons. First, his empathy did not work on touch. Touch had never affected or been connected to his gift. Second, as if the situation itself wasn't strange enough, the man's behavior had been downright odd.

The door opened a bit, and he was met with a startled face.

"You!" the bartender gasped, emerald eyes going wide.

Quatre nodded. "Me," he agreed. "You and I need to talk."

The door opened the rest of the way, albeit a bit hesitantly. "Who are you?" Quatre asked. "And what happened back there?"

"Trowa Barton... and how the hell am I supposed to know?"

Quatre frowned. The man's voice was soft, but annoyed and a bit angry Quatre supposed if some weird guy showed up at his door demanded things, he'd be annoyed and angry, too. So he smiled, and lightened his tone, trying to get him to relax. "What happened? And I didn't mean your name. I learned that from your sister. I mean... what are you?"

"I could ask you the same, since you seem to know more than I do."

Quatre nearly grinned, despite the oddity of the situation. He valued candid and honest opinions. And while he'd thought before that this man was perhaps a bit shy... an odd quality for a bartender to be sure... it seemed like he was wrong, and that away from public, away from crowds... he was candid and honest with a good dose of sarcasm thrown in. So, Quatre thought it only fair to be honest in return.

"I am an empath. I can feel someone's emotions. On purpose and not. To keep it from happening at unfortunate times, I've created a mental... sheild. A barrier of sorts against feeling other's emotions. Usually, that sheild works just fine, and I don't even notice it until I want to- it's just a background hum, not like turning it off, but more like ear plugs, sort of. Two hours ago, though, it felt like someone drove a freight train into it. It happened when I touched you. And I am not boasting when I admit that I'm very observant. I'm finding it hard to pinpoint an exact reading of your emotions. Confusion is the most prominent. And I've noticed that you are wearing gloves and long clothes, like you're afraid of touching something. Now, I don't know why but I'm assuming it has something to do with what happened? Am I right?"

"Huh?" A blank green stare.

Quatre blinked, then flushed when he realized he'd just spoken without hardly taking a single breath. "Sorry. I tend to get straight to the point. But I want to know what happened? What are you?"

"I... I'm not like the rest," Trowa said simply, turning, going back into the apartment. Quatre followed, having no qualms about just entering someone's home. The door had been open. To him, it was an invitation.

"I think that's a given. Neither am I. So what exactly sets you apart from the others?"

"It's complicated. When I touch an object, I can sometimestell what's happened around it. It's sporadic and uncertain, though. Dosen't happen much anymore." He paused, as if considering how much to reveal. Then he continued. "But everytime I touch someone. Or someone touches me... I can hear what they're thinking. I can hear what they thought yesterday, the day before. I see their memories. I can see them. It's been like that since I was eleven. But... not you. There was that numbing, tingling sensation.... then nothing."

Quatre nodded silently, pondering. He'd felt that feeling in his hand. Like he'd fallen asleep with his head resting on it. He followed Trowa through the apartment, and at his host's wave, perched himself upon a stool at the breakfast bar. After a long moment, he finally spoke.

"That was energy transfer, I'm guessing. I've read about people like you, gifts like that. Psychometry, I believe is what they call it when you receive visions by touching an object. It's a type of clairsentience.

"Clair-whatsit?"

"Clairsentience. You know about clairvoyance?"

A nod.

"Yeah, well, Clairsentience is just the broader picture. Clairvoyance is seeing, clairaudience is hearing. Psychometry is a specific type of clairvoyancy- to an extent, so is my empathy. I've read about all of this stuff. But never about what happens when two different kinds of psychics meet. This is... extraordinary." He rested his head in his hands, leaning on the bar. "I've lowered my Shields almost completely, focusing soley on you, trying to get a reading. And I simply can't. No matter how hard I try, there's a fog around your aura that I can't get past. Every now and then, I can catch a glimpse, but that's it... then it's gone."

"How exactly does this gift of yours work?" Trowa asked. He leaned across the bar a foot or so away from Quatre. His emerald green eyes seemed distant, but he looked genuinely intrigued and interested. "And your sheilds? Does it keep your power contained?"

Quatre laughed quietly. "Not quite. I usually don't explain this part well enough. It's difficult to put into words. Most people just accept that it's a shield. Hm... how to explain? It's like... I'm in a dark room, carrying a lantern. The light is just enough for me. Everyone around me is carrying lanterns, just going about their business. But when they get near me, that lantern becomes a flashlight and they point it straight at me. I don't have to reach out. Their emotions come to me. They do it, not me. Empathy's not really an active gift- I don't have to useit- to actively look for someone's emotions, it just happens; like I'm a magnet for emotions. My shield... it's just that. Like sunglasses, I guess. The light still reaches me, but it's dull and diluted. It's not like they explain it in the books and stuff... like a glass wall or anything. It's more like a curtain, or better still... window blinds. You know... it' blocks out most of the sunlight, but a little will always seep through? That's the way my shields are."

"Interesting." He was frowning. "But... I still..."

Quatre nodded. "Of course. It's alot to understand. I can give you some websites, if you'd like to look it all up for yourself. And... I'd like to help you. It was frustrating and near deadly for me before I met Lucrezia. She's a clairvoyant in the classical sense... she sees different versions of the future, usually in the form of dreams or glimpses in a mirror or something. She's into palmistry and other things, as well. If not for her... I don't know how I'd have coped. I can't beleive you've grew up this long without ever really knowing anything about your ability. Didn't you ever think to look on the Internet?"

"No. I simply tried my best to ignore it, hoping maybe it'd go away. But it didn't. And eventually I learned to cope for the most part."

"You learned to avoid it," Quatre corrected. "There is a difference between avoiding it and accepting it. I'd like to help you. I'd like to see if maybe there isn't a way for you to have shields like mine... not just your gloves and clothes. I'd like to see if there's a way for you to control this."

Trowa blinked at him, as if trying to decide if this was all some elaborate trick.

"Alright," he said finally, green eyes meeting blue. "Help me."

tbc........

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Kassidy: Don't sue us if our explanations are exactly accurate. We are not parapsychologists. All information stated in this story has been found on the net and from our friend Dana's mind.

Kandice: But hey... I think it's pretty accurate. And this chapter moved kinda fast, with alot of descriptions and talking. From here, it kinda picks up. Next chapter you get to meet Dorothy... and maybe even Wufei. And Noin will be showing up soon, too.

Kassidy: Enough info... let's get back to writing it!

Kandice: Kay! Bye! Don't forget to review!