Frayed Edges

Kandice: Back again.

Kassidy: Here's the newest chapter of Frayed Edges. Oh... and we don't own Gundam Wing.

Kandice: Right-O. We don't own nothing but...

Kassidy: Dust Bunnies! We know, we know!

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Rareties

After three days of intensive experimentation and countless trys, Trowa and Quatre could still not emulate or repeat the occurrence of telepathy. They were beginning to doubt that it had ever actually happened. Maybe they had just been so close, that their thoughts were similar. Things were not looking good.

"One more try," Trowa nearly pleaded as Quatre stood up to leave. It was late in the evening and they were both exhausted from the last four hours- spent focusing and trying to read minds. Nothing had worked.

Quatre sighed as he allowed Trowa to pull him back down onto the couch in his pent-houses living room. He was beginning to see things that he hadn't ever thought of before, with anyone else. How, with the gloves or without, Trowa seemed to enjoy touching him. Grabbing his wrist, a hand on his shoulder. Small things he would have taken for granted with other people. But with Trowa, it just proved to him how exactly emotionally starved his new friend was. Just how much he'd missed physical contact.

"Fine. One last time."

"Try something strong, like last time. A strong memory, like right before it happened last time."

"Alright." Quatre closed his eyes, focused on a particularly strong memory of him and his ex-girlfriend, Sei, on their graduation day. Then, he dropped his shields completely.

Trowa's sense reached forward automatically, and he locked onto the prominent thoughts and memories.

Again, he was back in that library, with a book spread before him- a memory of Quatre and a blond girl laughing and smiling as they stood side by side in matching green caps and gowns. It was obviously their high school graduation- and they were obviously happy. He pressed closer; the image was clear, but that was all, just those few moments. Trowa wanted to know more about it.

"Ow. Don't push so hard," Quatre murmured to him. "It hurts."

"But how do I look, then? How can I see more without you giving it and without hurting you?"

"I don't know," the empath admitted. "Just, wait a few moments, please. Let me think."

Quatre wasn't sure what he was supposed to be thinking. He'd never done any of this before. Suddenly, he felt an emotion from Trowa. He wasn't quite sure what that emotion was, only that he'd felt it when he normally didn't feel anything. He did something he normally didn't do and snatch out at the emotion, trying to hold it, to understand it.

And something happened that hadn't ever happened before. Quatre felt drawn to Trowa, following the emotion back into the foggy aura surrounding his new friend. The emotion he was following tugged at him, drew him in. And he let it. He gave up, not knowing what was going to happen, and just let it happen.

What the hell?

Trowa immediately knew something had happened. Normally, just memories or thoughts came at him. Not entire minds.

Tell me you felt that... Quatre's voice seemed to echo in his head.

You heard me?

Quatre's blue-green eyes snapped open to meet with emerald green. He was still in Trowa's mind, and...

I can hear you, he said.

Wha... what the hell is going on?

Quatre smiled at his friend, keeping a tight grip, his hand in Trowa's.

Looks like we found out how to do this.

He could feel every emotion from Trowa as clearly as if they were his own, maybe even more clear. Trowa was surprised at what was happening, excited, too. There was a nervousness in him, a bit of... jealousy? And there was something else. Something he was trying to repress, trying to hide. And Quatre couldn't tell what.

Except that if felt remarkably like... attraction. Lust. Quatre blinked. Surely.... No. It couldn't be. But yes. That's what it felt like- attraction... for him. Quatre knew what attraction felt like. He knew from experience. What he didn't know...

Was how he felt about Trowa being attracted to him.

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Quatre looked at the picture that lay on Duo's desk. He could see the attrocities, and he could pick out some details. Blond hair, stick straight and with an eerily green glow to it.

"Her hair was dyed?"

Duo blinked. "Um... yeah. Forensics discovered that. Original hair color is brownish-red. She was wearing blue contacts, as well. Original eye color was brown.

"Hair dye and contacts? What was she trying to hide from. or who?"

Duo's eyes rolled. "In case you haven't noticed, it's 2009. Just about all teenage girls dye their hair and wear contacts. And have since the 80's."

"You have a dead girl, Detective Maxwell. You can't afford not to be paranoid. Seems to me she might have been hiding from someone. If we know who... then chances are we know her killer."

"Sheesh. Are you a psychic or a psychiatrist?"

"Neither. I am a criminal psychologist. Percentages say that- more than likely- if someone runs, and they end up dead, then the person chasing them is the killer."

"God. I'm surrounded by smart people."

Quatre could only blink.

"That's something we've already considered," Heero pointed out. "But it's a theory that does us no good if we can't ID her. How can we find a killer before we know who he murdered?"

"We know who he murdered," Quatre disagreed. "We just don't know her name. And I think I can help. Well, I think I know someone who can."

"Another empath?"

"No. His specialty is psychometry."

"Psy-whatsis?"

"Psychometry. He receives visions by touching things."

"Oh. I think I've heard of that," Duo said with comprehension. "Like, he can touch a hairbrush and tell you something about the person who owned it?"

Quatre nodded. "Something like that. But I must warn you. He is not used to using his ability in this fashion. And I don't know if he will agree to help you or not. Even if he does, there is no guarantee that it will work. Psychic abilities are fickle things."

"Any chance is better than no chance," Heero reasoned. "Will you please ask your friend if he will help us?"

Quatre nodded. "If he does not, then I will see if my friend back home will fly out. She's helped with cases at the Smithsonian and the Jeffersonian before. She's a classic clairvoyant and can see the future, er, sort of."

"You psychic people all band together, don't you?"

"Not really," Quatre said. "Lu was the one who helped me refine control over my own gift. And I'm sort of doing the same thing for Trowa. It's kind of complicated. Would you like me to bring him to the station tomorrow."

Heero nodded. "Please. Any and all help is appreciated."

Quatre smiled. "Of course. It may take some convincing, but I'm sure once he hears about our Jane Doe, then he'll be happy to help."

tbc...

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Kandice: There it is. This chapter is finished!

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