Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I do own the characters I created and their world.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2:
Heero and Wufei found themselves sitting outside with Trowa, as Duo and Quatre helped Cathy in the kitchen. The tall Latin boy turned his calm gaze on his comrades.
"There is something wrong."
"It's Quatre." Heero stated. "He's overworking himself again."
"I don't think it's all work, Heero." Wufei said softly, steepling his fingers under his chin. "He's been rubbing his chest quite a bit lately, as if his heart is hurting. Have you noticed?"
"Yes." Heero frowned.
Trowa leaned back in the lawn chair, a crease appearing between his eyes. "Do you suppose his Space Heart is acting up?"
"It's possible." Wufei murmured. "I've actually been researching such things as Quatre's Space Heart in my spare time, but I have found nothing that would help in such a case as this."
"We'll just have to keep an eye on him." Heero determined. "We'll call him every day if we have to."
"That won't be necessary." Trowa said calmly. "This will be the circus' last show before the break. Quatre has invited me to his house for the six months, and Une has offered me a temporary job till the circus season begins."
"Good." Wufei glanced up to see Duo waltz out of the trailer. Suddenly, the American stumbled, dropping to his knees with a yelp of pain. Duo clutched at his head and looked up. Trowa, Heero, and Wufei wavered in and out of focus as his eyes failed.
"Duo! Can you hear me?" Heero demanded. His hand was on Duo's shoulder, gripping tightly.
Duo's head lifted. Heero tightened his grip as Trowa and Wufei took an instinctive step backwards. Duo's eyes were pure violet, shot through with black and gold. His pupils had vanished completely, as had the whites of his eyes.
"What in heaven's name is going on?" Cathy's cry startled them. "Quatre! Wake up! Trowa, get in here! There's something wrong with Quatre!"
"Get Quatre out here." Heero ordered tersely, as he deposited Duo on the picnic table. The American was staring blindly, his eyes still swirling with color. Trowa hurried into the trailer. He was soon out with Quatre lying limp in his arms. The blonde was out cold, but his hands clutched at the front of his shirt. Trowa laid him gently beside Duo.
"Cathy's calling Preventers."
"Good. Sally's the only doctor I trust." Wufei grunted.
"Oh dear."
Three deadly handguns were pointing in the direction of the new voice before the person had even finished her comment. It was a strange girl with pure white hair. She yelped and lifted hands covered in floor-length blue silk sleeves.
"Stop! I'm good!"
Heero cocked his head curiously at her childish speech, but refused to lower his gun. "You seem familiar."
The girl, who looked to be no more than ten, smiled sweetly. "You know me! Yay! I was hoping you would!"
"Would you boys please put those guns away now?" An irritable voice growled from behind. Trowa twisted, his gun now covering a girl in gold with pale brown hair. She scowled, with simmering grey eyes fixed on them and their weapons.
"We want to help. So will you allow us access to your little friends, or what?"
Heero hesitated, but his instincts told him that these two were to be trusted. He nodded and stepped aside, but kept his gun in hand. Trowa followed his lead; Wufei glanced between them suspiciously, but moved as well.
The girl in blue clapped her covered hands and was beside the two afflicted pilots in a flash. The other girl sighed and followed with a little more decorum.
"What do you mean to do?" Heero watched as the golden girl laid a single bare hand on each pilot's chest. The familiar blue girl lifted her hands and held them out at her sides, the sleeves beginning to flutter with from a nonexistent breeze. She grinned brightly at Heero, ignoring his glare as only Duo and Quatre could.
"We're going to help them! The bad people did something to them." She frowned a little bit, but then her smile was back full-force. "I don't know exactly what, but I can fix it!"
"They have been tainted with blood magic." The golden girl murmured, closing her eyes. "This would be easier if a HEALER were to help." Her tone was pointed.
"Sheesh, you and I both know Mana could fix this without either of us." A teenager appeared beside the girl in a flash of pale green light. He was lanky and tall, with an infectious grin. His clothing was white leather, everything from the long-sleeved tunic to the knee-high boots. A woven gold belt clasped a long, sleeveless robe of pure jade-green round his middle; a gold bracelet with a strange sigil glinted on his wrist.
"Mana?" Heero's mask had cracked; incredulous surprise covered his features for a fraction of a second.
She giggled and winked at Heero. "You were really good at scratching my ears."
Wufei massaged the bridge of his nose. "I cannot believe what I am hearing." Trowa just stood and watched silently.
The young man turned and strode toward them. He stopped in front of Trowa and Wufei, looking them over critically. Trowa's forehead creased in a frown.
"What do you want?"
"Just checking." His voice was distant. When his eyes met theirs, they noticed with a start that his eyes were glowing green, whereas they had been a gleaming brown. He continued, oblivious to their shock. "I don't want anyone else being tainted on me."
"Then why just us and not Yuy?" Wufei demanded suspiciously.
A slight, amused smile curled the boy's lips. "Because it is impossible for ghouls to even look at him."
Heero blinked. "Ghouls?"
"The slightest touch from you can completely destroy a ghoul." The boy's voice was still slightly distant. "It's hard for them to be within even ten feet of your aura."
"What?" Heero was, by now, completely confused, a feeling he was not accustomed to and did NOT like.
The trailer door slammed back on it's hinges as Cathy flew down the steps. "Sally will be here in five minutes! How are—" She stopped short, staring at the three strangers. "Heero, what in the world is going on?"
"We wish we knew." Trowa said softly, putting a calming hand on her shoulder.
Suddenly the wind began to pick up, soon whipping about the group with gale-force strength. The two girls threw themselves on Duo and Quatre, shielding them from the debris as screams and the sounds of panicking animals filled the air. Heero, Wufei, and Trowa were forced down to their knees, covering Cathy. Only the leather-clad boy was still upright, staring up at the rapidly darkening sky with a snarl of anger.
"Sparrow, what do we do?" The little girl cried from her position on Quatre's chest.
The boy, Sparrow, strode to a clear spot. The wind gave an animalistic roar that chilled the pilots to their bones. Trowa pulled an insensate Cathy into his lap as they watched the wind, now a tornado, dig a trench toward Sparrow. The boy merely watched with narrowed eyes as he lifted his hands toward the sky.
A shaft of pure green light shot up from where Sparrow was standing and circled him, creating a strange globe of shimmering light. The tornado slammed against it and seemed to howl defiance and anger. Heero grabbed Trowa's shoulder.
"Get Cathy inside! We'll get Duo and Quatre!"
Trowa nodded and gathered his adopted sister up, heading back to the trailer. Wufei and Heero pushed toward the table, dodging flying debris and supporting each other against the still-strong gale.
However, before they made it, before Trowa put one foot on the stairs to the trailer, light poured down and a voice echoed around them.
"Sparrow, Mana, Geisha, come now! I cannot hold the gate much longer!"
Sparrow nodded and slammed his shield at the tornado, knocking it from his path. Sprinting up to Trowa, he grabbed the tall pilot's arm and made a circular motion with his fist. In a heartbeat, they and Cathy had disappeared.
Before they could process what happened, Mana had shoved Duo into Heero's arms as Geisha did the same with Quatre and Wufei. Mana grabbed Heero's shirt, stepped on Wufei's toes, and made the same motion. The last thing the pilots saw was the picture of Sally, Noin, and Zechs staring in disbelief, and Geisha facing down the strange tornado.
Then, there was only cold and darkness.