Playing Stupid

Chapter 7

Finishing the Job

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Despite the title… this is not the end. It's just the BEGINNING of the chaos!! BWAHAHAH!

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Quatre bit his bottom lip nervously as he watched from within Duo's mind. The intruder was a speck in the distance of the milk-white expanse of his friend's psyche, occasionally moving this way and that, obviously in a rather heated argument with someone Quatre could not see.

He wondered briefly if Duo had made it into his body – into Quatre's body – ok. He could only hope for the best. If he tried hard enough and took the necessary precautions, he could bridge the gap between Duo's mind and body without being noticed. He could find out where he was and who the intruder was talking to and possibly begin figuring out a way to get out of this mess.

Carefully, he began to concentrate, reaching out for that part of the psyche where one's body would reside. And Quatre was more than just a little relieved when he found the mind-body bridge exactly where it should have been.

With a steadying breath, he tapped in.

They were swaying. Rhythmically, but roughly, as if the body had been flung over someone's shoulder. Hands were bound, feet were bound. And through it all, a voice he did not recognize was answering back a series of unheard questions.

"Then I will confirm my identity once you take me to the General. Now, is there some reason why I can't walk there myself?"

A brief pause.

"Treize gave you specific instructions to treat me with the utmost care once I gave you the codeword."

Another pause.

"Can't trust me? Then what the hell was all this for then, anyway?"

Quatre shook his head and released the link; he couldn't see where they were, couldn't hear beyond the milky expanse…

A sudden gyration let Quatre know that Duo's body had been all but dropped on a very hard surface, most likely the floor of some interrogation room. Even with the link down, he heard the voice protest loudly.

"Duo," he whispered. "Please be alright."

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Duo Maxwell was trying his hardest to pretend to be Quatre Rabarba Winner. A handful of OZ soldiers had more or less drug his body along with Quatre's into a random interrogation room in whichever base they had come to. Duo would have gladly made a mental map of where they were in the base in relation to the front door, but the tazer sting he had received had left him unconscious until just up to a minute ago.

He groaned and hefted his head slightly only to see someone's rear in his line of site. He was most likely flung over someone's shoulder.

Of all the things Duo Maxwell could do to make his ornery presence known, not a one of them fit into Quatre's persona. And since he was forcefully undercover, he opted for sheer obviousness. "Where am I?" he asked in a level tone.

The soldier beneath him shifted and gave a grunt. "So, you're awake."

"I asked where I am. It's an international offense to hold a member of Queen Relena's advisory panel hostage." Ok, so far so good. This playing Quatre thing wasn't too hard.

"Who said you were a hostage?"

Duo didn't have time to answer as he was unceremoniously dumped on the ground, his butt rebounding off a concrete floor in a sting that was sure to leave him a bruise… or… leave Quatre a bruise.

Continuing his façade, Duo was just about to point out that he was bound and in OZ custody when the cords binding his feet and wrists were suddenly cut loose.

A light frown split his brow, but he stood to his feet, adjusting the horrible pink and cashmere train wreck of Quatre's fashion sense before pinning the soldier before him with a stern eye.

Beside him, the body of Duo Maxwell was tossed to the floor beside a man tied to a chair. Quick eyes surveyed the room before coming to rest on his body, watching a bit miffed as it rubbed its offended posterior before settling to the floor.

In a surprisingly level tone, he asked another obvious question. "What is the meaning of this?" Boy, if that wasn't a perfect impression of Quatre, he didn't know what was. He debated with putting his hands on his hips and tapping a foot impatiently, but Quatre only did that when he was scolding him – er, Duo – on the latest prank he had pulled.

The interrogation room door opened to admit a tall brunette soldier in full French attire, an antique sword hung neatly about his waist.

"Treize Khushrenada." Duo tried very hard not to curse out the name.

"Quatre Rabarba Winner," Treize answered with a smile. "How nice of you to join us in our little meeting."

"Meeting?"

"Of course!" Treize made a long sweeping gesture about the room. "But first, I must confirm all in attendance. You are Quatre Winner, correct?"

Duo managed a frown. "What is this about?"

"Because we seem to be missing a personality. Some where in the confusion, we seem to have lost Duo Maxwell."

Duo raised a finger and pointed sternly to the body of the braided American who sat just yards from him, leaning casually against the wall. "Is that not Duo Maxwell?"

The body of Duo raised a hand in a gesture to call attention to himself. "I'm Tion. And as far as I can determine, the real Quatre Winner is in here," he tapped his head. "Leaving you to be Duo Maxwell," he pinned the blonde with a finger.

"Ridiculous."

"Shall I prove it?"

Treize shifted in place. "I would like this mess straightened out as quickly as possible. We have a diplomat to return to his country," he gave Quatre a wide, sweeping bow.

The braided American's body smiled fiendishly and offered out a hand. "Gun please."

"Do you honestly think we're stupid enough to…" a random soldier began.

"Give him a gun," Treize ordered quietly.

After a few uncomfortable moments, a lieutenant handed over his gun to the Gundam pilot, circling a glance back to Quatre as if threatening his life if something went wrong.

Duo's body took the gun in one hand, held out the other arm and jammed the butt of the gun in the crook of his arm where his forearm joined at the elbow. "How's this for proof?"

Duo gasped seconds before realization dawned. "Wait!! What are you…?"

A deafening boom shook the interrogation room, Duo throwing his arms before his face as the inevitable carnage from his body being shot in the elbow ricocheted his way. A sliver of bone grazed his cheek and he could feel himself pelted in a healthy mixture of mutilated muscle and blood.

A shrill gasp ignited from both the lieutenant and Treize, Duo in Quatre's body daring a peak , immediately wishing he had not.

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Quatre rolled violently as reality within Duo's mind very nearly turned upside-down. The distinct sound of a gun shot ricocheted through the mind hundreds of times, thousands of times before it eventually died down, echoing off into an unseen distance before all fell silent again.

"What just happened?"

In a burst of black smoke that seemed to grow out of nothingness, a body materialized at his feet, riling and howling, clutching at what Quatre could only guess had once been the figure's left arm.

"Duo!" Quatre sank to his knees, reaching out to the body to bundle him into his lap. "Duo! What happened!"

Strained, black eyes opened to Quatre and let out a long curse before he calmed down, gritting teeth a moment before he was able to bundle what was left of his left arm into his lap. "Duo," he breathed, steadying himself. "Where's Duo?"

Quatre shook his head forcefully. "Shinigami?" He pressed his eyes closed to keep from sicking up. "Duo's in my body."

"We're better off than I thought, then."

"What do you mean?"

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Tion in control of Duo's body stood with the gun cocked to his free arm, the arm hanging at an unnatural angle from his body. Blood spattered the walls behind him and dripped rhythmically from the annihilated body part, the body's lower arm hanging on to the upper by a few tendons and some intact muscle.

Letting go of his training, Duo howled from Quatre's body, pulling at the platinum locks and dropping to his knees.

Despite looking decidedly pale, Treize chuckled and motioned the other soldier in the room. "Take… Duo Maxwell… into custody," he pointed to the platinum blonde.

Ignoring the fact that taking any of the Winner family into military custody violated the Peacecraft dictates and would certainly start another war, the stray soldier walked calmly to the blonde crumpled on the floor and hauled him to his feet.

Duo tried another howl but his voice broke. He had been trained to take almost anything, but training had never prepared him to sit back and watch someone mutilate his own body. He was in shock, aquamarine eyes wide and tearing.

Tion in Duo's body turned a smirk on the other, twirling the gun around the finger of his good arm.

"Finish the job," Treize said, pointing to Tion's body. "What happens if you kill Maxwell?"

Tion shrugged. "My body's just right there. As long as no one's stupid enough to move me… uh, it… while I'm killing Maxwell, I'll just default back to my own body."

"Do it."

Duo struggled weakly against his captor as he watched his body raise the gun and jam it into his eye.

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To be continued…