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Chapter 06

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Quatre moaned as he looked at his alarm clock. "How can it be morning already?" He complained.

/"Time flies when you're having fun."/ The echo of a voice smirked.

Frustrated, the empath twisted in his sheets, rolling on the bed as he gripped the sides of his head, "GET OUT!" He shouted, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

/"I can't do that."/ The voice purred/"I need you."/

"Go to hell!" The teen swore through clenched teeth. "Why would I help you?"

/"It's a matter of leverage."/

Quatre became still, breathing hard, as the voice he knew so well echoed in his head, "Trowa…"

/"I expect you to do as you're told."/

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"You're late." Wu Fei accused, not looking up from his paperwork.

The blonde sighed as he shut the Chinese Preventer's office door and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it by the door. "Are you going to condemn me for each fault I may display, no matter how petty it is?"

"Being punctual isn't petty, nor is it a difficult thing to request." Sharp ebony eyes lifted to lock onto the smaller teen, "You look like hell." Wu Fei announced, surprised, "Something wrong?"

Shaking his head, Quatre sank into the chair across from his partner's desk, "Long night." He simply stated, rubbing his hands over his eyes, "I had an… unexpected visitor that wouldn't leave."

"Surely you could have called security to remove them?" The Chinese boy leaned back in his chair.

"They can't remove what's not physically there." Quatre dismissed. "Can we not talk about this? I apologize for being late, but I'm here now, and if I'm not mistaken, we've got a missing kid to find."

"Did you look over the information pack?"

"Yeah… This Nagi… He's something else to be able to survive what he has."

Wu Fei stood and walked over to a tray on the other side of the room. "You believe the report?" He asked skeptically as he handed his partner a cup of tea.

"What's not to believe?" Quatre questioned accepting the beverage gratefully.

"The whole new-type bit. I don't buy it." The Chinese boy said, taking his own cup of tea and sitting back down.

Quatre was silent for a few moments before asking, "Is it really so hard to accept? That some people have a special gift that exceeds normal perimeters?"

"I believe that they are nothing more than eccentric parlor tricks."

"Oh." The other boy said quietly.

"Any thoughts as to where we should begin our investigation?" Wu Fei asked, leaning over and pulling up a file on his computer screen. After a moment of scanning the information, he looked back at the blonde. "I was thinking of interviewing the hospital staff of where he disappeared from."

"Maybe…" Quatre bit his lower lip thoughtfully. "Wu Fei, have you ever heard of an organization called Kritiker?"

"Can't say that I have. Why?"

The other teen shook his head, "It's nothing."

/"It's Not Nothing!"/ A voice hissed in the empath's mind, causing the young new-type to grimace.

"Winner? Something wrong?" Wu Fei raised an eyebrow.

/"It's a secret."/ The voice warned.

"N-no… nothing's the matter…" Quatre stammered, hastily putting his teacup on the desk lest he drop it. "W-What about Weiss? Does that mean anything to you?"

"I know that it's German for white." Wu Fei shrugged. "Can we get back to the case? You've wasted enough time."

The blonde frowned at that, but said nothing.

Content that the smaller teen was going to remain on task, the Chinese boy continued, "I have a list of the staff that had access to and worked directly with the victim. They're expecting us in an hour."

/"It's a waste of time."/ The voice sneered. /"They won't tell you anything! You will go to the flower shop at the address I will give you."/

"Why the hell would I go there?" Quatre hissed.

Wu Fei raised an eyebrow, "Unless you've got any better ideas…?"

/"You will go to the Flower Shop!"/

"SHUT UP!" The blonde shouted grabbing his head; his eyes squeezed shut in vain effort to block the mental intrusion. "I'M NOT LISTENING TO YOU!"

/"Your Choice… Look outside."/

Panicked eyes flew open. "Oh, no…"

"Winner?" Wu Fei glared as the smaller boy jumped from his seat, and pushed him away from the window. "What is your prob-"

The splintering of window glass followed by the sharp shattering of Quatre's teacup sent both pilots diving to the floor.

After a few minutes of nothing else happening, Quatre glanced at his stunned partner, "Are you okay, 'Fei?"

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" The irate Chinese boy fumed.

Azure eyes narrowed angrily, the blonde's patience finally reaching its limit for the day, "How about some gratitude, Chang?" He snapped, "That bullet was meant for you!"

The raven haired boy paled slightly before retaliating, "And how the hell would you know that? It could have been for you or it could have been random! Why am I wasting time, arguing with you, when the sniper is getting away?"

"He's already gone." Quatre murmured, climbing to his feet.

"W-Where are you going?" Wu Fei sputtered, as his partner grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

"To the east side of Tokyo." The empath replied, his displeasure emanating from him in a tangible aura. "There's a flower shop that I need to visit." He paused before leaving the office, "Are you coming? Or would you rather be here when Une comes to inquire about that broken window?"

"I'll drive." Chang stated, standing and quickly snatching up his coat and keys.

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"You better not puke in my car!"

"Oh, Allah…" The blonde groaned as he hunched forward in his seat, his eyes closed tight.

"How the hell did you become a Gundam Pilot when you can't ride in a car without being carsick?" Wu Fei asked incredulously, while resisting the urge to sooth the queasy teen.

"Please don't talk, Fei…" Quatre pleaded, groaning as his partner took a sharp corner.

With a seemingly exasperated sigh, Chang used the automatic button on his side of the door to roll down the passenger's window, "Try taking slow deep breaths, and please don't puke in my car."

After a few moments of breathing the fresh air, a very pale empath sat up, though he kept his eyes closed. "It's only when I'm the passenger that I get motion-sick." He tried to explain, "When I'm driving or flying, it doesn't bother me. Occasionally, I'll get a headache, but that usually goes away within twenty minutes."

Wu Fei cast his partner a sideways glance, "You should have told me."

"And give you another reason to think I'm weak? No thank you." The smaller teen snorted, missing the brief look of guilt on his judgmental partner's face, before lapsing into an oppressive silence for the remainder of the trip.

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"I didn't know you got carsick." Duo blinked.

/"It's really not that big of a deal."/ Quatre shook his head, his pale face tinged slightly with a faint blush of embarrassment.

A mischievous glint twinkled in the amethyst eyes, "What did Une say about the window?"

/"You would have to ask Chang."/ The empath replied evasively.

"Did he ever thank you?" The braided teen asked, glancing discretely at the peanut gallery. "For saving his life?"

/"…"/ The azure eyes saddened again/"No… He didn't…"/

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To be continued…