23-Jul-2003
Archive: http://www.fanworkrecs.com
Disclaimers: I don't own the characters from Gundam Wing, I just play with them for non-profit fun until they run screaming back to their creators.
Warnings: AU - AAAAAAAAAAAU. Some yaoi, lemon, violence, language. You should be a legal adult to read this. Open-mindedness helps, too.
Pairings: all over the map; Duo-centric. yaoi and het.
Author's Notes: A huge helping of "suspension of disbelief" would be appropriate before you read this. I'm sure J or G could explain the science behind it, but they're kinda dead right now...
Part 7 ~ Premeditation (cont'd)
Duo considered as Wufei and Lava moved into the corner opposite Heero for a bit more privacy. He doubted he would learn anything of importance from 'Fei's recitation of events, and he didn't seem to be helping his lover with his presence. On the other hand, with Lava occupied questioning Wufei, this might be the perfect time to try to contact Quatre.
Duo swooped over to where the other pilots were standing, pretending that they weren't trying to listen to the interrogation on the other side of the room.
The sparkling cloud of empathy had coalesced around Quatre again, making his skin glow. One tendril extended to Wufei, but Duo avoided it carefully - he didn't want to mix his emotions with 'Fei's.
He thinned himself out and concentrated on his feeling of urgency, a sort of a mental 'Hey!!' He pressed close to Quatre, and was astonished to see his spirit seep into the sparkling glow surrounding his friend. He couldn't feel anything unusual, but Quatre gasped and jerked as if he had been stung, and the line to Wufei snapped back into the blond's body. Duo backed off immediately.
"What was *that??*" Quatre whispered. He looked uneasily at Lava, but the investigator was still concentrating on Wufei. Quatre turned his back on the interrogation, then flicked a glance between Heero and Trowa, explaining in an undertone. "I sensed something - worry, love, anger, concern... I've never felt anything so strong, and so clear, like... like being drenched with pure ice-cold water."
Tendrils of sparkling light began to snake out from Quatre, and Duo pressed forward again, making contact gently.
Quatre caught his breath, his eyes unfocussed. "Welcome... anxiety... friendship..." He swayed, and Trowa was at his side in an instant, sliding an arm around his waist and easing him down into a chair.
Heero sat on Quatre's other side, leaning close but carefully not touching him. "A patient in the hospital?" he asked quietly.
Quatre shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I blocked everything out before I got here. I thought I wouldn't pick up anyone outside this room, but..."
Two more gleaming tendrils stretched out, one to each of the blond's lovers. "It isn't either of you two," he murmured, obviously comparing what he felt from them to what he was getting from Duo. "Oh, admiration now... It's not the same tone as Lava, and it interrupted my contact with Wufei, so it's not him either."
Trowa shifted slightly, turning further away from Lava. "One of the surgeons in the operating room?"
"Negation... Trowa, suggest someone else!" Quatre cocked his head, as if listening, his eyes almost shut as if he were squinting into the sun.
Trowa raised an eyebrow, but said obligingly under his breath, "Bubbles the exotic dancer?"
Duo rippled with laughter, and Quatre shook his head, wincing a bit. "Amusement, but still negation. It's responding to what you're saying, Trowa!"
"It can hear us, but it's not one of the five people in this room?" Heero muttered, looking faintly uneasy.
"A ghost?" Trowa guessed. "Does it want you to avenge it?"
"Mmm... no, not a ghost, but..." Quatre trailed off, shivering. "Anger... urgency... protectiveness... I'd say that's a 'yes' to the second part, Trowa."
Heero frowned. "We don't have time for this right now. We have to find out what happened to Duo."
Duo flared eagerly at the mention of his name.
Quatre flinched and caught his breath. After a furtive glance at the thankfully-still-oblivious Lava, he licked his lips, collecting himself, and slowly repeated, "We don't have time for this." He waited a moment, then continued, "We have to investigate... oooh, anticipation... what happened," he paused again, "to Du-Oh! Elation! Recognition! D-Duo? Is that you?"
'Yes, yes, YES!' Duo thought emphatically, relieved that Quatre had caught on so quickly.
Quatre gasped again and pressed a fist to his chest, his head lolling back and his eyelids fluttering.
Trowa immediately gathered the half-fainting empath close to his side, cradling the blond head gently in one hand and guiding it onto his shoulder.
"Back off, whoever you are! You're overloading him!" Heero hissed.
Duo hurriedly pulled back, his excitement at actually communicating overshadowed by his belated concern for Quatre. If most people's spirits didn't extend past their bodies, then Quatre was probably used to feeling other people's emotions muted by their flesh. Given that, it made sense that direct contact with another soul would be overwhelming.
Didn't it just figure? He was a loudmouth even when he didn't have a mouth to be loud with.
Quatre was still pale, but at least his eyes were open, if unfocussed. Duo wavered, then swirled away, trying to give the blond both space and time to recover.
Over in the opposite corner of the room, Wufei's upper lip was twitching, as if he were having a hard time stopping himself from snarling his answers. "No, I did not take the mission to spite my lover; I was ordered to go at the last minute when Wind's original partner came down with food poisoning. No, I did not harm Shadow in any way upon my return."
Lava cocked his head. "Yet you cannot deny that you and your teammates tend to think in terms of violent solutions to your problems. I understand you were quite insistent on commandeering the medical emergency helicopter at the palace. The doctors say the original pilot will be out of the hospital in a week or so, although it will take considerably longer for his broken leg to mend."
Wufei snorted. "We are elite field agents - each of us has the security clearance to requisition personnel and supplies as needed, from both military or civilian sources, without prior approval or higher authority. The pilot objected; Frost removed him from the cockpit. If he's lucky, he won't have charges pressed against him for failing to render aid to a Preventer."
Lava considered Wufei for a moment. "You said before that Cloud called you at the spaceport to say that Shadow had fallen in the shower."
Wufei shook his head. "No, I said that Cloud warned me that Shadow was in deadly danger."
"Interesting. But how did he know? Was he there in the shower with Shadow?"
Wufei glared, but kept hold of his temper. "The warning actually came from Sand; Cloud was merely the messenger. And if you check the phone records, you will see that Cloud's call did not originate from my house."
Lava sighed theatrically. "Very well then, how did Sand know?"
Wufei shook his head. "How he knew Shadow was in trouble both this afternoon and this evening is not my place to reveal. What I know from my own experience is that every time Sand has said that one of our team needs help, or is in some kind of trouble, he has always been correct.
"I took his warning this afternoon at face value - as did Agent Wind. This evening, when Sand forgot himself enough to actually turn and run from a public reception, there was no doubt in any of our minds that there was an emergency situation."
A low moan diverted Lava's gaze. On the other side of the room, Quatre was stirring in Trowa's arms.
Lava's attention sharpened on the blond. "Agent Sand. Is there a problem?"
Quatre blinked a little dazedly. "N-no." He licked his lips and straightened up slightly. "No problem."
Lava's expression thinned into a predatory smile. "Good. Then you won't object to answering a few questions."
End Page 35
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