09-Jan-2001
Title: Time and Time Again
A Gundam Wing Fanfiction
Author: BarBieBoy
Dedicated to Kav
Feedback: YES PLEASE! :o) (Don't be shy!) Comments, criticisms, ideas etc please mail me at barbieboy000@hotmail.com. Flames and abuse please mail me at techsupport@microsoft.com.
Disclaimer: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is the property of whomever. I don't own it and I am using these characters without permission (but not for profit). The original portion of this work is mine however so please don't steal it :o)
Category/Warnings/Rating: 1+2/2+1, 3+4, angst, language, R(?)
Final note: I am in Australia. I speak and write English. I know how to spell colour and grey and behaviour. :o)
Duo bounced about the room in an attempt to make as much noise as possible without seeming to make as much noise as possible. He was trying to wake the Japanese boy in the bed next to him without letting him know it. Although Heero would be considerably pissed at being disturbed, Duo was sufficiently concerned to risk it.
Heero almost never slept more than he did. In fact, in the entire time Duo had shared a room with the Japanese boy he could not recall a single time when he had. Thus the fact that Heero was sleeping now, even though it was almost 11am, was of sufficient interest to warrant concern.
On top of that, though, Duo noticed that over the last half-hour Heero had been muttering and turning in his sleep. Duo was worried that he was having a nightmare, although he was pretty sure that the perfect soldier didn't dream.
However, considering the current state of their 'friendship', Duo was loath to be the cause of any more animosity. The two had hardly spoken over the last two weeks since that little L2 incident. Not that he regretted what he had said; it was all entirely true. Well, maybe not the coward bit.
After a somewhat vocal mutter, Duo decided that he had best wake the boy. He could always use the excuse that Wufei needed that 10 000 credits. He gently moved over to the bed and sat beside the restless boy. He shook his shoulders gently and called out his name.
The effect was instantaneous.
Heero's eyes snapped open, his face a mixture of horror, confusion and pain. The next thing Duo became aware of was the boy struggling. The American did his best to restrain the wildly flailing arms of the confused pilot but Heero's superior strength won out. Duo jumped away from the bed, putting some distance between them as the boy continued his strange stare--breathing rapidly, eyes wide.
"Heero, It's me! You had a nightmare, that's all, man!"
Duo tried to sound comforting though in truth he was quite shaken himself. He had never seen much expression on Heero's face before, let alone three or four conflicting emotions at once.
Heero darted his eyes around the room nervously, seeming to contemplate what the braided boy had said. Eventually, the confusion was too much for him.
"Duo?!"
"Yeah?" Duo replied uncertainly.
"You're alive!" the boy practically shouted with confusion and joy.
"Huh?" Duo answered intelligently. Did he hear that right?
Heero jumped out of the bed and began to advance on him wearing only his boxers. Duo was getting really worried now, and started to back away.
"Uh, Heero-man. You had a nightmare--it's no big deal. Relax before you burst something!" Duo tried to throw some humour about to see the effects.
"You're not dead!"
Duo continued to retreat from the advancing pilot until his back was against the wall and he could go no further. He was about to beg Heero not to kill him when he received what was undoubtedly the biggest shocks of his life.
Heero grabbed his cheeks with both hands and drew him into a fierce and passionate kiss. For a moment Duo forgot about everything and languished in the sensations of the Japanese boy's lips. Then he suddenly realized what was happening and pushed Heero away.
Heero began to advance again, but this time Duo's military instincts kicked in and he drew his hand back into a fist and punched the Japanese boy in the face. Heero stumbled back with surprise and tripped over the chair and the laptop cable. Duo used the time to retrieve his handgun and point it directly at Heero.
As Heero began to rise again, Duo shouted "Don't move Yuy or I'll damn well blow your brains out! I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you but take one more step and your dead meat!"
This seemed to get the boy's attention. Heero stared, dumbfounded, but did not move from his spot on the floor. Duo backed towards the door, and after opening it with his foot, dashed out before Heero could even tell him to stop.
Duo ran off into the courtyard to look for reinforcements. Heero the Perfect Soldier Machine had gone haywire.
'If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to see, did it really fall?'
For Heero Yuy the question was somewhat different.
'If a day passes in time, and no one is around to see, did it really pass?'
Duo had been standing right in front of him only moments before. Heero was quite sure that the braided boy would argue very strongly that he had not died of drowning last night. In fact, he would most probably have large amounts of evidence to support his claim. Whereas Heero, on the other hand, could only argue that he had seen it with his own eyes yesterday, a day that admittedly had occurred once already.
Heero involuntarily massaged his aching jaw, a very painful and convincing argument in the case for Duo not being dead. He never realized what a powerful punch the American boy could pack. There was also an equally painful throbbing in his head, as his mind struggled to regain its hold on reality.
As far as he could make out, there were only three possibilities. The most simple but least desirable was that he had gone insane. At best, he was being or had been affected mentally, causing him to somehow recall two days' worth of vivid memories about a day that was actually happening now. At worst, he was delusional and quite mad. If this were true he would no longer be fit for duty and should report back to the lab for physiological examination.
The second possibility was that he had somehow dreamed the past two days. Heero had not had much experience with dreams, but he was fairly sure that most dreams were not like this. However, if it were the case, then he should continue the day as normal. Well, as normally as he could, considering that he had just had his first real kiss.
The third and least plausible possibility was that Heero was in fact experiencing the same day for the third time. If this were true, then he would not be insane. The best solution would then be to figure out how and why this was happening and then put a stop to it. However, Heero was at a total loss to explain how such a thing could occur. Advances in temporal science had led to inventions like stasis chambers and the like, but movement of matter through time was a fundamental scientific impossibility.
Deciding what was happening and what he was going to do was proving exceptionally difficult. Heero was used to weird and difficult tasks, but at least he had had the ability to discuss it with his superiors or with the other pilots. Unfortunately, it was unlikely that his comrades would believe him. Considering what Duo was probably thinking right now, it was extremely unlikely.
'If a day passes in time, and only Heero is around to see, would anyone believe him?'
Although it seemed beyond the realms of possibility, Heero was pretty sure he wasn't insane. Several things had already happened today that he had known would happen. Wufei's e-mail requesting 10,000 credits, for example. Heero had finished the task in minutes because he somehow had known the bank account codes already.
The Japanese boy's expression darkened as he began to consider another problem. Whatever had happened and was happening now might happen again tomorrow, which would then become today.
Heero started rubbing his eyes in frustration. This was very, very confusing.
At least Duo was alive. After the pain and misery of his loss, Heero was happy for that one single fact alone. By all reasoning, the Japanese boy had been very lucky. He had been given a rare insight into his own feelings for Duo. Feelings that had been so deeply buried, that they required nothing short of a shocking tragedy to release. If tomorrow would still be today, then it didn't matter what he did now. Maybe he should kiss the baka again. After all . . . .
'If a day passes in time, and no one is around to see, does anyone really care what happens?'
Trowa and Quatre exchanged questioning glances.
"Heero attacked you?" Quatre asked again, just to make sure he had heard right.
"YES!" Duo practically shouted with frustration. Honestly, the possibility wasn't THAT remote. This was Heero, after all.
"How do you mean he attacked you?" Trowa asked.
"HOW?"
"Yes, how?"
Upon reflection, it was a reasonable question.
"Well, he . . . he . . ." Duo trailed off as his face became redder and redder at the thought. Heero had forced him into a passionate kiss, that's how! He had forced Duo into doing something that he didn't want to do. Well, probably didn't want to do anyway.
"Did he hurt you?" Quatre asked.
"Well . . . no . . ."
Heero had been swift but very gentle. Actually causing Duo no discomfort at all. In fact, he had started to enjoy the kiss. Well, not enjoy. This was Heero, after all. The American had begun to suspect that he liked guys, but Heero? Heero was just so . . . Heero!
"Did he threaten you?" Trowa asked.
"Well . . . not really"
The Japanese boy had been overjoyed to see him, in fact. He seemed thrilled that whatever nightmare he was having was over and that Duo was safe. He hadn't said anything threatening at all. He simply said a bunch of stuff about him not being dead. Hardly a threat.
"Did he look like he was going to threaten you?" Quatre asked. The question might have sounded silly to anyone not familiar with the 'Heero death glare'. "I guess not . . ."
Actually, Heero's look had been something Duo had never seen in the boy before. A whole range of emotions that, although seemingly out of place, were hardly threatening. Heero was in nothing but boxers, after all. Duo began to blush at the memory of Heero in boxers. Maybe he wasn't that unattractive after all.
"So he didn't hurt you, threaten you, or even look like he was going to threaten you. But he did attack you. Duo, is this one of your little pranks?" Trowa asked suspiciously.
"Look Heero was acting very, very strange, OK?!" Duo tried, knowing how stupid he was sounding.
Trowa and Quatre exchanged questioning glances.
The saying 'pot calling the kettle black' came to mind.
Duo didn't need to be telepathic to know what they were thinking.
"Look, just come with me and see for yourselves!!"
Quatre shrugged and started out the door to follow Duo. Trowa followed soon after, somewhat more reluctant than the Arabian boy. It was just as well that there wasn't much else to do.
Heero's grand strategy in his war against reality, meanwhile, was starting to come together at last. He had decided to take it as a fact that tomorrow would come, and that it would really be tomorrow. He had also decided to take it as a fact that for whatever reason, he had either witnessed or experienced this day before. In this case the simplest thing to do would be to avoid trouble and let the day pass.
Except for one somewhat significant problem. In both dreams, someone dear to him had died at the party. Although not wanting to relive the disturbing memories, Heero forced himself to sift through them for possible solutions.
He could always remove the bomb, but Duo had managed to drown last time he tried that. Heero shuddered at the thought. He could always try to either stop Duo from drowning, or at least from taking the drugs, AND remove the bomb. But there were any number of small possibilities that could still go wrong. If he were delayed, or if anything were out of place, he might not have enough time to save everyone.
There was very, very little chance of him talking the pilots out of going. Especially considering that he had resigned himself to not mention anything about his recent experiences.
But . . .
If you can't take Mohammad away from the mountain . . .
Heero sat down to his laptop and began to search the net. After several moments he found what he was looking for and reached for his phone. Several rings later, a girl's voice answered.
"Moshi-Moshi."
"I would like to speak to Mr. Tanaka please." Heero asked, doing his best to disguise his voice.
"He's away at the moment," the girl replied.
"Oh." Heero tried to sound surprised. "Do you have a number where I can contact him?"
After taking down the new number Heero thanked the girl and hung up. He then dialed the new number.
"Moshi-Moshi," an older gentleman answered.
"Mr. Tanaka, I have heard some disturbing things about your daughter's plans for this evening . . ."
Duo, crouched low to the ground, gently eased the door to his room open with the barrel of his gun.
Quatre and Trowa were standing behind him normally, giving their comrade strange looks.
"Ano . . . Duo" Quatre began "Is that um . . . really necessary?"
Duo flashed him a look of determination, which strongly expressed his opinion that it was indeed necessary. The braided boy then placed his index finger to his lips signaling for silence. Quatre and Trowa watched, unimpressed, as Duo began to spell out their strategy for bursting into the room with his fingers. Although all of the pilots could use and understand hand signals, Quatre and Trowa were still looking confused.
A few moments later all three pilots burst into the room ready for action, only to be greeted by the naked butt of Heero Yuy.
"Geez, Heero, you could at least wear a towel!" Duo quipped, trying not to give in to hentai thoughts.
Quatre blushed and he began to giggle. Trowa was studying a spot on the wall as though it held all of the answers to life. All three pilots then spun round to face the wall.
Heero studied the towel that Duo had left on the floor for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed.
"I forgot," he said aloud, knowing that the other pilots would not understand what he really meant. He finished getting dressed in his usual clothes and turned to face his friends while he towelled his hair dry.
"What's going on?" he asked innocently.
Quatre looked as though he was going to say something and then frowned. What was going on? He turned to Duo.
"Me?" Duo shouted annoyed. "Ask him!" He pointed to Heero.
Heero tried hard not to smile at Duo's reaction. After all, it would only arouse suspicion if he started smiling. Instead he tried to look uninterested. Then he came up with a brilliant and very appropriate response.
"Hn."
Trowa gave a little snort and turned to leave the room.
"Wait Trowa." Quatre pleaded, "Heero, Duo said you were acting strange this morning."
Heero suddenly felt very much embarrassed at his actions. Not that he regretted kissing Duo. Just the circumstances surrounding the incident. He tried hard not to let his blush show as he remembered his first kiss. It would have been much nicer on that first night during that perfect moment.
"Sorry Duo, I was a little out of sorts this morning. I didn't mean to um . . . kiss you."
Duo went bright red and looked at his feet. Trowa, who was halfway down the corridor, suddenly reappeared in the doorway. Quatre's jaw dropped in surprise.
"NANI?" Quatre cried.
Duo nearly vaporized with embarrassment. He pushed past the other pilots suddenly and stormed off down the hallway.
Trowa raised one eyebrow and then started back towards his own room.
Quatre was left to watch realization dawn on Heero's face.
"He didn't tell you about that did he?"
"Not really, no." Quatre replied "Though somehow, things are actually making more sense now."
Heero sat down to his laptop. He had decided to do some research into dreams, premonitions and a little temporal science. At least while he was working, nobody could tell how deeply embarrassed he was feeling.
"Heero" Quatre began trying to keep a straight face. "I think you should try to refine your technique before the next time you go to kiss a guy."
After hearing the Japanese boy's 'Hn,' Quatre turned and left the room with a big smile on his face.
Heero stopped feeling embarrassed as a new thought occurred to him. Duo was upset with him and the kiss? Heero started to worry that he had misread the boy. Duo was not interested in him at all. It must have been the drugs that had caused that moment on that night. If indeed that moment occurred at all. Heero began to feel hurt and disappointed. With all the confusion over his own feelings, he had never stopped to think about the braided boy's feelings too.
Later that day, Duo was sitting quietly on a chair in the shade of a nearby tree. He had been sulking for quite some time now, and it was beginning to become a problem. Even though he was still somewhat embarrassed, avoiding everyone was very dull and boring.
"Baka," Duo mumbled to no one in particular.
What was that Japanese psycho playing at? First he ignores him for two weeks. Then he starts coming over all weird, shouting stuff about dying. Then he goes and kisses him, and worse, tells everyone about it!
"Baka, baka, baka."
Duo had been fuming like this on and off for half the afternoon. Truth be told, he simply wasn't sure how to react to everything. Especially Heero's advances. When he saw the boy half naked draw him in for that kiss, full of passion and need, it had felt . . . strange. It was nice in a way, but in another way it scared had him. Although Duo was sure he would have liked it if the circumstances have been different, he could not in all honesty say that he wished it hadn't happened at all.
"Stupid Heero no BAKA!"
The thing that made Duo feel even worse about the whole situation was that Heero had then gone and said he hadn't meant to kiss him. Hadn't meant to? Hadn't meant to force Duo to kiss him or hadn't meant to kiss him at all?
"BAKA!" Duo shouted again.
The problem now was what was Duo going to do about it? He supposed he would have to face Heero and talk about it. Tell him it was all right and that he forgave him for kissing him since after all it was an accident! Is that what he wanted?
"Who's a baka, Duo?"
Duo spun round to see Quatre walking up behind him.
"Who do you think???" Duo scowled.
The blonde boy sat down next to him, and for a while, neither spoke. Duo was looking at something in the distance while Quatre was calmly watching, waiting for him to say something.
"He's such a jerk!" Duo said, at last sick of the silence.
"Duo, this wouldn't be affecting you so much if you really thought that."
Damn Quatre and his reason. This was all Heero's fault, not his.
"What are you getting at, Quatre?" Duo challenged.
Quatre decided that now was probably not a good time to share his theories on the situation. At times like this, a change of subject was in order.
"What are you going to do tonight? No missions and no schoolwork. You can't sit around here all day."
"Dunno," Duo said helpfully. Although it was true that he really hadn't had much of a plan for the day, let alone tonight.
"Trowa and I were gonna go to Aieka's party, but somehow her dad found out and now she's got relatives staying to keep an eye on her. Pity, especially after all the trouble she went through arranging everything."
"Bummer," Duo said, although he had actually not heard about the party. Not that he could admit that to Quatre.
"Trowa and I are thinking of going into town, have dinner or watch a movie, maybe go dancing. You're welcome to come if you like."
That sounded like a good idea to Duo.
"You could also invite Heero if you wanted to, too." Quatre tried.
That sounded like a stupid idea.
"HA! As if the Perfect Soldier would go for a night on the town!"
Although before today, Duo would never have thought that the perfect soldier would kiss anyone. Definitely not a guy, and definitely not him. Not to mention being so damn good at it.
"Maybe . . ." Duo admitted.
"Well, I've still got to go back to my room to shower and change. You will have to do the same, so you could ask Heero while you're there."
Duo grudgingly agreed that it was worth trying. With spirits lifted, the two boys began to plan their evening. Free time was a rare gift and both of them enjoyed pretending to be normal.
Heero was looking for a needle in a haystack. Actually it was worse than that, because he did not even know what the needle looked like. Heero was looking for a 'something' in a haystack.
There were, of course, countless pages of information on dreams and premonitions. Reading over them all would take more than a lifetime. Instead, Heero tried to study the more reputable reports on the matter. However, none seemed very much applicable to his current situation.
After he had spent as much time as he considered worthy on these topics, he began to research the principles of temporal mechanics.
The science of time was an extremely complicated topic, full of terms and calculations that were alien to even Heero's ample knowledge. From what he could gather, however, the Japanese boy was pleased to discover that he was generally correct in what he had recalled. Movement of any matter through time was regarded as scientifically impossible. At best it was theorized that it might be possible to shield areas of space from time, thereby creating a slower flow. These ideas led to research into stasis chambers. However, moving matter back through time would create all kinds of paradoxes. In fact, there were even theories to suggest that if the same matter from different times ever came into contact with each other, the result would be a gigantic explosion.
Although loath to waste time researching myths, Heero was inexplicably drawn into reading the theories of a much less reputable temporal scientist, Dr. Bradshaw. Bradshaw theorized that time was both negatively and positively charged, and that movement through time was only possible if the charge was reversed. Much of the report was jargon, which made little sense to Heero, but the principle was that the meeting of differently-charged time could cause an explosion. This explosion would then create what the scientist called a temporal feedback loop, in which the offending matter would then be sent back to its relevant time. The theories were widely disputed and discredited.
The scientist died over twenty years ago from natural causes although he left a considerable amount of money to fund a research facility, which was named the Bradshaw Institute. It was for this reason that Heero had been drawn to the information. The Bradshaw Institute was something he had most definitely heard of before.
After cross-referencing all of his recent mission briefs, Heero was excited to discover that the Bradshaw Institute was later taken over by OZ forces and turned into a weapons research facility. That had been put to a stop, however, when Duo and he attacked and destroyed the facility no less than three weeks ago.
Heero was so excited he jumped up from the desk and began pacing. Although definitely a long shot explanation, the coincidence was too great to ignore. Perhaps there was a link to his present experiences and the destruction of the OZ facility.
Heero began to calm down, however, as he realized that his speculation was useless at present. His primary goal was to get through today without letting any of his friends get killed. He had successfully stopped any plans for the party, but he would still have to move the bomb. Aieka and her relatives would be in danger, and although it wasn't Heero's duty to act, he didn't like the idea of allowing innocent people to die because he couldn't be bothered to move something.
In this case, his plan of action was simple. Wait until nightfall, grab the bomb and throw it into the ocean or something and then go to bed. His musing was interrupted by a small cough from the door to his room.
Heero felt his heart flutter as his eyes met the braided boy.
"Hey Heero." Duo said, failing to sound as nonchalant as he had intended to.
Heero nodded and an uncomfortable silence set in. Duo was going through his closet trying to decide what to wear tonight and, more importantly, what he should say to Heero. The Japanese boy was trying to find something to do, while he decided how he should broach the subject himself.
Eventually Duo broke the silence, deciding to avoid discussing earlier events and simply skipping to the present.
"Heero, the guys and I are gonna go out and party," Duo began, but stopped suddenly. Heero had looked like someone had told him that they were going to hang themselves. "You know, a night out on the town?" he explained.
Heero visibly relaxed. For a moment he had thought THE party was somehow back on.
"If you like . . . you could . . . um . . . you know . . . come along" Duo was babbling and it made him feel stupid. This was not a difficult question, so why was he having so much trouble putting it into words?
Heero could not help but let a small smile show on his face. Duo was asking him to go out. It felt like something else, though--an invitation or a date?
"Sure, Duo . . ." Heero began, feeling another flutter in his stomach as he noticed the American begin to smile. Then he remembered the bomb.
"NO!" he shouted. Duo nearly jumped out of his skin in fright at the sudden change in his partner's expression.
Heero, seeing the hurt in the American's eyes, tried to explain, "I CAN'T . . . I mean I'd like to, but I'm busy . . ."
Duo looked at Heero and then around the room. There was clearly nothing to do.
"Busy?" he asked suspiciously.
"Um . . . er . . ." Heero stumbled. What could he say? 'I have to remove a bomb that killed Trowa and Quatre two days ago?' "Mission!" he came out with at last.
Although Duo did not seem to believe this, he said nothing and simply picked up his towel and headed to the shower.
Heero suddenly felt like running away. He simply wasn't up to facing the braided boy. Although it was still light outside, he decided to make his way over to Aieka's and address that problem. He grabbed everything he would need from under his mattress and left as quickly as possible. He was definitely not up to dealing with Duo in a towel, looking sexy.
Heero jumped silently from a nearby branch onto the back roof of his classmate's house. He paused after landing and swept the area, looking for any telltale signs that he had been discovered. Heero would have felt much more comfortable if he were doing this at night instead of at dusk. However, the sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could go back to his room and wait the day out.
The Japanese boy listened intently for any movement or noise inside. He could make out the voices of several people. Not enough for a party, he was relieved to know, but still a few of Aieka's friends seemed to be over. Perhaps her relatives had allowed the girl to invite a few people over after all.
Heero concentrated on keeping his balance on the slippery tiles as he made his way over to the bathroom window. The window was locked, and for a moment Heero was loath to break into his classmate's house. After a brief wrestle with his conscience, he decided that the damage could be considered as payment for saving their lives. He quietly but firmly broke a small section of the glass and slipped his fingers inside to turn the key, which had been left in the lock.
Moments later the window was opened and Heero was easing himself into the bathroom. He could hear movement all over the house so he knew he had to act quickly. The Japanese boy reached into the bathtub and pulled out a jar of smelly soaps. He cursed, put them aside and began to feel around again. Nothing. Sighing, the boy climbed down from the windowsill and pulled the shower curtain back to be greeted by the sight of a bath half full of hot water. This would not have surprised most people.
The Japanese boy frowned. This wasn't right. Where was the bomb?
He took out his scanning equipment and started to look for the signals he remembered seeing in his dream/experience. There were none to be seen. He started to scan for explosives, strange signals, or strange metal alloys, anything that would give him a clue. But there was simply nothing to be found anywhere within a 50-meter radius.
Heero's surprise then began to give way to embarrassment. Maybe he had dreamed the whole thing. Maybe there was no bomb, no time travel. Maybe he had been responsible for cancelling an innocent party. Heero thought back to the night in question. Not innocent anyway.
It then occurred to him that previously he had found the bomb sometime after 9 or 10 or so. He cursed at not paying proper attention to the time.
Perhaps the bomb was placed after the party started. Heero was about to leave the room when he heard movement right outside the door. He just managed to jump out the window before a familiar girl entered the room. For some reason Heero was expecting to smell cigarettes and alcohol on her, but he didn't.
The Japanese boy jumped down from the roof and decided to keep watch on the house from the park.
Quatre was pleased to see his friend was in much better spirits than earlier. The three of them were sitting in the cinema waiting for the commercials to start. They were a little early for the session. Trowa offered to go and get refreshments and while he was gone Quatre decided to broach a subject he had meaning to for quite some time.
"So Duo, what did Heero say?" the boy asked innocently.
Duo was in too good a mood to frown at the memory of the strange encounter.
"I don't get him at all. He said 'yes', then started to look all excited and then suddenly screamed 'no' and made all these excuses about being 'busy'. Go figure."
Quatre tried to imagine Heero being excited about being asked to go for a movie.
"Hmmm . . . so did you guys talk about this morning?" Quatre delved, hoping he hadn't overestimated the braided boy's mood.
"Nah, best not bring that up!" Duo replied in a good-natured manner, which reassured Quatre.
"So, there's nothing between you guys, then?" Quatre ventured, again taking a leap of faith.
"Quatre?! As if! Heero's a guy! And a jerk!" the American quipped.
Quatre decide that since he'd gone this far he couldn't go back.
"Come on Duo, I've seen the way you check out guys. Don't act as if Heero hasn't got a chance."
"Nani?" Duo tried to sound shocked.
"It's okay Duo, I'm the same," Quatre said, feeling very, very nervous about his blatant admission. He hoped that his guesses about the braided boy were correct.
Duo seemed to relax a bit.
"That obvious, huh?" he joked.
Quatre smiled, relieved.
"Just to me."
The two pilots became much more comfortable and began to chat about their feelings on things they had both usually kept secret. Eventually Duo began to probe into an area he had long since wondered about.
"Quatre . . . what about you, then? Is there a guy in your life?"
Quatre blushed a bit but didn't answer.
'Bingo,' thought Duo.
"It's Trowa ne?" he asked.
Quatre began to blush more.
"HA I knew it!" Duo began, but was interrupted.
"No, I wish . . . but definitely not." Quatre seemed a little melancholy.
Duo waited for the boy to continue.
"Sometimes we sit there and I can swear he is thinking the same thing I am but I never have the guts to say anything." Quatre began showing signs of frustration.
"Really?" Duo asked.
"Yeah, like this morning. We were sitting close to each other on the bed and he was looking at me funny and in that nearly perfect moment I almost summoned up the courage to kiss him."
"Why didn't you?"
Quatre frowned at the memory. "Cause you came in babbling about being attacked!" he frowned.
The two then began to giggle.
"Sorry Quatre . . . didn't meant to interrupt!" Duo said between laughter.
"That's ok. Nothing would have happened anyway. It never has before. I'm starting to think it must all be in my head! Trowa and me? Total fantasy!"
The two tried to stifle their giggles as Trowa returned. But for the rest of the night the French pilot would have to put up with missing out on 'in' jokes.
Much later that night Heero was grumbling to himself as he skulked around the neighbourhood. He was angry, confused and a little embarrassed. He felt stupid over just about all of his actions for the day.
Dreams, time travel and premonition. How stupid could Heero Yuy be.
There was not bomb. Not of any kind.
He had kept vigilance on the house up until 11 P.M. and there was still no bomb. No one had gone near the house and none of his scans revealed the signals he thought he remembered.
On no less than three occasions throughout the night, Heero had climbed back into the bathroom only to be greeted by an empty bath and a jar of smelly soaps. Although he was not sure when the bomb had been placed, he was sure it was sometime before 9.30 P.M. Definitely sometime before 11 P.M. The bomb should have gone off by now, if it had existed at all.
Heero could not remember if the bomb had gone off at the same time in both his previous dreams/experiences/delusions. However, he had to face the fact that there was no bomb.
No bomb, no explosives, no strange signals, no strange readings of any kind, no impending doom. The only thing he had saved today was the carpet in the Tanakas' living room, safe from the stains of a party.
His musings were interrupted when he heard two people approach across the street. He was about to hide when he realized that he recognized the voices as Quatre and Duo. The two were walking, arms around each other's shoulders, singing and stumbling around like idiots.
For a moment Heero felt a tad annoyed at seeing someone else put his arm around Duo, but he ignored it.
"Heero!" Quatre called out from across the street.
The Japanese boy looked around, praying that nobody would be awakened by the two's antics. He walked briskly across the street and tried to hush them up. Duo removed his arm from Quatre's shoulder and seemed to sober up a bit.
"Hi Heero . . ." he ventured.
Heero gave him a death glare. They were both drunk.
"Where's Trowa?" Heero asked.
The other two pilots looked at each other and started laughing loudly again.
"Trowa didn't get kicked off!" Quatre explained.
"He was a good boy unlike us!" Duo slurred between giggles.
Heero's expression frowned with confusion. Honestly, sometimes they could be so stupid.
"Got kicked off what?" he asked annoyed.
"Duo and I got kicked off the bus, cause we were being too noisy!" Quatre began before bursting into renewed laughter.
"Trowa stayed on the bus! Cause I think he was annoyed with us." Duo explained before joining his friend in giggles.
"Where is Trowa now, then?" asked Heero, who was beginning to lose his patience with the two. "He's probably back at campus by now," said Quatre, pointing in the direction of their dorms.
As his outstretched finger pointed towards dark sky, three things happened. The first was an incredible sound that shattered the silence of the night. The second was a flash of bright light, which lit up the sky seemingly right beneath Quatre's finger. The third was Quatre, snatching his finger back as if it had been the cause, dropping to the ground with Duo in shock.
Heero's mind began another of its more recent back flips as realization struck him.
"TROWA!" Quatre screamed as he stood shaking, and did his best to run in the direction of campus. Heero and Duo followed soon after both fearing the worst.
Quatre had given up trying to push past Duo and the police, and had collapsed on the ground in tears. Duo had his arms around the blond boy as he shuddered uncontrollably with grief. The police were keeping everyone well away from the flames, which entirely engulfed the campus and some of the surrounding buildings.
All around there were people in various states of grief. Wives clutching their husbands as they cried for their children. Brothers and sisters kneeling with a sense of loss and pain. From children crying in confusion, to old women howling with anguish.
Amid all the chaos, grief and confusion, one boy stood alone, however. He was not part of the surroundings, as if separated by an invisible shield. Though his eyes burned with emotion equal to that around him, he was entirely alone in his grief. He was not the only person wracked with a sense of guilt, but he was the only person who had true reason to be.
If he had thought about it before, Heero would have assumed that seeing Trowa die once would make it easier the second time. But the hurt was still there. The same as when he saw the boy's body being dragged out of the rubble several nights ago.
It was some time after that when the fire was finally put out. The police had yet to find any bodies, although considering the strength of the inferno it was unlikely that they ever would.
The surviving students had been moved to various temporary rooms, houses, and motels. Heero had eventually managed to get the other pilots to a nearby motel, thinking it best to avoid the attention of the police.
Several hours later, with his friends resting uneasily in the motel beds beside him, Heero Yuy allowed himself the brief luxury of grief. He was exhausted and confused, but as he sat down on the bed next to him, a thought occurred. Could this day happen again? He began to find himself hoping it would. If this were yet another dream/experience/delusion then it would all be fine in the morning. It had to be. Please let it be.
Heero, who did not believe in god or heaven, found himself kneeling beside his bed, begging and praying to make this day come back again tomorrow.
'Be careful what you wish for, Heero.'
End Part 3
(:./barbieboy/time3)
