Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Doll's Life ❯ Things Go From Bad To Worse ( Chapter 2 )

Author's Note: Well I wasn't going to post this yet since I have received so few reviews for the first chapter but then I thought I might need something to be placating my First Times Fans since I am way behind in updating it. <blushes> Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter. There is some supernatural stuff in it but let's face it, being turned into dolls, isn't normal. *grins*

Thank you to Ami Mercury. So you want more GW eh? Well I have tons of GW just none posted since none are complete. Though a new fic will be coming out soon. A very angsty, heart wrenching one. Thank you also to Wishful Thinker. I hope it stays original. Crosses her fingers. Lady Stardancer, are you still waiting? If so, well your wait is over. Kittykoko, gulps and wonders if she needs to hide. I really don't want to be dead. Then you wouldn't get the next part of the story, ne? Hope you all enjoy. Now onto the fic.

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Chapter 2:

Dr. J blinked and shook his head. "I can't. I don't know how too."

Heero groaned and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes in frustration.

Quatre came over to the Japanese pilot and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Heero. We'll figure something out. We'll get him back."

Heero tried to nod but his keen hearing picked up the whistling sound indicative of another dart coming his way. Shoving Quatre to the side, he yelled, "run!! Scatter. Get out of here!" His voice then dropped off as he felt the dart hit him in the shoulder and enter his bloodstream. He looked down at Quatre's pale face in shock as he felt his muscles tensing up before he fell into darkness.

Quatre clutched at his chest uneasily as he stood, gathering the doll size Duo up in his arms before running like the hounds of Hell were pursuing him.

Trowa swept down out of the rafters behind Quatre and swept up the even then changing body of Heero Yuy and frowned as he felt the heaviness melt into near nothing with a bright flash of yellow light.

Wufei growled. "Injustice!! You didn't treat them fairly!! We shall see that you get what you deserve."

Dr. J waved them off, unconcerned. "You boys won't get far, even if you are Gundam pilots."

Quatre and Trowa felt a chill go up their spines, but they ignored it as they ran harder. A slight noise behind them and they saw Wufei go down, a dart penetrating through the white material of his shirt.

Quatre, in a panic handed Trowa his precious bundle. "Make sure they get out safely."

Trowa nodded, his one visible eye widening as he realized what Quatre was going to do.

"Quatre, no. Don't!!"

Quatre sighed. "Too late love. I have to make sure you guys get out." He then rushed back toward the fallen Chinese boy and scooped him up in his arms. Wufei's mouth was slightly open, his dark hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. Sighing, Quatre hurriedly turned again to head for the heavy doors but something told him to drop. Trusting his instincts, he dropped flat to the floor just as another dart skimmed past his ear. Standing once more, he raced to the door of the warehouse.

His cerulean eyes narrowing when he saw the heavy door beginning to close on its own accord. With a burst of adrenaline, the Arabian boy held the doll size Wufei to his chest and rolled under the door, barely getting out as the door slammed shut. Panting, he sat up and heard his shirt rip where it was partially pinned under the door. Quatre shook his head and groaned. 'I hope Trowa got out alright.'

Trowa, meanwhile was staring down at the miniature versions of Duo and Heero that he held. He grimaced at the back of the Heero doll, knowing that the other pilot must be in pain. That is if the dolls can feel pain. Trowa shook his head at the ridiculous question that formed in his head. 'Have to get out of this district. Have to find Quatre.'

Putting a hand up to shield his emerald eyes from the late afternoon sun, he quickly judged the safest and fastest route out of the district. Running now, he wove in and out between tall buildings and short ones. Dodging behind crates, cars, and even heavy loading equipment, he tried to keep a low profile. He could hear his pursuers somewhere behind him, and he did not want to deal with them at the moment.

Trowa paused as he regarded his surroundings. The warehouse district was next to a docking area, leading into a fairly good sized river. Seeing several types of boats on the water, including steamboats, speedboats, and even wave runners, gave Trowa an idea.

Grinning wickedly, he headed down to where he noticed the motorboats were tied up. Choosing a medium sized one, he cast it off into the water and turned on the engine. Carefully, he tied the wheel into a locked position with a rag he found lying on the small boat's deck. He then let the ship sail out into the murky muddy water at a rather fast clip. Perusing his handiwork, he smirked. 'That should throw them off' and sure enough he heard a loud cry go up.

"One of them has made it to the docks!!"

"Well, catch him, you fools. The doctors will have our heads if we don't bring them all the pilots." There was a definite emphasis on the all part.

Trowa grimaced and ran full out in the opposite direction. Soon managing to find himself in a rather run down neighborhood, with little in the means of necessity. A little girl with a dirt smudged face peered out at him as he ran down the trash littered sidewalk. His eyes glancing furtively to and fro as if watching for something behind him. Spying a lean-to, he slipped inside to regain his ragged breath. He had no idea how long he had been running. But it must have been awhile, because his legs felt as if they were on fire. Shaking his head, Trowa peeked out into the street and was met with a pair of baby blue eyes.

"Hello, there." The girl slowly pushed past him into the lean-to.

"Hello," he returned automatically, though self-conscious of the blond-haired child.

"Are you running away, too?"

Trowa blinked. "What?"

"I said are you running away too?"

Trowa shook his head. "No . . . I uh . . . Wait a minute. Do you mean you are?"

"Uh huh. My parents, they no like me. They fight all the time and daddy even hits mommy once in awhile."

Trowa's face paled and he knelt beside the small child. "Has he ever hit you?"

The girl grinned. "Nope!! He can't catch me. Too slow. Besides, I hide a lot." She added in a very quiet voice as she looked away.

Trowa didn't like the sound of that, it brought up painful memories of his own twisted childhood. But he couldn't very well just take her with him. He could be charged with kidnaping and besides he had no real proof of what the child was saying. Then there was the matter of the scientists finding him that much quicker if he had a child with him. Running his one hand through his unibang, he sighed, unsure of what he should do.

The girl smiled back up at him. "Mister, you're hair sure is interesting. How you make it stay like that?"

Trowa shrugged, one eye glued to a knothole he had noticed. "It's natural."

"Uh huh. Sure and I'm the Sugarplum Fairy. Want to see me twirl?"

Trowa turned back to the exasperating little girl. "Look, I need to remain quiet for a little while. Do you think you could do that?"

The girl bit her lip before slowly nodding. "But only if you take me with you."

"Listen . . ." He paused, unsure what to call her.

"Chasta Marie."

Trowa nodded. "Listen Chasta, I can't. You wouldn't be any safer with me than with your parents. You have to stay here."

Chasta frowned. "But you're nice to Chasta. No one has ever been nice to me before. Momma always says I was a mistake. That I shouldn't be here . . ."

'God what kind of people live here?' Suddenly Trowa wished that the little girl was just a fabulous storyteller, because he didn't want to ever meet someone who would say that to their own child. Even his own, never said that to him. They just left him with no name. Nanashi, it left a bitter taste in his mouth every time he had to remember it, like now.

Pulling the little girl close to him, he whispered into her dirt grimed hair, "I'm sorry little one. But you must stay here, for your sake as well as mine. I promise I will return to you when I can."

The little girl turned away. "No you won't. You'll leave me here, just like all the others. They all lied to me."

Trowa pulled her back to him. "I promise, I will be back." 'Unless I am dead or a doll,' he thought bitterly.

The girl peered up at him through thick fringed lashes. Holding out her thin like right hand, she said "pinkie swear?"

Trowa nodded. He couldn't deny this child anything even if he had wanted too. "Pinkie swear," he said extending his own left hand. The two then linked their pinkies together and shook.

Chasta beamed up at him. "Now, me help you escape those bad men."

Trowa stared at her. "Chasta? How did you know about the men chasing me?"

The little girl looked away and Trowa thought for a moment she wasn't going to answer. "I saw them. Men in dark coats, they have been crawling around our neighborhood for days now. Ever since that one warehouse sprung to life. They took my mother a few days ago. I haven't seen her since."

"Chasta, why did they take your mother? Do you know?"

The little girl turned tear filled eyes to him. "They know not that I was hiding in the attic. I hear every word. They say, they needed a test subject for something. Some drug, methinks?"

Trowa's face blanched even farther when he heard this, knowing almost assuredly that the girl's mother was dead. "Chasta honey, you do me a favor and stay in your attic. Don't come out except for food and don't allow any strangers in. Try to stay away from your father if you can."

The little girl beamed again. "Ah that's easy. I do that all the time."

"Good. I will come for you as soon as I can, but first I must get these to a safe place." He held up the dolls gently.

Chasta blinked and then reached for the dolls with a gentleness that belied her age. "So pretty. Where you find dolls like these?"

Trowa swallowed hard, not sure how to answer that without seeming like he was crazy. He most assuredly wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't saw it for himself. 'They found me."

The girl raised one golden eyebrow at that comment but didn't remark further till she turned the Heero doll over. Gasping, she almost dropped the doll in shock. Only Trowa's quick reflexes managed to catch the two foot tall figure before it landed on the dust covered ground.

Clutching the doll protectively to his chest, he asked calmly though he was anything but calm, "Chasta? Why'd you drop Heero?"

"Heero? Oh that's his name, then?"

"Yes . . ."

She shook her head, blond curls bouncing on her slender shoulders. "He surprised me is all. You really should tend to his back. It's bothering him."

Trowa stared at her. "What?"

The girl regarded him with unfocused eyes. "He says, his back needs to be taken care of. The concrete really messed it up."

"I know that . . . But Chasta. . . ."

"Oh and he says that you need to leave, that Dr. J won't give up till he has you all. That and you must find Quatre."

"Chasta?" Trowa asked again, not understanding what exactly was going on. One minute he was animatedly talking with a bundle of energy, which was rather peculiar to begin with and the next, the girl was speaking in a monotone that Trowa would recognize anywhere.

The blond-haired child continued speaking as if she never heard him. "Are you listening to me, Trowa? Snap out of it!! You have to get out of here!!"

In exasperation, Trowa grabbed Chasta by her shoulder and began to shake her. Immediately, her blue eyes focused and she began to struggle in his grip.

"LET ME GO!! NO ONE TOUCHES ME!!" she screamed.

Trowa let her go almost instantly.

Chasta slammed her heel down hard on Trowa's foot before scampering into the relative safety of the corner. Her eyes wild and suddenly untrusting. Her whole demeanor demanding he stay his distance as she wrapped her arms about her knees.

Trowa felt his whole body shake with barely controlled anger. Not at the girl, but at who had made her react the way she did. "Chasta, it's me. Trowa. I won't hurt you. You remember me, don't you?"

Chasta just stared at him, suddenly mute.

Trowa raised his eyes to the heavens above and whispered a silent 'Why me?' Absently, he ran his hand through his hair again and the girl smiled.

"Funny hair. Unibang. You kind to Chasta. Promise to take her away from all the bad things."

"That's right Chasta, I did. You remember."

"Of course. How could I forget you? We pinkie swore."

Trowa sighed. He could feel the beginnings of a headache forming. "I have to go Chasta. Those men you saw are after me. I must get these dolls to safety." His face twisted uncharacteristically at the word dolls.

Chasta grinned. "Me help, but remember to take care of that one's back. It'll get infected elsewise."

"But Chasta, they are just dolls."

The girl smirked. "Say what you like, but Chasta know truth. They are alive and entirely not happy about what is happening. But they are afraid too. Afraid, you'll get caught?" she asked almost unsure before shrugging. "I don't know why I said that, but it is a feeling I get especially from the braided one."

Trowa looked down at the small Duo doll and grimaced. He really hated seeing the energetic boy trapped like that. "I'll be fine Duo. I'll be just fine." He said it more to himself than to the doll but it comforted nevertheless.