Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Capture ❯ Chapter 6 ( Ummmm, oops?) ( Chapter 6 )

Another chapter out! I know I said it would take some time for these things but I got sick and I couldn't do the things I wanted to. So now I gota wait and do them later, so more time for writing! Enjoy the story and as always REVIEW please.

Heero snuck down the stairs of his home and prepared his cover story for his missing sibling. He all but tip- toed into the kitchen where his parents were eating breakfest. Without looking at him they continued at eat even as he sat down like he was sitting on pins and needles.

" Where did you go last night Ryo?" He looked at his father who was now doing a great impresion of his own glare. Vaugely he wondered how they had known before answering him with a well practiced story.

" Alex was home sick for the orphanage so I took him back to spend some time there. They said not to worry about him and that he will come back next week when they help him through his homesickness. They're going on a trip to somewhere so don't bother calling." He looked with hope for a sign that they accepted his story. His father studied his face for awhile before nodding. His mother looked worried but reached over and patted his hand and went back to her near cold food. Heero mentally sighed in relief and picked at his own plate. He cast a sad glance at te empty spot at the table where Quatre should have been. He knew he had to get Quatre on that shuttle but he still admitted that he missed him terribly. They had gotten close over the time they had spent together, almost like real brothers. Even if not biological. Shoving some eggs in his mouth he reflected on what he had done to get Quatre on that shuttle. He decided that next time he saw him that he would let him punch him for that. He frooze suddenly, his fork mid way to his mouth, and remembered something suddenly. As he was leaving the port he had looked back once to see him go, someone else had gotten on that shuttle too. 'No.'

"Mom, Dad. Can I go visit Aunt Margie on L-3?" His parents looked up startled.

" Uh.. I suppose sweetheart. When?"

" Today." His mother looked startled.

" I think we should give her more warning don't you think hun?"

" I talked to her about it before and she said I could come anytime I want. Please Mom..Dad?" He looked imploringly at them making puppy eyes like he had seen Duo do before when he wanted something. It worked on Quatre so he hoped it would work on them too.

" Ohhh...alright hunny." His father looked over startled at his mother.

" But..but..."

" Now hunny, he wants to go so badly and he has been working so hard. You seen how close he and Alex have grown I can't be easy with him gone too. Lets let have thin just once." His father sighed in resignation. He stood and hugged his mother and smiled at his dad.

" Just be good!" He waved at his father once more and ran to his room. Throwing some things in his bag he called ahead for a ticket and ran for the door. He had set up a security system last night, well this morning really, so they wouldn't be totally unprotected. Though he didn't think tey would be bothered now that they had located Quatre. Rushing down the street he knocked Jason over in his haste and called a hurried sorry. He didn't have much time. ' I'll be there Quatre!'

The streets of L-3 were once again stuffed with holiday shoppers. Quatre enjoyed the bright lights and Christmas trees and the bustle and laughter. Even if he didn't celebarte Christmas himself. He loved the happiness that was so present in this time of year. The wether system had produced a fine snow, and he hled out his hands to catch the tiny beautiful crystals. Through all his happiness he was well aware that he was being followed. Pulling his light brown jacket closer around his thin shoulders and wished he had a warmer one. He rolled his eyes when he remembered that he had left that in Heeros bag. ' At least I know he won't be cold!'

Brushing that thought away he concentrated at getting away from his admirer. Swerving into a particularly heavy crowd he swerved around as much as he could without making it look like he was trying to lose someone. He kept his panic down as he noticed the man getting closer. Casting a glance over his shoulder his eyes widened at the sight of gun being removed from the mans jacket. Throwing caution to the wind he broke into a full out run. People scattered and jumped out the way as he pushed through the crowds. Glances over his shoulder told him the man was still on his tail. No shot followed him but he wasn't relieved yet. He tried to stay in the crowd as much as he could, hoping that the man wouldn't shoot while he was. He hadn't yet so he kept up hope. He was running blind by now though. He didn't know the layout of the city like he knew that of his home colony, he could only run for dear life and hope he was going the right way. The crowd was thinning and he had less places to dodge too. A hand shot out as he passed an ally, pulling him roughly into dim corridor.

He winced as he was roughly slammed against the brick of the building behind him. Opening his eyes he met those of a sorrowful hazel he remembered well.

" Anders." The name came out in a breathy whisper as the mans fist connected with his abdomen. Doubling over in pain and gasping for breath he looked up imploringly at the man before him. " You don't have to do this Anders." He straightened and leaned against the wall clutching his aching stomach. The man looked questioningly at the defiant boy in front of him.

" You know, don't you." It wasn't a question. Quatre nodded his head, the hat miraculously still in place over his golden locks.

" I can feel that you don't want to. Just walk away, disappear. I'll make it so my Uncle doesn't find you ever again."

" Why?" He met the quizzical gaze of the exhusted boy. " Why help the man sent to kill you? That would have if you hadn't been so light-footed."

" Would you have? I want to help because I know you don't want any part of this. In better circumstances maybe we would have been friends, maybe we still can be."

Quatres body jerked as he never broke eye contact with the hazel eyes of the man holding a still warm gun. Blood flowed freely out of the open wound in his abdomen and down his jeans to began to stain the ground crimson. He watched as tears escaped the mans eyes and streamed down his cheeks. His vision was starting to blur and he staggered forward a step.

" I forgive you." Quatres eyes closed and he fell forward into the waiting arms of the man who shot him. His hat fluttered to the ground and soft tears fell on his light hair.

Heero raced against the feeling of dread that seemed to be growing in his heart with every minute. L-3 had beautiful city, but to him it seemed to be to immense when looking for one small teenager. He no way to know if Quatre had been able to get away from is tail or not. Heero pulled out a coveted picture taken at a day at the zoo and asked any one he could get to stop if they had seen the smiling boy in it. It seemed he hadn't come through this part of the city though. Fatigue started to set in and Heero walked to the railing of a ledge where he could look out and see a good part of the city below. He leaned heavily on the rail and let the snow tickle his cold nose. He wasn't even aware of the other boy until a hand alighted on his shoulder. He didn't have the energy nor will to swing around so he setteled for a glare over his shoulder. Surprisingly the boy behind him merely smiled. ' Not so surprising, it is Duo.' Realizing what he had just said he did swing around.

" Hey man! No offense or anything, you just looked so sad." Duo took a step back and held up his hands.

" Duo." His surprise was evident in his weary voice. Yet Duo shook his head and looked questioningly back at him.

" Oi..thats the second time someones called me that." He walked up to the railing too and leaned against it, fiddling with a small black case.

" Duo listen to me..I know you may not remember right now but you have to try." Heero placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him to face him. " Quatre is in trouble and I need your help." His hand was shrugged of violently.

" My name is Adrian. Not Duo. I don't know who your friend is and I don't know who you are so just bu.."

" ..bug off." Heero finished for him. The braided boys eyes questioned the other boy.

" I don't know who you are but I just want to be left alone." He began to walk away but stopped short at the others voice.

" Can you really just walk away like that. He was your friend too Duo. Even if you don't remember can you just leave him to die? Errgh...Duo he might already be dead by now!" Adrian/Duo, he wasn't quite sure anymore, turned back around with a defeated sigh.

" Alright, I help you find your friend. Then I'm going back to my life."

" If that's what you want I won't stop you." He nodded his head and motioned for Heero to follow him.

" So uh...what's your name?"

" Ryo."

" See, doesn't ring a bell."

" Not surprising." Duo sighed again and led on toward his home.

The apartment was warm and decorated in holiday colors. A Christmas tree stood in a corner of the apartment by a small fireplace where five stockings hung.

" Five stockings?" Duo looked over to the fireplace and nodded.

" It just seemed right." He shrugged it off and turned to fixing dinner. " Why don't you take a nap, you look exhausted." When no answer came he turned to see Heero stretched on the carpet in front of the fire fast asleep. A small smile crept onto Duos relaxing features and he looked curiously at the sleeping boy. Turning back to his cooking he gasped a the smoking vegetables and quickly turned the stove off as he attempted to stop the smoke.

Heero woke to the smell of chicken and slightly crisp vegetables. It took him a minute to realize where he was and remember all that had happened during the past few hours and months. Rolling over onto his back he sat up and searched the room for Duo, hoping that it hadn't been a dream. Nope, Duo bustled around the dinning room table setting two places. Standing Heero strolled up behind him. Duo turned around swiftly and pointed a fork at him.

" Ah, no sneaking around Ryo." Heero pushed the fork out of his face and took a seat at the small table.

" We should begin our search for Quatre after we eat. He could be hurt."

" Maybe you should get some more rest dude. I mean you look pretty bad." Duo chuckled lightly as Heero ran his fingers absently through his hair.

" No, I'll be fine. I just need to find my brother."

" So this guys your brother?"

" Sorta, we were all close. When we were separated all are memories were suppressed and substituted with fake ones. I was placed in a small family where my ' parents' memories were also changed. They adopted a teen a few months ago by the name of Alex. We got pretty close in that time that we had together as a family. Then we regained our memories. Memories of the war and how it changed our lives. My name is Heero Yuy. His name is Quatre Rabarba Winner..."

At this point Duo spit the toasty vegetables across the table.

" You mean the rich kid that was kidnaped?" Heero restrained himself from knocking Duos head against the wooden table a couple of times to jog his memory.

" Yes...Your name is Duo Maxwell. And our friends Trowa Barton and Chang Wufei have yet to be located." Heeros gaze pierced into Duos. Duo thought he recognized something in those clear blue depths, but his mind began fogging up. It had been doing a lot of that the last couple of days.

" I need to think." That said he stood up and walked to the balcony of his apartment. Heero looked worried but didn't follow him.

Duo stood at the railing looking down at the people who scurried home with packages under their arms. Children were playing in the snow happily, no life changing thoughts on their minds. Unlike Duo who stood once again flipping the small black case over in his hands. His thoughts rolled in and out like waves in his mind, more questions popping up than answers. Sitting down in a rickety chair by the rail he looked down inquisitively at the small case Commander Une had given her. ' Who is she really? And why the hell do I have the urge to call her Lady?' Touching the small scythe on the case he felt something tingle in the back of his mind. Reaching with shaking hands he undid the clasp and lifted the lid of the case. His eyes widened for an instant then he clutched his head as a dull pain pulsed through. The fogginess that had occupied all memories of his past till now was thinning and floating away. Memories of mobile suits and Gundams flashed through like lightening, bombarding him with information. Faces of a forgotten past and a church spun around him and he felt the tears come anew at the painful memories. Then four faces fixed them seleves in his mind and the pain began to subside.

Duo Maxwell looked down lovingly at the small case of picks sitting closed again in his hand. His hands steady, he opened the lid to reveal one his most prized possessions. He smiled warmly down at the little picture inside the case. In it five young men smiled back at him, their moment together frozen in one frame. Lifting the picture up he grinned manically at the little picks underneath. He twirled one between his fingers for a moment before slipping it into the recesses of his thick braid for later use. Well Heero needed to learn to keep his things locked better anyway!

Heero watched as Duo bounded into the room with a happy expression on his face. No sign of the confusion or tension was visable.

" Oi, Heero shouldn't we be gone?" Duo wiggled his eyebrows at him as he grabbed a coat and headed for the door.

" You remember!" Heero couldn't keep the smile off his face. Duo cocked his head tot he side.

" Yeah, and your beaming. What did Quat do to you?" Duo joked, his lips twitching with barley contained laughter. The laughter died in his throat. " Oh no, Quatre."

" We need to find him. He should be in the city somewhere, I put him on the shuttle myself."

" Why didn't you come up with him?" Duo noticed the sad look that came into Heeros eyes at his question.

" A mistake." He shook his head and opened the door. " One that should never have been made." Duo decided not to question him on it any further and they walked out the door locking behind them.

" Ah! My keys are inside!" Duo slapped his forehead then a manic grin found a way onto his face. " Hehe, 'nother chance to test my skills."

" Baka."

" Ahhh, I missed you too Heero." They walked away from the apartment building and down the street in silence for awhile. Each were content for the moment being in the others company. After awhile though, the absence of the three others became more than apparent. Not knowing where they were and if they were okay was getting at the two. They had been seperated before. In actuallity until after the Barton Foundations attack they had lost contact almost completely. Even then they knew that the others were okay and if they need had come up they would be able to contact them somehow, someway. Then they had begun working together every now and then and staying in touch. Things had changed much for them in a short time. Now they had no way of knowing if their friends were alive or dead or where to contact them.

" Eh, you haven't heard anything about Wufei or Trowa?" Duo broke the silence after awhile.

" No. It was by chance that I found you here. A miracle that Quatre and I met."

" What happened that brought you here?"

" When we remembered everything we decided that we needed to move and find all of you. We ran away and left the Jamersons, our 'parents', a note with a false expalnation. On the way to the port we saw one of the men under Rosald and followed him. They intend to kill Quatre. I made him leave on the shuttle alone because I wanted him out of there, but I didn't follow. I wanted to make sure that no threat would be posed to the Jamersons and if I could to put a dent in there operation." Heeros eyes looked so sad that Duo couldn't help but put an arm around his shoulders for a moment to give some comfort.

" It's alright Heero."

" No, they came after him anyway. I followed him as quickly as I could, but I haven't found him anywhere.....idiot!"

" Eh? What I do?" Heero wasn't listening though. He stuffed a hand in his pocket and pulled out a small device. His eyes were shinning happily for the first time in since Quatre had stepped on the shuttle.

" I need a computer." Duo nodded his head, saving the questions for later, and led him down the street again.

At the public library the two teens bent over a computer working diligently. Duo leaned over Heeros shoulder, looking at the screen hopefully. Numbers and words whizzed around the screen as Heero hacked and typed. Duo blinked and suddenly a map of the city popped onto the screen. Heero went back to typing with insane speed until a small yellow dot began to blink on the screen

" That's him?"

" Yep. He's somewhere on the other side of the city. Lets go." He printed out the map and turned back to the computer.

" We should contact the Lady and Noin too. They paid me a visit earlier." Duo reminisced rubbing the back of his head where he had felt Noins tug the most.

"Hurry it up then. Give them these quardents and tell them to hurry!" Duo relalced Heero on the chair and beganan connection to the local Perventer unit. After erasing all evidence that they had been there they hurried out into still falling snow.

By the time they reached the street indicated on the map they were in a full out run. Not even the sight of the police surrounding an ally, nor the Preventers taping off an area deterred them for running straight on to where Quatre should be. Heero and Duo pushed past the uniformed people toward the mouth of the ally that was the same one marked on the map. Dread filled their stomachs at what they might find but they needed to see, they needed to find him. Reaching the mouth of the ally they skidded to halt as Une and Noin suddenly appeared before them, blocking their way.

" Heero!" Noins surprised face let a shaky smile through before it was decimated once more.

" Heero, Duo. Turn around and we'll get you checked out at headquarters." Une spoke up a motherly look in her eyes.

" Get out of our way." Duo tried to push past but was held back by Une.

" No Duo. You remember what happened now and we need to ask you some questions."

" Please, both of you, just turn around." Noin pleaded with tears starting in her eyes. Alarm rose in both boys hearts.

" Let us through." Heero stared cooly at them, but both women saw the sorrow their. They moved aside slowly giving the boys access to the scene. The two stepped forward into the small ally and stopped short. Blood stained the ground a brilliant red as well as the wall. A soft snow was drifting down and starting to cover the drying red. A beautiful yet horrible contrast of white and red.

" We're too late." Duos voice was barely audible and thick with unshed tears. Heeros eyes riveted on something laying at the edge of the small pool of blood and he moved forward and picked it up before he even realized it. He held the blood stained cap in his hand like it was his only link to this life.

" I'm sorry Quatre." He felt slim arms come around him an pull him into a warm chest. For a moment he could pretend he was Ryo again and it was just his little brother Alex coming up behind him. Then reality set in and a single tear plummeted to land on the cap.

" You okay Heero?" Noin tightened her hold slightly and rested her head on his shoulder.

" Where is he?"

" We didn't find a body Heero. All we found was a journal and that hat. The bloods being tested now." Heero gently pulled away from her embrace. His eyes searched the ground frantically. Not seeing what he wanted he let his eyes roam the wall.

" There." Pulling on a small piece of metal on the wall his determination set even deeper. " We implanted tracking devices on each other before we came to space. His must have come off when he was caught." The small device was plucked out of the wall and Heero held it reverently in his hand. Hope refused to leave him.

" He could still be alive couldn't he Heero?" Duo spoke up, the same hope Heero felt reflected in his voice.

" It's always possible. But remember Duo, they wanted him dead. If he is though I will find him."

" WE will find him." Duo placed a hand on his shoulder. " We're coming back together again Hee~ro." Giving the blood stained ground one more look they allowed themselves to be led out of the ally and to a waiting car.

He didn't know how long he had been out. Time had no relevance in the dark of unconsciousness that he had fallen into. All he could feel was the sharp pain in his side and the soft sheets of the bed beneath. 'Bed? I'm not dead? Wake up, need to wake.' Pushing with all his might he just couldn't seem to make his eyelids open to the light that he could see just beyond them.

" Hush now. I'm right here." Humming soothed began to sooth him into a soft dream. ' Fimiliar....nice. Heero don't worry 'bout me.'