Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Dead Ground ❯ The roof ( Chapter 6 )

The warm, dry breeze blew Quatre's hair back away from his face. He turned, the crunching sound of the dirt and rocks under his shoes echoing loudly in his ears. When he looked far into the distance he could see the forest beyond the dead ground shimmering in the heat. The sight could have almost convinced him that the trees were, themselves a mirage. He knew they were really there though.

 

Weren't they?

 

He put a hand to his head. It all felt so strange.

 

So wrong.

 

Where AM I? He thought.

 

He turned again and this time was punished with the sight of the cabin. The old building also shimmered in the heat. The cabin was no mirage though, that he knew. The cabin reeked of corruption and death. Morbidly taunting him with its presence. He felt sick, and if he had anything in his stomach he would most likely vomit.

 

I'm not really here... The thought flitted through his head unbidden, and left un-noticed.

 

As he stood, hypnotically gazing at the cabin, a figure seemed to materialize from the shimmering haze that seemed to surround the detested cabin. Quatre wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. Of course, even if there were such a place, the Arabian was rooted to the spot, fear keeping him in place.

 

He realized, after watching the approaching figure, that it was Trowa. His heart brightened a little with hope. The fear wasn't as oppressive now that his friend was in sight. He was able to move again and he quickly started running toward the approaching boy.

 

When he reached Trowa, Quatre wrapped his arms around the tall boy and he buried his head into Trowa's shoulder. He wanted to cry with relief. He wasn't alone. Trowa wrapped his arms around the small boy and held him close.

 

“Trowa, I...” He wanted to tell the other boy about everything. Trowa would believe him.

 

He would. He thought, trying to convince himself.

 

Trowa would protect him. They would escape this awful place together. He wouldn't be alone. There would be no need to be afraid.

 

He opened his mouth to start again, but stopped. His body stiffened reflexively as he felt one of Trowa's hands sliding down his back and began to knead his ass. The move was so sudden and unexpected. He pulled back and opened his mouth to speak, when he was cut off by an insistent kiss. The kiss was rough and he felt Trowa's hand pulling him roughly against the other boy.

 

Quatre's mind had only a moment to register the hardness in Trowa's pants, before he was pushed roughly to the ground. He gasped as his back connected painfully with the rocks and dirt.

 

“Trowa... what...?” He couldn't think clearly enough to form the question.

 

Trowa had somehow gotten a hold of Quatre's wrists and was holding them with one hand over Quatre's head. His other hand was unbuttoning Quatre's pants. The blonde boy cast a panicked, pleading look at the taller boy.

 

“Trowa...?” Quatre whimpered.

 

“Shut up!” Trowa snarled, yanking on Quatre's pants. “I'm tired of waiting! I want you to be mine Quatre Winner!” Leaning in close, Trowa hissed fiercely, “And I want you now!”

 

Quatre's eyes widened, and he struggled, without success, to get away from the larger boy. After Trowa succeeded in removing Quatre's pants and underwear, he effortlessly flipped the small boy onto his stomach, leaving Quatre's hands free. Quatre tried to scramble away on his hands and knees, when a foot connected painfully with his stomach. Quatre groaned and curled in a ball. He squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed at the dirt...

 

.... But his fingers wrapped around the sheets of his bed instead. Opening his eyes, Quatre looked around, not knowing where he was for a moment. Then his eyes rested on the cup on the window sill. It wasn't the cup from before. He realized Trowa must have followed Wufei's instructions.

 

Trowa...

 

That was when the dream hit him in full force. Grabbing his pillow, he pressed his face into it to muffle his cries of hurt. He felt so betrayed. It was just a dream. Just a stupid dream! Trowa would never do that! He wouldn't...

 

As hard as he tried, he couldn't seem to convince himself of anything. He just didn't know what to think anymore.

 

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Duo headed down stairs after making Heero's bed. Glancing over at the boxes that were stacked by one of the walls, he noticed a box of light bulbs sitting on one of the boxes. Two bulbs had been removed. He walked over to the trash can and looked in. Sure enough, there were two more dead bulbs in the can. He smiled in amusement as he pictured Heero being told that more bulbs were burnt out.

 

He let that thought to entertain him as he walked into the kitchen to start up his coffee. When he walked in the kitchen and to the coffee maker, he noticed Trowa standing by the counter. The tall boy was holding a bowl in the crook of one arm and a mixing spoon in the other. Judging by the contents spread all over the kitchen, Trowa was in the process of making pancakes.

 

Suddenly, he smelled it.

 

Wrinkling his nose, he looked over to the stove and noticed a small pot. He was pretty sure it held more of the evil concoction Wufei had made up for Quatre yesterday. Duo looked over to Trowa, ready to comment on the horrible smell that filled the kitchen, but what he was about to say died on his lips. Trowa was still standing by the counter, and holding the bowl, but he wasn't doing anything. He was just standing there, staring straight ahead.

 

Duo set down the coffee pot that he had just picked up, and walked over to Trowa. Duo stared at his friend. The green eyed boy didn't even blink. Slowly, Duo raised his hand and waved it in front of Trowa's eyes.

 

Nothing happened.

 

Duo put his hand down and leaned against the counter, looking at the brunette in confusion. He didn't want to startle the other boy, but he didn't want Trowa to continue spacing out either. He wanted someone to talk to, and there wasn't anyone else around to claim that honor at the moment besides Trowa.

 

Reaching out his hand, he poked Trowa with his finger.

 

“Yo. Trowa.” He said hesitantly. No response. Feeling worried, but still trying to keep a light tone , he said, “Trooowa. Come on. Don't make me get annoying here.” He poked Trowa a few more times to show the tall boy he was serious about the threat.

 

For a few more moments, there was no response. Then the other boy blinked. Once. Twice. Then he blinked rapidly. Trowa's eyebrows knit together in confusion. He shook his head several times, as if trying to shake away an unwanted thought.

 

“Uh, you okay Trowa?”

 

Trowa turned his head to look at Duo.

 

“Duo?”

 

Duo repeated his question. “Are you okay? You were totally out of it. You getting enough sleep?” The last said with a worried look.

 

Trowa set the bowl down and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “Yeah. I'm fine, I was just... well, thinking of something... someone... from before...” Shaking his head again, Trowa looked back to Duo. “It's really nothing important I suppose... I just...” Trowa looked past Duo with a far away look. After a moment he spoke again. “When I was a child I lived with some people... soldiers... I was thinking about them...” His eyes went to Duo's, and the American could see the confusion in Trowa's eyes. “It wasn't a memory... but it seemed so... real...”

 

Trowa closed his eyes and, again, shook his head slowly from side to side. Duo, feeling more then a little uncomfortable at seeing the usually calm and collected boy so confused, put a hand on Trowa's shoulder and turned him around toward the bowl of pancake batter.

 

“Ya, know what you need, Trowa? You need a nice, hot cup of coffee.” He grinned, hoping to put the other boy at ease. “And I'm just the one to do that for ya.”

 

Leaving Trowa with the batter, Duo went back to the coffee pot. Being a person none too comfortable with silence, Duo began to complain about the toxic smell emanating from the small pot on the stove as he began to ready the coffee.

 

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Heero walked around the cabin, his arms filled with the last of what he needed for his project. He walked past the bathroom window and Wufei's bedroom window idly looking into each one he passed. As he passed Quatre's window he almost stopped out of pure confusion. However, he decided that Quatre most likely wouldn't appreciate him doing that, so he continued on. Still, he wondered why the small boy would use a milk bottle for that, when they had a perfectly good bathroom available. Heero mentally shrugged. What business was it of his? Besides, Quatre could be pretty picky about things. Most likely the rich boy didn't like how old and dingy the bathroom was. Hell, he didn't much like using the small room, but he wasn't about to go use a bush outside over it.

 

Setting the rest of his stuff down, he began the finishing touches on his idea. Although he had tried to seem confident with Trowa and Wufei, he felt anything but. He wasn't sure whether he would be able to receive any signals with his makeshift antenna or not. He looked upward. The edge of the shingles sat over his head. His gaze looked beyond the shingles to the sky. The day was overcast, and the air smelled like there would be rain soon. If not today, then tomorrow.

 

He returned his gaze to the project at hand, and quickly finished. Wrapping the cords in a coil, he laid them on the top of his closed laptop. At the end of the coil was a metal rod, which he laid on the coil. Picking up the bundle, he tucked it under one arm and walked to the ladder he had set up earlier. He had found the ladder laying down by the side of the house the first day. It was made of wood, and didn't look as stable as he would have wished for. He wouldn't complain though. At least he had a ladder.

 

He laid a hand on the ladder and paused. He had checked earlier to see if the ladder would hold his weight, and it did, but he still didn't have to like using the thing. Putting a foot on the first rung, he inwardly cringed as the ladder creaked. Taking a deep breath, he quickly scaled the ladder.

 

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Quatre pushed the bottle to the back of the small closet. There was no way in hell he wanted to have to explain this to anyone. He knew it was irrational for him to be so afraid of the grungy little bathroom, but it didn't change the fact that he was. He had tried to convince himself that it was only a dream, but when he reached up with his hands and felt the scars on his arms he couldn't think of anything to convince himself otherwise.

 

He felt weak from the dream and from how much he had cried. It was a dream, he told himself. He had been trying to convince himself all morning, and it wasn't working. He didn't know how long he had spent sobbing into his pillow, but he knew it was quite a while. His eyes ached. They felt dried out, but when he closed his eyes he could almost see the images from his dream again.

 

Trowa wouldn't do that... He thought, still feeling unconvinced. He walked back to his bed, careful to avoid the mirror as much as possible. He felt so much better with it covered, but he still hated it. Still feared it. He sat on his bed and looked over at the window. The cup of tea was still there. He had decided not to drink anymore of Wufei's tea. For all he knew, Wufei had put something in it to make him sleep, and sleeping was the last thing he wanted to do.

 

His eyes wandered over to the dresser. Duo had brought him a plate with a pancake earlier. He had pretended to be asleep, so Duo put the pancake on the dresser, and left without bothering Quatre. He didn't want to face the questions that would have undoubtedly come if Duo had seen his face.

 

He touched his cheek. It was still mildly warm from earlier. His hand moved to his lips. He had always wondered what it would be like to kiss Trowa, but now he just wanted to forget. He didn't want to think about it.

 

Trowa would never do something like that! He screamed to his unconvinced mind. He leaned his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands. His fingers touched the blonde strands of his bangs and he grabbed a hold of the hair and pulled roughly. For a moment he forgot about the horrible dreams and the distrust that was creeping in on him, as he concentrated on the pain. He felt so confused and frightened.

 

Suddenly, his head jerked up as he felt the other presence, not in his room, but somewhere above his room. He looked at the celling with wide, terrified eyes. Panic started to fill his heart and he began to tremble.

 

Something's going to happen... He thought.

 

He brought his knees up to his chest as he began to whimper softly. He felt so helpless. So vulnerable. Wrapping his arms around his knees, he began to rock back and forth, wishing for all the world, that he could just go home.

 

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The roof really wasn't much better then the ladder. It was badly decayed and the shingles were curling up at the ends. Gritting his teeth, he carefully made his way to a spot that looked good and sat. The roof wasn't too slanted, and with the shingles lifting up he was able to set his laptop down without it sliding off. He quickly set up the wire rod and connected the cable to his laptop. As he flipped open the slim machine and turned it on, he heard the roof creak.

 

Creaking was not a good thing at the moment, and he silently willed the laptop to hurry and boot up. As much as he didn't care for being on the roof, he wanted to find out if his idea had worked, or not, before getting back down. The cord was long enough that, if it worked, he would be able to use his laptop from the ground.

 

When the laptop what ready, he punched in a few commands.

 

Nothing.

 

Damn it. He thought.

 

He looked over at the rod.

 

Maybe if I just move it around or something...

 

As he reached over to grab the rod, the roof not only creaked, it groaned. He stopped for a moment, trying to decide whether or not to continue. Finally, he settled on moving the rod around a few times, and if that didn't work, then he'd get down. Slowly, amid creaks and groans, he changed his position from a sitting one to a kneeling one. Slowly he reached over and grabbed the wire.

 

That was when the old roof decided it had endured enough.

 

He felt the roof lurch beneath him. His eyes widened and he instinctively grabbed onto the shingles. His laptop started to slide with the movement of the roof, and without thinking, Heero lunged for the laptop, grabbing the slim machine before it slid any further. He didn't have time to realize his mistake. Almost immediately there was a loud crack underneath him and the roof fell away.

 

And then, he was falling.