Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Duo Maxwell, Gun for Hire ❯ Libaries and fires don't mix ( Chapter 8 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

On to chapter 8! Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Don't own GW or VTM. The Oc's are all based off of either mine or friends characters from past games.

XXXX

Morning, or our version of morning at least, found me even more annoyed with our roomies.

Yeah, I was curled up to Heero's chest. It's a very comfortable place to be, trust me on this. Yes, there was fooling around when he woke up. I admit it, I can be a horn dog when I feel up to it and last night didn't help.

Quatre's little interruption last night completely killed the mood and left me frustrated. I was not a happy camper. The sad part is, Q probably doesn't know what he did to make me crabby.

Why do they think I'm crabby? Well let's see. Like five minutes after they killed our mood set, Wufei comes up and states that tomorrow we need to go retrieve those books he promised Johann for his help.

So me being a curious little necromancer had to ask. What were they?

About five minutes of begging and prying he finally shouts it out at me. Right there in the middle of the living room.

The books were some Tremere's journal. What's so special about that? They're vampires that do magic. So?

To my surprise it was Trowa that practically hit me upside the head. He didn't seem happy that Wufei had offered up some guy's journals.

The fact that Trowa was mad struck me as weird. In the short time I've known this guy, I've only seen him extremely pissed or extremely calm. Now he was annoyed.

So I asked Heero what's so special about these journals. He explained to me that the Tremere like to keep records of things. It sounds like these guys were extremely anal-retentive. Journals like what Fei had were bound to hold some random, possibly deadly but cool secrets that they don't want people to know.

So what? If they didn't want people to know about it, they shouldn't have written in down. It's simple as that.

Another twenty minutes later found me driving to the library. Yeah you heard right, the library. Apparently Wu had the bright idea of hiding the books in plain sight. Who would think to look in a library for a book?

XXXX

"Okay we're here."

Yeah, that's me. I'm captain obvious tonight. Okay so I still was a little crabby. Yeah, Heero and I did enough to satisfy our selves for the moment. But it was not nearly enough. You can only enjoy hands and mouths for so long before you want more.

"How do we get in?"

That was another point for Captain Obvious. I was on a roll tonight.

There was a long pause before Wufei spoke.

"I don't know."

I turned in my seat to stare at him. He was sitting behind Heero's passenger seat and staring up at the old library building in front of us.

"What do you mean you don't know? How did you get them in there the first time?"

"We persuaded the woman locking up to let us in."

Translation: They used their fun little powers on her to make her do anything they wanted.

"Okay, so why not do it again?"

"Duo, do you see anyone here? The place is dark."

"Then we'll just have to let ourselves in."

That came from Quatre. Now I stared at the small blonde between Tro and Wu. He had this sort of angelic smile on his face that screamed innocent. He was anything but that. This guy had a plan.

We piled out of the car and Q immediately started to head towards the back of the building. The rest of us followed him curiously. What was this boy up to?

He found the back door and stood before it. We saw his shadow condense and slide under the door. A few moments later there was a click and the door opened. The sneaky bastard had used his tentacles of doom to pick the lock and open the door.

"Way to go Q. We didn't know you had it in you to do something this devious."

Quatre smile and shrugged. "If the ends justify the means then why not?"

That made me wonder exactly where Q would draw the line when push comes to shove. I hope I never got to find out.

We entered as quietly as possible. To my surprise it was Heero that took care of the security cameras and alarms. I didn't know he was so computer savvy. Most kindred I know don't even know how to turn on a computer much less hack into one.

After that little bit of looking over Hee-man's shoulder and being amazed, we were in with no problems.

Wufei lead the way towards the older section of the library where it looked like there was a bunch of old stuffy books. The entire place looked stuffy and quiet. It was too quiet for my tastes. Yeah, this place reminded me of a crypt too. I'm seriously beginning to think I have a phobia about crypts. First it was the basement and now here. The only difference is one was dark and dank and this place is dark and dusty.

I decided to glance at some of these old books to find out exactly where in the library we were. The nearest book to me on the shelf looked old and faded. It took me a moment to make out the title. It was a law book? The next one wasn't any better. That one was an old leather bound law book from the 1800's. At least that's what it said. I wasn't about to go pulling it off the shelf to find out.

Wufei was tracing his pointer finger down spines of books as he read the titles softly to himself. He finally stopped at a book called. 'Einstein's Theory of Relativity.'

Wasn't that a physics book? Why was it in an area dominated by law books?

Fei pulled it off the shelf and opened it. That wasn't a book. That was a book shaped box. Well, okay so it was the book with the middle of the pages cut out and two thin, smaller books inside of it. Wufei pulled out the books and shut the library book and placed it back on the shelf. I wonder why no one's ever found that before.

"Lets go."

We started to leave, heading back the way we came in when something came flying at us. I barely managed to duck as it flew past my head. What the hell was that? It took me a few moments to realize that it was a small Greek statue. That could have hurt.

Click. Click. The sound of a sword being drawn. Shink.

I wasn't surprised to see Trowa and Wufei pull out their weapons. I was mildly surprise to see Heero sprout the claws instead of a gun. The one that surprised me the most was Q. He had pulled out a gun. He's just full of surprises tonight.

I couldn't see anyone around. Then I felt Deathscythe stir. There was something undead here. Something that reeked of flames and a laboratory.

Tremere. Deathscythe whispered Tremere. The Vampire Mages.

Looks like this simple retrieval just got complicated.

Something else went flying over our heads. I stayed crouched. It's safer down here.

Deathscythe was stirring. Whatever that Tremere was doing was peeking my powers curiosity. I felt it dash off to the left. It was heading towards several towering shelves of books. My bet is our attacker in over there.

"Hey guys! To the left! Behind the Shelves!" Yes! I was being useful this time.

Gunshots rang out. I could hear them hitting books and winced. The librarians are going to wonder 'what the fuck' when they came back in the morning.

Smoke. I was starting to smell a little bit of smoke. Smoke meant fire. Oh shit.

I felt Deathscythe's power escalate as the sounds of books being torn apart filled the air. The smoke smell was getting worse.

"Guys we need to get out of here. Now."

There was a murmur of agreement as we dashed for the door. The guys still had their weapons drawn and still on guard. They were expecting an ambush. So was I.

We were right. Outside the doors, parked roughly twenty feet away sat a black van. There was a man standing outside of it. He was staring at us. I didn't like that. This man looked like he should be teaching High School. You know those creepy teachers with the glasses that seem to know everything and never let you get away with anything? You know, the ones that are thin as rails with thinning hair and dorky mustaches? He looked like one of those. Complete with the goofy bow tie.

There was a soft growl besides me. Apparently Heero didn't like this either.

Next thing I knew, he had his hands encompassed in flames and was moving extremely fast. I dodged as I felt the inferno that was this guy's fist swing over my head, barely missing me. I could smell singed hair.

I covered my head with my hands as I heard something tearing into flesh. I felt something wet drip on to my hands. Somehow I don't think that was rain.

I scrambled out from under the battle, not too worse for ware. I felt helpless at the moment. Deathscythe hadn't returned yet. Hold on, I have a gun. Damn it. How did I forget about that?

I was cursing myself as I pulled out my trusty gun and swung around. Just in time to see the bastard attacking us catch Heero's cloths on fire. Shit. Fire and Vampires don't mix.

I managed to get one clear shot in the guy causing us trouble before Fei managed to remove his head from his shoulders. The guy dusted.

Heero was on fire. Nasty burns were already appearing on his skin as he continued to attack the spot where the guy was. Shit.

"Heero. Calm down."

"Yuy! Get a hold of yourself!"

He wasn't listening. His eyes were wild and panicky. I doubt he was hearing us.

I stared at him. Yeah, I admit it. I was scared shitless. He was acting like a panicked animal, on fire with those claws out. This didn't look good.

I had my gun aimed at him. I guess I was panicking as well. We all were. We couldn't get near enough to attempt to put out the fire that was slowly consuming him.

Deathscythe. It finally came running back. The Tremere that had been in there with us had set the place on fire before he dusted. Well, shit. As if things weren't bad enough.

"Guys. The place is on fire." Why did I sound so calm? I was panicking, why was I sounding calm? Why aren't I running around screaming my lungs out?

Shadows encompassed the area. I couldn't breathe. This time I didn't have Heero here to give me mouth to mouth.

I felt myself nearly black out before the shadows were lifted.

I looked up to see that the shadows had actually retreated to just enclose Heero, hiding him from sight.

Quatre looked paler than usual and charred. Wufei's clothes were singed and Trowa seemed to be the only one to get out of this ordeal unscathed. Well, besides me.

There was the sound of a body hitting the ground and the shadows unraveled. Heero was there, looking like a burn victim and out cold. I just stared at him in shock. I couldn't tell if he were dead or... well, undead.

Trowa and Wufei put away their weapons and gently picked him up. I could feel Quatre at my side, kneeling down beside me.

"Duo, come on. We need to get him to Sally."

I just nodded as he helped me up and lead me to the car. I couldn't take my eyes off of my newest nightmare. Heero's charred form. I seem to be getting lots of nightmare material lately.



XXXXX


We made it to Marie's Double in record time. Quatre had the foresight to call ahead.

Noin and Une were waiting for us at the back entrance.

The rest of what happened was a blur to me. I heard Sally tell Q that I'm in shock. So that's what this is.

Heero had frenzied and was barely alive. Sally tried giving him blood. She said he was healing almost human slow. She blamed it on the lack of blood in his system. Apparently yeah, the food he ate was good for nutrition, but his body still didn't make his own blood. He still needed to drink it. Why is it that the most important discoveries happen at a time where the situation could mean life or death?

Sally ushered me over to a cot and made me sit down. Anne handed me a cup of something. I just held it. She urged me to drink. So I took a sip. It was whiskey. Warm whiskey. Sister Helen used to give us this for our coughs.

"Duo, you look like shit."

I turned to stare up at Quatre. His arm had been bandaged up. It seems like that's the same arm that's been taking all the abuse lately.

"Duo?" I could see that he was concerned about me.

A hand was waved in front of my face. I blinked and looked down to stare at my mug of whiskey.

Sigh. "He'll be fine Duo. Sally said he'd be up and about in a week."

I nodded at I felt him sit down on the cot next to me. Next thing I knew, Quat had his arms around me, holding me as he stroked my braid. I absentmindedly noted that my braid was coming undone. I must have lost the hair tie somewhere.

I leaned against Quat as my eyes started to drift shut.



XXXXX


I must have been out for quite awhile cause when I woke up, Heero looked a lot better.

It wasn't long before Sally came over to me and gave me a quick check over. I guess she didn't get a chance to last night, I don't really remember.

"Heero should be waking up any time. Now."

I nodded. "How long was I out?"

Sally paused for a moment. "Nearly a week. It's the same for Heero."

I blinked. We were both out of a week? What the hell? To say that shocked me out of my little angst driven world is an understatement.

"How do you know Heero will wake up soon then?"

Sally just smiled. "Because you just woke up."


XXXX

Sure enough he did. We only had to wait an hour. The moment Heero started moving Sally was over there. She was checking him over. She even pried his eyelids open to see if his pupils were dilating correctly. That's when she gasped.

I quickly stood up. Yeah, I wasn't very steady on my feet but hey; I managed to make it over there. I tried looking over her shoulder to see what was the matter.

Sally let his eyes close as he groaned. I looked up at her. "What's wrong?"

"When a Gangrel frenzies, they tend to gain some animal characteristics. From what I understand, it can be anything in the animal kingdom. I've seen Gangrel with scales, exoskeletons, and retractable claws. This is the first time I've seen something happen with the eyes." She paused there. "Heero's gained cat like eyes with the extra eyelids typically found in a cat."

Okay? So he has cat eyes, what's the big deal? I looked down at him as he opened his eyes. His pupils were slit like a cats and right now were nothing but thin little slits with his eyes being nothing but a blue iris. It looked kind of cool.

"Heero can you hear me?" Sally snapped her fingers near his left ear.

Heero just stared up at us and didn't respond. A few moments later he was looked back and forth between us. I could see confusion in his eyes and a little bit of panic. Why was he panicking? Was something hurting?

"Heero, buddy, what's wrong?"

The confusion and panic seem to grow as he reached out and touched my lips. Any other time I would have found this romantic and touching. This wasn't one of those times.

"I was afraid of this the moment I say his eyes."

I turned to look at Sally. "What? What's wrong?"

She sighed as rubbed her eyes. "In cat's it's a common trait for a cat with blue eyes to also be deaf."

I froze. Heero was deaf? What the hell?

I turned to look down at him. He seemed to have realized what was going on. His eyes closed and he sighed. What were we going to do now?

Trowa, Quatre and Wufei chose then to walk into the mini vampire clinic.

"How are they doing Ms. Po?"

There goes Quat being polite again. Some things never change.

Sally smiled at him. "Duo's fine, just a little shook up. I imagine his nap helped that, right Duo?"

I just nodded. "Yeah, it helped." Okay so I sounded a little lost even to myself. Do you blame me?

Quatre seemed to suspect something was up because he glanced to Trowa and then Wufei.

"And what about Heero?"

This time it was Wu-man asking.

"He's healing fine, one more night and a little more blood should do it. However, his clan flaw has taken effect. He has cat eyes and the problems that go with them. Including deafness that sometimes accompanies blue eyes in cats."

All three of them exchanged looks. "What about his clan's discipline? Will that help him?"

Discipline? Is that another word for the odd powers they all have? Okay, I'll be the first to admit that really, I don't know everything about these guys. I barely know anything really. I only know what I've gleaned with my interaction with them. Hell, I wouldn't have known that they existed if they hadn't contacted me after I accidentally raised my first human zombie when I was 14. That was a nightmare.

Sally shook her head. "That might give him a little hearing back, but I doubt it."

"Could a Tzimisce fix it?"

Sally shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

All four of us stared down at Heero. Dealing with enemies and other kindred we can do. But how are we supposed to deal with this?

XXX


Glossary time!

Torpor: refers to the state of deep slumber that vampires enter into for prolonged periods of time. Torpor may be entered into voluntarily, such as when one seeks to escape the monotony of eternal life and awaken in a different age, or, more commonly, involuntarily when a vampire starves, is staked, or suffers damage sufficient to kill a mortal. The amount of time one spends in torpor depends on the reason for hibernating and the vampire's strength against the Beast

Frenzy: frenzy is when the Beast takes over the vampire's personality, usually a result of extreme stress such as starvation or public humiliation. In Vampire the term only applies to the "fight" half of the "fight-or-flight" response, though Rštschreck (the "flight" half) is a similar experience in many respects. The primary purpose of the frenzy is to kill or otherwise neutralize the stimulus responsible for it, so a vampire driven to frenzy will attempt to feed on anything she can catch whereas a character entering frenzy in combat will attempt to kill all nearby combatants. The Kindred of the Camarilla consider frenzy dangerous, bestial and a sign of weak will and try to avoid it whenever possible. Sabbat vampires may resist or embrace frenzy (or "ride the wave") depending on their Path of Enlightenment.

Discipline: is the term used for one of the supernatural powers of Cainites. The origin of the Disciplines is unknown, but many believe they are gifts from Caine or Lilith, and a few Antediluvians are thought to have invented unique Disciplines that have been passed down through their childer. There are seventeen "main" Disciplines that are well known and relatively common, but there are also a variety of much rarer Disciplines practiced by bloodlines and thin-blooded vampires.

Character Spotlights!


Victoria Winter: Vicky has had two previous incarnations. Her first was in a Giovanni Chronicle tabletop I was in a few years back. The most current has been her appearance in larp as a representative of the Camarilla. As you can guess Victoria is really old, and really powerful. Her full age being 563 years old.

Johann: He actually was a character out of the very same game that created Vicky. He was played by a friend of mine. Needless to say, Johann and Victoria have a unique relationship. He is an opportunist that will, and has played all sides. He's been in the Cam, Sabbat, was an Anarch and now is currently an independent in modern nights. He's roughly the same age as Vicky, give or take a few years. They were embraced at the same time and have known each other since. He also has a very low tolerance for stupid.